prayers for blowouts

the little white ball

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a few thoughts on golf on a gorgeous friday in the Northeastern part of the country…

+ Fred Funk spoke at a Christian Breakfast on Tuesday morning, covering topics from wearing a skirt during the skins game to how he avoided Sugar Ray Leonard in the boxing ring. He also spoke on his faith, saying that the time he spent with devout Christians as a young golf pro helped him stay committed to his faith. Jim Faber has a full write up at islandpacket.com.

+ My friend Chad Gibbs, who writes for Burnside, plays golf with a bunch of friends in an unofficial league they refer to as Two Majors. They’ve got a website set up for themselves and everything, it’s pretty amusing. Their first major is tomorrow at the Legislator Course in Prattville, AL. I think there’s a few tickets left if you want to head out to the course and heckle some amateur golfers.

+ last year i played about 6 rounds, an took 8-10 lessons. The pro we were learning from was great, and I learned some valuable things, but I don’t think I’m going to be taking any lessons this year. I just feel like Golf Teachers are trying to get you to have the perfect swing, which is nice I guess, but it doesn’t translate directly to lower scores. I’ve always had a decent swing, and yet I’ve never broken 90 (I’ve shot 90 twice). I’ve decided that what I want is a decent, repeatable swing. When I’m 155 yards from the green and I’m standing over the ball with my 7-iron, I don’t care if my swing is technically sound. I just want to get the ball on the green. So instead of putting in extra time honing the intricacies of my swing, I’m going to play more, and trust my swing a bit more. Will it work? Probably not. But if I break 90 this year, you can bet you’ll hear about it.

+ One last thought…I’ve noticed a bit of a generation gap when it comes to how golf fans feel about Tiger Woods. Seems that people my age (in their 20s and 30s) really like Tiger and root for him all the time. But the generation about 20 years older (folks in their late 40s and 50s) don’t like Tiger very much. They find him arrogant, cocky, and moody. It cracks me up though, because these people often act the same way that Tiger does on the golf course. For some reason, it’s okay for them to be disgusted with themselves for missing a put or hitting a bad shot, but when Tiger does it, he’s being a jerk. Has anyone else noticed this? How do you feel about Tiger and What age group are you in, I’m curious to know.

Tags: Fred Funk, Golf, Tiger Woods

5 Comments | Posted in » Golf |

NBA 07/08: A Look at our Predictions

As you probably don’t recall, before this NBA Season started we paid 4 experts an exorbitant amount of money to offer their predictions for the season. Those 4 experts were myself, the Burnside Writers Collective’s Jon Adams, Chad Gibbs (of Two Majors fame), and my then 4-year old son, Parker.

Now that the playoff teams have been set, I thought this would be a good time to look back at our predictions to see who’s in the best shape.

Here’s your Playoff Teams, followed by our predictions:

The East: BOS, DET, ORL, CLE, WAS, TOR, PHI, ATL

Bryan - [6 of 8] CHI, DET, BOS, WAS, ORL, CLE, NJ, TOR
Jon - [5 of 8] CHI, TOR, BOS, CLE, WAS, MIA, DET, NJ
Chad - [3 of 8] BOS, DET, MIA, CHI, NJ, IND, CHA, ATL
Parker - [2 of 8] NJ, NYK, MIL, MIA, IND, DET, CHI, BOS

The West: LAL, NO, SA, UTA, HOU, PHX, DAL, DEN

Bryan - [7 of 8] HOU, SA, DAL, DEN, UTA, PHX, POR, N.O.
Jon - [7 of 8] SA, DAL, PHX, HOU, DEN, UTA, GS, LAL
Chad - [7 of 8] PHX, UTA, NO, DAL, DEN, LAC, HOU, SA
Parker - [4 of 8] POR, HOU, PHX, DEN, MEM, MIN, SA, SAC

I’ve got the edge right now with 13 of 16 playoff teams chosen correctly. Jon had 12, Chad had 10, and Parker only 6 of 16 correctly. He will be grounded for a week.

