Sports is greater than Christ
Shocking statement, yes?
Now, before anybody starts to think that I am a fool, let me establish first that I am a Christian, which might make my title even more controversial. But I didn’t state that as how I felt, I stated that in how American Sports feels.
Sometimes I believe that we as a nation (US) feel that every holiday is for marketing and seeing how much money we can squeeze out of the American consumer. Now I understand the nature and necessity of business to some degree, but when does it become a spiritual problem that we as a nation have apparently ignored?
When I was younger, I remember in the past on major holidays that many businesses and stores were closed, and on some stations there were lots of reruns of old shows. Even some radio stations played special programs instead of their regular format. Why was this? Because those people were home with their families.
HOME!
Not working!
A day or rest, and in the case of Christmas, some respect for what the holiday, or HOLY day is about. It is about Christ. Now I understand the childhood aspects of Christmas, with Santa Claus and stuff like that, hey, I was young too not too long ago. I get that. But today’s society, especially the business aspect, has apparently completely forgotten who Jesus was…
And apparently does not care.
Need proof? Thinks about this:
Last night I was watching NBA on ESPN, and they were bragging about how they were going to “give” us FIVE NBA games over the course of the day, either on ABC or ESPN. Now to be honest, to a person that does not put Christ first, that sounds exciting… I mean, a whole day of NBA Basketball sounds soo cool.
But spiritually speaking, this is a terrible idea and a direct rejection of the day we are supposed to devote to the birth of Christ. And again, to the common person, who in many cases does not have Christ first anyway, this does not seem to be a problem. I mean, what can it hurt to have some great matchups on tv? There is no harm in giving great programming to people over the holidays, right?
I used to agree, but I beg to differ.
Let’s use one team as an example. The Cleveland Cavaliers.
Last night (Dec. 18th) they played the Milwaukee Bucks. Now they go on a four game road trip. Consider where they are going. Monday the 20th AT Dallas. Tuesday the 21st AT Phoenix. Wednesday the 23rd AT Sacramento. Friday the 25th AT Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, I am not going to argue the first three, but the fourth one I do have a problem with. Folks, that is Christmas Day!
CHRISTMAS DAY!
And again I believe a lot of folks are sitting there saying, “so what, they are professionals, and a big time matchup like that is good for television” But in that reasoning, you have personally rejected the true value of Christmas. ESPN isn’t GIVING us anything that important…in fact they are taking money because of the ratings they expect to get.
Come on folks, think about this just for a second on a human level and on a family level, if not on a spiritual level. Those guys on the Cavs will be on the road, away from their family and friends the entire week. It is likely that no Cavalier will come back to their home until after Christmas…how can we possibly see anything good in that?
I don’t care how much money they make, no amount of money ought to make a person or business think that they can prosper over the name of Christ…which of course is the foundation of Christmas. I know that sounds a little fanatical, but I think the NBA and ESPN have overstepped their boundaries by having other men lose their holiday for the sake or money. Understand folks, it isn’t for YOU. They can say all they want about how they are giving YOU some great matchups, but at the cost of ignoring Christ?
Those guys will be away from home for Christmas, some of those guys have children, some have wives, some have moms or dads or friends they want to be close to, especially on a day like Christmas. Heck, I bet there are even a few Christians in the NBA. Would any of YOU want to be away from the people you loved most?
And right away I know some smart aleck is gonna say, “yeah, for the money they get I would”…and in that very thought you have betrayed your soul…remember that.
Look, I am all for the NBA and I love sports, and I know it is a business, but when the business thinks it is greater than Christ…because that IS what sports believes, then we have ignored the true meaning of sports and how small it is when compared to life itself, and even greater, to God and Christ. It is funny, but in a sad way, how sports only realizes how small it is after a terrible tragedy in American lives or life. After 911, or just recently after Bengals player Chris Henry died, only then did people talk about how small sports is compared to life.
But you never hear ESPN or FOX or NBC or any station talk about how small it is compared to God. It’s like they have completely refused God, except when holidays like Christmas comes around. Oh sure, they might slip in a discreet message like, “and remember the reason for the season” but that is kinda cowardly when you think about it. It is almost like television is afraid to say CHRIST, although they say Christmas 55 times a minute.
