Bryan Allain has a post up on Daily Beast today worth checking out called “God vs. the Saints.”

Check it out.

You may and probably will disagree more than once with this list, but here are my personal awards for the past decade in sports, given out as I see fit. Be sure to point out my biases/omissions and tell me how crazy I am in the comments. Or even better yet, e-mail me your list at mattralph@earthlink.net.

Athlete of the Decade
Michael Phelps. As easy as Phelps made it look, that wheelbarrow full of medals he collected in two Olympics was no easy task. Add in all of the hardware he collected swimming for World Championships and other competitions and Tiger Woods doesn’t look quite as impressive.

Team of the Decade
2001-02 Detroit Red Wings. Steve Yzerman, Chris Chelios, Luc Robataille, Domink Hasek, Brett Hull, Sergei Federov, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brendan Shanahan. Talk about a great collection of talent. I can’t think of a team that even comes close to having that kind of talent all in one place – or in my case a team in hockey over the last decade that had that many players whose names I recognized.

Coach of the Decade
Geno Auriemma. Sure, he gets all the best women’s basketball recruits, but the guy coached UConn to five titles and only 28 losses in the entire decade. That’s not just impressive; it’s unbelievable.

Fans of the Decade
Minnesota Twins. Their frost-bitten hearts break just about every off-season when they lose talent to a team with deeper pockets, yet the Twins fans persist and practically will their team into contention every season. They’re stadium sucks and their homer hankies are kind of annoying, but watching the one-game playoff this fall only confirmed for me how much better their fanbase is than the ones with which I most regularly associate.

Baseball Player of the Decade
Pujols has all the right numbers and even has a ring, but no player for me represents dominance in the decade of the ‘00s quite the way Mariano Rivera does. I’m a Yankee hater so I don’t care too much for Rivera or his cutter by association, but aside from his meltdown against the D-backs in 2001 he’s been as automatic as one can be in the highest pressure job in the game.

Baseball Team of the Decade
The Red Sox and Yankees both had two World Series titles, but you have to give beantown the edge for a number of reasons. 1. Their dramatic comeback to get to the series in 2004 and finally get that Babe Ruth-sized monkey off their back. 2. The Yankees’ World Series wins were bookends to an otherwise unremarkable decade by Bronx standards. 3. The Yankees utterly ruled the ‘90s so it’s time for another team to have a turn. 4. The other Sox also won a World Series so if nothing else it was the decade of teams named after items in your top drawer.

NFL Player of the Decade
Adam Vinatieri. I know. He’s just a kicker. But if Scott Norwood can be considered one of the biggest goats in the history of sports for missing a field goal that would have won a Super Bowl, then Adam Vinatieri has to be taken seriously for making two clutch field goals that won his team the Super Bowl (and countless other crucial field goals). Tom Brady would have zero Super Bowl MVPs if Vinatieri didn’t have ice water pumping through his veins. To top it off, Vinatieri brought his magic to the Colts in 2007, filling all but his thumb on one hand with Super Bowl rings in the decade

NFL Team of the Decade
New England Patriots. No contest. Look at the stats. Do the math. It’s not even close.

Read the rest of this entry →

Dear Readers,

Several months ago, Bryan Allain introduced myself as the new editor of Prayers For Blowouts. It was with great excitement I accepted the position and began to craft a vision for the future of this website. We brought several creative features to the table with hopes of gaining a more widespread audience. Several of those features have been rolled out, several have not. However, in the time since I took over as editor for PFB, I’ve been facing a deeply personal battle that is requiring my full attention and support. It’s with great sadness that I announce that effective immediately, I am taking an indefinite leave of abscence from PrayersForBlowouts.com. I’ve asked the wonderful staff of writers I have here to continue on in the vision that Bryan and I laid out months ago, in hopes that this site can gain the audience we feel it is capable of. I will always support this site and wish it much success. If you have any questions, concerns or thoughts, please feel free to contact me at joshuadrollins at gmail dot com or on twitter @joshuadrollins. Thank you for being so kind to me in my short tenure here at PFB.

