Two More Days
Two more days until the Kelly Era at Notre Dame begins!
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Playoffs?!?! Are you kidding me!?!?
Here’s how I feel about the St. Louis Cardinals just being swept by the Houston Astros, again:
Cards fans, let’s face it: it’s over.
Can we please stop talking about the Reds? If you haven’t noticed every time they are mentioned the number of games behind the Cardinals are keeps increasing.
In addition, can we please not talk about the Wild Card?
To quote Jim Mora, “I’d be happy just to win a game.”
7 Alternatives to the Cardinals Shaving Their Heads
Due to their current slump, the Stl. Cardinals called a players-only meeting yesterday. In that meeting, as an act of team unity, some shaved their heads. They then, almost immediately, went out and got two-hitted by another left-hander.
I think calling players-only meetings is all well and good, but a couple things stood out to me about this particular one:
- If you’re going to do an act of “team unity” make sure the entire team is in, otherwise, it’s an oxymoron. In case you didn’t notice, the starting pitcher for last night’s game (Jake Westbrook) still had a full head of hair.
- In addition to making sure everyone’s in on the “team unity” thing, make sure everyone is making an equal sacrifice. What I’m saying here is that the two highest paid players on the Cardinals were already bald. They didn’t sacrifice a whole lot.
- If you’re going to call one of these meetings, make sure it results in something. Two hits? Really? Would they have been no-hitted if they hadn’t met?
While I was watching the game I came up with a list of alternatives the Cardinals should have done rather than shaving their heads:
- Taken extra infield practice.
They need it. I have never seen so many errors by the Cardinals in my lifetime. - Went to the batting cages.
Do I really need to elaborate on this one? We were at the Lake of the Ozarks last month and they had batting cages for $.50. Just think of how many rounds they could have played on their salaries! - Watched any (or all) of the following movies to try to get some sense of what baseball is about:
- Bull Durham
(maybe they should have all worn garter belts instead of shaving their heads…or maybe they already are and that is their issue)
- Major League
(stick the the first, they went downhill after that)
- The Natural
- The Rookie
- The Sandlot
- The Bad News Bears
(original please)
- Field of Dreams
- Bull Durham
- Went to the local little league practice to have one of their left-handed kids throw batting practice. I’d wager he’d pitch a shutout too. Come to think of it, I have a 10-yr-old leftie that I’m pretty sure could dominate them.
- Try to come up with a good way to say, “There’s always next year” to make it not sound like the Cubs. Come to think of it, did anyone see any animals run on to the field this year? Black cat? Racoon? Unicorn?
- Watch every Rams game from the last 10 years. Now really, you don’t want to be those guys do you? If that doesn’t motivate a person I don’t know what does.
- Try to figure out a new math system that would eliminate the numbers 6-4-3. Seriously, how many teams do you know that when the bases are loaded with no outs the next batter up will strike out and the on-deck batter will then hit into a 6-4-3 double play? Maybe the Cards new anthem should be, “Ya’ down with hitt’n’ into ‘da 6-4-3? Ya, you know me!” (for those of you young’uns out there, this is a reference to the song by Naughty By Nature called O.P.P
)
I Wanna Be Like Pete
Notre Dame’s first football game is a little over a week away. In case you didn’t know, Notre Dame’s opening day is the 4th most sacred day of the year, behind Easter, Christmas and the Saint Louis Cardinals opening day. Every year to prepare for this blessed time of year I plop myself down in front of the TV and watch Rudy (Rudy (Special Edition DVD)
This post is not about my love for the movie or my love for Notre Dame per se, rather it’s about Pete.
“Who’s Pete?” you ask.
Pete is Rudy’s best friend growing up. If you’ve seen the movie there are many people trying to dissuade Rudy from even thinking about Notre Dame. His brothers, his girlfriend, his teacher at the Catholic school he attended all thought Rudy needed to get his childhood dreams of going to Notre Dame out of his head and face reality. Even his dad tries to convince him to forget about his dreams.
Then there’s Pete.
Pete was there by Rudy’s side all through his childhood, high school and played along side him on the high school football team. After high school they ended up working in the same factory. Unlike all Rudy’s detractors, Pete was Rudy’s biggest fan. He always encouraged Rudy to follow his dreams. He saw something in Rudy that no one else saw. To say he was a good friend would be an understatement.
