So this conversation comes up more regularly than it probably should in my life but thanks to things like Twitter, Facebook, sports talk radio, and a few token friends from that other school (not to mention being married to a graduate of UA) that's just the way it goes. Over the weekend a Twiend (Twitter Friend...No?) posted that he thought it was "sad" that I felt that if Auburn only won a single game next season I would want it to be against Alabama and that I would be satisfied with that. Now granted I think its makes perfect common sense that I don't want Auburn to win ONLY one measly game next but I can honestly say if we were going to have a middle of the road year and lose to Alabama or lose every game except the Iron Bowl I would prefer the latter. 

The reason for these feelings is very simple. I am a die-hard fan of Auburn University. I have been such since I was in about the 4th grade. The natural and hated rival of Auburn University is the University of Alabama. Plain and simple these two schools don't get along and don't pull for one another. We always want the other to lose  and here's where I seem to part ways with various folks...I am okay with that. We are supposed to want the other team to lose. Now to be fair this isn't exclusive to Auburn and Alabama, this is something that has been common in sports for as long as they have been around (Lakers vs. Celtics, Yankees vs. Red Sox, Bears vs. Packers, Duke vs. UNC, etc...). 

We live in a part of the country that worships college football its all you hear about most everywhere you turn. Coach Gene Stallings (UA) said the following:

"They talk about the Alabama-Auburn game on Thanksgiving. They talk about it on Christmas. They talk about it on New Year's Day. They talk about it on the Fourth of July. The people of Alabama talk about it 365 days a year. And unless you have lived in the state you could not possibly understand."

That's exactly right. People wear ties to church on Sunday for their team, they plaster their cars with flags, paint, stickers (guilty) and more, you can't walk in a store anywhere in this state and not see a person wearing their team colors (doesn't matter if it is early May or the crux of the season in late October). We as a culture are absolutely consumed with it and most of the time I am fine with that. Some people go a little more nutso than others. 

Here's where I get, the rest of the way, to my point. Just because I always want Alabama to lose doesn't make me a terrible, mean, rude, obnoxious, bitter, sad, classless person (the list of descriptors could go on and on). It means that I have a team that I cheer for with all my heart and there is another team in the same state that is their rival and I want that rival to lose. Its not a personal attack against fans of that other school, its not a wish for physical harm or injury to the players (leg cramps that keep the good players out of the game are fine though...I'm kidding...sort of) or anything like that. I simply wish them to lose. And here's the other thing...I want UA fans to feel EXACTLY the same way towards my Auburn Tigers. I expect that from them and actually PREFER it. A good friend of mine who doesn't blog anymore had an exchange with someone on FB who was an Alabama fan who said she would be pulling AU against Oregon and doesn't know why he didn't pull for UA against Texas last year...his response was "really I would prefer that you didn't pull for us". He wasn't being rude though, he was being a fan of his team.

Here are some of the arguments or thoughts that I hear from people all the time on this:

-You should always pull for the SEC because it makes us look like a stronger conference (to which I reply YES unless of course the SEC team is your bitter rival). This bowl season I've pulled for every SEC school except one (and clearly that didn't stop them). 

-You should always pull for a team from your home state because its good for both schools (guess what it wasn't "good" for Auburn last year when UA won the National Championship. no 5 star high school recruits woke up the morning after and said "you know, Alabama won the National Championship so I should try to go play for Auburn because they are in the same state". in reality its bad for the other school when one wins because athletes want to play for a winning team)

-"I pull for both teams except when they play each other" (no you are not a real fan of either team sorry that holds no weight...you can't decide which one is more popular or you just don't care that much)

-"I want both teams to win all their games until they play each other then I want my team to win that makes it more exciting" (no its lame when that happens. its better when your rival loses as many games as possible then you beat them to rub their face in their loserdom.)

Bottom line. I am an Auburn fan and I always always ALWAYS want the University of Alabama to LOSE. I am  never rude about it (although my wife thinks my general desire to see them lose is rude in and of itself) and I again wish no one physical harm or trauma. Last year the day of the National Championship game I changed my FB profile pic to the logo of the Texas Longhorns and I caught a little flak for it, but you know what that's okay too. I didn't insult anyone I chose to pull for a team that I wanted to see beat my team's arch nemesis. Simple as that. I hope that next Monday night the majority of my UA friends (I do have a few and I like them all just not their taste in college sports teams) will change their pics to Oregon logos. I also hope that it will sting that much more when they have to change them back Tuesday morning knowing that the Auburn Tigers are the 2011 National Champions. 

WAR EAGLE!!

As many of you are likely aware, yesterday marked Laura and my fifth wedding anniversary. Words cannot describe how much I love my wife and how thankful I am that we found each other and have the life together that we do. As I typically do I attempted to express just a little bit of my feelings into a video of some kind and I saved it to show her first but now I thought I'd pass it along to the rest of you so that you might know a little bit about how I feel about this amazing woman. Here's to 95 more!!

