Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
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a few quick hitters for you while you mourn the parting of ways between ESPN and Sean Salisbury…
+ We are still looking for folks to play in our PFB Fantasy Baseball League. Just a few slots are left, so if you’re interested, send an email to –>prayersforblowoutsATgmailDOTcom.
+ CJ Mahaney writes on his blog regarding Andy Pettitte’s press conference from last week:
As I watched Pettitte, I noted how high-profile Christian athletes miss opportunities to present culture with a compelling alternative: someone who has been genuinely convicted of sin and confesses those specific sins. Instead, the norm for these athletes (who are professing Christians) is to conform to the evasive language so common when someone has been caught…Reading these explicit references to God, I find it difficult to reconcile Pettitte’s statements with Scripture. He is a professing Christian, yet when it comes to his admitted use of HGH, we hear posturing and ambiguous language.
+ Moderately Cerebral Bias calls into question Nike’s unholy approach to marketing LeBron James.
+ An interesting story about a 17-year old Jewish girl who skipped a 3-point contest in order to observe sabbath. The twist: her appendix probably would have burst had she competed in the contest. She ended up breaking her sabbath, not for the competition, but for the emergency appendectomy.
+ about 40 students attended the 10th annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes Xtreme Leadership Day in Marion, Ohio. Pastor J. Patrick Street, who organizes the event, has written a devotional book for athletes.
+ Vegas Watch posted some odds from BetUS that caught our attention. They are giving 1000:1 odds on “Jesus to appear as a living man on earth in 2008″. The maximum bet is $25 to win $25,000. The qualifier: “Has to be proven to be the Son of God”. How exactly do you prove that? I mean, Jesus did a slew of miracles and lots of people still wouldn’t believe. Probably not a bet I’ll be placing.
+ Some bets I might place if I was a betting man? How about over/unders on MLB win totals for 2008. I’d take Arizona OVER 86.5, the NY Yankees UNDER 94, the Rays OVER 72, Toronto UNDER 84, and Detroit UNDER 93.5 (sorry Aaron!).
Tags: Andy Pettitte, LeBron James
Posted in sports | 4 Comments »
Friday, February 15th, 2008
a few quick hitters for you while those valentine’s day flowers began their slow death on your kitchen table…
+ If you were wondering what Mike Golic is fasting this year for lent (and you know you were), he’s giving up on making fun of Mike Greenberg, his partner in crime on the Mike & Mike Morning Show. This has led to the creation of a sound bite by their extremely talented producers Joaquin and Liam, that Greeny plays whenever he thinks Golic is breaking his fast with an insult or quip. The clip is of a jovial Satan saying “We’re making room for you down here, big guy! Muahahahahaha!” (Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of hell jokes, but that’s just me.) I will say though, I plan on tuning in on the Monday following Easter, because I expect Golic to unleash a few weeks worth of insults on his metrosexual cohort.
+ Wondering how that conversation went down between Clemens and Pettitte in which Pettitte misremembered what Roger said and attributed his HGH use to some old guys on TV? Joe Posnanski provides a transcript.
+ The NBA Slam Dunk Contest might, (and I emphasize “might”) actually be good this year. Last year Dwight Howard gave us the “All things through Christ” sticker near the top of the backboard. This year he wanted the NBA to raise the rim to 12 feet but they refused. He’ll be facing off against Gerald Green, Jamario Moon, and Rudy Gay in a contest that, for the first time ever, will feature fan voting to help determine a winner. The NBA All-Star Saturday night festivities will air on TNT from 8pm-11pm EST.
+ Thanks to Matt Doan over at Orange County Pastor for the gracious linkage he posted at his blog. That kind of love will earn you a spot on the “Friends of PFB” blogroll every time.
+ Any NASCAR fans in the house? The Daytona 500 is this Sunday, which is kinda like the PGA Tour opening up their season with The Masters. Always thought that was a cool twist; to open the season with your biggest event. My brother-in-law is the biggest NASCAR fan I know, and he’s barely a fan, so I’m admittedly a bit detached from the sport. But I do know that he hates Jimmie Johnson, so that’s the guy I root for every week. And by “root” I mean “I don’t watch any of the event, but I hope he wins”. Go 48!
