Devotional
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April 11, 2006
Set:
“Some of my vivid images of Jerry Rice are him working out at the Pro Bowl. Here you are, after he wins the Super Bowl, he’s played in front of 500 million people. Less than a week later, he’s out there running wind sprints to play in what is our only exhibition game,’ says NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on ESPN Classic’s SportsCentury series.
Jerry Rice is arguably the best wide receiver in the history of football. Rice had a reputation for training hard. He understood the benefits of taking care of his physical body so that on the field he could perform at a level that surpassed everyone else. He understood the power of training.
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April 11, 2006
Set:
On February 16, 2005, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled what little was left of the 2004–- 2005 hockey season exactly five months after the NHL lockout began. No compromise was reached between players and owners, and the NHL received the shameful distinction of becoming the first professional sports league in North America to miss an entire season due to a labor dispute.
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April 11, 2006
Set:
The debate over steroid use on the college, professional, and Olympic levels is growing. Allegations of steroid use have cost many athletes their jobs and their lives. When their first priority is to honor and glorify self, some athletes will go to extreme measures. Their hope is in themselves and in pursuing their own glory. If they fail, they feel worthless. Their worth is tied up in being the best no matter what the cost.
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October 07, 2005
Set:
The Boston Red Sox saw little potential in their 24-year-old pitcher. He’d had a couple of decent years, but he had showed little sign of improvement. Eventually, the team traded him to the New York Yankees, who decided to move him to the outfield to utilize his strong arm. The Yankees also believed that he could become a good hitter. They were right. Years later, few people remember that Babe Ruth began his career as a mediocre pitcher in Boston!
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October 07, 2005
Set:
One of the Division 1 schools in my area entered its conference tournament as the number eight seed and appeared to be a long shot to win it all. The head coach for the team admitted they fell short of expectations, but that the one goal they could hold on to was winning a conference tournament championship. Despite the odds, the team achieved that goal by knocking off the first-, second- and fourth-seeded teams, earning an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament in the process. As one player said, the team put it together when it counted most.
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October 07, 2005
Set:
The time-out. What a great tool! When you realize that your athletes are becoming unnerved, out of breath and in need of a break, a time-out is a great way to stop, reenergize, refocus, reward and reassure them. Something as simple as a water break time-out to reenergize your team is all it takes to get them going again. In the same way, our “thirst” for God requires that we take time-outs in our lives in order to be reenergized by our Coach, Jesus Christ.
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October 07, 2005
Set:
Why is asking so hard for some of us? Whether it’s for a ride to the airport, a few dollars for lunch, or (better yet) financial support to take some athletes to FCA camp, many of us avoid asking like the plague.
Of course, there are times when even the most self-sufficient among us is willing to swallow all pride and plead before the “throne of grace.” I have personally witnessed the amazing transformation of coaches, players and fans whose circumstances turned them into fervent prayer warriors. This phenomenon typically occurs during a game when their team is down by a point with a few ticks left on the clock and the least-talented shooter is on the free-throw line. Who among us hasn’t uttered a prayer in times such as these?
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October 07, 2005
Set:
There are two sayings that I have heard hundreds of times in my life. One is “You can’t tell a book by its cover,” and the other is an advertising statement that assures us “It’s what’s up front that counts.” I would like to take a little liberty with those two statements and apply them to the world of sports. I think that anyone who has played baseball can attest to the fact that “You can’t tell a baseball by its cover” and “It’s what’s inside that counts.”
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October 07, 2005
Set:
Whoever said life is a roller coaster must have been a coach. It seems that on a daily basis, the coaching profession can send us rocketing toward glorious, adrenaline-boosted highs. But it can also throw us into a downward spiral with exasperating emotional lows.
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October 07, 2005
Set:
I’ll never forget standing in the locker room with my Division 1 field hockey players and listening to their postgame chatter. I was their new assistant coach, we had just lost our first game, and I was anxious to see how they were doing.
