Larry Drew II - You're a Quitter...

So anyone who knows me, knows that I am a Carolina Tarheel through and through. If there is one thing I get more worked up about than anything else, it's Carolina basketball. It gets me excited, it gets me frustrated, it gets me everything in between. When a Carolina game is on, I prefer to be locked inside of a room by myself standing within 3 feet from the TV; I'd rather do this than go to a huge party with 50 other Carolina fans. Is it weird, yes, probably a litlte (or a lot), but that's just me and what I prefer. "I'm a Tar Heel born, I'm a Tar Heel bred. And when I die, I'll be a Tar Heel dead...." Now to the real point of the blog, Larry Drew II, aka, The Quitter. All Carolina fans and most die hard college basketball fans know the news by now that (former) Carolina Junior Point Guard, Larry Drew II decided on Thursday that it would be best for him to quit the team and transfer to another school. Yea, that's a great idea Larry! First of all when you look at the facts it makes ALL the sense in the world. You are Junior and you will more than likely transfer to another Division I school (probably on the West Coast, USC or UCLA). That being said, NCAA rules state that you're going to have to sit out a year before being eligible to play for only 1 year (your senior year). You decided to throw away half of your junior year on top of that. Who walks away from their team midseason? Quitters do, that's who! It's no secret that LDII has dealt with his share of criticism from the media and from most Carolina fans. I can't think of another player that has put on the Tarheel Blue who has deal with the consistent turmoil that this kid has. People have been calling for his head all season, especially with the arrival of freshman Kendall Marshall. A few games ago, LDII gets benched in favor of Marshall, a decision many people thought was a long-time coming. I was honestly surprised that Roy made the move, even though I thought it was necessary. Marshall is a smarter PG, he's a much better passer, and our offense runs smoother with him in the lineup. All that being said, you would think I would have been thrilled at the news of LDII leaving, but I wasn't. He was actually playing much better coming off the bench and seemed to have accepted and adjusted to his new role quite well. I was about as wrong as could be on that one. Four games after losing his starting job, he bolts, leaves the team hanging high and dry, quits. He didn't tell anybody what was going on, he just up and left. Coach Williams gets a call on Thursday night from Larry's dad informing him of what's going on. I could go on and on about this, but at the end of the day, he just flat out quit. Facing a little bit of adversity, he just decided to walk away from his team and quit. When things get tough, there isn't an easier thing in the world to do than quit. Whether it's a relationship, a job, or in this case a team sport - anybody can quit. You could have been known for so much more. You were the member of a National Championship team who put on one of the most dominant NCAA tournaments runs in years. You could have graduated from a great university, and most importantly you would have been a Tarheel for LIFE. People outside of the Carolina circle may not know the ammenities that brings, but it's a big deal. Now, Larry Drew II will simply be known as a quitter. Quitter: One who gives up easily. Thank you Mr. Webster, I agree with your definition.

2 Corinthians 9 and the Smalltown Poets

I heard a great Word at church this morning, which I'm sure I'll get to eventually in this post. I really am amazed at how the Lord works. I shouldn't be because I know that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever," (Heb 13:8) and He doesn't change. He loved me yesterday, He'll provide for me and meet my needs today, and He'll lead and guide me forever. I am a Christ follower, but I am so far from being anywhere close to perfect. I have my downfalls and shortcomings, I have my sins and daily struggles. But I really do believe that God is beginning to do a work in me in regards to giving and more specifically giving joyfully and with a cheerful heart. Our church is in the process of planting/birthing a daughter church. Last Sunday night Lori and I were at the plant meeting, we were towards the end and began sharing prayer requests and needs. There was a very serious financial need that someone brought up - they have close friend whose family is going through a difficult time and needs help. As we were praying I really felt God bring this need to the forefront of my heart. I felt like He was telling me that He wanted me to not only help, but do it in a very specific way. I couldn't get that off my mind the rest of the night. Monday at work it was on my mind all day, by the time I left work and was driving home it was still there, it kept coming back. Before I got home I had the opportunity to follow through and do exactly what I felt the Lord was telling me to do. I was praying asking the Lord to help me do this act cheerfully and I'm not sure that this prayer has been answered yet (if I'm being completely honest). Giving is one thing, but it's really only half of the equation, we should give with a cheerful heart at God's Word encourages us to do. Finally - fast forward to church this morning. The title of the message was "How Do I Give." I thought, wow, this is pretty appropriate to what I've been feeling this week. The message came out of 2 Corinthians 9:6-11, but three of the verses really stuck out to me. "(6)Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. (7) Each of you should give what you have decided in your own heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (8) And God is able to bless you abudantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." - 2 Co 9:6-8...Our pastor mentioned that godly people are giving people and we should give above and beyond (whether in reference to a tithe, a need, or anything else), so that we may experience the joy of giving. When it comes to giving, God calls us to to be generous, deliberate, and cheerful - those were the main points of his message this morning. We can't give or receive with clinched fists and white knuckles. The message, the scripture, the points all reminded me of an old Smalltown Poets song - appropriately titled, I'll Give. I'll leave with the chorus and bridge of this song being my final thoughts.
I'll give, I'll hold nothing;
I'll give, I'll hold nothing;
I'll give I'll hold nothing back
My hands are open so take what You see
and I'll keep nothing, hold nothing back from me
- I know this song is really more about giving to the Lord, but it comes full circle because giving is something the Lord asks of us. Lord, my You allow me to give generously, deliberately, and cheerfully in the days ahead.