Its no secret what my favorite television series of all time is. And thus my Thanksgiving greeting to you and yours comes from The West Wing. 

Sam: Over three and a half centuries ago, linked by faith and bound by a common desire for liberty, a small band of pilgrims sought out a place in the New World where they could worship according to their own beliefs... and solve crimes.

Toby: Sam...

Sam: It'd be good. By day, they churn butter and worship according to their own beliefs, and by night they solve crimes.

Toby: Read the thing.

Sam: Pilgrim detectives.

Toby: Do you see me laughing?

Sam: I think you're laughing on the inside.

Toby: Okay.

Sam: With the big hats.

I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings and want you to know that I am truly thankful for you! :)

 

As if there hasn't been enough shoddy "journalism" (emphasis on the quotation marks here) I thought I would throw my own hat into the ring. Rest easy though dear reader, I am not not here to make allegations of supposed mattress tag tearing or removal of bars of soap at hotels during road games. I just want to make a few observations and ask some questions (to which you are free to post responses in the comments). 

Questions of Context

One of the latest things to break in the allegations against Cameron Newton and his father are that some recruiters from Mississippi State University say that Cam and his dad both said that money was the factor in the decision of where he would attend school. I've learned over the years that you can take most anything out of context and make it mean it most anything you want to. The two quotes that are being passed around (as well as my thoughts on them) are:

1) Cam's dad said "it will take more than a scholarship to get his commitment". Of course everyone thinks that means "more" = $. I like to consider the idea that maybe it means that Cam ran into some trouble while attending the University of Florida and maybe the "more" that his dad was looking for was a nurturing environment where his son could be mentored and watched over as he attempts to be a better person than he was before. Maybe Cecil Newton needed "more" of an assurance that Cam would be taken care of by someone other than Dan Mullen (MSU head coach) who just happened to be his coach at the University of Florida. 

2) Cam is reported to have said his dad decided he was going to Auburn because "the money is just too much". Now of course the sharks smelling the chum in the water take this to mean that the reported $180,000 offer to go to MSU paled in comparison to what Auburn offered (allegedly). But what about the idea that Cam, knowing he's been in trouble before and is looking for a clean start, is saying "you know that's just over the line, taking that money would be too much and not a good idea". Perhaps Cam learned his lessons at UF and realized that "too much" = bad idea. 

 

All the News That Fits (And I Mean ALL the News)

Another tremendous problem in this whole fiasco is the age that we live in of the 24 hour news cycle, the instant gratification/instant access nature of media. Between tweeting and blogging there's not the ability to actually research and write a thought out article anymore for a newspaper or magazine. In the span of 20 minutes this morning stories and rumors circulated saying that the "NCAA was going to announce that it will suspend Cam Newton" to the reported source of that line saying that he didn't say that. Journalism (if you can even call it that anymore) has gone from the days of Woodward and Bernstein to shoot now and ask questions later. 

 

Unnamed Sources

Abigail Bartlett once said "don't ever come to me again with unnamed sources...you don't get to have cider". That's pretty much how I feel about it. I am sick to death of unnamed sources. Why can't we have a name. If they are willing to throw around allegations that directly affect the reputation of a 21 year old young man can't they have the balls to say "yeah I said it"?

 

Who is In Charge Here?

We've heard from Cam and his dad (to the degree that their attorney advised them), we've heard from Coach Chizik and the Athletic Director at Auburn, we've even heard a little bit from other coaches implicated (UF and MSU). The bigger question is where is Mike Slive (SEC Commisioner) or the Chairman of the NCAA? Where is someone that can step up and say "Hey we've known about this since January and we are looking into it, in the meantime we have not advised the Auburn Tigers that Cam Newton is ineligible to play and if people don't stop just randomly throwing out accusations we are going to start dropping the hammer.

 

Showing Some Class

I talk ALL THE TIME about the nature of rivalry and how teams that have a true rival don't ever want their opponent to win a game. I am never hateful in these feelings but I can honestly say as an Auburn Tigers fan I always ALWAYS want Alabama to lose every game they play. Its just the nature of the beast (I didn't pull for UA against Texas in the National Championship game last year) and I understand those that feel that way about my team...its a two way street. What I don't abide or understand is the venomous hatred and celebrating the misfortune of a 21 year old college student. I can honestly say as much as I will ALWAYS want Alabama to lose every game it plays I would never NEVER "pull for" or be happy that something of the nature that is happening to Cam Newton would happen to one of its players. It shows a real lack of class (and some of these people are the crazies that you hear on the radio that should be trusted with a drivers license or sharp weapons, but some of the people I've heard these comments from are people that I know in real life and that is what is most disappointing). 