To me, IF you are going to have sports on Christmas, at least make it so the teams are close enough to play and get back home. Sure people would grumble if the Lakers played the Clippers on Christmas, or the Warriors, but if that means the players can get back home and enjoy Christmas like the rest of us, fine. If that means Orlando playing Miami, fine. But to have these guys so far away seems to show that the NBA does not care about their employees….and remember, that is EXACTLY what they are. No different if Wal-Mart told their customers, “for your convenience, we will be open all day Christmas Day”.
Oh that sounds nice to YOU…but did you think about who has to work on Christmas Day? Do you even care? If not, you just betrayed your own soul, and showed that Christmas has no meaning to you at all.
So there will be sports on television on Christmas, not because it is good for us the sports fans, and not because it is Christmas. It is because there is money to be made, and sports is, in many people’s minds, greater than Christ…even on Christmas. I guarantee you in all 5 games on ESPN, the word “Christmas” will be said over 100 times…
But Christ won’t be mentioned once.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
New Orleans Bowl 2009
R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee State
So we have a showdown with the Sun Belt Conference and the Conference USA. Interesting.
This is actually pretty interesting because the record of these two teams is 16-6, for an average of an 8-3 mark…not bad for a bowl that is lowly ranked. But let’s look at the tales of the tape of these teams and see what is real, and what is not.
Southern Miss comes out of the CUSA with a 7-5 record, while Middle Tennessee State has an impressive 9-3 mark. But let’s explore those numbers and see what’s what.
Southern Miss is still trying to get back into the national spotlight after running out their head coach a few years ago, because they weren’t winning like they wanted to… somebody remind me how many National Championships Southern Miss has won…none? I thought so. Southern Miss alumni reminds me a lot of Nebraska and Notre Dame alumni where they feel like if they can’t get their way right now, they want heads to roll. Nebraska has paid for their impatience with years in the cellar, Notre Dame is there now and Southern Miss has been forgotten like old newspaper.
Southern Miss has two decent wins from the start, with wins over Central Florida and Virginia. But Virginia has been in the dumps and UCF has not been a national threat. And beating the basement teams of Conference USA hardly qualifies as a powerhouse. It might be safe to say that perhaps all of their 7 wins, minus UCF was based on a weak schedule.
Everything looked fine when they went 3-0, but all those games were at home, the next three games, vs. then #20 Kansas, UAB and Louisville, quickly evened the record. Beating Memphis and Tulane got them to the 5 win mark, which is about how many wins those teams had combined this year. A loss at then #18 Houston and then a win over average Marshall gave them a 6-4 record. Beating a 5-win Tulsa team and losing to ECU gives them the record they have now. So what have we learned?
Southern Miss is an average team in an average conference. Outside of beating Marshall, all their losses come on the road, and their wins against less than average teams. Simply put, they beat the lesser foes, and struggle against the good ones…especially on the road. So is Middle Tennessee a good team, an average or less than average?
Sadly, many right off the bat put the Sun Belt Conference as the weakest in the division. While the WAC and Mountain West sport the “BCS Buster” phrases, the Sun Belt is far from such grand claims. But let’s look at MTSU and see what we have.
Only two teams in the Sun Belt had winning seasons, so you can assume that MTSU was able to sop up with the bottom feeders, especially with Western Kentucky winning no games, and North Texas winning two all year. But it’s the first 6 games of the season that is interesting. Middle Tennessee loses the first game to Clemson, which is not bad at all, after all, Clemson played in the ACC Championship game vs. Georgia Tech. This is not a bad loss.
Afterwards they beat Memphis…a Conference USA team, before beating ACC team Maryland. Folks, for a Sun Belt team, this is very good, and shows a strong team in this conference. A win over hapless North Texas gave way to two losses back to back, against Sun Belt Conference Champs Troy, and SEC foe Mississippi State. Think about that folks, this team played to ACC teams, one SEC team and a Conference USA team. Not bad at all.
The rest of the schedule isn’t too important, because outside of LA-Monroe, all the other teams had a losing record. Even LA-Mon was 6-6. But you have to give credit to this team for bulking up their schedule.
How will this translate against a tougher CUSA foe in Southern Miss? I think this game means more to MTSU by a long shot than to Southern Miss, and we may have missed the boat on this team. Nobody seemed to care that they were 9-3, because nobody from the Sun Belt has threatened the BCS. But this team has beaten some quality names like Maryland and Memphis. They CAN beat you. Southern Miss has wins over Central Florida and Virginia, so they can beat names too.
