Some random sports thoughts

1. I'm more optimistic about the Texas Rangers winning the AL West this season than I ever have been. Yes they lost last night but I fully expected Ervin Santana to out pitch Scott Feldman and he did. Two weeks ago I was furious the Rangers got swept at home by the Baltmore Orioles. I thought a huge collapse was coming but the Rangers have since righted the ship by taking 3 out of 4 in Boston, 2 out of 3 in Detroit and took the first 2 of a 4 game series against the Angels. They've done this almost entirely with pitching. As a Rangers fan I have full confidence in Cliff Lee, C.J. Wilson, and Tommy Hunter. I have almost full confidence in Colby Lewis. I have little confidence in Feldman though and I hope Rich Harden will get back on the mound soon....but I'm not holding my breath. I'm especially pleased with Wilson who in his last start got the best shutout win a pitcher could get....a 1-0 shutout. No margin for error and he still got it done. That's what you want in an ace. Someone who wins the game without any run support. Speaking of no run support I am concerned with the Rangers lack of scoring. They need to start putting some runs on the board. Which means getting some base hits with runners in scoring position. Something they haven't done in days.

2. If Lebron signed with the Heat because of the allure of South Beach then why aren't all of Miami's sports teams getting/keeping big name players. The theory goes that Lebron James left the cold airs of Cleveland for the warm beaches of Miami because he wanted to be in a fun, beach filled, babe filled environment AND because the state of Florida has no income tax. This makes sense but then why have we not seen this more often with the Dolphins, Marlins, Panthers, and....the Heat. The Dolphins are supposed to be the most popular franchise in Miami and I can't recall them getting a big name free agent. (they could of gotten Drew Brees and blew it) The Marlins LOSE big name players and don't often keep any of their young talent because they supposedly can't afford it. Maybe that will change with Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla. Still even though their fan support sucks why can't the Marlins take advantage of the South Beach allure and the no income tax of Miami Fla. I don't keep up with hockey much but I do know the Panthers have been nothing special the last few years. I wonder if hockey players like warm weather venues? Finally why haven't the Heat taken more advantage of their location? I suppose they sort of have by keeping Alonzo Mourning for as long as they did. They also signed Juwan Howard back in 1996 and he was a big name player at the time. Of course the contract was voided but still you get the idea. 

3. If the St. Louis Rams sign Terrell Owens is that really a big deal? This story is going to generate some local interest here in OKC because Sam Bradford is about to become the first quarterback from OU to play quarterback in the NFL. (and no Troy Aikman doesn't count) TO has a terrible (and much deserved) reputation as a locker room cancer. Local sports pundits are going to criticize the Rams for this. One already has. What they think will happen is the Rams will eventually start Bradford and will not be very good and as they lose TO will blast Bradford for not throwing him the ball more...thus shattering Bradford's confidence which is so important for a rookie quarterback. I suppose this could happen but I'm not so sure it will because the Rams may be the only team willing to take TO. I bet they've told him that he better not cause any problems or he's out of there. His contract won't be big so he'd be easy to cut. He's already on thin ice and this may be his last chance. We'll see.

What's the big deal with the MLB All-Star Game?

I get so sick of hearing that the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is the nest All-Star game in professional sports. I was hearing this crap before MLB's rule that whichever league get the All-Star game gets home field advantage in the World Series. I guess some pundits (who obviously have baseball as their favorite sport) think because it's a more normal game that players take it more seriously.

Well anything is better than the Pro-Bowl and I don't know much about the NHL All-Star Game. (nor do I want to) So we'll just compare the MLB All-Star Game to the NBA All-Star Game. Why do so many say the baseball all star game is better? Because it's a more normal game. Because it matters. (especially now because of the home field rule) Because the basketball all star game is an exhibition game. Because the NBA All Stars don't play defense.

Let me be clear. The NBA All-Star Game is much better than the MLB All-Star Game. The NBA All-Star game showcases the talent of the All-Star players. The MLB does not showcase the talent of its' players nearly as much. The pitchers get to show off for a couple of innings at the most. The hitters only get one or two at bats and they can be very un-eventful. The game looks like a normal game except there are mass substitutions. The NBA All-Star Game is a free flowing up tempo game with flare and style. It's much more entertaining than your typical regular season basketball game. So what if it's an exhibition game? So what if there's not as much defensive intensity? (they do play defense...just not at a high-level) Why does that make it worse? The talent shines in an NBA All-Star game NOT nearly as much in the MLB All-Star game.

