The Book to Read for Football Season

I love football. I am going to the Auburn v. Southern Miss game this weekend and I will cheer like we are playing Alabama. The NFL season kicked off last night and I am excited because Indianapolis is off the radar due to Harrison's injury last year and Peyton's injury this year. I always like teams with a chip on their shoulder and playing against a perceived slight.

This summer, I read a book that really got me excited about football season. No, it wasn't the lastest Athlon almanac or anything like that. It's The Blindside: Evolution of a Game." by Michael Lewis. I was first introduced to Lewis when I read Moneyball. Lately, I have been on a non-fiction kick and Michael Lewis weaves a great story by not only presenting the facts of a situation, but showing the development of the sport as to why teams or players act the way they do.

For example, The Blindside is about Ole Miss starting left tackle Michael Oher and follows his origin in the slums of Memphis to football prominence with the help of a local family, the Tuohy's. However, the first chapter of the book does not mention the primary character. In order to truly understand why Michael Oher is such a strong candidate for the NFL, readers must understand why the left tackle position is so important. The left tackle protects the quarterback's blindside and that position has become incredibly important with the rise of the dedicated pass rusher best represented by Lawrence Taylor, especially as he tackled Joe Theissman and turned his leg into beef stew.

As the needs of the NFL are passed down to the Colleges, the need for prep school standouts in that position grows. Into this world enters Michael Oher, a gargantuan teenager with the right kind of weight for his frame and quick feet. The intriguing part of his story is how he changed as a person during his time at Briarwood Christian. He went from a student with no hope of even graduating public school to making his grades (with some help from the Mormon Grade Grab at BYU) and going on to play ball at Ole Miss. The Touhy family, and the mother especially, saw Michael as a wonderful person who never had any guidance and they fought with him throughout the many trials of taking a street kid with incredibly athletic ability and turning him into a highly recruited college athlete. Also interwoven in this story is an NCAA investigation into the Tuohy family as potential violators of NCAA policies because they were Ole Miss boosters.

The book makes me ask the question as to whether I can help someone like the Tuohy's did. Clearly, Michael Oher had the potential learn, but was never given the opportunity until they came into his life with others. Why can't I do the same thing with someone in inner city Montgomery, AL? He or she probably won't be an NFL star, but I can do more than I am to help other people get out of terrible situations. I love books that make me ask these kinds of questions. They bust my comfortable bubble and challenge me. This book in particular does that while intriguing me with football strategies and college football information.

I won't write any more about the story itself, because I want you to go and read it. The reason I love this book is that Michael Lewis brings in elements from all over football to show why a person like Michael Oher will be a top 10 draft pick in the 2009 draft. His writing style is extremely engaging and he joins the chapters together nicely, even while diverting to outside strings of the overall narrative.

So go read the book. I am interested in your thoughts.

Humility

If you have to prove how humble you are, you are not really humble.

What is the true nature of humility? I have been thinking about this topic lately as I have had some interactions with people who work really hard at being humble. I believe that humility is one of those character traits that naturally shines, yet I believe that there are many that feel uncomfortable with people not thinking we are humble. Humility is an issue of the heart and actions flow from that heart.

Case in point: If God has so blessed a person to be financially wealthy, then appreciate the gifts and serve God with the money. This may mean giving all of it to the poor or finding other ways of blessing. I know of a family that owns a beach house in Florida. They are wonderful followers of Christ and use their home for ministry to others.

However, I also know a person who is wealthy, but he works so hard to hide the fact. He bought a new car for his 16 year old son, but felt he had to tell me how big a deal he got on it. in a 10 minute diatribe. I really think that he believes that to be wealthy and buy things is not humble, so he has to make excuses for the money he spends. If a person is working so hard at humility that he feels he has to prove it, then it is an issue of pride. We can be pridefully "humble" and in fact I think many of us fall into that temptation because we are trying to prove our humilty to other people.

We get worked into a frenzy so that we may gain the approval of others, so that they may talk about our great character. Is this not the definition of false humility?

What is the source of this false humility? "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." Matthew 6:1. We are so much like Pharisees when we work so hard for those around us to see us as humble.

Where does true humility come from? Look at the story Jesus told of the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18. The man who walks away pleasing God is the one who rightly confessed his sin to God. This man brought nothing to God buthis broken heart and he left blessed. Was he worried about others opinions? Was he like the Pharisees that prayed on the street corners and made themselves look sick while they were fasting so that they could gain the approval of men? No.

So who are we trying to impress? As long as our hearts are right before God, he will lead us to be content in every situation and humility will flow out of us rather than us trying to manufacturing it.

For this reason, we see people like a doctor I know who is one of the most humble people I know. So we should be who God has called us to be, humble ourselves before him, and quit worrying so much about what others think.

News Items from this Week:

Joel Osteen's Wife Causes Airline Issues:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,399503,00.html

I guess the health and wealth "gospel" does not apply to flights.
Did you notice who her attorney is? Maybe I am a huge baseball fan and the only one who cares, but her attorney is the same Rusty Hardin that is representing Roger Clemens in his Perjury/Obstruction charges.

Rusty Hardin: Attorney to the Stars!


The Montauk Monster:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,399803,00.html

Is this all the Cloverfield Monster was? That movie was a bit dramatic for such a small thing.