There’s a scene in the movie when the two friends are on lunch break at the factory. It was August 23rd, Rudy’s birthday. Pete remembered. While they were sitting there Pete gave him a birthday present–a Notre Dame jacket. By this time Rudy was 22 years old, and every day it seemed that his dreams were getting farther and farther away. But again, Pete kept encouraging him, so much so that he got into a fight with Rudy’s older brother to stand up for him. Pete was a real friend.
[Spoiler Alert...if you haven't seen the movie yet, watch it first or skip this next paragraph]
What happened next in the movie, I’ll admit, gets me every time. Pete ends up dying in a factory accident shortly thereafter. Rudy is then left with no supporters. The only person that believed in him was gone.
[End spoiler]
Rudy is a movie about determination. However, the more I watch it the more I realize what an integral part Pete had in this story. Had Pete not encouraged Rudy he may have never fulfilled his dreams. He may have given up, continued to work in that factory and watch his ordinary life pass away. But because of his good friend Rudy made playing football at Notre Dame his life’s work, despite his size, despite his age, and despite his academic shortcomings.
And even if you haven’t seen the movie, you can guess what happens…he makes it!
Hold on while I grab a tissue. Ok. I’m back.
Here’s the thing, well two things:
- I wish I was a friend like Pete.
- I wish I had a friend like Pete.
How about you?
Do you have a friend like Pete?
Would you consider yourself a friend like Pete?
Burn Down the Bar
These past few days I’ve been reading Craig Groeschel’s book The Christian Atheist: When You Believe in God But Live as if He Doesn’t Exist
A pastor once asked his church to pray that God would shut down a neighborhood bar. The whole church gathered for an evening prayer meeting, pleading with God to rid the neighborhood of the evils of this bar. A few weeks later, lightning struck the bar and it burned it to the ground.
Having heard about the church’s prayer crusade, the bar owner promptly sued the church. When the court date finally arrived, the bar owner passionately argued that God struck his bar with lightning because of the church members’ prayers. The pastor backtracked, brushing off the accusations. He admitted the church prayed, but he also affirmed that no one in his congregation really expected anything to happen.
The judge leaned back in his chair, a mix of amusement and perplexity on his face. Finally he spoke: “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Right in front of me is a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and a pastor who doesn’t.” (Groeschel, Craig, 2010. The Christian Atheist. Grand Rapids:Zondervan)
This story is quite an eye-opener for me. I’ll have to admit, there are several times I pray expecting nothing to happen. I’ve found myself praying for things that I really don’t think God will come through on. It’s not that I don’t believe God can fulfill these requests, it’s that I just don’t think He will. I don’t know which is worse, but I can tell you I am not so thrilled with my response.
Nate, our 10-year-old, when he asks for things he almost always starts his question with “Why can’t we…”. As a parent that drives me crazy. Let me clarify something here. It’s not that he has already asked for something and we’ve said no so he asking why. He’s asking why we can’t do something before he’s even asked the first time for it. I always tell him he needs to change the way he asks for things because usually the way he asks them makes me want to say no, even if I would have said yes.
Whoa. Hold it right there. Let me re-read that last paragraph.
[I'm serious, don't read any more until I'm done.]
[Ok. Done. Carry on.]
Well, don’t they say (whoever “they” are) that the things that drive you nuts about your kids are usually the traits they got from you? If nobody has, let me be the first:
The traits that your kids have that drive you the most crazy are in fact traits they inherited from you.
Could it be our Heavenly Father feels the same way? Could it be that God is less inclined to answer some of our prayers the way we want because we already are thinking He won’t?
Now there are times I give Nate what he’s asking for despite the way he asks. I’m sure God does to.
Is there something you’ve been praying for that you really don’t think God will come through on?
Josh in a big bubble
My First iPhone iMovie Movie from Tracy Dyer on Vimeo.
The boys each had $25 to spend at the IL State Fair. Josh had been eyeing this hamster ball thingie since he first laid eyes on it the first day of the fair. Thought I’d use the opportunity to try out iMovie for the iPhone 
. Works pretty nice!
A dad meets his girls for the first time
Our friend Deanne has been in Ethiopia for the last few weeks waiting to be able to bring their two new daughters home. Their Embassy date has finally been set for the 18th which means they are hopefully a week a way from their family being whole. Ryan just went over a couple days ago. This is the video of Ryan being greeted by his new girls for the first time. You can read the whole post on their blog.
Lake of the Ozarks Vacation Photos
