Two reasons why Ohio State will win on Jan. 7...

Christmas Giving

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I know I did. And while I'm excited about the holiday that just past, I'm also excited about the event that's coming up: New Years. It's always been one of my favorite holidays, probably because of the long history of college football on that day.

It's kind of weird, though. When I was kid, all I cared about was what I got for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I still love to "get," but more and more I find myself enjoying watching others open gifts. Most of my family knows that I have an odd fear of opening gifts in front of poeple. I've never been a fan of being the center of attention and more so when gift givers are waiting for a reaction. But I don't know when it happened, but I'm becoming the one looking for the reaction.

I really wish I could spend loads of money buying great gifts, and people love those expensive gifts. But what I've found is it doesn't generally matter the amount of money but rather what the gift means or that you showed a genuine effort in trying to buy a gift that suits the person perfectly. It's also the little things, like how it's wrapped or small extras that add to it. More than having a lot of money spent on them, I think most would rather just know that the person spent time and effort.

Spending money is easy, any one can just swipe a credit card or surf the web. But making a little bit of effort, putting a little elbow grease and creativity into gift giving is what gets the reaction.

On a side note, my only dissapointment this year was that I did not get to watch "The Grinch," "Charlie Brown Christmas," or "Muppet Christmas Carol" this year. All three are Christmas classics and I may have to watch one or all of them in the coming week at some point.

Enjoy what's left of 2007!

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas Eve to all!

I've always loved Christmas Eve. As we all know from experience, anticipation for the event is often times better than the actual event. Now that I'm 24, the excitment of Santa Claus sneaking in and putting out all the loot isn't there, but Christmas Eve is still special.

My family has always gone to my Romick grandparents on Christmas Eve since I was born and we exchange gifts there. But we also eat dinner (usually pizza made by Uncle Loren), play some games and my favorite, sing some carols together around the piano that is played by my Aunt Colleen. It's always a good time and always something to look forward to.

It's also exciting that through six years of being my girlfriend that Trista has become part of that family tradition, as well. She and I also exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. She usually has something up her sleeve to try to fool me or she'll make me dig through four boxes for a pair of tickets. I'm not nearly as imaginative when it comes to aggitating people over gifts, but maybe someday I'll be able to get her back. It's always fun, though, and that's what's most important.

It kind of bothers me that a lot of movies and television shows portray family holiday gatherings as annoying and cumbersome. What's to complain about? There's no work and no worries. For an eve and a day, we get to relax and enjoy the company.

I hope everyone's holiday gatherings go off with out a hitch. Enjoy!

Trade?

I really liked Josh Hamilton. There's no need to sugar coat it. He was a good guy that played like he didn't deserve to be there (unlike Adam Dunn). His talent is exceptional. Do I wish the Reds would have kept him? Absolutely.

But they didn't. I'm a believer in Wayne Krivsky and always will be. I know people still shout about that Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez deal, but look at their numbers with Washington and remember that they were due big money in free agency (get something or lose them to free agency), and I still believe it was the right move at the time. Bill Bray will be really good this year. Still, Krivsky brought in Phillips, Arroyo, locked up Harang and gave Hamilton a chance. He's got an eye for talent so I'm not questioning him on this deal. Besides, it was almost necessary.

The Reds have offense. There's no doubt about that. Even without Hamilton, the team can score runs. Heading into the season, there are two legit major league pitchers on the roster. Edinson Volquez gives us three. He's a young, highly-touted pitcher with a ton of promise and showed solid results in six big league starts last year. I'm also excited about the throw-in player in Danny Ray Herrera. This guy is a diminutive lefty that is a great ground ball pitcher (exactly what you need in GABP) and has posted good numbers in the numbers.

Despite Hamilton's production last year, brass had to question how well his body would hold up. Their willinginess to move a guy that had .320, 35 HR, 95 RBI potential leads me to believe they already knew he couldn't. Remember Eric Davis? He was as good as there was when he was healthy, but that was rare. If this trade turns out to be Eric Davis for a possible Jose Rijo-type pitcher, I'd take that in a heartbeat.

The other reason this trade makes sense is you are exchanging an area of wealth for an area of need. Sure, Griffey is getting up there and is entering the final year of his contract. But there's a good chance that Jeff Keppinger moves to the outfield this year anyway. Plus, Adam Dunn is locked up in left for the long haul, Norris Hopper showed potential in center (and more importantly in the leadoff spot) and there needs to be an opening for Jay Bruce very soon. Keeping Jay Bruce off the field would be foolish,regardless of who was already there.

Josh had a great story and I'm upset to see him go. I've heard that Reds' fans were talking about boycotting because they moved Hamilton. Look, the kid was insipirational and possibly very good, but the city of Cincinnati didn't throw a fit when Reds' ownership cast off Barry Larkin a few years ago. Barry even won an MVP and a World Series.

We'll Be Fine

Well, I finally got to see my Celtics play a big game. The hated Detroit Pistons rolled into Boston for a prime time ESPN match-up between the two best teams in the Eastern Division. It certainly lived up to its billing. It's only 23 games into the year, but I waited all week for this game.

That stinkin' Chauncey Billups (former Celtic) got fouled with 0.1 seconds left and made both free throws to win. But even though the C's lost, I saw something that I really liked: a bit of attitude. No one knew how this season would go for the Celtics considering that there are nine new players on the roster and a second-year player running the point. It's going to take a while and some experience in big games to work out the kinks. They got into a big game tonight against a team that's been to five-straight conference finals and nearly pulled it off.

I know all that commentators will say that everything that happened (lack of bench scoring mostly) was exactly what they questioned about this Celtics team at the start of the year. But like I said before, it's only 23 games in. The Celtics are 20-3. I'll take a couple losses if that's what it takes to iron things out. It takes years to build chemistry, not 23 games.

With that said, the Celtics still looked REALLY good for most of the game. Rajon Rondo is going to be a stud in the league. Basketball folks questioned his shot and he responded by scoring 10 in the first quarter of the biggest game of the year to date. I love that kid.

But the attitude I mentioned earlier displayed itself in the form of Ray Allen. Wow, what a shooter. He's got a ridiculously quick trick and he hit two impossible 3-pointers that kept the team in it. Also, with the team down and seemingly dead in the water, he went hard to the hole and threw down a reverse jam that sparked the comeback. Understandably, the team likes to go to Paul Pierce at the end of the game, but from here on out, I want the ball in Ray's hands each and every trip in the final two minutes.

The only concern I came away with was the struggle against defensive pressure. When the Pistons cranked up the defense, the Celtics struggled to find shots. Not many teams play "D" like the Pistons, but experiencing that playoff intensity now will only benefit this team in the long run, which is what it's all about.

Remember. Nine new players. 20-3. 59 games left. It's a long road.

What Happened?

Last Monday, I was flipping through channels and saw that the 15th Anniversary of WWE "RAW" was just beginning. I'm not ashamed to say that when I was growing up, I was a big professional wrestling fan or maybe I would have been better described as a "smark" (smart mark). That means I was a BIG fan, but I also knew all the behind-the-scenes story lines and all the history that went with the organization.

Back when I stopped watching wrestling, it was still the WWF, so all this WWE business was new to me. Honestly, I hadn't seen an episode of Raw in probably seven or eight years, so really, I had no idea what was going during about half of those 15. But for the first part of that 15, I was on the couch, every Monday night from 9-11 (now it's 8-11). It was always the hot topic of Tuesday at school, discussing what had happened and what we thought would happen next. It was like a soap opera for adolescents or instead of a "water cooler" show, it was a blackboard show. It was huge. Me, my friends, and most kids my age were a big reason that not only the WWF, but the WCW and ECW thrived in the mid to late 90's, posting huge TV rating numbers every Monday night. It was the "Attitude" era of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Degeneration X and The Rock (and NWO vs. Sting in WCW) when wrestling really boomed.

These days, the ratings aren't as high. Part of that is because Vince McMahon bought out his only two competitors. As we know from economics class, monopolies aren't good for anyone except the person that owns it. But that's not the only reason. There will always be young teenagers to watch, like I was back in the day, but things have changed too much and gotten too adult for the young teens. When it started getting big, the WWE, thanks mostly to DX and Austin, started featuring some more racy storylines, but they were pretty harmless compared to what I saw on the most recent episode.

I fully excepted the anniversary episode to feature some classic footage or reunions of old stars. It did provide SOME of that, but the opening sequence had Vince in all his glory strut to the ring for a family photo to commemorate the evening. Once there, his nemesis HHH (or Triple H for you non-wrestling fans) proceeded to the ring to announce that not all of Vince's family was there. He then, one by one, called women...and men...to the ring that Vince had supposedly had "relations" with. He also called down Vince's illegitimate son, which happens to be a "little person" from Ireland. Needless to say, I was a bit taken aback. I remember when Undertaker having casket matches was over-the-top. But this was downright disturbing.

Amazingly, I don't sound like a kid any more. I used to be the one saying, oh it's not that bad. But now I'm saying, it IS that bad. At some point the line has to be drawn, and it's not even about the racy story lines and gratuitous sexual content. Wrestling was almost goofy 10 years ago, and it was good for a laugh and fun to jump on board with a guy and enjoy his ups and downs. It's not fun and games anymore, though. Since I stopped watching, Davey Boy Smith, Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Crash Holley, Big Boss Man, and Brian Adams just to name a few have all died (most of the cause of the deaths say heart attack) and they were all in there 30's and 40's. I just read an article that said wrestlers have a death rate seven times higher than the regular population and are 12 times more likely to die of heart disease. It's unbelievable what these men did to their bodies and the price that it cost them. All in the name of entertainment, I suppose.