Even without the NBA vs. MLB All-Star game debate. I will never take the MLB All-Star Game seriously as long as they have the winning-league-gets-home-field-advantage-in-the-World Series rule. It's such a knee-jerk reaction. Can you imagine if the NBA did that? The East won the game this past year which means the Celtics would have had home-court advantage without earning it. They probably would have won if they had game 7 on their court. The All Star game would have decided the eventual champion and that's never a good thing.

I also won't take the baseball All-Star game seriously as long as they have this stupid every-team-has-to-have-an-all-star-pick rule. The Pro-Bowl doesn't do that and that game has more roster spots. It totally taints the process. I still watch the MLB All-Star game. It just doesn't excite me that much anymore. 

My strongest opinion about the month of Lebron

When Lebron James announced live on ESPN this past Thursday that he was signing with the Miami Heat to join forces with Dwane Wade and Chris Bosh I was a little surprised but otherwise I didn't have strong feelings about it one way or the other. When Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert released his ridiculous letter I didn't give it much thought either. (well maybe I did a little) Yet when I saw what I'm sure is just a small sample of the fallout from Cleveland sports fans I realized something that is really driving me nuts.....we take sports too seriously in the U.S.

Allow me now to give you a quick mini biography of myself. When I was nine years old I watched Michael Jordan (no I'm not named after him) for the first time. After that I was hooked and proceeded to become a huge sports nut. I quickly became a fan of the Oakland A's and Los Angeles Raiders (yes the Raiders were in Los Angeles back then) and for reasons I won't dive into now when I was twelve I switched allegiances to the Texas Rangers and Miami Dolphins. (when Dan Marino retired I dropped the Dolphins and replaced them with.....no one. I am a NFL free agent fan) I became a die hard Oklahoma Sooner football and basketball fan. Of course all that paled in comparison to my true love--the Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led Chicago Bulls. Six championships in eight years and a lot of early summer thrills to go with it. The one series that Michael Jordan lost was in 1995 to the Orlando Magic led by Shaq. When that happened I cried and tore up my Shaq poster. No regrets I might add. After some dormant years with some lousy Bulls teams I am now a huge OKC Thunder fan.

Fast forward to now. Lebron James has broken the hearts of millions of people in Northeast Ohio. People there want to burn his jerseys and take down any billboards with him on it. Given the horrible history of Cleveland sports, all the disappointments of the Browns, Indians, and yes the Cavs what Lebron did seems like a cruel blow.

I'll admit I can't totally relate to what those Ohioans are going through, but I'll try anyway. I'm still a die-hard OU fan. I badly want to see OU win another national championship in football so they'll establish themselves as the greatest program in college football history. In basketball I know they'll never be at the level of North Carolina or UCLA, but I still badly want to see them win at least one national championship just to add to their prestige. This is not just because I love OU but I love the state of Oklahoma, where I've lived my entire life. So when OU does well that makes the Sooner state relevant....or so the reasoning goes. As a die-hard Sooner fan, and I hate to admit this, I follow recruiting fairly obsessively. When a high-school basketball or football star from this state is being recruited by OU and then chooses an out of state school....I feel anger and betrayal. (when a star goes to Oklahoma State I just feel anger) When blue chip basketball stars Xavier Henry and Daniel Orton (both from OKC) decided to go to more prestigious basketball schools I understood it but still resented them deeply. I don't want to see them get hurt but I have no interest in seeing them do well in the NBA and am glad they didn't win a national title in college. As far as I'm concerned they are not true Oklahomans. (like Blake Griffin is) Isn't this silly on my part.....BUT IT'S HOW I HONESTLY FEEL.

It's even worse in football. Because OU is prestigious in the grid-iron it completely baffles me why Oklahoma residents Demarco Cobbs and Josh Turner would commit to OU's hated rival Texas. I WANT TO CHOKE THEM!!! (or hook em) I especially feel that way about Turner since he's from Oklahoma City. The way I look at it I hope Cobbs and Turner don't get hurt but get buried in the UT depth chart. (this could happen to Turner. He's a corner back and when he committed to Texas the Horns already had commitments from two of the top five corners in the country.....making Turner's decision even more frustrating.) I also hope they never return to Oklahoma except when they play at Stillwater. That sounds bad and I admit I need help. I take sports too seriously.

