Life2gether

C.J. Mahaney has some good tips for watching the Super Bowl–especially for us dads.  He also makes his pigskin prognostication — no suprise there.

Dustin S, friend and fellow UNI grad, on Kurt Warner’s retirement:

He retired yesterday from what is probably a Hall of Fame career. Everyone that knew anything about him also knew that he is a Christian. He is not shy about his faith at all. It is part of who he is. The following paragraph from Seth Wickersham at espn.com struck me when I read it:

Thanks for the religion. Some athletes give their life to Jesus Christ as a PR move; some are ripe with hypocrisy; some just say offensive things. Warner always expressed his faith without trivializing it or us.

Kurt Warner lived his life as a follower of Jesus Christ in a way that garnered respect from others. He didn’t trivialize Jesus or people. We can communicate the things we believe most deeply in a way that others thank us. I don’t know Wickersham’s religious views, but this tells me that Kurt Warner is a man of peace. May I be one too.

USA Today reports:

Tim Tebow is taking his star power to sport’s biggest stage. The former Florida quarterback and his mother will appear in a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl next month. The Christian group Focus on the Family says the Tebows will share a personal story centering on the theme “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.”

The group isn’t releasing details, but the commercial is likely to be an anti-abortion message chronicling Pam Tebow’s 1987 pregnancy. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child and gave birth to Tim.  (Read the rest …)

This guy could lead UK to the Final Four.  He’s that good.  Watching him play (and beat North Carolina) reminded me of this article by Stephen Altrogge, adapted from his book, Game Day for the Glory of God.  Altrogge writes:

When we excel at sports, we are in a very small way reflecting the excellence of God’s character. This is part of the reason why we experience so much joy in playing sports. Doing things excellently is a reflection of God, who does all things with excellence. The same is true of watching sports. When we see an athlete perform exceptionally well, we’re seeing a small portion of God’s character.

• Read the whole article at Boundless
• Consider buying Altrogge’s book as a Christmas gift

Can you find me?  About 17 years ago I strapped on a helmet and played for the Linn-Mar Lions of Marion, Iowa.  My one claim to fame:  I tackled Tim Dwight and put him on his back.  Oh yeah … but we lost the game 51-0!  Dwight went on to play pro football for the Falcons, Chargers, Patriots, Jets, and now Raiders as a wide receiver and kick returner.  If you look closely in the middle row on the far right is my friend Jesse (#14) and I’m right next to him (#32).  My brother, Mark, is right above him (#25).  Ahh… the glory days.

Say it ain’t so, we’re 8-0 … with our eyes on the Rose Bowl!  I love how they find a way to win.

(HT: Z)

Kentucky fans are drooling over the highly touted, incoming freshman John Wall.  After seeing him dunk on seasoned NBA veteran Jerry Stackhouse, I can understand why.

(HT: Zach Nieslen)

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady recently told Details magazine:

Life is not living in the suburbs with a white picket fence.  That’s not life.  Somehow our American culture has made it out that that’s what life needs to be.

A few years ago Brady did an interview with 60 minutes and admitted with all the SuperBowl rings and millions of dollars he’s earned, “there’s gotta be more [to life] than this.”

Makes me think of the song by Switchfoot called, “This is Your Life.”  The chorus goes like this.

This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Tom Brady knows what life is not about.  Let’s pray that as this NFL season begins, Tom Brady’s eyes would be opened to see what life is all about.

I ran my first 5K this fourth of July.  Overall, it felt pretty good … just a little pain on the last mile or so, but I finished.  It was fun to run it with my sister-in-law, Traci, and brother-in-law, Darrel.  Afterwards we found out where we finished in our age division (30-39).

Traci – Gold Medal (1st in women ages 30-39) … pretty impressive Traci!

Darrel – Silver Medal (2nd in men ages 30-39) … only lost to a track coach

Me – Bronze Medal (3rd in men ages 30-39) … not bad for my first 5K

My girls thought the bronze medal was pretty cool.  I guess it felt good as a dad to hand them my medal and let them wear it … even though it was a bronze medal won from a little race in Buffalo Center, Iowa!  Oh well, you gotta start somewhere!

This 4th of July I’ll be running my first 5K.  Yeah, I know.  Big deal.  Probably some of you out there have run marathons (like my own twin brother, Mark, sister-in-law, Traci, and brother-in-law, Darrel).  But I thought it wise not to try and bite off more than I could chew.  So, I’m getting geared up for the Buffalo Center (wife’s hometown in Iowa) Bison Firecracker 5K!  My only real goal is to finish as I haven’t been able to run as much lately with it being 95 degrees and crazy humidity!

Any advice?  Tips? 

BTW … Both Darrel and Traci are running in this thing … they are experienced runners, and I’m expecting Darrel to take home the crown!