+ Here at Prayers For Blowouts we will not endorse any one political candidate. (Probably because we have no idea who we are voting for at this point.) But if a story comes along that touches the intersection of sports and faith, we’re all over it like Dick Vitale on Duke. In that vein, we found this 2005 story on Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee very interesting. Most folks know that Huckabee is a Christian, but did you know that he used to have a size 50 waist before he started running?
+ If you’re still buzzing over the fact that Pitchers and Catchers reported to Spring Training this week, perhaps you’d be interested in joining our PFB Fantasy Baseball League? Since most of you diehards are already in your own Roto league, I was thinking of putting together a Head-to-Head league for us to compete in. If you’re interested, send an email to –>prayersforblowoutsATgmailDOTcom.
Tags: Andy Pettitte, Dwight Howard, Mike & Mike, Mike Huckabee
Posted in sports | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 14th, 2008
I watched a bit of the drama online yesterday, but honestly, I could only take about 45 minutes of it.
I did follow along on a few of the blogs while it was happening, and I caught the highlights later in the day like many of you did.
Some random thoughts from it all…
+ The congressmen who were attacking McNamee seemed way out of line to me. Congressman Burton seemed intent on shaming McNamee, not at getting at the truth. The way he called Clemens a “baseball titan” almost made me gag. Same can be said for Congressman Shays, who was basically namecalling and browbeating McNamee. I have no interest in defending McNamee, but it seemed clear that those bozos had an agenda, and that it was all about making McNamee look bad. Apparently Henry Waxman agreed with me, going so far as to apologize to McNamee at the conclusion of the hearings for it.
+ For the most part, Clemens was stumbling over his answers like a blindfolded parent walking through a messy toy room. It was hard to watch. I felt that McNamee was much more believable than Clemens, and all of the media outlets I have listened to in the past 12 hours have confirmed that I’m not alone. This morning on Mike and Mike, Bob Costas said that he already believed McNamee more than Clemens, and that for him yesterday’s events “moved the needle” away from Clemens even more. (no pun intended on the use of the word ‘needle’.)
+ Pettitte’s testimony was the star yesterday, and as was reported earlier, it was not good for Roger. Pettitte will be taking some hits over the next few days and weeks as well, however, as he is now admitting that he lied to the Mitchell Report about the extent of his HGH use. He now says he took some again in 2004, HGH that was given to him by his dad. Media folk are already using this to play the “hypocrite card” because of his faith, and there’s really nothing he can do except take his lumps, ask for forgiveness, and try to learn from this.
+ Seems to me that a lot of people told half-truths to the Mitchell Report. Both Pettitte and McNamee have now admitted under oath that they did not tell all of the truth because they were trying to protect people. McNamee hid the physical evidence he had so as not to embarrass Clemens, and Pettitte protected his dad by not mentioning the 2004 incident. Both men, however, were not comfortable lying to Congress and risking perjury, so they told all. (or did they?)
+ I liked a quote I heard this morning that was attributed to McNamee’s lawyers. When he asked them how he had done, they told him he did good because “he gave answers, not speeches”.
+ I bet the nanny thing is going to hurt Clemens as more and more info comes out. McNamee remembered the color of her bathing suit at the party (creepy much?)…if he was so sure about that, could he really be mistaken about Clemens being there? He even recalled conversations they had about the party. Why would he lie about trivial details like that? I just don’t see it.
(last one, i promise)
+ Clemens has prided himself on his work ethic and discipline in maintaining his shape and fitness. Steroids or not, it is clear that he has put in a lot of work, and it is very commendable. But if I could say one thing to him right now, it would be this: “Keeping us with these lies for the rest of your life is going to be harder than any workout program you have ever done. The thing about the truth is, it does not require much effort to maintain. That’s actually the great thing about the truth; it does the work for you. But these lies, they will take work, and they will drain you emotionally, physically, and spiritually every day of your life. Always remember, it is never too late to let them go and embrace the truth.”
Oh one more thing, I’ve never been more ready for baseball to start.
Pitchers and catchers report today! Woot!
Tags: Andy Pettitte, HGH, Roger Clemens, Steroids
Posted in MLB, morality | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
So there’s this thing going down today in Washington D.C., and if all you listen to is sports talk radio, you would think this is a huge deal…the story of the year, perhaps. Well, thankfully it’s not, despite how much the talking heads (cough*Mike & Mike*cough) have been talking about it.