So on a smaller scale that's how I relate to the Cavs fans. It's about being relevant in your city/state. Sports combines the love of sports with the love of where one is from. That's why the Cavs fans are so furious with Lebron. He's from the area, he played in the area, and now he's leaving the area. How dare he! The traitor! Actually I can't blame him. For OU their fate does not rest on one recruit....especially in football. Yet for Cleveland sports it was all about Lebron. That's a terrible position for one 25 year old man to be in. Not only did he have too much pressure he had too much love. What if you were dating a girl for awhile and you kinda liked her but you didn't love her. She on the other hand, burned by past rejections, was very much into you and made it obvious. She even told you she loves you. You feel smothered and want to leave but are afraid of how she'd handle it. You eventually leave and when she cries and handles it all wrong you feel validated. I think maybe one reason Wayne Gretzsky agreed to traded from Canada to LA in 1988 is because he was too loved by his fellow Canadians. That's maybe how Lebron felt and he needed to get out. And he did.

It's become obvious now that Lebron made the right decision. The way the Cavs fans have reacted shows they had loved him too much. You see Cleveland sports fans take sports too seriously. They're not only ones by any measure but their case of liking-sports-too-much is now in the public eye. We (yes I get like this too) forget so easily that it's just a game. We want to use sports to escape reality instead of facing reality head on. This whole situation could be the best thing that has happened to the people of Cleveland. They now have the opportunity to find something better to put their passion into. That's the key. Finding something that you're passionate about that you DO...not watch. Something that involves helping and serving others would be a whole lot better then sulking about the evil Lebron James. It's not like Cleveland has much else going on sports wise.

Hopefully I'll take this advice to heart. The next time the Texas Rangers tick me off with a terrible losing streak (like they are right now) instead of sulking about it I'll find something beneficial to do for a friend or family member. It won't be easy. I'm still a work in progress but I'm getting better.        

Random thoughts on the Lebron signing.

Ok now to turn my blogging attention to sports. A few thoughts on the whole Lebron thing.

1. Why do some people think Lebron and Wade can't play together? They were together for the Olympics and several All-Star Games. (I know they're exhibition games but still) Even though it doesn't seem like a good match for two high-scoring wing players to play together if these two want to play together they'll figure a way to make it work. They're too talented not to.

2. One of the reasons why some think it's a bad idea for Lebron, Bosh, and Wade to join forces is because Miami supposedly won't be able to sign other good players since they can't afford it. Well that now looks like it won't be true at all. Thanks to the trio taking below the max amount of money (my how selfish!) the Heat can offer Mike Miller 5 years at 6 mil a year. There are reports that they will be able to keep Udonis Haslem and could sign Derek Fisher. If those deals don't work out I would expect the Heat will get other decent players who could look very good with the wide open looks they'll get playing along side the trio. (by the way it's worth noting that Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem were former college teammates at the University of Florida. They came in together in '98. Maybe that's a reason they'll except less money to play together.)

3. Everyone says this is Wade's team and that will probably be true at first, but don't forget most of the Heat players will be brand new. I think overtime this will become Lebron's team. For one thing he's three years younger then Wade, and Wade's been slowed down by injuries....not Lebron. Wade might be much closer to the end of his physical prime. Also as it stands now Lebron is a better player then Wade. Both are great scorers but Lebron takes higher percentage shots and gets more rebounds and assists. It wouldn't surprise me if the Heat win a couple of titles over the next three seasons and Lebron wins finals MVP and establishes himself as the best player on the team. Maybe that will do more for his legacy than people think.

4. Lawrence Frank asked Charles Barkley on NBA-TV what it was like when Scottie Pippen joined Barkley and Hakkem Olajuwon in Houston back in 1998. Actually a much better comparison to the new Miami trinity is when Barkley joined Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler with the Rockets in 1996. That trio still had a couple of years left in the tank. (Barkley and Olajuwon didn't in 98) They actually had a pretty good run when you consider they lost a tough 6 game series in 97 and a tough 5 game series in 98 to a pretty good Jazz team. (they played the Jazz a lot tougher in the first round in 98 than the Spurs and Lakers did in the later series that year) Problem was they couldn't afford a good point guard and John Stockon made them pay for it.