By the way, these were our Finals picks:

Bryan - Phoenix over Boston
Jon - Boston over Dallas
Chad - Phoenix over Boston
Parker - Chicago over Phoenix

I’d say Jon is in the best shape right now. If I had a redo, I’d probably take Boston over San Antonio in the Finals (or maybe Detroit over the Lakers). I do think the East will win, unless LeBron somehow gets the Cavs back to the Finals. (FYI…Boston went 25-5 against the “mighty” West this year.)

We’ll revisit this again when the NBA Finals are over. So…see you again in a few months.

Tags: NBA, predictions

4 Comments | Posted in » NBA, reviews |

Burnside Article

Good morning everyone, hope your weekend was better than you expected.

Wanted to give you all a heads up that I have an article on the front page of the Burnside Writers Collective this week. It’s a piece that started off as a blog post and turned into a chapter of the book I’m writing. It’s called Kicking and Screaming.

Hope you like.

1 Comment | Posted in » youth sports |

Forgiveness

The following post was written for PFB by Jason Boyett, author of the Pocket Guides to the Bible, the Apocalypse, and Adulthood (among others). If you’re not subscribed to his blog, you better have a really good excuse.

Forgiveness is a powerful thing. Nothing better soothes the sharp edges of sin than the mercy and restoration that forgiveness provides, and sometimes it takes the sporting world to show us that.

Earlier this week, Bill Buckner threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Boston Red Sox home opener, and by all accounts, it was a profound moment for everyone involved. A few quotes from coverage of the event:

“I’ve probably never almost been in tears for somebody else on a baseball field. I think that was just the most unbelievable thing,” [Red Sox first baseman Kevin] Youkilis said. “I wanted to shake his hand, because that’s a true man in life.” (USAToday)

The experience, Buckner said, was “probably about as emotional as it could get.” (ESPN)

“It was kind of neat. I know he was emotional on the mound. You know, it was emotional for me, too.” (Dwight Evans in the Boston Globe)

Buckner was one of my favorite players as a kid. My brother and I were Cubs fans, and we loved the great mustachioed one. I was sad when he left the Cubs in 1984, but I was even sadder for him when he made the error that cost Boston the 1986 series. I wasn’t surprised, though. As the Cubbie faithful, we learn to expect that kind of thing. (It wasn’t even that surprising when it was revealed that, underneath that fateful first baseman’s glove when Mookie Wilson’s ball passed through his wickets on October 25, old Billy Buck was wearing a Cubs batting glove. Figures.)

So I was thrilled to read that the whole ugly episode might be put to rest at Tuesday’s home opener. And by all accounts, it was. Buckner almost didn’t come — he knew the questions about the play would come up, and after having had that scab ripped open time after time after time over the last 22 years, he wasn’t interested in doing it again. But finally he agreed to do it. And the crowd cheered for the goat. An entire ballpark got goosebumps. Eyes turned red. Grown men got a little weepy. At the press conference afterwards, it took Buckner several seconds to gather himself enough to speak.

He had been forgiven, but he had to forgive, too.

“I really had to forgive…not the fans of Boston per se, but I would have to say, in my heart, I had to forgive the media…” Buckner told reporters. He stopped again to collect himself. “… for what they put me and my family through. So I’ve done that. I’m over that. And I’m just happy that I just try to think of the positive. The happy things.”

The guy made one mistake, and it defined the last two decades of his life. That’s incredible. That’s horrible. Hopefully he can put it behind him. Hopefully Boston can let it go, too. Hopefully we can remember how good it is to forgive, and to be forgiven.

Next in line? Steve Bartman. Someday.

Tags: Bill Buckner, Forgiveness

2 Comments | Posted in » MLB, sports |

The Joys of Backyard Football

Remember playing backyard football with an odd number of guys? Someone wound up being “Official QB” for both teams, and eventually he would get accused of trying harder for the team that was winning. This would lead to a shoving match or a fistfight, and then someone would get called home for dinner and you’d make plans to do it all over again the next day.