While watching, I started to wonder why I quit watching wrestling. Suddenly, thanks to Vince, I remembered.

Couldn't Be Happier

Really? That’s the best you could do? Michigan, I understand your thinking at this point, but really. That’s all you could come up with at this point? I can here the conversation right now…

Michigan athletic director Bill Martin: Well, now that we didn’t have to fire Lloyd, we’ve got to figure out a way to beat that darn team from down south. Apparently Les doesn’t was too stupid to figure out his alma mater wanted him as the head coach.
Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman: Well, Ohio State has only lost twice in the last two years.
Martin: Yeah, Florida and Illinois. Hey, wait a sec. Didn’t both those teams run a spread offense?
Coleman: What’s a spread offense?
Martin: Don’t worry about it. But that must be the key. The spread offense. Who runs it the best. That guy down at WVU. Rich. Yeah, those guys run the spread offense real good. Let’s hire him!

You KNOW that’s what they were thinking (or not thinking). What did Ohio State do when it was looking for a replacement for Cooper. Glen Mason was qualified, but they had to find a guy that won some big games (what Cooper didn’t do). So they got a guy that won championships.

The last time I checked, it wasn’t offense that ailed Michigan. In fact, they were pretty good the last couple years with the likes of Henne and Hart (except against Ohio State, HAHAHAHA!). As I remember, Michigan had to big problems: defensive meltdowns and a failure to win big games (0-4 against the Buckeyes and 0-4 in its last four bowls). What’s two things that Rich Rodriguez has never produced as a major college football coach (NAIA does not apply, eh hem, Glenville State)? A quality defense and a wins in big games.

Let’s look at this objectively. As I’ve always said, the numbers never lie. Sure, WVU has put up some quality records in the last three years: 10-2, 11-2, 11-1. Yeah, that’s not bad. How ’bout them Buckeyes over the last three years: 11-1, 12-1, 10-2 (with two national championship game appearances). That’s not bad either. But let’s dig a little deeper. This is an easy thing to compare because our new punching bag Rich Rodriguez and the Vest became head coach of their respective schools in the same season of 2001. I never judge a coach by his first season, so let’s throw out 2001 (7-5 for the Vest, 3-8 for Red and Green Wrist Bands).

Since 2002, Ohio State is 66-10 overall with four bowl victories. WVU, on the other hand, is 57-16 with two bowl victories.

Wow, 57 wins is pretty good. But let’s go a little deeper still. Against the major rival, Ohio State is 5-1 while WVU is 3-2 against Pitt (and we all know Pitt isn’t exactly Michigan). Against ranked teams the Bucks are 21-5. WVU is 9-10. But even knowing that, this stat is the killer. Everyone has busted on the Buckeyes for picking up some piece-of-cake non-conference wins the the last couple of years, but examine the ‘Eers schedule, and you’ll find very much of the same (a win over East Carolina each year). And for all ya’ll who claim the Big East is a powerhouse conference, here’s something for your to chew on. In the last six years, WVU is 7-10 against non-conference BCS member schools. Ohio State, on the other hand, is 21-5 with three losses coming against a pair of No. 2-ranked teams (Texas and Florida, both of whom went on to win the national championship) and a No. 4-ranked team in Michigan. How freakin’ great is that stat!

That just goes to show how pitifully sad the Big East has been and how incredibly inflated West Virginia’s win totals have been during Rodriguez’s tenure.

OK, so maybe we’ll give Rich a few years to build up the Maize & Black and Blue. You know as well as I do that Michigan recruits lead footed quarterbacks exclusively and there isn’t an athlete on the roster like Pat White to run the offense. Much like at WVU, it will take him some time to recruit HIS type of player and coach up system. In his first four years at WVU, Rich won 27 games and dropped 21, losing three bowl games. Winning eight games a year ain’t cuttin’ it. And with his futility against rivals and in big games, a couple more losses in a row to the Buckeyes and the booster club will have his spread option on the first bus back to the Mountain State.

So, is Rich going to win at Michigan? Almost any one can win at Michigan. The question is how much can you win at Michigan? Like I said, eight wins isn’t ground breaking like it was at WVU. Not even 10 wins is ground breaking. It’s gotta be Big 10 titles, and beating the Buckeyes or bust. Let’s not forget that Michigan has never appeared in the BCS title game.

My gut tells me that Rich is in WAY over his head. Even back in his small college days of Salem and Glenville, he posted a record of 45-36-2. I know a guy by the name of Bob Eaton that had a record like that at West Liberty…and he got fired…from WEST LIBERTY.

Regardless, it’s going to take Rich a while to get things going. I heard that Terrelle Pryor was all of sudden thinking about heading up North. You go ahead and do that, son. Go ahead and run that spread option that won nothing of significance at West Virginia, got Pat White nothing but hurt and ruined his NFL potential. You go ahead and play for that Maize and Blue and end up like another top-rated QB in Chad Henne: 0-4 against the Buckeyes. You go ahead and play for the Wolverines and the Buckeyes will find someone, anyone, and get to another national championship game while you are sunning yourself in Orlando at the Capital One Bowl for four years in a row. Have a good time.

In summation, I say, Thanks, Michigan. And somewhere in Columbus, as he prepares for the BCS Championship, Jim Tressel is smiling.

Learn my lesson

Remember just a couple days ago when I wrote about Jesus remaining silent while His critics condemned Him? Why can't I lesson to myself. The entire reason I started this blog was to cut down my pride. For a while it worked, but I have reverted back to my defensive, know-it-all attitude. Something happened tonight, and I won't go into detail, but I got defensive and raised my voice to people and I shouldn't have. It doesn't matter if I believe that I was right or justified in my argument, it matters that--like the bracelets say--Do what Jesus would do. Just keep quiet.

Maybe there are times when we have to speak up, but it shouldn't be in the manner that I did. There's a way to defend yourself without be ill-mannered and ill-tempered. At first, I felt convinced in my stance, but as the Holy Spirit does, He convicted me as soon as I opened my Bible tonight.

I thought I had an idea for a blog, and as I was flipping through to find Timothy, James 3 caught my eye and there was a big header that said the Untamable Tongue. Ype, "the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity...With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men...My brethren, these things out not to be so."

Let me have it James. Every time I hear this verse I think of the Third Day song (off their self-titled first release) "Nothing At All." Actually, it was the first 3D song I ever heard. In the song, there's a little breakdown where Mac speaks piece of this verse. The lyrics are pretty self-explanatory; "If you can't say nothing good, don't say nothing at all." Despite the fact that the song is rife with double negatives ("ain't you got nothing better to do"), it's the truth.

As the song continues, "we've got to tame our tongues." It's not that I'm shouting expletives or vulgar language, but it's all about intent and attitude. There is no doubt I need to work on this and it's a big part of getting rid of my pride. Thank God for His forgiveness!

The Master & The Musician

As you know, Phil Keaggy is my favorite artist of all time. This year also happens to mark the 30th year since his first instrumental release titled The Master & The Musician. It's hard to believe that someone who released an album (not even his first) five years before I was born could be my favorite artist. Anyway, Phil has remastered that very album and it is on sale as we speak. It's a two disc set this time around with outtakes, demos and tunes that didn't make the final cut. He didn't win any awards for this album, but I personally feel it ranks right up there with The Wind & the Wheat and better than Beyond Nature, which both won Dove Awards and are considered his best work.

It's definitely an eclectic collection that has little jazz guitar, a little Celtic influence but worth every bit of the money spent. This is my shameless plug for you to go buy the album and support the greatest guitar player we've ever known.

While Phil's album is called the Master & the Musician, he is without a doubt the master musician. Here is an acoustic version of "Pilgrims Flight" combined with "Castle Call," which are both on this album.



I found a great Phil quote, and this sums up this album and his playing. "The gift of music is not only something that you share with other people, it's something that you give back to your creator. To me, it has to express love and the gratitude that's in your heart, because that's ultimately what we're created to do. As it says in the book of Isaiah, 'The people whom I have formed for myself shall declare my praise.' That's the foremost reason I am a Christian musician."

Go to philkeaggy.com for a great story on the making of the album, for song clips, and for information on buying the album.

Time Warner sabotaged me. OK, maybe it's not that dramatic, but I downgraded my Internet service to save a few bucks (every penny counts I'm told). For the next two days, my Internet wouldn't work. I called tech support and three times I got disconnected. Finally, I called at midnight tonight and got through after 25 minutes. Nothing like tech support. Well, that's the reason I didn't blog the last couple of days. I don't really have much to say today, it was an awfully boring day, but I would like to relay a couple things I heard in church on Sunday.

The speaker was talking about the messianic prophesies in Isaiah 53:6-12. First, let me say how amazing it is that Isaiah wrote these things hundreds of years before Jesus and he hit the nail on the head. For anyone wondering about the validity of the Bible, just look at that. Anyway, remember how Jesus kept quiet while the authorities questioned him? "Like a sheep before its shearers." While the authorities were challenging Him, He kept quiet. He let them smash His reputation. Yet Jesus wasn't always quiet. Remember when He cleaned house in the temple? When His reputation was on the line, it didn't matter, but when it was the Father's reputation, he spoke up and acted in a big way. We should definitely take a cue from that. I remember John Wooden writing in a book that "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." Jesus stood up for his character and made sure the reputation of His Father's was upheld, as well.