5. Of course the Celtics getting the "big 3" in 2007 is a better comparison. Not just because it's more recent but Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett play the same positions as Wade, Lebron, and Bosh. (shooting guard, small-forward, and power forward) That Celtic team worked out pretty good but the difference with both comparisons is that the Heat trio is much younger which makes this much scarier for other NBA teams. I'll have more on this story later.

Daily Walk with God-Part 10 The grand finale

This is my final posting about our daily walk with God.. This is the verse that sums it all up.

Luke 9:23 Then he (Jesus) said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me....."

What's fascinating to me is that the verses in Matthew 16:24 and Mark 8:34 have Jesus saying the exact same thing verbatim....except they leave the word "daily" out. Not sure why. Maybe Luke added it for emphasis, or maybe in his research he got his account from a disciple who remembers Jesus words more clearly. At any rate what's important is that we understand our walk with God is something that we strive to excel in EVERY DAY. It won't be easy. We'll have to deny ourselves and take up the burdens that come with following Jesus....but in the end it will be worth it. May it be daily.

JRhea

Daily walk with God. Part 9-Humility and Understanding

This might be my favorite Bible verse right now because it's so deep and seldom used. An angel of God is speaking to Daniel...

Daniel 10:12 Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them...."

Of all the verses I've used this is the only verse except for Daniel 6:10 that doesn't use the words "daily" or "every day". Yet when the angel says "first day" he implies that it wasn't the last day that Daniel gained understanding and humbled himself. It's amazing how in the scriptures God is very moved by men (good or evil) who humble themselves in His presence. If things are looking bleak right now come to God with a very humble heart. Gaining understanding which I take to mean knowing God more is also very important. If you haven't already...make this the first day you gain understanding and humble yourself before God....but NOT the last.

JRhea

Daily Walk with God. Part 8-Daily Bread

This one is really short....but important.

Matthew 6:11 "Give us today our daily bread."

This is part of the the Lord's Prayer. The fact that Jesus uses the words "today" and "daily" suggests this a prayer we should pray every day. I'm not totally sure how "daily bread" applies but I believe it means basic needs. And we should go to our Father in Heaven and rely on Him for all of our needs--phyiscal needs AND spiriutal needs. (maybe "daily bread" is a spiriutual concept-John 6:35) So ask God to provide for your needs, and do it DAILY.

JRhea

Daily walk with God. Part 7-Encouraging

Getting close to the end. This one is short and simple.

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

To make our walk with Christ more outwardly focused we should give Godly encouragement to the believers around us. If it helps those believers keep away from sin it would also help us because our minds will be more Christ centered AND people centered. With all the technology at our disposal, like facebook and texting, this shouldn't be too hard. Make it a priority to encourage one another DAILY.

JRhea

Daily Walk with God. Part 6-Bible Study

Happy 5th of July! Here we go

Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

So should we apply this verse by hearing a sermon on Sunday and then spending several minutes a day looking through the Bible for scriptural flaws? Why not? Ok I don't know anyone who does that, but what a powerful example the Bereans set that we should follow by making the Word a big part of our lives. We don't just rely on sermons and Christian books for spiritual food but a healthy dose of God's Word. Make the Bible a part of your life.....EVERY DAY.

JRhea

Daily walk with God. Part 5-meeting daily together

Acts 2:46

"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,"

Is it possible in our busy daily schedules to meet with other Christians EVERY DAY? Perhaps not but it is important to be with other Christians regularly. A great example to follow. In today's world of facebook, texting, and twitter lets do all we can to keep Christian community going strong. If we aspire grow closer to God we need eachother to do it.

JRhea

Daily Walk with God-Part 4 Seeking Wisdom

This aspect of walking with God can be very overated.

Proverbs 8:34

Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

The "me" is wisdom. True wisdom comes from God so to grow closer to Him we should want to grow in wisdom. Just like Jesus did (Luke 2:52) and we should do it DAILY. In my opinion the best way to watch daily at wisdom's door is to read the Word every day, and the next best way is to spend time and listen to those who are filled with wisdom. (Proverbs 13:20)

JRhea