Bears Crack Top 25

The Baylor men's basketball team is ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1969! I could not miss the chance to blog about this historic achievement. Scott Drew is in his fifth season at BU and many experts have said that it would be impossible for him to rebuild this program after the disaster of Dave Bliss. Way to go Coach Drew!

Customer Service… Deal or No Deal?

I have a confession to make that I know will shock you, but nonetheless I shall make it. I watch Deal or No Deal. That wasn’t the confession… I don’t watch it every time it’s on, but I do like the show. I was watching on December 13^th with Robin and I couldn’t tell you what happened on the show that night, except for the fact that they ran about 13 ads asking me to text in my vote for the lucky case. They said that if I picked the correct winning number that I would be entered into a drawing with all of the other Chachi's who also picked the correct winning number and one of us would win the grand prize that night of $20,000. If you watch the show then you know that at the end of the night they always tell you the name of the lucky case winner and what city they are from. Since it was December 13^th and my Christmas purchases were looming – I though how nice it would be for them to call someone from Rockwall, TX and why not make it me! So I texted in the number 3 for obvious reasons, knowing good and well that standard text messaging rates would apply. That’s my confession.

So I was looking at my AT&T (formerly known as Cingular) phone bill today to see how much this impulse text would really cost me and I cringed when I saw the $.99 fee. Then I totally lost it when I saw the line below the $.99 fee because it read $19.99 - a charge from a company called Fun Mobile. It turns out that when you text in your vote for Deal or No Deal, you actually sign up for a monthly subscription with Fun Mobile at the tune of 20 bucks per month. I say no deal because that doesn't sound fun or mobile to me. Further researched showed that they had already charged me for two months worth of a subscription! My little standard text messaging rates apply rendezvous was now costing me more than $40! And I knew it was about to get worse. UGH! I was going to have to call in to AT&T and get this taken care of. When was the last time you called a big corporation like AT&T looking for customer service and actually got some? The irony is a little too thick that companies even have the term customer service anymore because it is almost impossible to reach someone on the phone. But this was $40 I was talking about here. So I had to make the call!

Four minutes later, not only had I talked to an actual person who was kind and helpful, but they had explained to me that I had signed up for a subscription by making that Deal or No Deal phone call and that she would take care of it immediately for me! In fact, about three seconds after she said that I got a text confirming my cancellation and she got me my money back! Way to go AT&T Customer Service… now that’s a Deal!

A Season To Remember

I went to four LSU games this year - and boy do I know how to pick em...

September 8th :: LSU vs. Virginia Tech
This was my birthday and Steve Hayes took me to Tiger Stadium and taught me everything I needed to know about being an LSU Tiger. Virginia Tech was ranked in the Top 10 at the time and the Tigers totally dominated them 48-7.

October 6th :: LSU vs. Florida
Tim Teabow and the boys came into Baton Rouge ranked in the Top 10 with national title aspirations and gave the Tigers an epic fight. By converting on 4th down 5 different times throughout the game the Tigers pulled out a 28-24 come from behind victory that Lee Corso called the greatest game he had ever seen in person.

October 20th: LSU vs. Alabama
I got to take all of my girls to this game and introduce them to the Golden Band from Tigerland. With the game starting at 8 pm, Robin and I didn't think we would even make it to halftime since they normally go to bed at 7:30 pm. But the electricity of Tiger Stadium kept them up all night long. They loved it and the Tigers won the game 30-24 with a phenomenal TD pass with one second to go.

January 7th :: LSU vs. Ohio State

The whole family went to New Orleans to watch LSU beat top ranked Ohio State 38-24. The game was an absolute blast. While it really couldn't compare to being at Tiger Stadium, the atmosphere in the Superdome was still pretty incredible.

Colossal Fanatic

A Fan: an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.

Everyone is a fan of something. It may surprise you to learn that I am a fan of various sporting activities. Well, I am... And as I think about being a fan, I have some baggage that not everyone has. My enthusiastic devotion to the teams I have followed has often been tied to the fact that a family member of mine was intricately involved in that sports team. Case in point: Colorado Football. Since my Dad was the Coach of the team, my fandom of Colorado Football was not ordinary. This was my Dad's job. The teams performance greatly affected our lives. It made the difference between staying or moving, fame or infamy, security or vulnerability, friends or enemies, etc... Colorado Football was very important. So when I cheered my favorite team on, I just didn't cheer for them - I was cheering my Dad on. The depth of care that goes into this fanatical devotion is impossible to measure. Let me try to give you a glimpse...