One other thing that stood out to me was something that speaker says separates Christianity from all other man-made religions. It's very simple. In 53:6, it says that all we like sheep have gone astray (that's also a line in a great Phil Keaggy song) and the Bible also tells us that we all try to suppress the truth and that "no, not one" is righteous. We have all turned aside. In other words, people stink. It's the truth. We know because of this that we need a perfect atonement for our sin, which was Jesus. But what a difference that is from man-made religions that tell us that you and I are all OK and that we are empowered individuals. If you were trying to develop your own religion, how could you attract people if you got together and said, "OK, folks. We are getting together here because we are all sinners, totally depraved and there is nothing we can do for ourselves." When I look at it like that, it's quite depressing. But when I know the truth, that Jesus has rescued me, it's not depressing, but overwhelmingly joyous.

A bit of everything

It's been an exciting last couple of days and the reason I haven't blogged is because I was in Morgantown with no access to the Internet. I was there to make a big purchase. I can't say I made the purchase on my own because it's a joint effort and it's that kind of cooperation that makes me and Trista's relationship work so well. But stay tuned for more information.

I have a few other things on my mind though, and I'll just list them in stream of consciousness style.

I'm watching the DII semifinals right now and this Xaiver Omon for Northwest Missouri State is a really nice player. He just went 98 yards for his fourth TD of the game. I'm happy to say that I called this upset. I'm cheering hard against Grand Valley, which doesn't make much sense considering the Lakers play in the same conference as my current employer, Mercyhurst. But in our conference, Grand Valley wins everything and I'm sick of it. Time for someone new. I really wish that someone new would have been California (Pa.). It's an old PSAC West rival of Shippensburg (where I spent the last two years) and I am friendly with their sports information director. Mercyhurst is moving into the PSAC next year, so it would have been nice to have the defending national champ not only in our conference but in the division. Unfortunately, Cal was bumped out by a Valdosta State rally. I love college football playoffs. Hint, hint.

The Celtics are 17-2 and I'm absolutely giddy about it. I knew this team would be good but I was thinking like 50-32 good. But if they stay on pace, the C's could possibly be 73-9 at season's end. Now, they aren't going to do that. But 60 wins would be amazing to me after winning all of 23 games a year ago. Kevin Garnett's stats aren't what they used to be but he's such a great leader. Just his presence on the team has made this team what it is. Also, Paul Pierce has been under appreciated for a long time. Without any help, he's gone to the conference finals and to several playoffs. Now, with some help, he looks like an MVP. The great thing, though, about this team is that Pierce, like tonight, can have an off night and they can still win easily. Rondo is really coming on as a player. He just needs the confidence to keep shooting.

I love the baseball hot stove league. I'm on mlbtraderumors.com all the time to see if my Reds are going to make any moves. So far, it's been pretty quiet other than a huge closer signing. I'm not a huge fan of four years to Mr. Cordero but if he improves the team by 10-12 wins for the next four years, which I think he can, it'll be worth it. I heard the Reds were in the running for Dontrelle Willis. I'm really glad they didn't land him. He's really overrated as a pitcher and isn't nearly as effective as he was his first couple of years in the league. I also like that the Reds are getting involved in talks for Erik Bedard. He's 28 years old, entering his prime and has had an ERA down around 3.00 for the last couple of years. With Bedard, Harang and Arroyo at the top, look out. I've also heard the names of Brett Tomko, David Wells and Jon Leiber tossed about. David Wells? This isn't 1995. Tomko and Leiber I can deal with ONLY if the team lands Bedard.

What really disturbs me about the Reds' offseason is the talk of moving Josh Hamilton. He's really been shopped around. This is a guy, while being very injury plagued, showed tremendous ability at the plate and was easily the team's best outfielder. Not only that, but he was a great story and great PR for the Reds when they really needed great PR. I'm afraid trading him, unless it was in a package for Bedard, would cause fans to riot. The ONLY way I would consider trading Hamilton is if I knew that he was not going to ever put together a full season because of injury problems, or if Jay Bruce was going to be the opening day starter in right field. That's it. The only way. As for moving Homer Bailey and Joey Votto...I'm not crazy about it. It's been so long since Cincinnati has had legit prospects come up through the minors, you'd like to see a lineup of Norris Hopper, Jeff Keppinger, Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Hamilton and then fill in the blanks. It would be rewarding for the organization to see all the homegrown talent.

The package I heard for Bedard was Bailey, Votto and Johnny Cueto. There's no chance I move both pitchers. After watching Bailey last year, I think Cueto has a shot to be better. At his best, Bailey can probably be as good as Bedard and Votto probably won't be an all-star but he'll be very good. Two can go, but not all three.

Really, though. Hamilton has to stay. A 2009 outfield of Dunn, Hamilton and Bruce (can I dream of not having Dunn?) would make me giggle like a school girl.

Waiting or waiting to work?

Ever since I mentioned yesterday in the blog about waiting on the Lord, that little phrase has been really stewing in my mind. It seems easy to understand. It should mean simply that I have to be patient and not try to work on my own clock but on God's. It should mean simply that God has a plan and a timetable and as long as I'm willing to wait and then act when He calls me, it will work out.

But I wondered if there is more to it, with me at least. The first thing I usually do when faced with this kind of question is look up the word in the dictionary.

By nature, I'm a pretty impatient person. I hate being late and I don't tolerate it from others. Supposedly, it's a family trait, but with me it's almost an obsession to be early to everything and it may even be a fear of being late. So when I think of waiting, I think of being told I can't do something or that I can't go somewhere. Or maybe I'm ready to go somewhere and the person that's going with me isn't ready to go. I'm waiting. One of the definitions, actually the first one that appears on dictionary.com is "to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens."

After I read that, it hit me. I had read several verses from the Bible and didn't fully get it until I read that definition. One word popped out at me. Inactive. That's usually what we relate to waiting and that's what didn't sit well with me when ever I read "wait on the Lord."

Being inactive and waiting should not go hand in hand. I kept quoting Psalms 130:5, you know the verse from the Jeremy Camp song. But I forgot to keep reading to verse six. "6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. "

Those who are watching for the morning are like the the virgins and their lamps from Matthew. This whole time I've been waiting for a new place to go to church and some way to get involved with something and that was the wrong way to go about it. I'm not saying that God can't speak to me and tell me what to do or where to go, but what I'm saying is that He won't unless I'm ready to act. I'm pretty sure I'm not ready to act.

The definition I like for the word "wait" is "to be available or in readiness." It's like an army lying in wait, ready to strike at the general's command. In other words, waiting is not sitting on my butt and wondering when the flashing sign will appear, but it's being diligent and continuing to do God's work--the things I know I can do--while waiting for a direction from Him.

The Proverbs tell us that "The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." But it also says "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." Maybe what Solomon was saying is that you have to be self-motivated and work hard but don't work hard for the wrong reasons or push ahead quickly for personal gain. If I'm truly waiting on the Lord, I'm going to be in that state of readiness, ready to spring into action whenever He calls me. It's just like working out on the treadmill. It's best to stretch out, walk a bit and then work your way up to a sprint when you're ready. God knows when I'll be ready to sprint, but I've got to start walking first.

Today's thoughts

I'm sitting at my desk right now with no idea what to blog about. It's pouring down snow outside and that's totally fine with me. I love snow, always have and I love cold weather. It's invigorating. I guess I moved to the right place.

Most of what I've been doing today has been lounging, but I did break out my acoustic and since it is Christmas time, I started strumming some Christmas songs. I've said before that one of my favorite things to do is play old hymns on my guitar, and some of my favorite hymns have been dubbed Christmas songs.

There's "Angels from the Realms of Glory," "Silent Night," "Good Christian Men, Rejoice," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "What Child Is this," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and of course, "O Holy Night."

The final song is my favorite. Not only is it a powerful and stirring song, but I also have many great memories of it. Every Christmas at church, my dad sings that song and he can really belt it out. Last year, though, was a really special version, and very impromptu at that. Dad was schedule to sing it on a Sunday morning when me, Uncle Loren and some of the guys generally play. Dad was going to sing it without music but we agreed that we could work up a quick version. Without rehearsing, we put together a very nice arrangement and Dad cruised right along through it. I've been playing guitar since I was 13 and it was without a doubt one of my favorite guitar-playing moments.

I guess it just goes to show that even though we aren't professionals, the best musicians or the best singers, when our heart is right in worship and use the talents God gave us, people will be touched and God will be glorified. I wish I could do that more often, but like I said a few weeks ago, it's time for me to expand my horizons as a Christian and develop some new talents and new skills. Step out of my comfort zone, I guess. I'm not entirely sure what that's going to be yet, but God has said to be patient.

As Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait on the LORD;Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!"

Dinosaurs: Biblically speaking...part deux

I know, I'm a couple days late on this, but some things came up. And I also know that you are expecting me to say something, anything about college football. But I'm not. I do not wish to add to the mess of opinion. There are people smarter than I that will make good arguments and people dumber than I (Les Miles) that will make stupid arguments. There is a point of saturation and I don't want to add to that.

So I'll get back to the dinosaurs. In the last blog I gave Biblical references describing dinosaurs and gave evidence that dinosaurs and man lived side-by-side. Today, I'll give a possible theory for why the dinosaurs became extinct. This is easily the best explanation I've heard and it's Biblically sound. Here it goes.

The place we need to start is in the beginning. Yes, God created the heavens and the earth. But let's dig a bit deeper. First, go to Genesis 1:6-8. "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. (7) Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. (8)"And God called the firmament Heaven...