Joshua D. Rollins

We here at PFB are very sad to announce that Stefanie Spielman has lost her battle with cancer. Those outside of Columbus or the Ohio State family may not know the impact this woman and her faith have had on this city.

I had been in contact with her foundation this week about hosting a fundraiser here after the first of the year for Cancer Research at James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University Medical Center. We will still go ahead with this in the honor of Stefanie.

Please keep Chris and their 4 kids in your prayers.

Its so easy to forget in our world of sports how life is so much more important. Stefanie and Chris displayed that.

We will give all the info we can as it comes in.

Thank you.

When I took over PFB from Bryan a couple months ago, I wanted it to be an open platform for aspiring writers and bloggers to discuss sports and faith. That offer still stands.

As you may have noticed, we’re not exactly blowing up the bandwidth with content… yet.

If you are interested in contributing in some way to PFB, please contact me at joshuadrollins at gmail dot com.

Thanks!

Time’s running out on the work week, which means it’s time again, organized sports fans, for the airing of grievances.

In 100 words or fewer, spout off about anything and everything in the world of sports. Something or someone got your gourd? Let’s hear about it in the comment section below.

One lucky commenter will receive a copy of the new book from Page 2 author, Ted Kluck, “The Reason for Sports: a Christian Fanifesto.”

So have at it. You have until Monday at 8 p.m. to post.

Alright gang, let’s here it!

In 100 words or less, this is your oppurtunity to sound off on the world of sports.

The winner will receive a copy of the new book from Page 2 author, Ted Kluck, “The Reason for Sports : a Christian Fanifesto”

The comments will be open until 8 PM Monday night!

Is a church pulpit a good place for a $24.95 Philadelphia Phillies T-shirt?

Personally, I found it a bit tacky when I saw one hanging on the pulpit of a Roman Catholic church during a wedding I attended recently in South Jersey. Tacky and distracting. Every time I l looked over at the bride in her beautiful white dress during the ceremony, I could see the T-shirt behind her, sticking out like a sore thumb.

But was it only tacky to me because I’m not a Phillies fan?

Probably not. I’m pretty sure I would find a Chicago Cubs T-shirt on a church pulpit just as offensive. Actually, I might even find it more so because it would almost assuredly be a White Sox fan prank meant to mock the Cubs’ century-plus-one-year of futility.

I asked the father about it afterward and he explained that one of his parishioners started the tradition last year of putting a T-shirt on the pulpit for every Phillies accomplishment. Last year, there were four shirts, he explained – one each for the NL East, Division Series, League and World Championship titles. I told him it seemed out of place, but realized when I said it that a priest who likened his jet-lagged voice to Tony Soprano during the wedding mass was possibly, in a good way, a bit out of place too.

Tacky or not, it looks like his parishioner may be saving his money on the World Championship T-shirt this year, unless of course he found someone to sell him this shirt advertised in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Aw, I Feel Sorry For You…” is a new weekly feature here at PFB in which we look at, and feel sorry for a certain person, place or thing in the world of sports.

Aw, I Feel Sorry For You… Cleveland.
Why I Feel Sorry For You: Let’s face it Cleveland.  Despite what the Chicago Cubs fans may think, you’re the real lovable losers.  Thirteen years ago, that mean Mr. Modell picked up and moved the whole team to Baltimore. Once they got there, they won the Super Bowl and have been the playoffs several times.  You showed that you’re a fighter though. You got up, you dusted yourself off and you got yourself an NFL team again. Not only did you get an NFL team again, but you got the first pick on the draft. With that first pick, you could’ve had Donovan McNabb, Edgerin James – even Ricky Williams – but no, you went with the only sure thing in the draft. Tim Couch.  Though Couch didn’t quite work out for you, Browns fans, he did pave the way for such gunslingers as Spergon Wynn, Kelly Holcomb, Ken Dorsey, Charlie Frye and yes, even Mr. 10.5 QB Rating himself, Derek Anderson.  Sure, you should’ve made the playoffs in 2007, but it’s time to move on. I won’t even get started on the fact that your former coach is now the coach in New England and a sure fire Hall of Famer, or that you could’ve had their legendary QB, Tom Brady – but no… you went with Spergon Wynn instead. Its okay Browns fans.

