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In the height of his playing days, Charles Barkley claimed that he was not a role model. The University of Colorado claimed that the troubles with its football program were not as bad as they seemed. Coach Nueheisel claimed that his gambling was no big deal. The people involved in these situations did not want to be held to a higher standard. Why? Because they felt that athletics and off-the-field issues should be kept separate.
There is a clear connection between exercise and your mental health!
Coaches often use signals in competition to tell players which play to run, which pitch to throw, where to attack or defend, and more. It’s the best way to remind a team what they need to do without letting the other team find out.
Not many know that a familiar Christmas carol was really a song of hidden messages. In the early 16th century, British Catholics were forbidden by law to practice their faith. Anyone caught speaking or writing of his or her faith was arrested or executed. In a time of persecution, similar to the Christians in Rome, Catholics in England went underground. They met and studied secretly and had signs to share their faith.
"Out for the season." It was the tough phrase of the week used by most sports broadcasters and repeatedly scrolled across ESPN's Bottom Line. It also was an unexpected and harsh reality for NFL stars Tom Brady, Shawne Merriman and Nate Burleson.
Some of the League's best, done in a moment. You've probably heard the frustrations of the Fantasy Footballers (I think that's actually a real title) in your office or school, just like I have in mine. "With Brady out, my team's done!"
This weekend, the world’s greatest female distance runners took to the streets of Beijing to compete in the Olympic women’s marathon. U.S. representative and 2004 bronze medalist Deena Kastor was among the group and was expected to finish among the leaders of the race. However, just a few steps into mile 3, Kastor felt a “pop” in her foot, and she sank to the curb. She’d broken her foot, and her Olympic race was over.
Think for a minute about her situation. She’d trained hard for years, she had the expectations of her country on her shoulders, she had personal ambitions to do well, and she only had one shot. But injuries were out of her control, and she will now have to mentally deal with what happened.
You have to admit that the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has a fantastic concept. The show should be called “Extreme Transformation” because they identify a huge need and then, not only fill the need, but also go way beyond it. When they finally tell the driver to move the bus no one ever casually says, “That is exactly what I thought it would be. Thanks for meeting my expectations. Not bad work.” No, their expression tells it all. They are blown away. And, it’s hard for those of us watching not to tear up a little when we see their responses.
Driving down the road yesterday I saw something that made me take notice. Coming toward me was a middle-aged man running against traffic. Now, that did not bother me so much; I see that all the time. But what I found strange was that he had his iPod on and was running right on the edge of the cars. Then I broke out in laughter because not 10 feet from him on his left was a beautiful well-groomed sidewalk, on which there was not a single person.
The college baseball season is in full swing, and I am spending many hours on a bus and away from my family. Unfortunately, my daily devotionals usually take a hit during this time of the year.
One night in the spring of 2008, God called me on it. I relish the opportunity to read to my daughters. My wife and I make it a priority to read at least one Bible story to them each night. One evening, as we finished reading, my oldest daughter noticed me closing the Bible and setting it on the night stand next to her bed. She asked why I closed the Bible, and I told her that we were done reading for the night and that it was time to go to bed. She said, “Daddy, I know but I would like the Bible to stay open. Please don’t close it.”
Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you were going to be honored, but the honor was given to someone else? Have you ever taken someone else’s seat and been asked to move? It’s embarrassing, to say the least.
Our small town high school football team had a record-breaking season last year. We finished 11–1, and ranked eighth in the state. This year our record is 0–6.
As coaches, we have all had the dreaded “rebuilding” season, the one where the most you hope to gain is respect for your efforts and sportsmanship. Even the best programs have rebuilding years. The best teams experience slumps. As coaches, we find this is a frustrating time. We get angry. We do not understand how we can do well one year and so poorly the next. We vent our frustrations on the players, our assistants, and even our families.We say and do things we later regret.
At twenty-seven inches tall and dressed in his sleek-fitting evening attire, the adeli penguin looks like a million bucks. A good day for a penguin is a day of “non-event.” It is a day where he has eaten a few fish, slid around on his belly to conserve resources, and has not been eaten himself! A good day for a penguin is one where he is able to wipe his brow at the end of it and proclaim, “I made it.”
What enters your mind as you read the verses above, knowing that God hates the behaviors listed there? Do you find yourself thinking of times, perhaps even recently, when you have done something that God abhors? It’s interesting (and convicting) that the Lord puts shedding innocent blood and spreading strife among brothers in the same list. To the world, shedding innocent blood is certainly considered much worse than creating conflict. But just what does it mean to stir up “trouble among brothers”?
Alexis is a talented basketball player. As an eighth grader, she played on the varsity team at one school. Others quickly saw her ability and soon began mistreating her. Coaches and teammates beat her down mentally, and she began to grow a root of bitterness deep inside of her. She suffered several injuries and even transferred schools, but her situation did not improve. The root grew deeper and deeper.