What this tells me is that God created a firmament of water, and called it heaven, meaning there was a layer of water suspended in the atmosphere. The firmament, I'll call it, is much like an ozone layer. It surrounded the earth (waters divided from waters) and protected the earth from the suns radiation, provided a consistent temperature throughout the earth and most importantly, a consistent air pressure.

In Genesis 2, it clearly states that God had not caused it to rain. There was no need for rain, as the weather was perfect all the time, as God had wanted it to be. Also, in Genesis 1:20, God told the birds to fly above the earth and across the face of the firmament. If the firmament were not a solid thing (water) then why couldn't birds fly through the firmament or above the firmament. But no, the firmament had boundaries and it was solid.

But that firmament would eventually be broken, and that came in the great flood. Genesis 7 tells us about it. It reads in verse 11 that the windows of heaven were opened. Could this mean that the firmament was broken?

I'm not suggesting that dinosaurs died in the flood, because they would have been aboard the ark. Yes, really, they would have fit. There weren't that many "kinds" of animals then. Noah didn't need to take a collie, golden retriever, and a lab. He just need a dog. Most fossil records show that most dinosaurs were much smaller than we are led to believe. Instead, I'm suggesting that the collapse, or the depletion of the firmament, caused problems on earth with weather, temperature, and most importantly, pressure. I've read that many dinosaurs had minimal lung capacity and with the increase in air pressure, they would have a difficult time breathing, and thus, a difficult time living.

Something to think about anyway.

This doesn't have to do so much with extinction, but it gives more evidence that humans and dinosaurs could have lived together. Common sense would say that dinosaurs would have wiped out humans. But in Genesis 1:30, it says that God gave every green herb for food to the birds and the beasts. Not flesh, but herbs. Let's move to the post-flood, where everything changed. In Genesis 9:2-3, it is the first time God tells man that any animal, fish, bird, creeping thing, whatever, is given to man to eat, "even as the green herbs." Apparently, before this, man did not eat animals and likewise animals did not eat man.

I've always been intrigued by the history of mankind and the creation. Certainly, there are many questions that we will never be able to answer, but by reading the Bible and really studying it, we might be able to answer a few of those questions.

Dinosaurs: Biblically speaking

I've always believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible and not only is it the infallible word of God, it's also an incredible history book. In fact, it's the best history book we have and historians will agree. But if one thing frustrates me more than anything, it's the theory of evolution. And something that goes hand-in-hand with evolution is dinosaurs.

This started out as one blog, but is going to become two. I didn't realize how much there was to talk about. Today, I'll give Biblical references to dinosaurs, and tomorrow, I'll toss out a theory for the extinction of dinosaurs.

Every kid loves the idea of dinosaurs. They were big and scary, almost like monsters and our imaginations are able to run wild with the thoughts of these creatures. One way that evolutionists try to refute creation is by using dinosaurs, saying "how do you fit the Bible to the dinosaurs." Well, the answer is simple. You don't fit the Bible to the dinosaurs, because dinosaurs are already in the Bible.

I'll explain in a minute, but let me first give a disclaimer. There is a ton of scientific evidence for what I'm about to say, but I'm not going to give all the references. But I do encourage you to look it up for yourself. I think you'll see that this idea about dinosaurs is right on.

The first notion we have to get rid of is that dinosaurs are not in the Bible. The main reason the word "dinosaur" is not in the Bible is because it wasn't created until Sir Richard Owen needed to categorize a group of large extinct reptiles in 1842. The first King James Bible was printed in 1611. So therefore, there was no "dinosaur" word to describe these creatures at the time.

If indeed the Bible is a great historical book, then wouldn't it stand to reason that it is correct throughout? Let's look to Job 40 and 41 quickly. There we see the appearance of the Behemoth and Leviathan. The description of Behemoth includes the following phrases: he eats grass like an ox, his tail hangs like a cedar, his bones are like beams of bronze and his ribs like bars of iron. Most will say this is an elephant or hippo. But have you ever seen an elephant's tail? Hardly a cedar. More like a pipe cleaner. The leviathan is described one you don't want to mess with. Any hope of overcoming him is false. He has terrible teeth all around and his sneezings flash forth light, sparks of fire shoot out of his mouth and his breath kindles coal. Wow! Sounds like a dragon!

And guess what. Dragons are also mentioned lot's of times in the Bible. As they say, all legends have truth in them. Isn't it entirely probable that dragons were real creatures and not myths? Jeremiah 51 mentions a monster (New King James). Psalm 74 also speaks of leviathan and sea serpents. Ezekiel 32:2 speaks of the monsters in the seas troubling the waters with their feet. Isaiah 51:9 mentions Rahab, another great serpent. There is also evidence to suggest that some dinosaurs had cavities where they could have created fire and smoke. We know of one beetle that can create hot fumes. And that's just a beetle.

As you can see, there are many references in the Bible to great beasts and creatures that certainly can be explained as dinosaurs. Also, consider that UNFOSSILIZED dinosaur bones have been found in recent years. This suggests that dinosaurs aren't MILLIONS of years old, but rather thousands.

This, however, might be the clincher. If evolutionists are correct in saying that dinosaurs died off about 65.5 million years ago, then no one at any time would know what a dinosaur looked like until the first mostly intact skeleton was discovered in the 1830's. But archaeologists have been finding drawings and renderings of dinosaur like creatures with animals that still exist. Take, for example, the engraving at the top that is dated 1492. For more on ancient dinosaur depictions, check out this site. It will blow your mind.

There's so much more I can talk about. So many discard the Bible when it comes to science. But the evidence is there and it's undeniable.

Tomorrow: Dinosaur extinction.

Downpour on my soul

It's raining. It's been raining. I'm not sure it's going to stop raining. Honestly, it started yesterday on my way back to Erie and it's still going strong.

Rain drives me crazy and like so many times, my mind starts turning when I'm annoyed. It's seems to me that most have a negative perception of rain. It's a nuisance, a bothersome occurrence that keeps us from enjoying ourselves. You know, like the kids in the Cat in the Hat. It was too wet outside to play.

Sometimes rain brings on a perception of depression. Movies and television shows use rain all the time when they want to portray a dark scene. In other words, rain is not supposed to be a good thing. I also relate rain to trying times. There is, of course, the first rain ever recorded in the great deluge of the world wide flood. That rain wiped out all of humanity except for Noah and his family. Talk about trying times. We have all sorts of phrases like "weathering the storm." There's that Casting Crowns song about praising God in the "storm," or praising him during the trials and tribulations of life.

I looked up rain on biblegateway.com and received a bunch of references, but other than the flood, most were about God withholding rain or sending rain during the time of a drought. Those droughts were sometimes used as punishment to a nation. But in the New Testament, most of the references seemed to be more along the lines of how rain produces life.

"Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” - Acts 14:17.

"For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God." - Hebrews 6:7

"And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit." - James 5:18.

It's true, rain, as much as I dislike it, is a blessing from heaven and directly from the hand of God. It can bring destruction, but without it, our planet would be a desolate waste land.

While I often don't think of rain as being a blessing and consider it more of a hinderance, there are also struggles, trials and "hinderances" in my life (many others have suffered infinitely more than myself) and those certainly aren't blessings from God. Or are they?

Whenever I think of hard times, I think of the song "Chalice" by Phil Keaggy. In it he sings...

"And suffering restores us; burns away the empty shallowness
And softening the heart
To be broken bread and poured out wine
When it rains it pours; turns a life into a chalice;
There to nourish every soul one at a time."

He means simply this; that when trouble comes, it comes in a big way. But it is in those times that we surrender our pride and turn to God because we know only he can get us out of the rain. But that rain, while giving us trouble, brings us closer to God, builds our relationship with God, and helps us to trust God more and more by making us reliant on not ourselves but on the Almighty.

Think about how much Paul suffered but how close he was to God. In Acts 4:21-22 it says that Paul made many disciples where he preached and in the process he was "strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue the faith, and saying 'We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."

Romans 5:3-4 tells us to "glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."

2 Corinthians 12:10 even tells us to rejoice in our infirmities. Not wallow in self-pity. Not sit inside the house and stare out the window at the rain pouring down on our lives. No. We should rejoice!

So just as rain helps flowers, trees and animals grow strong and sustain life, the rain or trials in our walk is from a loving God, and it helps us to grow and gain life, as well. But this life, the kind that comes from a inseparable relationship with God, is eternal.

The Boy is Back in Town

After a nice Thanksgiving vacation in Sardis, I'm back in Erie and back to the grind. The vacation didn't actually end all that splendidly with me getting sick on the way home from Drover's. I'm still not sure what happened but I'm thinking it was the Chocolate Extreme Blizzard. Too much extreme to mix with hot wings.

It was a pretty rough ride home. Thankfully Trista is a more than capable driver. I always knew she was a caring person, and that attribute showed when I was sick. She deals with sick people all day at work but is very comforting even when I'm sure she doesn't want to be.

I proclaimed on the way home that I was never eating at Drover's again. Now you know that's not going to happen. That's like a frat boy with a hangover saying he's never going to drink again. It'll happen. But next time, the wings won't be chased by I Chocolate Extreme Blizzard.

Grateful

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There's always good food, good fellowship and good TV. This year, I made it to two dinners (Trista's family and my own), saw a lot of family and friends that I hadn't seen in several months, and watched a couple good basketball games, a couple good football games and on Friday, I watched a full-day marathon of Man vs. Wild on Discovery. Yeah, Bear!

I also had the opportunity to watch the movie Amazing Grace Friday evening. I had only heard about it because Chris Tomlin performed the song for the soundtrack. He did an excellent job on a classic tune, but the movie reminded me of some things I should be thankful for that I take for granted almost all the time.