You all know the story by now, so there’s no need to retell it. Bottom line is this: Despite some evidence that says otherwise, Roger Clemens is sticking with his story that he never used HGH or steroids.
The interesting angle here, in my opinion, is the position Andy Pettitte is in. One of his best friends has been accused of doing something unethical and illegal, and under oath he had a choice to make. Tell the truth and dime out his friend, or lie for the sake of his buddy. It was clear from the beginning what stance Pettitte was going to take, because similar claims were made against him in the Mitchell Report, and he admitted they were true days later. If he wasn’t going to lie to save his own skin, he wasn’t going to lie to save someone else’s.
It’s common knowledge that Pettitte is a Christian, and while that doesn’t carry a lot of weight with the media, it does make me wonder. What was Pettitte’s main motivation for telling the truth? Fear of God or fear of perjury? I’m guessing it was an equal mix of both that made the decision an easy one to make. (note that I said easy to make, not easy to follow through with). Pettitte knew he had to be truthful with Congress, even if one of his best friends asked him to lie.
I know there’s a chance that Roger is telling the truth, but personally, I don’t believe him (your mileage opinion may vary). Assuming that he is lying, and that Pettitte is sure of it, what a crappy position for Pettitte to be in. How do you think you’d handle being in Pettitte’s position? Would the threat or perjury make it an easy decision? Could you ever feel okay about lying to cover up a friend’s past transgressions if there was no real victim to the crime?
So let’s sit back and see how things play out. If the evidence shows that Clemens is telling the truth, he gets my sincere apology. If it shows Clemens is lying, well, no surprise there. And if, like I think is going to happen, there is no strong evidence either way, well then this really wasn’t such a big deal after all, was it?
Tags: Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Steroids
Posted in Christianity, MLB, morality | 2 Comments »
Thursday, December 27th, 2007
Though I know none of you were out there with baited breath waiting for my 2 cents on the Mitchell Report, I still feel like I should offer something up. The problem is, I don’t have much of an opinion on it. 86 players cheated in different ways and for different reasons. A few of them were outspoken Christians; namely Andy Pettite, Paul Byrd, and Brian Roberts.
Am i surprised that these Christian men were on the report? Not at all. Most Christians I know have cheated at something before. Maybe it was the foot wedge they used on the golf course, a shortcut they took at work to avoid tedious paperwork, going over the speed limit for a good (or bad) reason, or peering over at somebody else’s cards while playing poker.
Am i saying that cheating is okay because we’ve all done it? Of course not. I’m just saying that I wasn’t surprised. I’m guessing you weren’t either.
Kudos to Byrd, Pettitte, and Roberts for addressing the issue right away instead of waiting. Whatever their reasons for using the stuff they used, whether they were legitimate, illegal, or otherwise, I hope they learned something from it all. I guess I can say that about the whole league, not just about these guys. Sadly, I think the only thing that most players learned was that if you are going to do this stuff, don’t pay with a personal check and leave the clubhouse attendant out of the transaction.
Here’s 3 other things I thought about the Mitchell Report and its subsequent fallout:
1. Personally, I don’t believe Clemens for a second now that he is denying the claims. I just don’t. Does anyone? Why would McNamee lie about injecting Clemens over the course of many years? And now that Pettite has admitted that what McNamee said was true, we can take this question further: Wy would McNamee tell the truth about Pettitte, but lie about Clemens? Makes no sense.
2. I liked Bill Simmons’ point about the Clemens-Piazza bat throwing incident from the 2000 World Series. We never understood why he did that until now: Roid Rage.
3. Considering this document was constructed with only a handful of sources, I gotta believe that there were hundreds more players who tried this stuff at one time or another. Not only that, but it was both pitchers and hitters, stars and scrubs, young and old who were using it. When you think about it in those terms, maybe the steroid numbers (aside from HRs) aren’t nearly as inflated as we thought.
I won’t bore you any more with thoughts on this 409-page borefest (yes, i did skim through most of it). If you want to read some other interesting takes on it, try Tim Ellsworth’s take on things at the BP Press, Jordan Green’s humorous angle over at Burnside, or Bill Simmons’ thoughts in the first few paragraphs of this mailbag piece on ESPN.com.
Hope your holidays were, and continue to be, a smashing success.
Tags: Andy Pettitte, HGH, Mitchell Report, Steroids
Posted in Christianity, MLB | 2 Comments »