My brother Tom is a high school football coach. His team, the Fairview Knights, is my favorite team in all of sports. I care infinitely more if they win or lose than any other team that exists on this planet. Why? I already told you - my brother Tom is the Coach! My Friday nights in the Fall consist of several dozen text messages to determine the score of Tom's games. I can't sleep until I know how the Knights did. I scour the internet to see if their are any radio broadcasts available. I purchase packages on the satellite dish that enable me to see even highlights of his games. I forgo a night at the movies in favor of 19 phone calls from my sister updating me on the progress of the game. I have driven 16 hours one way to watch his games and turned around the next day and driven 16 hours home... many times! What I am trying to tell you is that I am more than just a fan. I am a Colossal Fanatic. I am tied to the Fairview Knights in a way only few can imagine. The result of being a Colossal Fanatic is that your stress level is at an all time high for these games. In a very real sense - I live and die by the outcome.

This year, I entered into a new season and became a Colossal Fanatic of two teams. My nephew TC used to play for Tom at Fairview, which admittedly took my addiction to a whole new level. But this year, TC is a freshman at LSU. The day TC decided to go to LSU, I instantly became a Tiger. I'm sure it's difficult to imagine, but I dove in head first. And it was so sweet! Monday night was the culmination as LSU rocked Ohio State to win the National Championship... and I was there! Here's some proof:

Geaux Tigers!

BCS Solution

College Football is my favorite sport, but I wish so bad that we had a playoff. I think it would go through the roof in popularity. My brother Tom came up with a simple scenario that would include the tradition of the Bowl games with the need for a playoff. He thinks we should play all of the Bowl games just like we do with the exception of the four Biggies (we chose Cotton over Fiesta). Take the Major Conference Champions and give them in automatic birth to a predetermined Bowl game and then use the BCS to determine the two at-large teams to come up with a total of eight teams in a playoff. This would give teams like Hawaii (not in a Major Conference) and Georgia (possibly hottest team in the nation) a chance to make the tourney.

You would use the four traditional Bowl games for the first round and the winners would advance to a Final Four. It would look like this:

Rose: Big Ten Champ vs. Pac 10 Champ
Sugar: SEC Champ vs. At large
Orange: ACC Champ vs. Big East Champ
Cotton: Big 12 Champ vs. At large

You could make the argument that they should use a variation of this system, but just seed the teams 1-8 and then let play the typical 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc… I could go with that. I just think that the tradition built through this proposal would allow teams to make their conference championship the focus. So Big 12 teams could eye the Cotton Bowl as the ultimate prize because winning the Cotton Bowl will mean entry into the Final Four. There could be some phenomenal conference rivalries that develop as well like the Rose Bowl has already seen with the Big 10 & Pac 10.

This is how it would look this year:

(1) Ohio State vs. (6) USC in the Rose Bowl
(2) LSU vs. (8) Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl
(3) Virginia Tech vs. (7) West Virginia in the Orange Bowl
(4) Oklahoma vs. (5) Georgia in the Cotton Bowl

The Final Four would then have the Rose Bowl vs. Cotton Bowl winners and the Sugar and Orange Bowl winners. Just to make sure you are with me – I will simulate the tourney:

Round 1
USC 24 – Ohio State 9
LSU 45 – Hawaii 42
Virginia Tech 13 - West Virginia 10
Oklahoma 33 – Georgia 10

Semi’s
LSU 48 – Virginia Tech 7 (sounds familiar)
Oklahoma 27 – USC 24

Final
LSU 21 – Oklahoma 14

Wow! That would be a tourney!

Tom suggested that the first round be on Christmas Day, the Semi’s on January 1^st, and the Championship on January 8^th. After consulting with my wife, I have decided to start the first round on December 22^nd or 23^rd (no games on Sunday’s) and make sure that people still celebrate Christmas on December 25^th!

