Category: Sports

Bleeding Blue Devil Blue, Part II

As I consider how I came to bleed Blue Devil Blue, it occurs to me that it was about much more than basketball, although that’s where it started.

Growing up in Southwest Virginia in the 1970s, it was a rite of passage to develop a reliable jump shot because you never knew when a pick-up game would break out on some dusty, country court near you. In those days you didn’t run down to Wal-Mart for a prefabricated, adjustable, pop-up goal. My Dad fashioned mine from wood the old-fashioned way–very slowly, by hand–and set it at the regulation 10 feet.

At first, I was so small that my only hope of making a basket was to stand directly beneath the goal and fling the ball upward in a desperate Rick Barry-style underhand heave.… Read the rest

Bleeding Blue Devil Blue, Part I

At the stroke of twelve on a crisp mid-October night, madness ensues–the fanatical screams of blue-blooded partisans comingle with the metronomic thump of leather on a freshly waxed hardwood floor…

College hoops is in the air and just in the nick of time, babyyyy! Having endured the most boring World Series in recent memory (told you so) and the inauspicious debut of the “new” NHL, many are restless for a more adventurous journey in sport. The road to the 2006 Final Four will be long and arduous, ending in April in Indianapolis in what will surely be (because it always is) the most closely contested and nailbiting finish to any sport in America.… Read the rest

What’s So Bad About Being Fast?

Fisher DeBerry, head football coach at the US Air Force Academy has gone and done it again. First there was that little “I Belong to Team Jesus” banner hanging in his office that got him into hot water. Now he’s enduring the gauntlet of the national media after making what many judge to be the racially insensitive remark that African American athletes can “run very well.”

He said this on Tuesday in the wake of his team’s 48-10 loss to TCU and has been paying for it ever since with several rounds of apologies and clarifications. He has now been officially reprimanded by the Air Force Academy Superintendent, but it does appear that he will keep his job.… Read the rest

Stadium seat, anyone?

I know two or three of you are waiting with bated breath to read what I’m going to say after the demise of my beloved Cardinals last night. I was hoping that if we were destined to lose that we would at least avoid going “quietly into that good night.” Alas, we went not with a “bang,” but a “whimper.”

A hat tip to the Astros pitching staff who tamed the mighty Cardinal bats and also to the rally-squelching 2nd base umpire in last night’s game who somehow saw the “phantom tag”–you guys make a great team. I really do wish Houston the best, but I just want you to know that it’s hard for me to think of your team without thinking of the guy pictured to the right.… Read the rest

Dear God, Are You Looking for a Team?

Albert Pujols rescued the St. Louis Cardinals from the brink of elimination a few moments ago with a dramatic 9th inning, two-out, three run shot off of Brad Lidge to give the Cardinals a come from behind 5-4 win and keep alive their hopes in the NLCS. In the process, he kept alive America’s hopes of not having to suffer through the most boring World Series in MLB history (‘Stros v. Chisox).

It’s back to the comfortable confines of Busch Stadium now (scheduled for demolition after the final out this year) and, God willing, some more Cardinal heroics.

I say “God willing” because it appears that, despite my fears expressed earlier, God has dumped the Angels and may be looking for a team to sponsor.… Read the rest

Restorationists in the News

Sometimes we Church of Christ folks, bless our hearts, can be more boring than a piece of dry toast. Now for those of you who aren’t from these parts, in the South we routinely use the phrase “Bless his/her/their heart” immediately prior to a critical comment in order to cushion the blow and make it more respectable. Around here forthrightness is considered to be, at worst, the 8th Deadly Sin, and at best, rude. Even my wife, a no-nonsense “Show Me” from Missouri, is now peppering her conversations with the magic words. But I digress.

Despite our penchant for plainness, one look around the news does turn up a couple of Restorationists who are making names for themselves.… Read the rest

Finally

The messiah is coming. No, not that messiah, the one that is going to rescue USA basketball from total implosion. It looks like Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski ( Coach K) is going to get the nod and none too soon I might add. Rather than begging off and heading to the Bahamas next time the Olympics roll around, Kobe and company will be falling over each other to play for this guy. He quite simply is the best in the business and is the definition of the word class.
… Read the rest