Michael Vick remembers that whole Official QB business too, because it happened to him last month.

What else do you remember about backyard football? Here’s what I remember:

• Yelling “No Takes!” when the kickoff (or throw off) was nonreturnable.
• Arguing about pass interference calls.
• Arguing about fumbles - “The ground can’t cause a fumble!”
• Arguing about intentional grounding. (man, there were lots of arguments)
• Whether your neighborhood counted 7-Miss (”1-Miss-2-Miss”) or 3-Mississippi (”1-Mississippi-2-Mississippi”)
• How often you could call “Blitz!” per series
• “My knee was never down!”
• If you only had one end zone you had the “suckers walk” rule.
• Did you play with running plays, or only passes?
• The “everybody go deep” play
• Did you have first downs? was it at midfield, or was it two completions for a first down?
• Arguments over whether a lateral was forward or not.

So, what did I miss?

UPDATE: Apparently Vick wasn’t playing organized games…yet.  

Tags: Backyard Football

5 Comments | Posted in » youth sports |

To The Point

This piece is almost 6 months old, but hey, it’s new to me: The Huffington Post’s Tom McNichol on God and Baseball.

“Isn’t the God that helps a player hit a mammoth home run the same God that helps him strike out the next time up on three nasty sliders? Why aren’t there any baseball players who point to the sky after they whiff on three pitches, or pop out to the mound, or ground into a rally-killing double play? How about pointing after a successful sacrifice? Surely, God has a special place in His heart for the sacrifice.”

Tags: Thankfulness

No Comments | Posted in » Christianity, MLB |

The PFB Sports Survey: Tony Jones

The PFB Sports Survey is a weekly feature here at Prayers For Blowouts where we throw a few sports related questions at some of the most notable voices among Christian authors, pastors, musicians, and security guards to see if they like sports as much as we do.

Today’s spotlight is on Tony Jones, who just might have played for the worst football team ever.

Tony is the author of a whole bunch of books (after you hit 10 they stop counting) and a leading voice for folks who identify with the Emergent Church movement. His most recent release, “The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier” was released by Jossey-Bass last month.

He blogs regularly at his website, TonyJ.net. (and yes, blog is a verb)

——————————

1. What number best describes the role sports play in your life on a scale of 1 to 10?

TJ: I fluctuate between an 8 and a 5. As you’ll see in my answers below, I have a deep ambivalence about sports.

2. Rank your 3 overall favorite sports, college or pro.

TJ: Major League Baseball, College hockey, high school hockey (sorry to break the rules, but nothing is so sweet as Minnesota high school hockey)

3. What is the one team that you root for more passionately than any other, and is there a team that you hate, maybe a little too much?

TJ: I root for the Minnesota Twins (though I hold out little hope for this year) I don’t hate any teams, but I probably dislike the Yankees the most.

4. Do you play fantasy sports?

TJ: No, I don’t. It seems like you’d have to know so much and follow the sport so closely that it’d take time away from other, more important things.

5. What is the most memorable sporting event you have ever attended in person?

TJ: I umpired for about 20 years, starting with softball when I was 14. I worked my way up to college baseball, and in my final season I umped an NCAA Division I game. That was the most memorable.

6. What is the best highlight and/or worst lowlight of your sports playing career as a child or as an adult?

TJ: That DI baseball game I just told you about was the best (not playing, exactly, but I was never much of a player)

Worst: My 6th grade football team never scored a point all season. Not a single point. Or the time I was hit by a ball and knocked unconscious while umping a Little League game.

7. If you could change one thing about sports, what would it be?

TJ: Free agency. It has almost completely ruined pro sports because it has erased any loyalty that players had to teams and towns.

8. Do you have an opinion on Christian athletes who, without being prompted, talk about their faith in post-game interviews?

TJ: I usually find it very forced, cheesy, and embarrassing. I occasionally find it poignant.

9. High school gym class…your favorite 45 minutes of the day or the source of countless nightmares and embarrassments?

TJ: Somewhere in between, but leaning toward the nightmarish.

