Wanting your piece/peace out of life

Deion Sanders – Atlanta – 1992 Home (Photo credit: BaseballBacks)

I saw a blog post a bit ago which I thought was pretty clever. What it basically came down to was: some people want their piece out of life (money, career, great family, fame) but what it’s better to aim for is to want peace.

Catchy.

But the post itself probably isn’t the most groundbreaking piece of literature out there; saying ‘Jesus is better than stuff’ is just a paraphrase of the Bible, and that’s been around for a long time.

No, what really struck me was the author of the post. His name’s Deion Sanders, and if (like me) you’re into American football at all, you’ll know that he’s one of the most famous, best NFL players in history (i.e. he’s in the Hall of Fame). To see a sports superstar like him not simply saying ‘I’m a Christian,’ but blogging (and tweeting) about it is a real encouragement.

So there you go. This isn’t so much an encouragement to read the blog post (although you’re welcome to) but more a reminder to ask yourself: how are you using the stage that God’s given you to give glory to him?

Tebowing

Image by Jeffrey Beall via Flickr

You might have picked up that I like the NFL. Bear with me. One quarterback in the NFL keeps making the news, basically for two reasons:

1. He’s really good, but the owners of his team don’t seem to think he is (although this isn’t so true any more since they’ve actually started letting him play and he’s been winning games)
2. He’s a Christian. Mainly this one.

His name’s Tim Tebow. As a college student he won an award for being the best quarterback in his year in the US, and has done all sorts of things like painting Bible verses on his face, appearing in an ad encouraging pregnant ladies not to have abortions, risking public humiliation by boldly praising Jesus (like when he admitted to being a virgin because he was waiting until he was married), and basically praying a lot.

This ‘praying a lot’ bit seems to have caught on – a bunch of apparent fans have created a website where they basically take photos of themselves in the ‘Tebowing’ position; on one knee, clenched fist pressed against forehead. Now, I just tried accessing this on my lunch break and got a warning message so it’s probably got some horrible virus or something on it, but it’s basically a series of pictures of people Tebowing in various places: McTebowing, Coast Guard Tebowing, Wyoming Capitol Tebowing, and so on. It’s here if you’re interested.

The best bit? Tim Tebow found out and tweeted about it, together with the definition of Tebowing that appears on the site:

Tebowing: (vb) to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.

Love it. For the record, I think Tim Tebow’s a great quarterback, but a better witness to Christians about how to be a great witness.

Me man, me like sports

Image via Wikipedia

If you know me well, you’ll know I like American football. A lot.

The NFL did a bit of analysis recently and determined that there are around 2 million ‘avid fans’ of the NFL in the UK…I think I’m probably one of those, who visits the website multiple times a day, subscribes to every newsletter and blog out there, watches the highlights to every game, and dreams that one day that call will come in: ‘Hi Sam, you seem interested in the NFL – how do you fancy becoming the starting quarterback for the new London franchise?’

But I don’t just like American football, I’m also into normal football (Americans: that’s the sport where the ball spends most of the time in contact with someone’s foot) – again, I follow my team’s (Sheffield United) blogs and latest news.

And like most people from Sheffield, the lack of success from the football teams has led me to have a real love for ice hockey – the Sheffield Steelers won first place in the Elite League last season, but then lost out in the playoffs. Shame. But again, the NHL has a whole bunch of stuff available so I watch as many of the highlights as I can and keep up with the news. Maybe I just like hearing the word ‘goaltender’.

In fact, I also really enjoy rugby, Australian football, tennis, golf, indoor bowls…I basically just like any sports. And I actually can’t figure out why. I tried to think it through, but it’s eluding me. Thankfully, that doesn’t reduce my enjoyment.

Is anyone like me? Is there anything that you love but don’t know why? Does it bother you?

Shameless plug for a new blog

Image via Wikipedia

If you know me reasonably well you’ll probably be familiar with my interest in the NFL. I’ve been really tempted to write about NFL stuff on a lot of occasions, but have resisted that temptation for the most part because (a) I’m pretty certain that the audience of this blog is not even remotely interested in it, and (b) I’m not sure if I actually want this blog to change from a ‘faith and humour blog’ to a ‘faith, NFL and humour blog’.

So, I found a different way – head over to SamNFL.wordpress.com and you’ll find a brand spanking new blog, all and only about my take on the NFL.

Here’s the first post to give you a taster.

Captains photos

This is pretty funny. I’m sorry if you’re not into American football and are fed up with me talking about it again, but this is pretty funny.

Aaron Rodgers is now the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Here he is, managing to find his way into every team captains photo in his first three years at the team. At first it seems accidental:

The Pro Bowl

Image via Wikipedia

The NFL has quite an interesting concept, called the Pro Bowl.