Shawny Mac Tonight!!!

In lue of the Shawn McDonald show tonight (or Shawny Mac as I like to refer to him), thought I would throw a quick post up. I first came across Shawn McDonald's music my senior year at Elon. I was actually with a group of friends studying for an exam and his CD was playing as background music. It probably went through a couple of times and I was immediately hooked! At this point, he was a brand new act on the "Christian Music Scene," and his debut album, Simply Nothing still remains one of my favorite CD's of all time - it ranks right up there with Hootie's Cracked Rear View, yea, I just said that!! There aren't a ton of CD's that you can throw on and let them play through start to finish, not at first anyways. It usually takes a while for a few of the songs to grow on you - that was not my experience with Simply Nothing. I saw him in concert about a year later, just after the release of his 2nd CD. It was a small show, basically an acoustic set, and it was awesome!! While I do have 4 of his CD's, I'm not as up to date on him as I was a couple of years ago - but I'm still pretty stoked about his concert tonight. I must say, I was a little shocked when I heard our church, in Thomasville, North Carolina, was bringing him in to do a show. I actually asked if he was going to need a place to stay while he was here, haha - I'm such a child (my wife will agree). If you happen to read this, and you happen to me in or near Thomasville today/tonight, I would highly recommend you coming by. Pace Park in Thomasville, near the Big Chair! Ohh, yea, and it's FREEE!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1hoLzOeBds - link to Take This Life - one of my favorite Shawny Mac tunes!

I may be the world's worst blogger...

So I started this blog, what, like 8-9 months ago?? I could go back and check of course, but I'm going off the cuff here. I'm pretty sure it was at the beginning of the year. Well, whenever it was doesn't really matter, because I have been beyond terrible at keeping it up. I think I may have blogged three times in January and haven't touched it since. I feel like one of my 3 blogs, maybe more than one actually, aluded to the fact that I'm really bad at starting things and not finishing them - books would be a great example. The book thing could have something to do with the fact that I don't love to read. My wife on the other hand can tear through a book in a matter of hours, she absolutely loves it, and watching her rip through page after page really does fascinate me a bit. I'm a rambler, that's what I do...This isn't a blog full of content, just basically making the statement of how poor a job I've done. I'm going to try and hold myself accountable to this - not that I need to do this necessarily, it's just something I thought I would enjoy. I do have a lot to say, and on occassion, some of those things actually have value - at least I think they do!! Well, let's see how long this lasts...until next time!

Predicting Two Peyton's

Today is the day of the Conference Championships games in the NFL. Many households across America will gather in front of their TVs for basically the entire day watching the AFC tilt between the Colts and the Jets, and then the NFC's own version with the Vikings and Saints. Though I'm not a fan of any of the 4 teams playing today, I'm still hoping to to catch some of the games. Will I watch all 6-7 hours of football, absolutely not, my wife is not going to go for that - and honestly I don't blame her. If the shoe was on the other foot, I wouldn't want to watch Discovery Health or the Surgery Channel for 6-7 hours straight, I'd go crazy.

I love sports (which includes football) not just the games themselves but all the storylines and analysis leading up to the games. I like listening to all the writers, reporters, and even the nonsports people give their perspective of what's going to happen in the games and why. I've heard so many thoughts and opinions that it's crazy; from Doug Gottleib to Mel Kiper Jr to even Elizabeth Hasselbeck, everybody chimes in. I think if a lot of sports fans are honest, much of their own thoughts are formulated from something they've heard or read from "an expert." With all that surrounds the games, whether it's injuries and statistics or players, sets, and schemes, it usually comes down to 1 or 2 points. In the AFC's game, I see coming down to whether or not Peyton Manning will be able to disect and breakdown the Jets defense or not. Peyton Manning is considered by the some as the greatest quarterback of all time and Rex Ryan is one of the best defensive minds this era of football has seen. On the other side of the fence, the NFC game is about Brett Farve practically taking on the entire City of New Orleans. I really believe that the Saints have a home field advantage like no other. The way this city has really rallied around the Saints is crazy. I know a lot of people have lost respect for Brett Favre over the past couple of years the way he's retired and unretired and retired and come back again. That being said, I respect the competitor in him and what he's done on the field this year. At the same time, Sean Payton and Drew Brees are as classy as they come. I'm not sure there is a better fit for the city, the team, and everything they've been through in New Orleans than Drew Brees.