At least you’re not the Indians. The Indians only World Series victory in the past 50 years came in a movie starring Wesley Snipes, Charlie Sheen and that Allstate guy. I’m sure it’s been painful to watch former Indians, like Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome go on to win World Series championships. It was probably even more painful to watch game 1 of the 2009 World Series and see your former #1 and #2 Pitchers dueling it out against each other. C.C. Sabathia? That fat cow. Come on guys, you got MATT LAPORTA out of the deal.  Hey, you guys could’ve had a proven winner as a new manager, someone like Bobby Valentine, Don Mattingly or John Farrell. No, you went a different route all together. You went with Manny Acta. The same man who was fired from the Nationals for losing too much. It’s okay. I’m sure you were just following in the footsteps of the Browns (see also Mangini, Eric).

Why You Should Feel Good About Yourself, Cleveland: I know, things are rough. However, don’t beat yourself up too much. You’re still home to King James… well, actually that’s Akron – but he plays in Cleveland! This is your year, Cleveland. Not only do you have Lebron, but you’ve brought in Shaq. Sure, he’s never played in a cold city, has injury problems and has never played the sidekick role well, He’s won championships. He knows what it takes to win.  In fact, I’m going to predict it. This is the year you win the NBA Championship (it should in no way concern you I picked the Indians the play in the World Series against the Cubs this season).

Maybe basketball isn’t your thing? Well, there’s always the USL soccer team, Cleveland City Stars. It didn’t work out too well for them in 2009 in the USL-1, but in 2008 they won the USL-2 Championship! That’s a Football championship in Cleveland. You’ve got take what you can get, right?

Not only do you have winning professional sports teams, you’ve got two of the top high school football programs in the state, St. Ignatius High School (9-0) and Cleveland Glenville (8-1, and produced former Heisman tropy winner, Troy Smith).

If culture is more your thing, there’s the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. You’re also home to Iron Chef Michael Symon’s restaurants Lola and Lolita. Perhaps you like the parade your liberties? May I suggest Great Lakes Brewing Co.? You’ve also given us, the rest of America, a taste of your Midwestern life with such classics as The Drew Carey Show, A Christmas Story and Howard the Duck.

Cheer up my neighbor to the north. You’re a good thing.

How I’m Going to Show My Love For You: I will root for you Cleveland. I will root for you hard. In fact, I’ll even let out a little bark every now and then. Maybe even bang the battle drum. I will pray that Lebron returns to Cleveland instead of running away for the biggest buck in New York or Los Angeles. Tonight, I will eat pierogis in your honor Cleveland.

Aw, Cleveland, I Feel Sorry For You.

Quick Overview:  I read  “A Few Seconds of Panic” by Stefan Fatsis last year, but in August the book was released in paperback.  The book was a great read and I feel that many of you would enjoy it as well.  Fatsis had the opportunity to live the dream that many of us dream, he had the chance to play on a professional sports team. While never truly being on the roster (due to the No Fun League), Fatsis goes through the rigors of a NFL training camp as a kicker with the Denver Broncos and becomes a part of their team.  He is definitely an athlete as he becomes a seemingly effective kicker from inside 40 yards but the great part of the story was getting to know his teammates.  While some of the players have no desire to open up to a writer, many make time for Fatsis and let their guards down.  That’s what makes this book great, getting to see the athletes as they really are.

Why you should pick it up: One thing that really stood out to me was the fact that these professional football players, who many of us would want to switch places with, were questioning their career/job choice as much as I have since high school. Most of the players had become apathetic to the NFL and to football but continued to play because it was what they built their entire lives around and how they made a living. When following professional athletes, I never thought about them struggling with the questions of whether or not playing sports was their “calling”.

Redemptive?:  This encouraged me to know that no matter where we are, we are going to run into difficulties determining our unique callings on this earth.  Even the most gifted professional athletes were struggling with this question. Many Christian books have attempted to answer the question of calling without necessarily answering the question.  While Fatsis does not speak specifically about callings, he allows us to get inside the professional athlete’s heart and give us the chance to see them as human beings. Who have unanswered questions just like us.