Just to prove how amazing this would be, I looked up the conference champions from 2000 and combined the BCS rankings to show you what could have been. Enjoy…

2000
Rose Bowl: (4) Washington vs. (8) Michigan
Sugar Bowl: (5) Virginia Tech vs. (7) Florida
Orange Bowl: (2) Florida State vs. (3) Miami
Cotton Bowl: (1) Oklahoma vs. (6) Oregon State

2001
Rose Bowl: (4) Oregon vs. (7) Illinois
Sugar Bowl: (2) Nebraska vs. (5) Florida
Orange Bowl: (1) Miami vs. (8) Maryland
Cotton Bowl: (3) Colorado vs. (6) Tennessee

2002
Rose Bowl: (2) Ohio State vs. (4) USC
Sugar Bowl: (3) Georgia vs. (6) Washington State
Orange Bowl: (1) Miami vs. (8) Florida State
Cotton Bowl: (5) Iowa vs. (7) Oklahoma

2003
Rose Bowl: (4) Michigan vs. (7) USC
Sugar Bowl: (1) Oklahoma vs. (2) LSU
Orange Bowl: (6) Florida State vs. (7) Miami
Cotton Bowl: (5) Ohio State vs. (8) Kansas State

2004
Rose Bowl: (1) USC vs. (8) Iowa
Sugar Bowl: (3) Auburn vs. (4) Texas
Orange Bowl: (6) Virginia Tech vs. (7) Pittsburgh
Cotton Bowl: (2) Oklahoma vs. (5) California

2005
Rose Bowl: (1) USC vs. (3) Penn State
Sugar Bowl: (4) Ohio State vs. (6) Georgia
Orange Bowl: (7) Florida State vs. (8) West Virginia
Cotton Bowl: (2) Texas vs. (5) Oregon

2006
Rose Bowl: (1) Ohio State vs. (5) USC
Sugar Bowl: (2) Florida vs. (3) Michigan
Orange Bowl: (6) Louisville vs. (8) Wake Forrest
Cotton Bowl: (4) LSU vs. (7) Oklahoma

Somebody please make this happen!

Black Friday

Most people know the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday. A day to get a head start on Christmas shopping where retailers over fantastic sales. It is often the busiest day of shopping the entire year. I too celebrate Black Friday, but I do not enter any department stores to do so. I honor Black Friday each and every year by watching the Colorado Buffaloes take on the nebraska corn people on the gridiron.

Black Friday 2007 will go down as one of the more happierestest days in a while because the Buffs absolutely demolished the corn folk scoring 65 points. I will hereby commemorate Black Friday 2007 by wearing CU clothing for 65 consecutive Friday’s.

Happy Black Friday… one week later

Pony Up

I am so pumped to be doing the Chapel service for the SMU Football team tomorrow. The entire team will be in attendance along with coaches. I will get to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to about 150 people and many of them do not know or follow Christ. Wow! I am so excited! How often do you get to tell the sweet story of Jesus to such a captive audience. I can't wait!

Please pray for me tomorrow morning. Pray for those Ponies as well. Pray that they will respond to the powerful truth of Jesus Christ!

Rescue

So I took my own advice and read some Job. Wow...

Job 38:2-3
"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me."

Yikes.

Job 38:4-5
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off it's dimensions? Surely you know!"

Uhh...

Job 38:22a
"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow..."

Well, uh - no...

Job 38:28
"Does the rain have a father?"

Not sure...

Job 38:35
"Do you send the lightening bolts on their way? Do they report to you 'Here we are'"?

And it keeps on going. So I have decided that I want in on God's wisdom and not the wisdom of the world. I have a song on my heart today that we often sing at church. I can't get it out of my head - it's called Capture.

I need You Jesus
Come to my rescue
Where else could I go?
There’s no other name by which I am saved
Oh capture me with grace
I will follow You
This world has nothing for me
This world has nothing for me
This world has nothing for me
(I will follow You)
This world has nothing for me

That about sums it up!

The Wisdom of This World

1 Corinthians 3:18-20 says:

“Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."’