So, basically, throughout the season the players and fans vote for who they think the best players are, and the top-ranked players get to compete in this Pro Bowl.

It happens the week before the NFL final, the Super Bowl, so any members of the two teams that make the Super Bowl are excused. That’s not that big a deal because there are plenty of good players, there would only be a handful that make the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl.

I quite like the idea. Effectively, that season’s dream teams compete in a display of the best sporting talent – how could that be a bad idea?

But there’s a problem. Why would anyone actually want to watch the game? I’m sure it would be a good spectacle, but you don’t really support a team there. The two teams playing wouldn’t have any real character, and the originality of the playbook would be limited because the players aren’t with each other day in, day out, learning how they click.

So actually, I’m not sure I like the idea. I far prefer the thought of two traditional rival teams, each with its own established character, facing off for a good, tight, hard-fought game.

It probably is fun to watch.

But bring on the Super Bowl.

 

Just as a side note, this idea really wouldn’t work at all with real football (i.e. soccer). American football is a genuine team game. You work as a perfect team and win, or you don’t work as a team and you lose. In football, one individual can win or lose a game for the team. Hm. Perhaps that’s a rant for another day.

Coming Back Stronger by Drew Brees with Chris Fabry

Cover via Amazon

Outside of the US, Drew Brees is known by very few people, and those that do know about him pretty much know him as the winner of the Super Bowl. This book is his well-written story, charting his progress from high school through college and into the NFL.

The theme of ‘coming back stronger’ is well underlined throughout the book. Brees does not pretend that he has had a hard life, but he does point out that when life has not gone swimmingly, that he has used that adversity as a motivating factor, and has always come back stronger.

I genuinely enjoyed this book. It is written simply, but well. Brees gives just enough information to hold the reader’s attention without boring them, and is honest about his thoughts and feelings throughout.

For me, it was nice to hear a sports superstar being honest and unashamed about his faith, but I would have liked for it to have been a bit more explicit. At a number of opportunities he mentioned that ‘God had a good plan’ or that ‘God intended it for good’, so it’s clear that his relationship with God is important, but I’d have liked a bit more detail in terms of what and why he believes. That said, I don’t think this was intended to be the 95 theses of Drew Brees so this is a minor point.

If you’re a fan, I’m sure you’ll find this fascinating, and very challenging. I knew very little about Drew Brees before reading this but am very glad that I did. It’s almost a shame that his success was so well-publicised that the end of the story is spoilt! Two thumbs up from me.

I got this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers. I’m not required to give a positive review.

Remember Why You Play by David Thomas

Coach Kris Hogan’s high school American football team, the Faith Christian Lions, drew national press coverage when he led their fans to cheer for the opposing team in 2008, Gainesville State prison school. This book is a detailed account of their 2007 season leading up to that game.

The author is a journalist and has a fantastic way with words. I was never bored and felt drawn in to every emotion experienced by the players and coaches.

I loved this book – it’s personal, exciting, and emotional! But It does talk quite a bit in terms of American football language so if you don’t understand the game (as many Brits don’t) I expect you’ll enjoy it less than I did.

Overwhelmingly the best thing about this book comes in the penultimate chapter. The whole book I was thinking: this guy, Kris Hogan, is amazing!’ But suddenly the book climaxes and I realised that actually the whole point is that God’s grace is amazing.

I’d thoroughly recommend this book, and the upcoming feature film, One Heart, to Christians and non-Christians, providing you can handle the football jargon.

I got this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers. I’m not required to give a positive review.

‘Little Giants’ this weekend (NFL)

I know this is American football and as a result may not be understood by most Brits, but it’s a good play all the same. The Spartans needed 3 points (field goal) to tie the game, but they wanted to win with a touchdown. If you’re on an RSS reader you might not see the video, but it’s there!

New NFL season

The NFL season kicked off this weekend, and I’m looking forward to it – I’ll be following the Seattle Seahawks (GO HAWKS!) and am hoping the rest of the season works out as well as this weekend’s win over the San Francisco 49ers!

Last season I had the privilege of seeing the Seahawks beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 41-0 so hopefully we’ll see something like that again, anyway here are my key thoughts:

1. Not enough British people are into American football – it’s a very entertaining game and the lack of interest means it’s never on the telly. Gutted. Oh well, video highlights are available over here so at least there’s that.
2. I’ve got to think about booking holiday the day after the Superbowl – last year I missed the second half so I could get to work on time, and that’s always better than the first!
3. There’s another game happening at Wembley (and rumours of the NFL moving two games per season over here) – chances are I won’t be there as tickets start at £35 for the lowest seats right under the goals. Not a good view.
4. Phil & Liz live directly below us, like the NFL, and have Sky+. Triple score.