No More Radio (for at least 40 days...)

The Christian church is now five days into my favorite season on the church calendar, Lent. I have expressed my love for the Lenten season before on this blog and what I gave up last year. Here is a quick history...

Though it has its roots in the Catholic Church, it is not strictly a "Catholic" thing, as so many protestants might believe, nor is it the stuff that sticks to your clothes when they come out of the dryer, as so many of the sixth graders in my Sunday School class guessed. Lent, or some form of preparation for Easter Sunday, dates back to the second century. After the legalization of the Christian church in 313 A.D., the Council of Nicea wrote in 325 A.D. that Lent should be observed during the 40 days before Easter. The number "40" has great significance to Christians (The  number of days Noah spent on the ark and the number of years the Israelites wandered in the dessert). Three characters from the Bible also went through a period of testing during 40 day fasts: Moses, Elijah, and Jesus before starting his ministry. 

All of this to say we as Christians use these 40 days to prepare our hearts for the resurrection of God's son. During Jesus' stay in the dessert, the Bible says he was tempted by Satan three times. The church encourages its members to give up or add something to their everyday life for 40 days to, like Jesus was, be challenged. In doing so, Lent becomes a time of introspection in which we take a closer look at how we can be more like the man who came to save the world from sin. Similar to how the season of Advent prepares us for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day, Lent prepares our hearts for Jesus' resurrection from the dead.

That brings me to the title of this post. I have decided to give up listening to the radio in my truck for Lent. For those of you who know me, you know I like to listen to sports talk radio just a little bit. When I am not filling my ears with arguments and commentary, the country music is usually turned up. Without the soundwaves flowing, I have a couple of quiet minutes in every day to myself to be in silence with God (minus the MagnaFlows rumbling under the truck). So if you see me on the roads and it appears that I may be talking to myself, more than likely I am trying to pray more like my mother or singing hymns--the only songs I know all the words to thanks to my old man, who is a music minister. Side note: I have great examples in my life.

Since the ban of AM-FM transmission in my truck, I have been belting out my own acapella version of Fernando Ortega's Give Me Jesus. The lyrics are my theme through the Lenten season.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus, 
You can have all this world, 
But give me Jesus.

Linsanity vs. Tebowmania: No Real Comparrison

With New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin exploding on to the sports scene in the last week, ESP'Lin' and many other media outlets were too quick to compare the young man to Denver Broncos' quarterback Tim Tebow following the NFL season.

'Lin'sane in the membrane

Again, we as a society have fallen prisoner to comparisons. I will be the first to admit that I am as guilty as the media giants, but why can we not just enjoy their impacts each as its own entity? If you examine more closely at the duo's road to stardom you will notice they have more contrasts than similarities.

Recruitment- It starts early on when looking for the differences in this couple. Tebow was rated as one of the top prospects to come out of high school in years. His recruitment was done early and often, and Tebow had the leisure to choose between two football powerhouses Alabama and Florida, going with the latter. Lin, a California native, was unable to garner enough attention from his hometown school and first choice, Stanford, to merit an athletic scholarship.

College Experience- Tebow won two BCS National Championships, was a Heisman Award winner, two-time SEC Champion and All-American, and named to the All-SEC team three times. He compiled a 48-7 record with the Gators and scored more touchdowns than any previous player in NCAA history. He was the king of college football and is considered by some to ever play at the collegiate level. On the other hand, Lin went to Harvard, where more students have become presidents (5) than played in the NBA (3). More impressive is that Lin graduated with a 3.1 grade-point average and a degree in Economics.

Part of the mania, Tebowing took the nation by storm

Draft- Although he was told "no" by experts over and over during the entire draft process, the Broncos traded three draft picks with the Baltimore Ravens and took Tebow in the first round as the 25th player in the 2010 NFL Draft. Lin was not selected in the 2010 NBA Draft. However, he did earn a contract from the Golden State Warriors, who later cut him. After being claimed off waivers by the Houston Rockets, Lin averaged seven minutes a game in preseason scrimmages. He was cut by the Rockets before the start of the sesaon. The Knicks picked up Lin and sent him the the NBDL, the Association's developmental league. If not for injuries to two starting point guards on the Knicks, Lin would have remained the 12th man on the roster of a sub-.500 season.


Christianity- Tebow is the most polarizing figure in sports because of his well-documented, out-spoken faith. He has taken a stand on many controversial topics. Though not given the same platforms as Tebow  has over the last two seasons, Lin has been given standard answers when speaking about his faith. Lin has been very appreciative to God for his talents during press conferences much like many other athletes after recognition.

Lin is the brightest star in NYC... for now

Individual Production- "All Tebow does is win!" Sure he does have miraculous comeback wins over the Dolphins, Chargers, and Bears and he threw the winning touchdown pass in his first playoff game. However, he had 18 touchdowns and 13 turnovers this season, too. I am in no way trying to discredit his wins and good moments (as I have been so often been accused of), but in football more than any other sport the importance of a solid overall "team" is necessary. Tebow did benefit from a ball-hawking defense and the league's top rushing attack. Since moving to the starting lineup that was missing its two superstars, Lin has led the Knicks to 7 consecutive wins and is averaging 24.4 points and 9.1 assists per game.

