Archive for Links
Learning From Ozzie
Posted by: | CommentsProverbs 10:19 says, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
Ozzie Guillen is obviously not a prudent man. He has mouthed off time and again, and his many words have finally caught up to him in a big way. Yesterday he tried to apologize for his positive remarks concerning Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. If you want to call it apologizing. As usual, it was more like elaborate excusing or a pathetic attempt to resist taking full responsibility for what he said. As you can see from the video below, he talks about how bad he felt, but then goes on to explain that he didn’t really mean to say what he said. He was thinking in Spanish something, but then said the complete opposite in English somehow and….uh…uh…
Huh?
It’s just plain foolishness and incredibly difficult to believe. In fact, I found it straight up difficult to watch. It was pathetic.
And yet, here’s the thing…here’s the big point that we all should take away from Guillen’s predicament: we are much more like Ozzie Guillen than we would care to admit.
Sure, we might not be foolish enough to mouth off positive remarks about Fidel Castro in a public forum (while managing in Miami nonetheless!), but you know what, those public remarks actually aren’t as damaging as the unkind words we use within our own homes. Among those we love. Sure, a community is outraged by Guillen’s words, and he was very wrong to state them, but if we view ourselves rightly – if we really take note of all that we have said and understand the significance of all our words in the sight of God – we will know without a doubt that we are by no means better than him. On the contrary, we are worse.
Our question then is: Will we do a better job than Guillen in taking responsibility for our words and repenting of them? I certainly hope so.
Learning From Bubba
Posted by: | CommentsIf you are into golf at all, you had to love the final round of the Masters yesterday. I was bummed that I missed it, because I really enjoy watching Bubba Watson play. He plays the game of golf the way I like the game of basketball to be played – aggressive, free-flowing, fun. His shot from the woods in the final playoff hole was a perfect reflection of that.
From all accounts, he is a different character and a Christian. He doesn’t take lessons or have a particular instructor. His swing isn’t ‘perfect.’ His game certainly unconventional. And yet, he is good. And when he wins, he is humble and full of joy. Really, he seems like a guy who is refreshing and easy to root for.
I was actually thinking about this before he even won the tournament, but wouldn’t Tiger Woods do well to learn from Bubba? (And not just Bubba I should add, but many others on the tour.) If you watched Tiger golf this week, you have to know what I am referring to. For unlike Bubba, Tiger was an absolute mess. He wasn’t free-flowing, but clearly over thinking things and putting way too much pressure on himself to perform. I don’t think I saw him relaxed one time the entire weekend. Everything was forced. Nothing flowed. Mentally he looked like a wreck. And his game reflected that.
Naturally, Tiger will say that is because he wasn’t playing well. But I would beg to differ. I think it is the other way around, particularly when you are as good as Tiger. When you have the physical tools to perform, it is the mental that most often holds you back. As concerns Tiger in this year’s Masters, I could tell from his very countenance that he wasn’t going to play well. You could see the tension, the pressure, the need to win.
And in sports (and especially in golf) this is a recipe for absolute disaster. For the more you worry about winning, the more you increase your chances of losing. The best way to win is to lose yourself in the joy of the game. To go out and delight in the gift of play. I am sure Bubba doesn’t do it perfectly by any stretch. But he certainly did it much better than Tiger this past weekend.
I tell people often that as a basketball player, I can’t focus on making shots. I just practice and when game time comes, all I can do is take them. If I worry about making them, I will inevitably shoot poorly. Of course, there is a certain extent in which you can be so good that you can make up for some of this tension. I think Tiger often does this. But only to a certain degree. At some point, you just stifle your ability to reach your potential.
And that is the saddest thing to me when I look at Tiger’s golf game. He is holding himself back. And in so doing, keeping even us from the joy of watching him be at his best. He would do well, in my opinion, to learn a little from Bubba. To get a little free-flowing back in his game. But isn’t that true for us all?
Great Sermons on Work
Posted by: | CommentsI listened to one by Tim Keller this evening entitled Work and Our Character. As always, am better because of it. I also was reminded that the principles he sets forth in these sermons totally apply to the world of sports. Especially professional sports.
That being said, no matter what your line of work, you would do well to listen to these sermons.
Here are five of them from Keller on the topic of work that you can listen to or download for free from Redeemer Presbyterian’s website. I have listened to each of them and cannot recommend them strongly enough.
NFL Violence and our own Hypocrisy
Posted by: | CommentsThis is one of the best columns I have read in a while. In it, Bill Simmons gives an honest and insightful response to the latest development with the Saints bounty program.
Be sure to check it out and ask yourself about your own level of hypocrisy.
Moral Bankers
Posted by: | CommentsIn his book, Broken-Down House, Paul Tripp comments on Matthew 6,
You see, we are all moral bankers. Every day we make a dozen or a hundred or a thousand little mundane investments in the hope of gaining some kind of return. You may not consciously think this way, but this is what you are doing. Every person living is pursuing some kind of treasure. Your actions, reactions, and responses in any given situation or relationship represent your deposits, your attempts to secure whatever in that moment is valuable to you.
So what do your deposits say about what is most valuable to you?