I started thinking about this verse and kept wondering… what is the wisdom of this world? I know a part of it is the education that we can gain, but I think the main point here goes beyond that. I think the scripture is talking about the things that the world values and holds up high. I think we are talking about the importance that we place on things. So yes – we value education, but what other things do we really think matter? Things like status, and money, and career, and personal space, and movie stars, and appearance, and technology, and self-esteem and all of the other things that we place way too high a value on. I believe that Paul is telling us that the things that we think will satisfy us won’t. So if you give yourself to those things, in the end it will be futile. In contrast, God works in a different economy of wisdom. He tells us to shun the things that the world elevates and embrace a totally different type of life. Become a radical. Be a fool in the world’s eyes. But in doing so – become completely enamored with Me! As we become enveloped in God’s ways we do lose our desire to be wise by the world’s standards. We begin to have an appetite for the things of God – things like “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 22-23).”

Let’s review:

The wisdom of the world
Education
Status
Money
Career
Personal Space
Movie Stars
Appearance
Technology
Self-Control

The fool
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness

If you want to know more about wisdom – try reading Job 38 – 41…

No Way!

One Second to go...

Wow! What can I say? I have been to some amazing games this year and I was really excited to bring Robin, Macy & Mallory to a game ... I definitely picked the right one! We arrived in Baton Rouge on Friday night and got up fairly early Saturday morning to spend time with TC. He took us to see Mike the Tiger and we walked all around campus and hit some tailgating for free food - always a good idea. Then we got to hang out with TC at his apartment all day because kick off wasn't until after 8 pm.

Coming off of a loss, the LSU fans were not quite as crazy as normal, which is a good thing because I don't think my daughters could have handled the Florida game. But even a tame LSU bunch is much more intensity that they have ever seen. Macy & Mallory absolutely loved the atmosphere. I had taught them all of the cheers and songs and they were all up and in it. The great thing about an LSU game is that there is always something going on. When the play is over, the fans immediately start another cheer or song and dance and the girls ate it up.

As the game progressed it really looked like we were going to lose, so I was trying to prepare myself to not get upset and remember that we were here to soak it all in and spend time with TC. Then, in typical Louisiana Saturday night fashion, the Tigers put together a game winning drive culminating with a 25 yard pitch and catch (diving catch that is) with only one second left on the clock to give us the victory. Ok - at that moment - the place went bonkers. And we all joined in, jumping up and down and screaming like crazy people.

Macy told me that the game was amazing and so much fun, but that the best part was seeing TC!

4-3-2-1

I wasn't happy last Saturday when Kentucky beat LSU in triple OT, but I wasn't devastated either. It took me about 10 minutes and then I remembered that it was just a game. I took a deep breath and carried on with my life. Until Sunday afternoon when the BCS rankings came out and LSU was ranked #4! Are you kidding me - we're back baby! Now I am just as crazed as I was before - it's more than a game again - it's everything...

I boldly predicted earlier this week that the top three teams would all lose this weekend and by the time we kick off in Death Valley tomorrow night @ 8 pm, LSU will be playing themselves back into the top national ranking. I am thankful to report that Rutgers took care of their end of the bargain once again creating Pandemonium in Piscataway by toppling the #23 South Florida Bulls. Now we just need the Hokies to hold serve at home against BC and the Spartans to pull off the upset of Ohio State. Then... Tiger Stadium will be rocking once again. And let me tell you - no stadium rocks quite like Tiger Stadium...

I was there two weeks ago when LSU knocked off the defending National Champion Florida Gators registering a mind numbing 129.8 decibels at one point. It was the largest crowd Tiger Stadium has ever seen with more than 92,900 and an estimate 50,000 plus outside the stadium taking it all in. As long as my plan of the Top 3 losing comes to fruition, it should be even louder tomorrow night since we are playing Auburn. There is some serious history in this rivalry, but no game more fun to reminisce over than October 8, 1998 - The Earthquake Game. LSU was down 6-0 late in the 4th quarter and completed a 4th down TD pass launching a celebration that literally registered on the Richter Scale! I'm telling you - Death Valley is crazy at night.

Robin, Macy, Mallory & myself are driving to BR tonight. I have been trying to prepare my daughters for the craziness for the last two weeks. Since it has been scientifically documented that my daughters talk more than any other two human beings in the world, I have a feeling they are going to love it there!