Undoubtedly, both athletes have defeated the odds stacked against them and taken advantage of a little good fortune thus far in their young careers, but the sample size is too small. The New York media has helped blow Linsanity out of the water, and more than likely, the madness will cool down, unless we have the next Steve Nash on our hands. Tebowmania will unquestionably crank back up as the NFL's summer workouts begin. Regardless, enjoy their performances, personalities, and let Linsanity be Linsanity and Tebowmania be Tebowmania.

*As someone who loves wit, it was incredibly difficult not to use every Jeremy Lin pun I have heard while writing this. You're welcome.

Super Bowl XXVI's Best Commercials

No matter how hectic watching America's biggest game with a group of 60 middle and high schoolers can get, when the two to three minutes of advertisements came on during breaks of NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl XXVI, all was quiet--then and during Madonna's halftime show. Overall, this year's ads were lacking creativity.

We had the same usual suspects: a talking baby, GoDaddy.com girls and B-list celebrities, which grace our televisions every year. Also the beer companies, whose humor is pointed towards my 21-35 year-old population, was lacking any humor at all. Among all the 30 second to one minute bits of $3.5 million of television exposure, here are my favorites:

5. The Dog Strikes Back-Volkswagen- Here is your prototypical Super Bowl advertisement: high quality by way of a costly budget, animals, and plenty of time to tell a story. Though I love Star Wars, it falls in the rankings because of the last 30 seconds.

4. 2012-Chevrolet- As a proud owner of a Z71 Silverado and lover of the recently bankrupt Twinkies this advertisement was an easy sell to me. I honestly will not be surprised if this is how the world is post 2012. Chevrolet had a strong night with the New Grad spot as well.

3. Transactions-Acura- More commonly known as "the one with Jerry Seinfeld," this commercial was a witty minute full of reminders of the greatest television show of all-time. But Jay Leno? More of a Letterman guy myself.

2. Matthew's Day Off-Honda- Needless to say, the nuances that come along with Honda's quick version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off were not picked up as easily by the youth group as they were by the older folks in the audience. Hats off to Honda for their rendition of one of my all time favorites.

1. It's Halftime in America-Chrysler- Was there any question here? Clint Eastwood's raspy voice in a pep talk to America makes this the obvious No. 1. "This country can't be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah it's halftime America and our second half is about to begin." Inspiring words from Dirty Harry.

National Signing Day

Throughout this world wide web, there is an abundance of places where you can find who "won" signing day. Was it Alabama, or was it Texas? Which university was able to lure that particular recruiting site's number one high school player to a certain school? Was it Missouri, or was it Florida State? Not here boys and girls. Here we will take a closer look at the fanfare that has become signing day and some schools successful days. But in no way am I declaring a winner or, even worse, as some claim a national championship. For you NFL junkies that do not understand a crazed college football fan's obsession, imagine the free agency period and the draft all in one day. Here are a few news and notes...

Let it be known that I try hard to not get entangled in the web of rankings built by sites such as Rivals.com, Scout.com, or 247sports.com about certain prospects. These sites try to project an 18 year-old's football abilities three years in advance. It is an inexact science and impossible to predict. This is not to say that I, just like many of you, do not drool over YouTube videos of their top prospects' skill levels (Johnathan Gray everyone) , but I know that just because a website gives a young man who is 6-foot-7, weighs in a 270, runs a 4.8 second forty-yard dash, and physically dominates top high school competition only  "two-stars" that not much stock can be taken their celestial rating system. Spend some time. Watch some film. And wait to see if the coach of your beloved team can do with the prospect's skills.

Saban "bought" a heinous diamond sweater,
but he can sell his program.

That being said, based on this star rating system, Alabama signed more four and five stars than I ever have in my dynasty on NCAA 2009. (I still play the 09 version because Darren McFadden adorns the cover). They signed more than twice as many prospects from ESPN's top 150 athletes than any other SEC school. With the talent accumulated during his tenure at LSU and now Alabama, the Crimson Tide's coach has shown why he has many changing the acronym NSD from National Signing Day to Nick Saban Day.

The University of Georgia was able to come away with the top player in four different states, thanks to a late fax from the nation's top outside linebacker and Valdosta, Georgia resident, Josh Harvey-Clemons. The poor kid came on national television to announce his intentions to become a Bulldog. His grandfather and legal guardian had other plans. With Valdosta being closer to Florida, most of Harvey-Clemons' family wished to see him as a Gator come fall. After a little embarrassment, the kid won out and will run out in Red and Black in August.

The famed "Chick-fil-a" recruit, McKinzy

In as much preparation he did for the day, calls, texts, emails, official and unofficial visits, in-home visits and more, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney could have done nothing more to convince Cassanova McKinzy to become a Tiger. Well, maybe Swinney could have done one more thing, built a Chick-fil-a on the Clemson campus. The best named recruit in the country said he chose Auburn over Clemson because, "they (Clemson) have no Chick-fil-A on campus."

Stanford signed three consensus five-star prospects to their offensive line. Andrew Luck's presence carries on though he will be in the NFL. However, if you are a big boy that wants a physical run game, where better to go than to block for Barry Sanders Jr., who also signed with the Cardinal.

Not to be confused with that above school out west, Samford added 18 new players for the 2012 team. Much praise was given to the Bulldogs in Southern Conference circles by guys that pay attention to recruiting much more closely than you and me. If you have not been paying attention to what coach Pat Sullivan, the 1972 Heisman trophy winner, has been doing with my alma mater in Birmingham, which chances are you haven't, you should. The Dogs are going places... hopefully.