I knew that I needed to blog about all that I had to be thankful for, but that is such a daunting task because I have been blessed so much by God's gracious hand. He's provided such a bountiful supply of everything that it's so hard to take it all in. And I should certainly be thankful for that. I guess it's like an actor accepting an award. He's got to thank people, and thank a lot of people, but doesn't want to leave any one out of his speech. But one thing I want to touch on really quickly is freedom.

The movie is about the British slave trade and William Wilberforce's quest to put a stop to it. It's a good movie and certainly worth a watch. But to be given a vivid account about how our fellow people were being treated not too much more than 100 years ago really made me take stock in my freedom. I treasure my freedom as an American. The freedom I have to vote for whom I want to serve, the freedom to pray whenever and wherever I want. The freedom to write this blog. The freedom to pick my career. It's an amazing gift. I've always believe, and I don't think I can be convinced otherwise, that America was created by God for a special purpose. As a nation, we've done a lot of good things for serving God. Of course, we've done some pretty lousy things, too. I'm not here to start talking politically because most of you already know where I stand (pretty conservative). But all I want to say is that the next time you drive down the street without being stopped by a military roadblock or the next time you watch Frank Caliendo do a dead-on impressive of our president, be thankful for the men and women who have sacrificed to give us the freedom and give thanks to God for allowing our nation to be.

There are two generations that I admire more than any other. One is the age of our founding fathers. Guys like George Washington, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin just to name a couple were so incredibly brilliant and forward thinking. These were men of wealth and prominence and they put their reputations and more so their lives on the line to have freedom. They understood the ramifications of their deeds and knew it would effect the world; not just the world they lived in, but the world we live in now.

I also admire the generation of World War II. That's not slighting the World War I folks, or the Spanish American veterans, but World War II was truly a battle between good and evil. As kids, they suffered through the Great Depression and as young adults, guys like me and Adam and Neil and Derek dropped everything to fly around the world and take a stand against evil. It was not only the soldiers, but the entire nation stopped what it was doing to support the war effort. I couldn't imagine that kind of support. I couldn't imagine that kind of bravery. I'm so thankful that those heroes, on all fronts, had the bravery to do it, though.

I feel awful that I take my freedoms for granted. I have several uncles that served in wars and I have the utmost respect for each of them. Someday, if I ever have son, I'm going to name him after an uncle that died during WWII. I'm not sure what I can do to show my full appreciation, but I think taking full advantage of every freedom I have is one way. One of those freedom's is praising God. And one of my favorite pieces of scripture is David's song of thanksgiving in 1 Chronicles 16. I've never been good at writing my own material, but God gave us the Bible so I could learn how to worship, and David provided a pretty good example of that. I'll close my thanksgiving blog with a suggestion to exercise your freedoms, give thanks to God for them, and pray that they are never taken away.

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!" (1 Chronicles 16:8-10).

Talking About Grace

Just trimming hedges and washing cars...(more on this later)

Grace. When you hear that word, how many think of Seinfeld episode when Elaine meets Mr. Pitt for the first time. "You don't want too much grace, or you won't be able to stand," said Mr. Pitt to Elaine.

Of course, Mr. Pitt was referring to the kind of grace that is defined as elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action. Of course, being Thanksgiving, many of us will be saying grace on Thursday before our meal. There's a boat load of ways to define grace, but my favorite definition is "mercy; clemency; pardon; reprieve," which I found on dictionary.com.

At one point or another, every Christian struggles with the idea of grace. It comes after we recognize how sinful we are and teams with this societal message that says we have to work hard to earn favor. I realize I'm tackling an incredibly deep subject here and I'm not going to even come close to explaining grace, because in all truthfulness I can't. But I'd just like to say what it means in the scope of my world.

Let me backtrack to the concept of earning favor. It's in everything we do. I can't make money unless I go to work and earn it. I can't get promoted unless I earn the favor of the boss. This idea of earning favor doesn't work when trying to understand grace? Throw it out the window. It's no applicable.

Romans 11:6-7 tell me everything I need to know. "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work." I know, Paul's writing is a bet tough to read sometimes, but it all boils down to grace is not work. And work is not grace.

Reading the Old Testament, it's clear that the former law was all about works. Animals had to be sacrificed, if you got sick you had to bath, shave your head and beard, stay outside the camp for a week. The only way to gain a reprieve was through some type of manual action. But Ephesians 2 tell us that things changed. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Check out Romans 5:12-21. It tells us that there is a free gift. That's key. Free. That gift comes from Jesus' righteous act on the cross.

There it is again; the idea that grace (and salvation) is a gift. Think quickly about Christmas and your birthday when you receive gifts. With me, I know that I couldn't be more undeserving of presents. I'm hardly the best son, grandson or boyfriend I could be, but the people that love me are going to give me a gift. When I receive, I'm am certainly not going to tell everyone that they owed it to me. And this is the same with God's gift of grace. I can't earn his present, He just gives it to me because He loves me. You earn wages and pay, not gifts.

Naturally, when someone gives me a gift, I send them a thank you note. God's gift of grace (forgiveness, reprieve from sin) is an incredible gift. How could I possibly repay him for it? The great thing about God is that He's not asking me to repay Him. I heard a preacher tell a story about someone who was a million dollars in debt and in serious trouble. A fellow walked up to him and handed him one million dollars, no strings attached. The receiver was able to escape all of his financial problems and escape possible harm, but how could he ever repay the fellow that gave him the money? There's no way he could ever pay him back, but he feels like he should. So he starts washing the fellow's car, trimming his hedges and mowing his grass.

That's exactly what we are supposed to be doing for God, washing His car...figuratively of course. He's given us His grace and we can't earn it no matter how many times we wash, wax and windex, but we can show him gratitude by loving Him. Jesus said "this is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." Romans 13 says "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."

So there it is. I know I struggled with grace for a period and it weighed me down so much that I became unproductive and just worried about my salvation all the time. But I got a grasp on grace only when I put complete trust in God and stopped thinking that I had work my way out of sin. Understanding this has given me so much joy and I am carefree. Certainly, as Paul warned, it does not give me a license to sin or a free pass, but it does give me power over sin because I can ask God for forgiveness and He will grant me that unendingly.

Sometimes grace can best be explained through a well-stated personal testimony. One of the best I've heard is in a song. I've known the words pretty much all my life, but honestly, it never really hit home until I looked up the lyrics tonight. It explains grace so perfectly. With it I learned to obey God and to never again have to worry about the bonds of sin. Here it is.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me.
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

Been awhile

This has clearly been my longest layoff since I started blogging, but this weekend has been nuts with games and with Trista coming to visit. I was out of town all day today and got back into Erie only to go to work at 3 p.m. and not stop till almost 10.

I did get an intriguing phone call from Jason Eichelberger today. I'm pretty excited about the possibility, but I really shouldn't say anything right now. As of right now, my plan is to post every day this week the way I used to. I have to get back into the groove. It's just with basketball season starting, my time is totally gone. Even though there are more sports during the fall, my demands increase during the winter because I'm the contact for men's b-ball and wrestling, two of our more popular sports. It looks like I'm heading home on Wednesday for Thanksgiving and then I might stop in Indiana (Pa.) on the way back for the basketball game. Indiana is, of course, the hometown of American icon Jimmy Stewart.

Today was my Grandma Romick's birthday. She's the most loving person I've ever met. I talked to her on the phone and she said that the best part of her birthday was getting to talk to her friends and family. Most wouldn't think that's much of a present, but that's what she loves.

Losing a Friend

I said yesterday I was going to put up a post about Genesis. But that's going to have to wait a day. I really feel the need to memorialize Joe Nuxhall.

Joe was a radio broadcaster and member of the Cincinnati Red's organization for six decades. He passed away late Thursday night at the age of 79.

As a life-long Reds fan, and a fan that has had to listen to the radio because they were never on TV (until the advent of Fox Sports Ohio, praise the Lord), I have many memories of the ol’ Left Hander making calls with Marty. I cannot say I saw Nuxie pitch, but I do know the guy won 136 career games with a 3.80 ERA. That’s a good career.

But for someone to stick with one organization for virtually six decades is a more remarkable achievement. Just think about everything he witness during his radio career with the Reds. He watch first-hand one of the greatest 10-year runs in sport with the Big Red Machine. There were three Hall 0f Famers on that team (should be five with Pete Rose and Dave Concepcion). He saw the miraculous 1990 World Series (the greatest year of my life). He saw thousands and thousands of wins…and losses. What Reds fan wouldn’t trade to live the life of Joe.

Even in his later years, I have to admit that he slowed down considerably. Not only with his broadcasting schedule but with the way he called the game. But there was a certain charm to that. He was the guy you would want to listen to while you were sitting on your porch drinking a lemonade on a cool summer evening.

If you aren’t a Reds fan, you can’t truly appreciate what Nuxie means to us. You spend night after night listening to a fellow year in and year out and he becomes your friend. He’s there through the good times and the bad times. He celebrates and commiserates right along side of us. How many radio broadcasters do you know that get their own bobble head dolls?

Ask a Reds fan who the most iconic figure in the history of the team is. You might hear Johnny Bench. You might here Barry Larkin or Ted Kluszewski. Someone might even say Sparky Anderson or Pete Rose. But I’m willing to bet that even with all those hall of fame players and managers that Joe would make that list more often than not. His career spanned generations in Cincinnati.

