Long Way to Nowhere

I am in a foul mood.  My beloved St. Louis Cardinals have been eliminated from the National League Division Series (NLDS).  Even more disturbing is that the loss came at the hands of the dreaded Chicago Cubs. 

I am one competitive dude.  I hate to lose.  I would have been upset regardless of the opponent; but it stings a little bit more to lose to your chief rival. I should have known something was amiss when Donald Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican party and Spain Park High School shuts out Hoover High in football in the same year!

Throughout the season the Cardinals were the best team in baseball.  At least, that is,  if you buy into the team with the best record is the best team.  The Redbirds won exactly 100 games this season.  This was two better than Pittsburgh and three better than the Cubs.  Limping into the playoffs, figuratively and literally, the Cardinals were far from the best team in the field of playoff ball clubs.

There is no mistake that over the last month and a half the Cubs have been on a roll.  They took that momentum and stream rolled their way to the NLCS.  This is a team that can win it all.  God forbid we have to hear "Go Cubs Go" blasting for the entire off-season!

The long and storied franchise of the Cardinals has won as many World Championships this century (2006 and 2011) as the Cubs have since the turn of the 20th Century. Consider that the last time the Cubs played in a World Series there was no television.  That last time they won one, there was no such thing as radio!

The baseball world has grown weary of the Cardinals; much the same way most outside of New York feel about the Yankees.   Nobody, well at least most people, roots for Goliath!

But sports is a "what have you done for me lately" kind of thing. The Cardinal Way has become a punch line when St. Louis falters.  It has been twisted and distorted to reflect an arrogance by many Cardinal fans. Since the DeWitt family purchased the ball club in  1996, no National League franchise has matched the success of the Cardinals. No wonder there is Cardinal fatigue! 

The Cardinals had "nothing" to gain and everything to lose in this series with the Cubs.  The Cardinals were the pre-season favorites and made the post-season for a franchise record fifth straight year.  They were picked by many to play for another World Series Championship.  They have the pedigree.

The Cubs had nothing to lose. After all, they are the 'loveable losers".  They are the up and comers.  They are "a year ahead of schedule".  Most reasonable people never expected this big of a turn around in this short of a time.  But here they are trying to go all "Back to the Future" on us.

100 wins and a Central Division championship for the Cardinals showed the team's resilience during an injury plagued season. This was not the team manager, Mike Matheny started out with. They overcame the loss of Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Matt Adams, Jordan Walden and Jon Jay for most of the year.  They lost Carlos Martinez before the playoffs.  Overlooked this season, by many, was the loss of top prospect Oscar Tavares, who died in an automobile accident nearly one year ago.  For this team, they offered no excuses or alibis.  Instead, it was next man up! 

True Cardinals fans don't make excuses or alibis either.  The Cubs outplayed the Cardinals and at this point in the year are the better club...period.  But when you are a Cardinals fan it is not enough to just get to the dance, you want to be able to lead it. 

"Act like you have been there before" is a common bit of advice given to athletes.  For the Cubs, they should ignore that advice. They should relish in this moment.  So should the Cubs fans. There is still a long way to go to win a World Championship; eight more wins to be exact. 

The Cardinals and their fans will always be disappointed when the season ends without a World Championship.  Call us greedy;  but that is what winning is all about.  That's why we play the game.  For the 2015 Cardinals, 100 wins and a division championship were just a long way to nowhere!  We are not ungrateful; we are unsatisfied.

Thanks for a great season.  Pitchers and catchers report in 120 days!

   