I think at first glance you will favor Southern Miss, simply because most Sun Belt teams don’t get much respect, but I would not be surprised if there was an upset here. My head says Southern Miss will win by a touchdown, maybe even 10 points… but I gotta wonder, can Middle Tennessee State steal one…they have played tough enough talent to do so. We shall see…..
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee State
So we have a showdown with the Sun Belt Conference and the Conference USA. Interesting.
This is actually pretty interesting because the record of these two teams is 16-6, for an average of an 8-3 mark…not bad for a bowl that is lowly ranked. But let’s look at the tales of the tape of these teams and see what is real, and what is not.
Southern Miss comes out of the CUSA with a 7-5 record, while Middle Tennessee State has an impressive 9-3 mark. But let’s explore those numbers and see what’s what.
Southern Miss is still trying to get back into the national spotlight after running out their head coach a few years ago, because they weren’t winning like they wanted to… somebody remind me how many National Championships Southern Miss has won…none? I thought so. Southern Miss alumni reminds me a lot of Nebraska and Notre Dame alumni where they feel like if they can’t get their way right now, they want heads to roll. Nebraska has paid for their impatience with years in the cellar, Notre Dame is there now and Southern Miss has been forgotten like old newspaper.
Southern Miss has two decent wins from the start, with wins over Central Florida and Virginia. But Virginia has been in the dumps and UCF has not been a national threat. And beating the basement teams of Conference USA hardly qualifies as a powerhouse. It might be safe to say that perhaps all of their 7 wins, minus UCF was based on a weak schedule.
Everything looked fine when they went 3-0, but all those games were at home, the next three games, vs. then #20 Kansas, UAB and Louisville, quickly evened the record. Beating Memphis and Tulane got them to the 5 win mark, which is about how many wins those teams had combined this year. A loss at then #18 Houston and then a win over average Marshall gave them a 6-4 record. Beating a 5-win Tulsa team and losing to ECU gives them the record they have now. So what have we learned?
Southern Miss is an average team in an average conference. Outside of beating Marshall, all their losses come on the road, and their wins against less than average teams. Simply put, they beat the lesser foes, and struggle against the good ones…especially on the road. So is Middle Tennessee a good team, an average or less than average?
Sadly, many right off the bat put the Sun Belt Conference as the weakest in the division. While the WAC and Mountain West sport the “BCS Buster” phrases, the Sun Belt is far from such grand claims. But let’s look at MTSU and see what we have.
Only two teams in the Sun Belt had winning seasons, so you can assume that MTSU was able to sop up with the bottom feeders, especially with Western Kentucky winning no games, and North Texas winning two all year. But it’s the first 6 games of the season that is interesting. Middle Tennessee loses the first game to Clemson, which is not bad at all, after all, Clemson played in the ACC Championship game vs. Georgia Tech. This is not a bad loss.
Afterwards they beat Memphis…a Conference USA team, before beating ACC team Maryland. Folks, for a Sun Belt team, this is very good, and shows a strong team in this conference. A win over hapless North Texas gave way to two losses back to back, against Sun Belt Conference Champs Troy, and SEC foe Mississippi State. Think about that folks, this team played to ACC teams, one SEC team and a Conference USA team. Not bad at all.
The rest of the schedule isn’t too important, because outside of LA-Monroe, all the other teams had a losing record. Even LA-Mon was 6-6. But you have to give credit to this team for bulking up their schedule.
How will this translate against a tougher CUSA foe in Southern Miss? I think this game means more to MTSU by a long shot than to Southern Miss, and we may have missed the boat on this team. Nobody seemed to care that they were 9-3, because nobody from the Sun Belt has threatened the BCS. But this team has beaten some quality names like Maryland and Memphis. They CAN beat you. Southern Miss has wins over Central Florida and Virginia, so they can beat names too.
I think at first glance you will favor Southern Miss, simply because most Sun Belt teams don’t get much respect, but I would not be surprised if there was an upset here. My head says Southern Miss will win by a touchdown, maybe even 10 points… but I gotta wonder, can Middle Tennessee State steal one…they have played tough enough talent to do so. We shall see…..