Honestly this whole thing is a mess and I hope with all my heart that the allegations are not true and that Cameron Newton has the chance to continue to be what he has demonstrated to be in his time at Auburn, a remarkably talented young man who is polite, respectful, and cares about his community by volunteering his time with young men who need guidance. I hope that Auburn wins out (and lays the wood to Alabama on Black Friday) and has a chance to play Oregon for the National Championship in a game that will have a final score reminiscent of an NBA game. And most of all I hope that people will realize that at the heart of all of this are people's lives. Young men with dreams, preachers with congregations to serve, coaches with careers and others to mentor and lead all are going to be affected by every allegation and accusation. 

Still processing a little bit about last night's Braves loss and more significantly the last game of Bobby Cox's managerial career. After 20 straight years in Atlanta (and a couple some other years before that) he has left a legacy that won't be matched for a long long time, if ever.
I love the Braves and I love everything that comes with being a fan from the heartbreak to the late game heroics. It just comes with the territory but that is why we watch. Seeing the clip below reminds me again what makes it all worthwhile. Thank you Bobby for your years of service and I hope the Braves of the future can pay honor to the foundations and legacy you've built in Atlanta.

Just a quick few seconds of my lovely little nuggets enjoying a wagon ride and a lollipop on a beautiful October evening.

Hi. Remember me? I'm the guy who said he was going to "blog more because I can do it on the go with my fancy pants phone and all that nonsense". Well here I am and its been WAY too long but I'm here none-the-less so let's just go with that for now. 

As many of you know I recently had the good fortune to travel with my boss as well as my great friend JMG to Portland, Oregon to attend the Storyline Conference hosted by Donald Miller. Many of you know Donald Miller through his various works (Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What, etc...). His most recent book "A Million Miles in A Thousand Years" takes a look at the idea of story and how our lives (both spiritual and otherwise) can be painted as a narrative in order to help us realize the potential inside of us and to achieve in greater respects what God has created us to do. The conference was an expansion of the ideas and the book and was especially helpful for me on a personal level for sure but also on a professional level as I aim to use these ideas and structures not only with my youth group but also in the new Sunday night coffee house worship service we have started. 

I can't begin to tell you on this blog everything I learned at the conference so I am going to hit you with a few of the bullet points that really spoke to me and if you would like to discuss further or go more in depth about any of it I offer you an unconditional "backporch beer and chat" at my house to go deeper. Seriously its a whole month full of conversational nights that could be had and I'll gladly share it with any of you, just holler. 

-A good story has a character who wants something and overcomes something to achieve it. As humans we are pulled towards stories of people who overcome (Rocky, Rudy, the Dillon Panthers...okay so I'm getting sports heavy here but you know of tons of others) and the reason we are is because we have to overcome things in our lives all the time. The difference is there isn't someone here to film it and make a movie about it, because 1) George Clooney doesn't have time to star as all of us in our personal movie stories, and 2) a movie about getting out of debt and making sure your children have everything they need to succeed in life, while utterly admirable, isn't going to be selling out the theaters when "Sexy Exploding Vampire Bieber's from Mars" is showing next door. 

 

-"Man fully alive is the Glory of God" - this quote by St. Irenaeus really struck me because how many times do we see people that we know who are "walking zombies" through their lives just being worn down, and never at home because of a job and a pursuit of bigger and better and the Jones' (no actual Jones' were harmed in the creation of this post). We are called to live not be shackled by earthly things, and that's tough because we still need things (clothes, cars, etc...) but when do we choose what we want and what we need because there is more life to live?

 

-Joseph (of the many colored coat) was transformed by the negative turns in his life. The things that drove him forward and allowed him to have the ups that he had were because he chose to be faithful to who God created him to be (which just happened to be young, handsome, smart, and likeable) and that brought him through his dark times. Many times we decide to give up at the hard parts and "try again later" after we weather our storms. We weren't created for that. 

 

-Sometimes we have to embrace a negative turn in our story. It's going to happen. On any number of levels we are going to face difficulties and hard times. When you boil it down "conflict is the heart of any good story." Choosing to accept our hard times and seek out how to turn them into learning and growing moments makes us better characters in our stories. 

 

Seriously I've literally only scratched the surface of this, but I've got to go now (writing this post while at work while my youth are in their small groups right now). Come porch it up with me and we'll talk more I promise. I did attach some pictures from my trip (mostly Hipstamatics) for you to enjoy. JMG and me were pleased that we got to eat at two establishments featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives while we were there (hence the pics of food). Enjoy and I'll try not to be a blogging stranger.

I mean really does it get any better? 

Or: Why "couponers" are ruining the grocery store for me. 