He is already a member of the team’s hall of fame and his youth is immortalized in bronze outside the Great American Ballpark. My only hope is that some day he’ll join Marty, his long-time partner in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Believe me, I won’t claim to know him as well as Marty or any of the people that spent their lives with him, but like I said before, he became a friend. And it’s always tough to lose a friend.

Here we go again

There's no denying it now. It's basketball season. We had our home opener here at Mercyhurst tonight. The men's team won, although Coach Manchel wasn't happy with the effort. It wasn't the game that made it feel like basketball season, though. It's how tired I am right now. UGH. It's really the life of an SID.

I went in to the office around 9 today and even though Jason and I went to Tim Horton's for breakfast, I stayed there until 11 tonight. That's basically a 13 hour day. Now, I didn't do hard labor the entire time, but just the fact that you are looking at the same scenery for that long wears me out.

It was also my first try using STATCREW for a live game. Let me tell you what. That's some stressful stuff. One little goof, one missed keystroke and your entire stat file can be virtually ruined. For a while, I've been saying that I'm ready to be a head SID, but I had forgotten how much stress there was involved with being in charge of game day operations at a basketball game. It wasn't even that bad at football. There's just something about the fast-paced atmosphere of basketball that adds to the stress. The stat effort went OK, but it really made me appreciate Jason Eichelberger much more.

That guy is a stat crew monster. In two years, I rarely saw him make a mistake and when he did, he could change it while the game was still going on. He could do all this while running music, and keeping press row in order. I suppose you can't really appreciate it until you try to do it yourself. My hat goes off to Mr. Eichelberger.

I'll have my chance to be in charge Saturday. The women's team plays at home and that should be an interesting one. They committed 34 turnovers on the road tonight and won. 34!!! That's an insane amount...and to win at the same time. Sheesh. That's winning ugly. But a win is a win is a win.

So, right now, I'm just trying to unwind. One of my favorite ways to do that is sit on my awesome new couch with the quilt my grandma made me and watch Who's Line Is It Anyway. What a great underrated show.

Be sure to check out the blog tomorrow. I'm working up something on my favorite book of the Bible, Genesis.

More memories

I hope everyone enjoyed the first round of hoops memories. Here's some more.

Rituals - This isn’t exactly a basketball memory, but it stems directly from basketball. Superstition and habit created the traditions of the Beast Dive, Beast Fuzz, Cup-on-Car and the same Subway sandwiches for the pre-game meal. I’m not even going to try to explain all these, but those of us who lived it (Adam and Derek), knew it was not good…but GREAT times. Can someone tell me why a stranger pointing at the roof of your car is so freakin’ funny? No, you can’t. But I know that it is funny. I also know that when I eat a 12-inch turkey and roast beef with banana peppers, jalapeño peppers, tomatoes and southwest sauce on hearty Italian bread, the River Pilots are 19-0.

Brawlin’ - I was probably seven or eight years old, but even then, I would go to River basketball games. I idolized those guys. Players like Mike Snively, Adam Jones, Chris Wisvari, Brian Collins, Tommy Ash, Eric Fox. I know Neil remembers watching these guys, too. I thought those guys were amazing. I actually remember watching Adam’s group a lot (Adam is my cousin). But the one game that I remember vividly was against Magnolia (of course). Me and Derek were sitting on the bottom bleacher down where my Grandpa Romick always sits at games. I remember seeing Wizzy walking out toward midcourt before a free throw and turning around just in time to get slugged by a Magnolia player. Right in the mouth. Both benches cleared, fans were going onto the court to get into the scrum. My mom ran down the bleachers, grabbed me and Derek (we were only seven and six years old) and dragged us away from the action. I’m not sure if this is part of my imagination or if it actually happened, but I’m pretty sure that while everyone was running into the fray, Brian Collins walked over to the bench, sat down and started drinking from his water bottle. During the fight! Maybe that was the start of my dislike of Magnolia.

OHHHH! - All I can say about this is that I literally fell off my couch. The Buckeyes of last year really captured me during their run to the championship game. And Ron Lewis’ 3-pointer against Xaiver just about made me pass out. That shot and Oden coming from the weak side to block the possible game-winning shot by Tennessee topped off a memorable run through March.

Dethroning the King - Remember all the high school hype surrounding LeBron James? I couldn’t stand him back then. So arrogant. Remember, we were practically the same age and I had seen him play every year since he was a freshman at the state tournament. His junior year, Roger Bacon comes rolling into the title game, having lost to St. V’s by 40 earlier in the year. First play of the game, Beckham Wyrick, this scrappy white kid, puts a forearm into LeBron’s chest and sends him flying. That set the tone. In six years at the state tourney, Roger Bacon put on one of the best team performances I’d seen. At the start of the second half, they ran a set play that set a back pick on LeBron and tossed an alley oop to Wyrick who flushed two handed on LeBron’s head. Frank Phillips, who went on to star at Division II Findlay, finished it off with a two-hand jam of his own. A huge upset and one I won’t ever forget.

Hallowed Hardwood - Back in March of 2006, I went to N.C. with the Ship basketball team. On our day off, me, Jason and one of our work studies went on a tour of the tobacco road campuses. I walked on the Dean Dome floor. Touched the wood on which Michael Jordan, James Worthy and yes, Eric Montross played. We also snuck onto the floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium. What an amazing place. It was closed up and the lights were off, but we snuck down the stairwell onto the playing surface. I have the pics to prove it. That goodness for a great flash.

Grumpy - My sophomore year at River, we were really stinking it up against someone. I don’t know who. But at halftime, Coach Romick storms in, walks into the coaches office and shuts the door. Five minutes later he gets up, opens the door and says, “When you guys want to be coached, let me know.” He then goes back into his office and sits there for the rest of halftime. Classic.

The Man, the Legend - Notice I left “myth” out of the tag line. That’s because Chuck Bihn was no myth. That dude was a 6-5 farm boy with game from a tiny little school called Fort Recovery that might have had 70 boys in the whole school. They reached the state tourney finals against a really solid Worthington Christian and Bihn put up 30 some points, close to 20 boards and five or more blocks. He played the final three minutes of the fourth and nearly all three overtimes with four fouls, carry the team on his back. But with just a minute left in the game, he finally fouls out (amazing considering he played in the post). The kid TRYING to guard him goes sprinting down the floor, screaming with happiness. The little school that could, just couldn’t quite do it without Bihn. But to me, he’ll always be the man.

Chrome Spinners, Baby! - Entering my last year at West Lib, we had hired a new men’s b-ball coach after winning all of four games the year before. The whole team was made up of freshmen. But somehow they won 18 games during the regular season. Then, in the tourney, they got hot and won two games to get to the semis at Charleston where they knocked off nationally ranked Salem in an epic, while starting three freshmen and two sophomores. It was an improbable run that West Lib b-ball had never seen before, prompting me, as the play-by-play man to say that after the game, “the clock hasn’t struck midnight and that West Liberty carriage hasn’t turned into a pumpkin yet!” To which Jay Cronin, my color commentator replied, “And that carriage has got chrome spinners on it, baby!”

Chuck Davis - No catchy tag line for Chuck. He was too good for a cliché. I was fortunate enough to be in Ship while he was playing. He was the greatest player in Ship history hands down. I have so many classic memories watching him play. He scored 28 on Penn State to beat them in the Bryce Jordan Center and hit game-winners countless times in what was the most successful two-year stretch in Ship history. He even made a half-courter to win the game at Clarion in 2007, but the refs waved it off. On the radio, I dubbed the greatest shot that never happened. The guy was unbelievable how he continually rose to the occasion to hit big shot after big shot. He was a great person too. I already miss watching him play.

Ship vs. IUP…2006 - Ship and IUP are bitter rivals and tangled three times during our magical run to the PSAC West title in 2005-06. Both games in the regular season were heated and went into overtime. The playoff game, the first ever played at Shippensburg, in front of a packed house, was a classic too, not being decided until the final minute. Ship won all three games that year, but that trio of games was some of the most fun I’ve had watching basketball.

The Dream Team - I don’t remember what year it was off the top of my head, but the team comprised of me, Chris Isaly, Justin Isaly, Jason Trembly, John Miller, Denny Boger and several others became the only team in Powhatan Summer League history to run the table during the regular season and then win the tournament title. Move over Bird, Magic and Michael!

Raging River - All I have to say is…Sectional finals…Fort Frye…Chris Isaly…Game winner…comeback from 18 down…fans storm the court. I got the assist on Chris’ shot and I must have blacked out because I have no memory of this except for watching it on film. I do, however, remember sprinting down the floor at games end and the first person to get to me was Derek, who must have broke the land speed record to get that far out onto the floor that quickly after the buzzer.

Pitching a Shutout - My senior year game at Monroe Central was a real emotional one for me. My dad had just resigned and going out to Skyvue, you knew it was going to be a fist fight. It certainly was. It went to overtime, but in overtime, we shut them out. Really, we allowed NO POINTS for an entire overtime period. That’s impressive. We were in real foul trouble throughout (typical of an MC game) and I remember sitting in the locker room, just dead exhausted because I never left the game and because for the first time in my career my dad wasn’t on the sideline. Coach Curtis came over and just put his hand on my shoulder. Didn’t say anything, but it I could just tell the old fella was proud of me. That meant a lot.

Throwing it down! - I never knew I could dunk a basketball until I actually did it. It was after baseball practice in the gym and Coach Romick and Dave Wright were sitting there and said, “Hey, I bet you can dunk.” I told them no way. Coach got me a ball, and what do you know. On the first try, I threw it down. I was more surprised than they were. Just goes to show that white men can jump…a little.