St. Petersburg Bowl 2009
St. Petersburg Bowl
UCF vs. Rutgers
This might be a nice game to watch, if you have been following the Big East and Conference USA, a pretty nice matchup of two good schools and two good coaches.
I really like what UCF has done since they have come into the big leagues. Granted they are not one of the BCS conferences, but when you have a school in Florida, you have an excellent chance to get strong recruits. But I also like the way Rutgers has turned things around, I found myself really enjoying this team when I had a chance to see them. So I am split on who I want to win, but I have to defer to my stats as who SHOULD win.
Now I am sure few will argue which is the stronger conference, the Big East is better than Conference USA. This is NOT to say that CUSA is a half a step off the 4A high school conferences, because we have seen some good teams this year out of this non bcs conference.
But we still have to credit Rutgers for surviving in a tough league, right? Let’s see:
Central Florida comes into this game with an 8-4 record, which seems pretty strong. But such a record should have them as one of the top 25 in the nation, right? Their four losses were to Southern Miss, East Carolina, Miami and Texas… consider for a sec that three of those 4 losses were away….hmmm.
Consider also that all four of these teams are winning teams. So you have to ask, did Central Florida beat any quality teams? Marshall ends up with a 6-6 record, but Houston was a big win for Central Florida. It was a home game though, which makes one raise their eyebrows on the true strength of UCF. To be great, you have to win big games on the road. Three of their four losses were on the road, granted to some good teams, but beating Houston at home was in their favor. Still this is a quality team, I cannot take too much away from that.
Rutgers comes in with an identical 8-4 record, with a few raised eyebrows too. Three of their losses were AT home…ugh. And playing FIU, Howard AND Texas Southern is highly questionable. Come on guys, you are a BCS conference, man up!
Beating Maryland isn’t saying too much, but beating UCONN and West Virginia does mean something, especially since West Virginia was ranked when Rutgers beat them. Still, these two teams ended up 7-5, barely above average.
So you wonder, who is better? Both teams lost several games to high quality teams, but Rutgers seems to freeze up when they play at home in a big game. They are 4-1 away from home, although that lone loss on the road was to Syracuse…how close is that to Rutgers…
But Central Florida will be playing in their home state, which evens out the game a bit. But if you ask me who had the tougher schedule, I might say Rutgers, by the slightest of margins. Central Florida fed a lot on the bottom of CUSA, and has very few quality wins. Rutgers has tasted some hot success, and the trip will do them good. I think Rutgers wins this one, but very close…
Very close.
UCF vs. Rutgers
This might be a nice game to watch, if you have been following the Big East and Conference USA, a pretty nice matchup of two good schools and two good coaches.
I really like what UCF has done since they have come into the big leagues. Granted they are not one of the BCS conferences, but when you have a school in Florida, you have an excellent chance to get strong recruits. But I also like the way Rutgers has turned things around, I found myself really enjoying this team when I had a chance to see them. So I am split on who I want to win, but I have to defer to my stats as who SHOULD win.
Now I am sure few will argue which is the stronger conference, the Big East is better than Conference USA. This is NOT to say that CUSA is a half a step off the 4A high school conferences, because we have seen some good teams this year out of this non bcs conference.
But we still have to credit Rutgers for surviving in a tough league, right? Let’s see:
Central Florida comes into this game with an 8-4 record, which seems pretty strong. But such a record should have them as one of the top 25 in the nation, right? Their four losses were to Southern Miss, East Carolina, Miami and Texas… consider for a sec that three of those 4 losses were away….hmmm.
Consider also that all four of these teams are winning teams. So you have to ask, did Central Florida beat any quality teams? Marshall ends up with a 6-6 record, but Houston was a big win for Central Florida. It was a home game though, which makes one raise their eyebrows on the true strength of UCF. To be great, you have to win big games on the road. Three of their four losses were on the road, granted to some good teams, but beating Houston at home was in their favor. Still this is a quality team, I cannot take too much away from that.
Rutgers comes in with an identical 8-4 record, with a few raised eyebrows too. Three of their losses were AT home…ugh. And playing FIU, Howard AND Texas Southern is highly questionable. Come on guys, you are a BCS conference, man up!
Beating Maryland isn’t saying too much, but beating UCONN and West Virginia does mean something, especially since West Virginia was ranked when Rutgers beat them. Still, these two teams ended up 7-5, barely above average.