Hockey Chat: Oh the skates! A premium fitted boot with a sharp blade can have you moving across the ice with fancy footwork. Try a loose boot with a dull blade. You’re better off playing barefoot. Having a fitted skate gives you peace of mind knowing that you can get where you want to go confidently. If you tell your feet to move, you’ll dig in the ice and make the play.
Staleness is the first sign of decay. Avoiding getting stuck in a rut is key to any training schedule. All training regimes get old unless changes are made. The body plateaus and needs a new stimulus or it won’t improve. All exercise routines need variety. No matter how hard we work, we need change.
Spiritually we also need to be challenged, or we go stale. There is nothing spiritual about sitting in the same pew for 30 years. Recently I asked a man who ran a retreat center if he had seen any other retreat centers lately? He replied with an air of conceit that he had been too busy ministering and had not seen any other center in 10 years. His center had that sad stale smell.
True satisfaction—people search for it every day. Some people spend a lifetime acquiring DVDs, MP3s, video games, clothes, cars, and relationships—hoping that more of this world will satisfy them. As coaches and athletes, we often try to find satisfaction in practices, competitions, and victories. None of these things bring fulfillment. Christ should be our first priority. He should be the reason we wake up, the reason we breathe, and the reason we coach, practice, and play. This is a tremendous challenge. We have relationships, commitments, and schedules that pull us in different directions. We must refocus and get back to the basics—spending time daily in prayer, reading the Word, and being accountable to a fellow believer.
Do you have a favorite sport? Maybe, maybe not, but regardless of the type of game we enjoy, our favorite aspect of any sport ought to be respect. We owe respect to our opponent and to ourselves, as well as to the sport we are playing. The name for such respect is sportsmanship, and it also includes courtesy and fairness. I’ve discovered a sportsman-like attitude in golf and in track more than in other sports. Golf is typically played with honor. Winning first place in track isn’t crucial; a runner can earn points for finishing third, fourth, or even fifth place.
While I sat by my computer on Wednesday, the FCA Daily Impact Play popped up. Every once in awhile FCA will rerun a devotion from the past if it still relates to the present. To my surprise, a devotion I had written two years ago resurfaced. And as I read what I had written, I immediately started to weep.
It was 5:56 in the morning, and I was barely awake. I knew this was going to be a challenge, but I couldn't remember the last time I woke up this early consistently. Maybe four years ago in college? See, for quite some time, I've been a slacker, a poser. I'd get up to head to work, and if I had time I'd cram down some Bible verses, toss up a few prayers and start the routine to the office.
Hockey Chat: Could you imagine what the scores would be like if goalies weren’t allowed to wear any equipment. We’ve got some talent between the posts during our skates but they thank much of that to the equipment they put on. Not only does it help to stop the pucks, it stops the pain as well. Going out there unequipped would be disastrous. Sure they would stand there for a few minutes and maybe even grab a slow sliding puck with their bare hands. But as the attacks keep coming, their lack of preparedness would leave them broken down. Every player has equipment to keep them safe. It helps them stand their ground and play hard.
One of the common questions posed to sports fans is, “Who do you follow?” Most people answer with a city, school or mascot: “I’m a Denver fan.” “I follow the University of North Carolina.” “I’m a Hoosier.” No matter how you phrase it, we all follow one team or another. This applies to our lives in Christ as well.
It is not uncommon today to hear believers ask, “What are you?” Some say, “I am a Baptist.” Others claim to be Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic and so on.
Hockey Chat: In 1896, the Ontario Hockey Association stated the role of the goaltender in the rules: "The goalkeeper must not during play lie, sit, or kneel upon the ice” These rules held until goalies were given permission to drop to the ice with the start of the NHL in 1917. The new rules gave them freedom from being penalized for dropping down and allowed them to better protect their goal.
David was known as "A man after God's own heart". He made plenty of mistakes in his life, however, he always searched for truth and the truth was in the Lord. He was known as a man of integrity.
This past week, my integrity was put to test. I grew up playing baseball and continued to play into my college years. Ever since I was in high school I have wanted to become a head baseball coach at either the high school or college level. Many years later, that continuous prayer has not been answered. It is all about God's time not mine.
Often times, a victory might be determined by the game within the game. Can our left tackle keep their defensive end off of our quarterback? Can our closer strike out their best hitter? Can our off-guard shut down their "go-to" guy?
We spend a lot of time in practice doing individual drills and one-on-one drills. In our one-on-ones we want to go "best-versus-best"; we don't want one of our starters going against a second-string player because he is not challenged as much. He does not improve from the situation.
When we go best-versus-best, we quickly find a player’s weaknesses--the flaws in his technique--so that we can correct them. We also see who is going to rise to the top, whom we can depend upon when the game is on the line.
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