Candy and Cuss Words - True, we were rivals in junior high, but Chris Isaly is in a ridiculous amount of my favorite basketball memories. We always had great chemistry on the floor and it seemed like every time we needed a big shot, it was him making it and me passing it to him. But when we were sophomores, we didn’t play much on varsity. We just kind of sat at the end of our bench. Well, we got a bright idea to start smuggling candy to the bench to give us a snack while we were riding the pine. Chris would usually hide a roll of Spree or something down his socks. Sure enough, though, me and Chris start snacking and Romick comes flying down our way, grabs Chris and puts him in the game…with candy in his socks! Another great moment with Chris that same year was at Conotton Valley. Coach had a rule that year that cussing in practice or a game would result in having to run a suicide. We really stunk it up in the first half and half time, Coach was lettin’ em fly. I look over at Chris and there he is, paying close attention and counting with his fingers. I had no idea what he was doing. But the next day in practice, he tells coach he was keeping track of his expletives in the locker room. Needless to say, Coach was running a few suicides the next couple of practices.

Sophomore Spark - Again, that sophomore year was full of great memories. I always loved playing against Paden City. I grew up watching the Wildcats, my dad was a coach there at one point, I was a ball boy there when I was just five or six years old and my mom had taught there for years. Most of the coaches and fans had known me since I was a little kid. Against PC at home, we weren’t playing well (typical of that season) and were on the verge of losing control of the game. Coach grabs me and Chris in a rage, throws us in (without telling us who to go in for) and is telling us to shoot it every chance we get. For some reason, I get stuck running point against a 1-3 chaser. But I make a steal, hit Chris on the wing who nails a three. Next trip down, I hit Chris and he hits another three. Then I hit a jumper from 15 feet, and Chris closes out the quarter with an NBA-range three to give us the lead. We didn’t play the rest of the game, but we made a huge impression and gave the team a spark. We ended up winning the game.

Look Out! - I think it was our seventh grade year and we were playing on the infamous stage at Powhatan. There’s a lose ball heading towards the edge of the stage. Jeremy Lude jumps for it, Josh Conner bumps him just enough, and Jeremy goes flying off the stage. Fortunately, he was OK. But that’s the first and last time I’d ever seen that happen. Speaking of Jeremy, our senior year at Shenedoah, he went for another lose ball and dislocated both of his hips. He walked funny for months. I can still hear him scream when he dove for the ball. To his credit, he never quit going after lose balls.

So that's it, folks. A few of my favorite basketball memories.

I love hoops

Although I was exponentially better at baseball than I was at basketball in my playing days, basketball has and always will be my love. The season really kicked into full swing the last couple of days and basketball season is really my favorite time of the year. Watching Mercyhurst practice and watching games on TV made me reminisce about all my favorite basketball moments. Whether its been through playing, watching or coaching, basketball has given me a ton of exciting times and memories that will truly last for the rest of my life. I started jotting down with some of these yarns and started to realize most of my childhood revolved around basketball. So...I am splitting these up into a two-part series. There's no particular order. No particular rank of significance. It's just a bunch of good times. I'm sure some of you will even remember these first hand. After you get finished reading, I'd love to hear some of your favorite basketball stories. Enjoy.

In Enemy Territory - My eighth grade basketball team was an amazing group of guys. A starting lineup of Tim Price, Trent Potts, Jeremy Lude, Bill Bradley and me and Adam as the key sixth man, we put together quite a year, losing only once in the regular season (overtime to Beallsville). Our big rival, though, was Hannibal. We went to play in their little bandbox gym (even smaller than ours!) and I wanted to be at my best because after all, I was “dating” a certain girl from Hannibal. I’m happy to say that we won that game. I’d have to say those Sardis/Hannibal games were as heated as a junior high game could ever get.

Finding the Right Spot - Playing on the outdoors courts of Sardis at recess, Adam found a little white rock on the right wing. Every time he shot from there, he sank it. It became the magic spot. I’m pretty sure he chiseled out that rock when we graduated.

Stars in the Making - I had the privilege of watching the McDonald’s High School All-American game in Pittsburgh in 1996. It was an OK game. But little did I know who I was watching in that game. Some of the players were guys named Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, Stephen Jackson, Mateen Cleaves, Mike Bibby, Rip Hamilton and Tim Thomas.

In Your Face - It was my senior year at River and we were playing Magnolia at home. This rivalry is the Ohio State/Michigan of high school sports. It was especially tense my senior year because of the animosity between my friends and a certain ex-girlfriend that went to Magnolia. Boy, we hated Magnolia. And with the game tied and time running down, I got a rebound on a missed shot, put up a baby hook and sank it with just a tick on the clock. Nothing like beating your rival!

Shutting out Willie - We really prided ourselves on defense at River. We allowed only 39 points per game our senior year. We went up to Bridgeport and played against this kid who had just set the school record for scoring. They awarded him a special ball before the game. We shut him out for four quarters.

Finally - The Celtics haven’t given me much to cheer about. But this year, they traded for Kevin Garnett. I’ve always loved Garnett as he was a guy that could score, board, block shots, drop dimes and play with an incredible level of intensity. Plus, he is so unselfish and a great teammate. The only reason he wasn’t my favorite player was because he didn’t play for the Celtics. But then…the deal was made. It didn’t seem real until I watched the new big three play the Cavs in an exhibition. Garnett had a double double at the half. It’s going to be a great year. Just don’t pinch me. I don’t want to wake up.

Brush with Greatness - One of my cousins used to run the Worthington Summer League. It was big time back when I was a kid. All the Ohio State and UC players would come back and play in it. He invited me up one year when Scottie Pippen was actually a part of the league. But Nick Van Exel, who was a legend in my mind after taking UC to the Final Four just a couple years before was scheduled to play. I was only about 10 or 11 years old at this point. He came in late with his entourage, strapped it up and started a shooting exhibition like I’ve never seen before. He’d take three steps past half court and just drain it. By the time the game was drawing to a close, he was sitting at the end of the bench and I went down and sat right next to him for the final few minutes. I didn’t get his autograph, but what a thrill for me to be that close to my Bearcat idol.

Anyone out there? - Me, Adam and Chris Pyles went to a Cavs game in the pre-LeBron years. There might have been 500 people there. Really. This is when the Cavs’ star players were Ricky Davis and Smush Parker. All three of us made our own shirts for the game, sat in the upper deck and yelled at the players the whole game. It was so quiet, I’m pretty sure we could have carried on a conversation with DeSagana Diop.

Shooting the Lights Out - Seventh grade year at Sardis. At Beallsville. We run through the little cheerleader tunnel and the lights in the gym go out. Later in the game, just as Travis Dillon (I think?) shoots a free throw, the lights go out again. No one knows if he had made it. And a bat starts flying around the gym, buzzing the heads of the fans! I don’t even remember who won the game, but I willing to bet that hasn’t happened to many.

1,000 With Style - It was my first and only season as an assistant coach on the River bench, and we had a great year, 15-5 during the regular season, two wins over Magnolia and even set an OVAC record for 3-pointers in a game and a state record for foul shots made in a game. But the highlight of that year for me was Ryne Romick scoring his 1,000th career point. Not only was I his coach, I am his cousin and had been close with him since he was a little shrimp (he was real tiny before shooting up to 6-4). In my book, he’s the best player to come out of River since probably Jim Martin. Yes, better than Brandon Grimes, Mike Snively and that whole gang. Entering the game for his 1,000th point, you could tell he was trying to force it. He only needed three. The entire first quarter he struggled. But at the buzzer, he chucked up one from half court…and drained it. Now THAT’s making history in style.

Double Up - Our sixth grade team at Sardis was quite an interesting group of kids. The usual suspects of me, Adam, Tim, Trent, Bill and Jeremy. And then there was Nick Rice, Gerald Armstrong, Brandi Walker and Shey Morris. But hey, we were a pretty darn good team. I remember beating powerhouse Marietta Christian for first place at New Mat, then driving up to River an hour later to beat up on some poor helpless team (probably Lawrence). Two wins in about two hours. Not bad.

Cardiac Kids - To this day, this Archbishop Alter team is my favorite high school team ever assembled. They had two brothers, Adam and Keith Waleskowski, who both went on to play Division I ball. But these two brothers were about 6-10 each. They also had this puny little point guard with a red afro we called Jeremy. I don’t know if that was his name or not. But this team won its first game in double OT with Adam hitting two free throws WITH NO TIME LEFT in regulation to tie it. The title game against Philo went to overtime as well, with Jeremy hitting a running 3-pointer at the buzzer. Cardiac kids!

Upset Out West - Duke was a powerhouse back in the late 90’s and my team was the UC Bearcats. Duke was No.1 early in the year and I stayed up super late to watch UC play them in the Alaskan Shootout finals. With the game tied and just a couple seconds left, Cincy ran an out of bounds play the freed up Melvin Levitt, who dunked it just as time expired, giving UC the upset.

That's all for today. Don't worry, there's more to come.

Invitation

I've been to the church over in Millcreek four times since moving up here. So its not like I'm a regular goer of that particular church. But let me tell you, Todd Cyphers is one super speaker. Each time I've been there, he's been insightful yet challenging and backs everything with loads of scripture references, which I love. I remember a preacher saying once that there was nothing better than the sound of a whole church turning the pages of the Bible to find a verse. I agree.

This week, Todd started things off with Revelation 19, which depicts what I would say is one of the greatest moments in the history of mankind, the marriage supper.