So you wonder, who is better? Both teams lost several games to high quality teams, but Rutgers seems to freeze up when they play at home in a big game. They are 4-1 away from home, although that lone loss on the road was to Syracuse…how close is that to Rutgers…
But Central Florida will be playing in their home state, which evens out the game a bit. But if you ask me who had the tougher schedule, I might say Rutgers, by the slightest of margins. Central Florida fed a lot on the bottom of CUSA, and has very few quality wins. Rutgers has tasted some hot success, and the trip will do them good. I think Rutgers wins this one, but very close…
Very close.
New Mexico Bowl 2009
New Mexico Bowl 2009
Fresno State vs. Wyoming
So now we can get ready for bowl season, where teams are rewarded for a season of tough battles, cuts and scrapes and can enjoy one last game of the year. One of the first bowls, if not the first, is the New Mexico Bowl, held in….Florida!
(just joking…it’s in New Orleans…..)
(………..)
Anyway, we have Fresno State vs. Wyoming in an interesting matchup but something that has a strong west coast flavor, which many in the east might not really be into, but for sake of college football, they will watch it.
Fresno State comes in 8-4, out of the WAC, and is one of those teams you have to pull for because they aren’t afraid to play anybody. This team will travel to the opposite side of the nation to play a team if that is what needs to be done, but it is that same resolve that might have exhausted this team.
Consider that they were 1-3 after the first four games, and things looked bleak. But those losses came after their win over UC Davis, and then the Bulldogs lost at Wisconsin in overtime, lost to Boise State, and lost by 8 to Cincinnati….folks, that is not bad at all. To say that two of your losses came to currently undefeated teams is incredible.
Their final loss came to Nevada, but in between those were a lot of lesser foe wins. Could one argue that Fresno State lost to the good teams, and beat the bad ones? That would make them kinda par for the course. But this is a good team.
Wyoming, to me is a little different. A 6-6 team, they seemed to have benefited from a poor schedule. Sure they lost 6 game, to Texas and all they superior teams in the Mountain West…and a loss to Colorado.
Their wins have not been too impressive, every team they have beaten has a losing record. But they qualify for the bowl, so here they are. That is not to put Wyoming down, because to be sure, they are battle tested, but sometimes when you are beaten too much by the big boys, you don’t have the strength to fight the average ones. Fresno State is not one of those “big boys”, but they are big enough.
So I see Fresno State capping off a good season with a win over Wyoming, likely by 10 points. We shall see!
Fresno State vs. Wyoming
So now we can get ready for bowl season, where teams are rewarded for a season of tough battles, cuts and scrapes and can enjoy one last game of the year. One of the first bowls, if not the first, is the New Mexico Bowl, held in….Florida!
(just joking…it’s in New Orleans…..)
(………..)
Anyway, we have Fresno State vs. Wyoming in an interesting matchup but something that has a strong west coast flavor, which many in the east might not really be into, but for sake of college football, they will watch it.
Fresno State comes in 8-4, out of the WAC, and is one of those teams you have to pull for because they aren’t afraid to play anybody. This team will travel to the opposite side of the nation to play a team if that is what needs to be done, but it is that same resolve that might have exhausted this team.
Consider that they were 1-3 after the first four games, and things looked bleak. But those losses came after their win over UC Davis, and then the Bulldogs lost at Wisconsin in overtime, lost to Boise State, and lost by 8 to Cincinnati….folks, that is not bad at all. To say that two of your losses came to currently undefeated teams is incredible.
Their final loss came to Nevada, but in between those were a lot of lesser foe wins. Could one argue that Fresno State lost to the good teams, and beat the bad ones? That would make them kinda par for the course. But this is a good team.
Wyoming, to me is a little different. A 6-6 team, they seemed to have benefited from a poor schedule. Sure they lost 6 game, to Texas and all they superior teams in the Mountain West…and a loss to Colorado.
Their wins have not been too impressive, every team they have beaten has a losing record. But they qualify for the bowl, so here they are. That is not to put Wyoming down, because to be sure, they are battle tested, but sometimes when you are beaten too much by the big boys, you don’t have the strength to fight the average ones. Fresno State is not one of those “big boys”, but they are big enough.
So I see Fresno State capping off a good season with a win over Wyoming, likely by 10 points. We shall see!
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