10. Sports are often the whipping boy of pastors and clergy because so much passion, money, time, and energy is poured into them. Do you think this criticism is valid, or are sports okay as a diversion from the stresses of life.

TJ: I think we’ve grown numb. When we hear about a 10-year, $150 million contract for an athlete, we don’t bat an eye. Last year, I sat on a plane next to one of Michael Vick’s attorneys, and he said that a guy who comes from a background like Vick’s just has very little idea about what to do with that much money. The amount of money in pro sports is crazy.

11. If you had to compete against other writers, in which of these 5 competitions would you have the best chance of winning? 5-mile run, 18 holes of golf, free throw shooting contest, arm wrestling match, or a game of bowling.

TJ: Arm wrestling, for sure.

12. What is your favorite sports movie of all-time?

TJ: Slap Shot.

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You can click here for an exhaustive (but not exhausting) list of everyone who’s been featured as a PFB Sports Survey participant.

If you’d like to be considered for the PFB Sports Survey, or know someone who should be, send along a name and email address to prayersforblowouts(at)gmail(dot)com.

Tags: PFB Sports Survey, Tony Jones

3 Comments | Posted in » The PFB Sports Survey |

Notes & Quotes: 04.07.08

+ Rob Bradford has a good interview with Curt Schilling over at the Boston Herald. When asked about his ability to pitch inside without hitting many batters (52 batters in 3261 innings) Curt had this to say:

“…I would like to think I’ve conducted myself the right way on the mound. Of the 52 guys I have hit I would say roughly half were guys that deserved it and know it, and I never aimed high. When I hit someone on purpose the intent was to make sure they knew it, their teammates knew it, and the offending pitcher knew it as well. That and I wanted it to hurt after the game so I would always aim for the hip to the arm pit.”

+ Billy Packer is catching a lot of grief today for saying that the UNC-KU game was “Over!” when Kansas led by 26 with 7 minutes and change left in the first half. As you all know, North Carolina got as close as 4 points towards the end of the game, but could never completely erase the Jayhawk lead. Maybe Billy should have consulted Bill James, who recently submitted a formula for determining exactly when a basketball game is completely out of reach. Or maybe not, after all, Billy was right in the end. The lead was too big, and the Jayhawks did win.

+ Geof Morris over at IJSM.org has some thoughts on the reasons behind the one-and-done rule for young ballers wanting to make their millions in the NBA as soon as possible. I heard a rumor on Steve Czaban’s FOX morning radio show that David Stern might be looking into extending the rule an additional year, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

+ My brackets are amazing this year, I’m not gonna lie. I had 6 of 8 Elite Eight teams, 4 of 4 Final Four teams, and I have Kansas beating Memphis in the Finals. I’d feel better if I had Memphis winning it all, but still, my entry is tops in our Facebook Bracket challenge.

+ Finally, imagine if ESPN would have ran this poll a few months ago: “Which is the most likely opening for the respective seasons of Tiger Woods and the Detroit Tigers?” and the answers were:

• A) Both start 6-0
• B) The Detroit Tigers start 6-0 and Tiger Woods starts 0-6
• C) Tiger Woods starts 6-0 and the Detroit Tigers start 0-6
• D) Both start 0-6

I’m guessing the results would have been B-47%, A-27%, D-24%, and C-2%.

Correct Answer - C.

2 Comments | Posted in » sports |

have a great sports weekend

I apologize for the un-plethora of posts this week…it’s been a busy one here at PFB Headquarters.

We’ll be back next week was some great material, including a Sports Survey with a notable author.

Enjoy your first full weekend of Major League Baseball, a #1 seed-filled Final Four Saturday Night, and hopefully some good weather, wherever you are…

1 Comment | Posted in » sports |

Thanks for the Double?

Is Orlando Hudson thanking God for the double he just hit in an exhibition game.

Or is he angry at him for not coming through with the triple he prayed for?

And how hungry do you have to be to eat a baseball?

Tags: Orlando Hudson

2 Comments | Posted in » Visuals |