Brett Favre Now a New York Jet:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3523490

Really? I thought he was still retired. The real question will be how many times is he going to do this before he actually stays away. Also, how long will Mike McCarthy (Packers Coach), Ted Thompson (Packers GM), and Aaron Rodgers (Packers QB) keep their jobs?


Gas Prices Continue to Fall:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/08/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm?cnn=yes

Just celebrating with you. Whoo Hoo!

Christianity and Race in America

Please go to http://www.downshoredrift.com and read Alan Cross' post about racism in the church and the mission of the church in light of these issues. White Southern Christians have for a long time been unwilling to address the prejudices that still exist in our communities. I believe that some of these issues come from a tendency for us to try and keep our skeletons in the closet rather than address the mistakes made in the past and the prejudice we carry now.

Montgomery, AL has a tremendous history in race and should be the community of racial diversity, yet it seems that we have our white churches and our black churches and that we are perfectly okay with that. We have maintained an unfortunate cultural divide by not challenging people to think in terms of Christ and how he makes us one by his death on the cross.

What kind of church are we if all we do is reflect the culture rather than impact it? What good is our message then?

Writing Hiatus

Sorry for the long delay between posts. I am travelling a good bit with work and just finished school. I have a couple of weeks before I start again and I will be posting regularly.

Upcoming Topics Include:

- Humility and Using your Gifts.
- The true Jesus.
- "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis. (One of the better non-fiction books I have read in a while.
-"The Blindside" by Michael Lewis.
- Thoughts on the future of radio and podcasting. (Dave Dameshek from 710 ESPN from LA in particular).
- Hilarious Movie Moments.
- One Hit Wonders in Music.

As always, check Mandy's blog for her thoughts and information on the family:

http://thatmoodyfamily.blogspot.com

Great Movie Quotes

Since I am out of town and I have finished the studying I need to do for tonight, I thought I would publish another post and I would like your help in the comment thread.

What are some of the great movie quotes and scenes of all time? Originally, this post was going to be limited to just movies quotes, but sometimes the whole scene informs the individual lines. I was thinking about this topic the other day and rattled off a few of my favorites: (Some are more recent than others). Please comment with some of your best lines and scenes.

"Creasy's art is death. And he is about to paint his masterpiece." Christopher Walken, Man on Fire. This movie is one of the best in the last decade and does not get the credit it deserves.

"You know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in France? A Royale with cheese." - Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Pulp Fiction The whole scene with the guys in the apartment is hilarious in my opinion.

Both Theoden's and Aragorn's speeches in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King These speeches make me want to jump off the couch and go to war.

Mel Gibson's speech in Braveheart. Same reaction as above.

"So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life." Peter Gibbons Office Space. Kind of sets the tone for one of the funniesy movies of the 90's.

The whole scene when Dave Cujon droppes the coffee mug in The Usual Suspects. This movie is top 5 for me right now. When he reviews everything verbal has said up until this point and realizes that he is Keyser Soze, I want to jump out of my chair.

The service station scene in No Country for Old Men. This scene alone could have secured the Oscar for Javier Bardem.

"You want answers?" "I think I'm entitled to them." "You want answers?" "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!" - Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men. Great movie, great lines. Enough said.

"I'll never let go, Jack." - Kate Winslett, Titanic. Wait a minute, how did that get in here? I do think that this line ranks high on the unintentional comedy scale (I think I owe Bill Simmons a dollar). She says this emotional line and proceeds to break his frozen hand off her arm with a resounding CRACK and he sinks to the bottom of the ocean. I should have been crying, but I was laughing.

So, give me your favorite movie lines and scenes. Let's try and keep it clean as this is a family blog.

A Beer By Any Other Name...

I enjoy beer.

Yes, it's true. Christians can enjoy alcohol (in moderation) and not sin. There has been much debate back and forth between many groups about the morality of drinking. I do not want to enter this argument in today's post. My conviction is that alcohol, like food, can be enjoyed in moderation as a gift from the Lord, provided you are te above the legal age and not breaking the law. I realize my convictions are not shared by all and I will not judge anyone who feels he cannot according to conviction. In fact, if you are convicted to not drink alcohol, then to drink would be a sin. I do not think the argument can be made from scripture that drinking is wrong, but it can cleary be shown that drunkeness is wrong. Also, to act against your own convictions is also wrong.

Well, I guess I did enter the debate. Oh well...

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to get some of your thoughts on various beers. I am a bit of a conisseur and my tastes change frequently from different types of beer. Right now, I really like a good brown ale. I travel a good bit with work and I get to try some different things wherever I go.

I am in Gillette, Wyoming (where?) right now because my company, Catoma Outdoor, has been developing tents for motorcycle campers and we are having the final prototypes tested at a big rally here. They have some great microbrewed beers out west that we have never heard of in Alabama. One of my favorites is out of New Belgium Brewery in Colorado and is called Fat Tire. Yesterday, I had Odell's 90 Shilling Ale on draft and it was very delicious, especially after being on my feet all day. I also enjoy a good porter or stout, depending on the food usually. For now, the brown ale is the way to go for me. The best ales usually finish with a unique flavor.

Post your comments with beer selections and recommendations. All are welcome, regardless of taste (I have been known to enjoy Miller High Life when faced with a tight beer budget).