I've got to honest, whenever I read about Christ as the groom and the church as the bride, I didn't quite get it. I mean, I understood the love each have for each other and that someday we will be joined, but when I think of bride and groom, I'm thinking man...woman...yeah. Just not quite getting the whole symbolic picture. That is, until today.

Todd explained the way marriages occurred in biblical times. Forget everything you know about today's wedding ceremonies. The engagement, the rehearsal dinner, the rings, all that. Back then, it was the father choosing the bride for the groom (God chooses the church for Jesus). The groom would generally go away for a while, build a new house or buy a house and get it ready for the bride("In My Father's house are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you," John 14:2). And then, no one would know exactly the wedding date. I guess there was no need to put a deposit on a reception building. Instead, the groom and his friends would show up at the bride's house, unannounced and basically say, "it's time to go." She would have only enough time to pack her things. Sound familiar ("For as the lighting comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be," Matthew 24:27 and "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming," Matthew 24:42)?

Once the groom picked up the bride, that would kick off a five day celebration. Wow, five days! What a party. I also like that Rev. 19:7-8 says that fine linen was given to the "bride," because fine linen was for the righteous acts of the saints. That means good stuff for the church. And also, back then, the groom was the center of attention, not the bride.

Once it was explained like that, I finally understood the marriage of Christ and the church. It's not a literal marriage where we run off on a honeymoon to the Caribbean. It's all about showing how much God loves us. Pastor Jim at Prince Street used to say that God was head over heels in love with us. He chose us. He didn't get stuck with us. No, from the moment He formed man from the dust, He knew there would be a marriage supper. And the it's you and me that He has picked to be with Him at that party and to be with Him forever.

It's amazing how much more sense things make when I read scripture with contextual understanding. It also amazes me how Jesus spoke to the people in terms that they understood. That's why he used parables. And this marriage supper, it was the greatest celebration of them all. It would be difficult to describe the Revelation marriage supper to the people, so I guess He picked the biggest and best and related it to that.

So, knowing that God has already chosen us means that we already already have our invitations and Jesus sent in the RSVP for us. I know it would really disappoint Him if we were a no show. As the Claaah-sic Christian rock band White Heart once sang..."It's come one, come all but unlike most, you can't crash this party 'cause you've got to know the host!"

In Need of a Laugh

I love to laugh. No one makes me do it more than the Marx Brothers. For some reason, I feel like I'm a fan of a lot of under appreciated things (Phil Keaggy and the Marx Brothers are just two). Not many people have access to Marx Brothers clips, but through the wonders of YouTube, I can bring them to you right here. It's almost impossible to count the number of one-liners in these two clips. So sit back and enjoy these two scenes from Animal Crackers (1935). There are several more clips from Animal Crackers on YouTube. If you like these, search for Groucho Marx, Captain Spaulding.

oops

I screwed up. I hate when I screw up. It's even worse when I screw up at work...with something that is going to cost our office about $3,000 to redo.

It's certainly not the first mistake I've made in the world of sports information. There have been typos, exclusions and assumptions that shouldn't have been assumed. But this one hurt a lot.

The men's basketball media guide was delivered yesterday. I didn't even bother to look at it because I had already seen it too many times on my desktop. Before I even sent it to print, I was pumped about how the layout turned out. It was new, original and no one at Mercyhurst had seen anything like it. I had also bumped the page number up by 16 pages and added a few new sections. When I come into a new job and start putting out publications, I want people blown away. I'm proud to say that people around the biz considering me an up and comer, or as the A.D. from Juniata said, I was a "young gun."

That's a very flattering comment but maybe it went to my head. This whole "young gun" persona that me and some of my best friends of in the profession have taken on says that we have to produce things bigger, better and faster every year. Publication must be sharper with better content. The web site mush be filled with video and graphics but remain informational. Gone are the days of filing cabinets and folders. Gone are the tri-fold recruiting brochures. Let's face it. College athletics is a business. We are in the business of making our school look good and getting good athletes to come to our school.

Very often I look down on the old-timers in our business, smirking at their old school way of doing things and inability to keep up with the technology. But I learned today with the men's basketball media guide that I may be a young gun, but I could learn learn something from the old timers. Something as simple as proofreading.

Even when I was the editor of the sports pages in college, I had little patience for editing and proofreading. I'm more of a writer and designer. But it's part of my job. A big part of my job. Apparently, not once, but twice, I spelled Niagara "Niagra." There was also a subtraction from last year's win totals in the stats (not sure how that happened) and a couple of errors that should have been caught. I'm not sure what's worse. That I missed the mistakes, or that two SID's and an intern missed the mistakes. I'm not casting blame on my co-workers because it's my guide and final responsibility falls on me.

Fortunately for me and unfortunately for the printing company, they messed up the font on the back inside cover and deleted two of my headers for some inexplicable reason. So, because it was the printing companies mistake, we'll get the guides reprinted with no expense to our department. Whew. I dodged a bullet, but I'm not going to forget this. For now on, I'm going over everything with a fine-toothed comb. Checking and double checking every name, fact and stat to be doubly sure.

I decided to go to biblegateway.com and see how many times the word careful shows up in the Bible. Upon a quick search, it's at least 117 times. It's probably no coincidence that it's in the Bible so much. God doesn't care much for careless behavior. Proverbs says "...But he who is careless of his ways will die." Watchful is also a buzz word. Especially in the new testament.

My carelessness doesn't apply to only proofreading for me. If it's in a piece of what I do, I'm doing it, and what's to stop me from doing the same in other areas, even not paying close attention to what God is telling me to do, or looking past people in need or missing out on great opportunities because I don't think they are important. Well, from first hand experience, there are many more important things than I once thought. My lackadaisical attitude has to stop...in every area of my life. If there is a mistake, fix it. If there is an opportunity, seize it. There is a fine line in taking care of business and stressing over details. But here's the deal. Stressing is worrying and you have no reason to worry when you take care of business.

It's time to be careful and watchful. I'm tired of laziness or personal weakness creating problems.

Big Buck Hunter

If you've driven a car, you've made something roadkill. It's part of the experience. It could have been an opossum, a raccoon, squirrel, deer or even a cow. Yes, a cow (Sorry, Tom. I know you probably aren't reading this but it stands as one of my all-time favorite car meets animal stories).

It can be quite a frightening experience. I remember me and Bill Bradley riding in my mom's van on the way home from a River basketball game and not hitting, but getting hit by a deer. That thing's snout smacked right up against window like it was trying to run right through it.

It can also be quite a disgusting experience. I remember Chippy riding in the passenger side of the Escort while I was driving out Route 88 on a rainy day when I smashed a bloated opossum...that was already dead. Oh, I've heard so many great stories. Of course, if you are a PETA person, the stories aren't so great. But wild animals (especially deer) annoy me. Good eating. But those varmints drive me nuts. Just stay off the road!

Well, the reason I'm talking about this is that my mom did a bit of deer hunting on the way back from Wheeling tonight. Apparently a little big buck hunting (no, not the video game). From the first hand account, it smashed up the gray car's right side, busted on the headlight, made the wheels wobble and on and on. Who knows how much that is going to cost to repair. Probably more than the car is worth to tell you the truth. It's a frustrating thing when something so big, so expensive and something you rely on so much gets wrecked. Sure, it's upsetting because it's going to force us to spend a little extra money we weren't counting on and it's a total inconvenience.

Simply put, it's an expensive, and dangerous ordeal driving a car. But the car is certainly replaceable. And the great thing about all these roadkill stories is that no one got hurt. And that's the only thing that matters. People are irreplaceable.

It's beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas...really.

The day started as usual as any other. That is until I grabbed some cereal and glanced out the kitchen window and saw something quite strange. It was pouring down from the heavens and piling up on my car, the parking lot, the grass, the rooftops. Yeah, the first snow of the year. Forget dusting. We got hammered...in the first week of November. So much for global warming.

I just laughed. I love snow. Some people freak out and run out and buy 12 loaves of bread and 6 gallons of milk (why all kinds of bread and milk, anyway?) Not me. Life goes on as usual, and from what I understand, I'll fit right in here in Erie. No school cancellations, no road closings. Snow is pretty much as common as rain. To me, nothing beats a good snow ball fight or a big snow man or even sled riding, which always brings back great childhood memories (especially ones of Bla and the Duffy emergency escape).

The only drawback from snow is that it's wet. And apparently both of my dress shoes had holes in the soles. That was news to me. Imagine my surprise when my socks were getting wetter and wetter as I walked in to the office. Well, you can't hardly go around in holey shoes, so I went out shoe shopping tonight.

Shopping...cold weather...snow on the ground...yeah, I started getting the Christmas itch. It made me want to spend money. It made me want to go buy a tree. It made me want to put up some Christmas lights. Sheesh, it's not even Thanksgiving yet! But the combination of slush on the pavement and sales in the mall put me in the mood for something even better than the holiday of Christmas. How about the REASON for Christmas.

It's a story I usually relegate for reading around December 25 and it's one I've heard over and over and over again. It's a story that's been used by Charlie Brown and many other TV specials. But really, why am I saving this story for the winter? The birth of Jesus Christ shouldn't be reserved for a day or for a season, but for every day and every season. I'm just going to put part of Luke's version here...

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold,an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

I know I'm not the only one who just got a warm and fuzzy feeling all over. It's not only one of the most famous pieces of scripture, it's also one of the most beautifully written. It exudes joy and I can almost hear the angels singing.

I shouldn't keep this feeling for December. I should have it every day, all year long. There should be a constant thankfulness and praise to God for the greatest, most important, most useful and most lovingly given gift of all time. The gift? Immanuel, or "God with us."