One of the best things that ever happened to my mother was my turning 16 and being able to drive without adult supervision in the car. Now most parents dread and fear this day because they are turning their teenagers loose on the world behind the wheels of a 1500 pound projectile. My mom was excited because it meant that she no longer had to go to the grocery basically ever again. At my house growing up we usually were at the grocery every day for something or another. As a result of all these mandated trips to the grocery I have grown to really love going there (even to this day). I enjoy cruising the aisles, checking out the produce, and thinking about possibilities of things that I can cook. I've discovered lately that there is one thing that can bring the joy of the grocery to a grinding halt...COUPONERS. 

Couponers are those people who ravenously search sites for coupons from all manner of places and then use them at the stores (many times not at the stores they actually come from but play upon the policies many stores employ of "accepting competitors coupons"). These are the same people who will spend $10 in gas to drive to 4 different places to get things they have coupons for (not realizing its a wash when they factor in the money spent on gas) and these are also the people that "coupon clubs" and gatherings dedicated to helping one another find all these values. I kid you not that last spring at my church they had a Wednesday night "coupon class" to teach people how to do this. 

Now let me be clear on something. I have no problems with the principal of saving money. When we shop we try to buy things on sale and try to use store brands when possible. Publix store brands are usually outstanding but there are times when store brand just doesn't cut it (dishwasher detergent being near the top of the list). We are not growing money trees out behind our house and using them to start our fires in the winter time so believe me when I say I recognize the value of saving money. 

The problems I have with "couponers" are things like carrying their entire giant filing cabinets of every coupon they've ever laid eyes upon while aimlessly wandering the aisles of the store like crazed nomads searching a map for a destination that isn't to be found. These people show up at the store without a plan that goes any further than "hey I've got a bunch of coupons now let's go buy some stuff." They wander the aisles and just stop in the middle of them as they leaf through their coupon trapper keepers in search of .05 cents off of something they wouldn't normally buy anyhow but by golly they've got a coupon so they are going for it. These are the same people who when it comes time to check out they wait until the very end of the cashier scanning all the items and then just hand them a stack...a STACK I say (stack = unorganized, slightly wadded up) of coupons, many printed on home computers that ran out of ink two weeks ago. The best part of all of this is the split second the poor little casier (usually a painfully shy high school student whose parents have forced them to get a job) says anything remotely resembling "this coupon isn't accepted" that is the time that all hell breaks loose. These people get so mad and take it so personally and then start causing a stink and making the line and everyone waiting in it completely miserable.

So in summary:

I have no problems with saving money, I try to do it as much as possible. I don't think its too much to ask for a little pre-planning and organization on the behalf of the coupon folks to not gum up the works for the rest of us that just need to pick up a box of diapers, a gallon of milk, and a pint of Publix Moosetracks Frozen Yogurt (SO GOOD!!). And finally and probably MOST OF ALL...please don't be rude to the people who work at the store, and please be aware of the people around you and ask yourself is it really worth fifteen cents to make the 5 people in line behind you wait 10 minutes while you force the cashier to scan the coupon, scan it again, berate them for not trying to take, tell them (not ask politely) to put it in manually, then pout and demand to see a manager. A little common courtesy goes a long way. Alright I'm done now.

PS - If its past the date on the coupon its NO LONGER GOOD, please don't try to use it and then bully the cashier into taking it. That's just not nice.

That is the question I put before you this morning. My good friend (whom I'm considering duct taping to the hood of my car later today) Lukesha and I have been debating (via the Tweetaphone) the merits involved in the Dez Bryant/Roy Williams situation in Dallas. The short article/blog summing it all up can be found HERE (editor's note: the link is to the "Shut Down Corner" blog so it does have editorial commentary but the facts of the situation are there also). 

Mr. Sha is of the opinion that Dez Bryant is right and should have turned down the request to carry RW's shoulder pads. I am of the mind that he should have to carry the pads. Its a time honored tradition in professional sports, in particular, that rookies have to do silly things (shave their heads, carry equipment, buy meals, etc...). For a long time it was the tradition of the New York Yankees that on road trips the rookies had to dress like ladies (Derek Jeter did it). Its just a part of the fun and "earning your keep". 

Now I will agree that hazing has its limits. My position about this is that Dez Bryant was asked to carry shoulder pads. He wasn't asked to shave his genitals in the town square, or compromise his integrity with a farm animal, or anything remotely dangerous. I agree that there are limits to hazing and we have seen over the years some problematic situations at colleges in relation to fraternities and sororities but what is being done on these professional sports teams is a far cry from that. 

I think harmless hazing/paying your dues/doing the grunt work is important and totally acceptable in things like sports and clubs. It creates a sense of bonding, good nature, and not placing oneself above those around them. At the same time I don't believe there is ever a time for hazing type activities that endanger someone. What are your thoughts? 

I think Dez Bryant should pick up those shoulder pads and while he's at it put on a tu-tu!