The results: Plain and simple I think Peyton Manning is too good and too smart a quarterback to lose this game today. The Jets are going to take the ground and pound approach (if i can use an MMA term) of running the ball all day, try to keep the ball out of Peyton's hands, and clamp down on defense - which happens to be their MO. The thing that makes Peyton Manning so great is the way he makes no-namers into household names. If you had asked me (or anybody else for that matter) who Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon where a few months ago - the response would have been that of chirping crickets. So maybe you can stop contain Reggie Wayne, or hold Dallas Clark in check, but the fact is he's going to make you respect a guy like Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon and that means trouble. Too much Peyton, sorry Rex. Colts 24, Jets 13
My analysis on the NFC game isn't going to be as detailed (i dont think). There are a lot of people who want to see 40 year old Brett Favre take the Vikings to the 'Ship. But I just don't think it's going to happen. The Saints high octane offense is just going to be too much today. Yes, the Vikes have Jared Allen and the Williams, but Drew Brees has perfected the Saints offense and as big as this game is for the City of New Orleans, I don't see New Orleans losing today. I think we will see a lot points, but when the final horn sounds, the Saints will have more than the Vikings, and that my friends is what we call a victory in sports. I expect the Superdome to be rocking and we might actually see the doors get blown off that place. Saints 38, Vikings 34

Super Bowl Sunday is two weeks away and I'm predicting it will be a Tale of Two Peyton's -- Proverbial player/coach Peyton Manning and his Colts taking on Coach Sean Payton and his Saints.

Knowing Myself All Too Well....

Well I guess it's a good thing to know yourself. If nothing else, knowing one's self inside and out should at least result in having realistic expectations. When I started this blog ago one thing that I made reference to was how "blogging" was something that I'd wanted to do and it was something that I've been wanting to do but have yet to put in motion. I thought, well I just have to start it and then I'll be fine. I mentioned how I've started so many books over the years only to get a part of the way through them. I was afraid that would be my fate as a blogger as well. This is my 2nd post in 3 weeks now?? I've had so many thoughts - random ones of course - as well as things on my heart that I feel like the Lord is trying to tell me/teach me that I thought would be a great topic for a blog. So what happens you may ask?? I happen, that's what! As I'm typing this entry, I'm having the thought that I hope this blog can aid me in a bit of change. I really want to strive to be a more disciplined person in so many areas of my life, and unfortunately this has followed an undisciplined trend that I've followed before. Granted, I'm talking about a meaningless blog here, but what's the point of starting something if you aren't going to see it through. It's how you finish, right?? Hopefully, I'll surprise myself for a change and will start to see this through and pen my thoughts, random or not. That's all for now, thanks for playing!

Starting with something...

So, first things first, I guess I'm now officially a blogger. Why, you may ask?? I'm not real sure to tell you the truth. I've thought about starting one a few times in the past but have never fully gone through with the idea. It will be interesting to see how often I "blog." Hopefully I'll be a little bit better about this than I am with reading books - or a lot of things really - I start full force and then don't seem to see it through. That's probably not the greatest trait that I have, in fact, it's probably one of my greater flaws, the inability to finish something - forget about finishing strong, I just need to work at finishing all together. If you ever find yourself reading one of my blogs, you'll learn how my mind works and that I will jump from thought to thought and before you know you'll be wondering how I got to whatever specific place you may find yourself. I'm a person who has a lot to say but somehow from point A (my brain) to point B (my mouth) there are a lot of turns, u-turns, and various other unnecessary routes taken to get to where I'm trying to go. A lot of what I write probably won't make sense, then again, there may be on occasion where something I write actually makes sense or strikes a chord. This whole concept could be a disaster because I'm one of the worst story tellers known to man. My wife tells me it's because I feel the need to give every little detail in the story, even the stuff that isn't extremely relevant. In my mind, I see the story as being no good if you don't know how it came to be. So I'm probably at the point of "how did i get here?" I was simply trying to state why I'm starting to blog and just a few sentences later I'm telling you about how I'm an awful story teller...Random may not be the best term for how my mind operates, but I think it's pretty close. In the past, I've thought about starting a blog where I simply talk about soccer (something i love), music (something else I love), and other random things, but I figured that I'd just start one and can cover whatever I feel like - I mean isn't that really what blogging is all about? So, in closing here are a few things you'll come to know (some random, others not so much): 1- My wife is my best friend in the world and I love her more than anyone could ever possibly know; 2- I am a sports fanatic but if I could only watch 2 sporting events for the rest of my life it would be College Basketball (I'm a die hard Tar Heel fan) and Professional Soccer (the World Cup is the greatest sporting event in the world); 3-I know ENTIRELY too much about Saved By The Bell (which will get me absolutely nowhere in life); 4- last, but most certainly not least, I'm striving daily to become more like Jesus and live in light of His great commandment which you can find in Matthew 22:37-39. "Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Maybe that's not the most random of posts, but it's a start and you have to start somewhere.