UAB Fans Need to Take a Seat

There was much moaning, groaning and gnashing of teeth when UAB president Ray Watts announced that the school would dissolve its football, rifle and bowling teams. You would have thought he canceled Christmas or Spring Break. The outcry was loud and often hate filled. I heard and read comments of what a travesty this was for the players, the coaches, the football program, the university and the city of Birmingham! While I certainly felt for the players who had committed to play football at UAB I did not share in the same level of outrage. My initial thought: "What took them so long?" The curious thing to me was who were these people performing this UAB football program passion play? More importantly, where have they been? If all the people protesting and crying over the loss of the football program had actually attended UAB football games there would have never been a problem in the first place. I must admit, I was never fond of the idea of UAB having a football to begin with. I thought it was an act in futility. There was already a college football program in town, Samford, that struggled to get people to attend...including its own students. Weekends in the state of Alabama mean Alabama Crimson Tide or Auburn Tigers games. Students at Samford were not attending the games of their own school in order to go watch the Tide or the Tigers. Or even worse, staying home and watching college football on TV. Why did UAB think it would be any different? Samford was competing in a lower classification and UAB was supposed to be competing on the same Division I level as the teams in the SEC? Preposterous! (And before you accuse me of being an Alabama or Auburn honk know that I am not an active fan of either. I grew up in Illinois where the Illini have a decent team about every 10 years or so.) When looking at the attendance figures UAB turned in to the NCAA, it barely met the minimum standard for staying on that level. Politics and the Board of Trustees aside, why would the university continue to support a program that was not consistently supported by attendance? Don't get me wrong, university president Ray Watts bungled this whole thing completely! So badly, in fact, that it will eventually cost him his job. So now the announcement has come that UAB Football will rise from the ashes! Two weeks ago Watts announced that the corporate and public outcry had been heard and like a Donald Trump covert plan to save the American economy, the promises and commitment of donors had breathed life back into the program! What Watts didn't tell us is how soon; or on what scale. Is Legion Field still the venue? How soon will they be able to be competitive? How patient and/or interested will everyone be with a rebuilding program? Who wants to watch that again? Bill Clark, the off again on again coach, will have an even harder time convincing a top tier athlete to believe the promises of major college football at UAB. Another question: Why would Clark even return? This is a train wreck that may never get back on the tracks again! Great pressure sits on UAB, Watts and Clark to Super Glue together a program that was blown up only a few months ago and has to be rebuilt using all new parts. In spite of all the pressure on them, there may be even more on another group. Those people who came to the street raising their collective voice in "righteous" indignation over the killing of the program. Big money must step up, as promised. More importantly, it is no longer an option for that very vocal contingent of fans to stand on the "sidelines". They can no longer support the UAB football program with their voices alone. They are obligated to make UAB THEIR team. When Georgia Southern began its football program it hired long-time Georgia assistant Erk Russell to be its head coach. Russell grew up in Birmingham and lettered in FOUR sports at Auburn. He define Georgia Southern as a football power in NCAA Division I-AA winning three National Championships. Russell would patrol the Georgia Southern campus where he would confront students wearing Georgia, Florida, Florida State or any other colleges paraphernalia. "Why", he would ask, "are you a student at Georgia Southern and rooting for another school?" Good question! I even heard stories of Russell threatening to rip a Georgia sweatshirt off a Georgia Southern student while on campus. That might be a little extreme but for the "Bring Back UAB" advocates, you have no choice! You have jumped on that bandwagon and you must ride it until the bitter end or ultimate victory. The talking has been done. Apparently corporate Birmingham has pledged financial support. UAB football will return or so we're told. Now that supporters have spoken up, it is now time for them to take a seat...in attendance at UAB football games. Let the marketplace dictate the outcome. It takes more than financial pledges and outraged fans to support a team. Actual support will be seen when fans put there fannies in the stands. If they don't, there won't be another comeback for UAB Football. Thanks for reading!

I'LL KEEP MY FORK

One year.  It is hard to believe that it has been a year since I re-married.  Along with getting a brand new wife, I added three step-children to my other three children.  We are now a blended family!  Well, as blended as you can be when four of the six live somewhere else and another is off to college most of the year.

On June 7, 2014 my new bride Penny and I spoke our devotion and vows to one another. It being my second marriage (hers too) I concentrated more thoughtfully and deeply on those vows than I ever had before.  Each word spoken by the pastor, her and myself was seared onto my mind.  This is the last time I plan on doing this and I wanted to get it right!

While our marriage is a covenant relationship with God and each other, we both knew this marriage would be different because of the children from our previous marriages.  Because of hurts and disappointments, none of which were of their doing, we felt that it was necessary to let each of our children know the depth of our devotion; not only to each other, but to each of them. 

"Today we have not only joined one another in marriage but we have joined our respective families as well. With that in mind, we would like to symbolize the blending of our two families.

Kristin, Jessica and Brian I will continue to be available to you and to love you unconditionally. You have been and will always be part of making me who I am everyday. You are not only my children, you are my life-long friends.

Margaret, Mary and Wesley, I welcome you to my family.  I promise to be fair and to be honest, to be available to you, and in due time, to earn your love, respect and true friendship.  I will not attempt to replace anyone, but to make a place in your hearts that is for me alone."

Then my new bride, Penny, spoke the same words and added comments about the tree of life and the grafting in of branches.  At that, we presented each of them with a necklace with the Tree of Life to symbolize the grafting of our family tree.

I feel great emotion a year later as I remember that special moment.  Later, back at the house, each member of this new family took turns pouring sand into a vase to further represent the blending of both families.  It is to remind us each time we look at it that we are all in this together.





The first year has flown by.  There are often times when I don't feel the sense of unity that the vase signifies.  It is not always easy to look at one another's biological child as our own.  There is still mine and yours and not enough ours.  But we work on it.  We talk and pray about it.  It is not something that happens instantly overnight.  However, the words, the pledge, the vow to our children are as serious as it was the day we made it.

In the past year, we have experienced with/for our kids: one daughter's wedding, another's engagement, a few trips to the ER, worry, rejoicing. rebellion, laughter, frustration, pride and lots and lots of prayer.  Yep, we are a typical family!

So why the title of this particular blog?  It is based on a story about a church potluck dinner.  The story has many different versions but here is mine:

 Every time after the main dishes were being cleared away at a church potluck dinner one of the gentlemen urged everyone to "Keep your fork; the best is yet to come."  He was referring, of course, to dessert.  He was consistent with this statement each and every time the church gathered to share a meal together.  "Keep your fork; the best is yet to come."

One day the gentlemen passed away and as his friends and family gathered to pay their condolences at the funeral home a lady looked down at his body in the coffin. There in the breast pocket of his burial suit was a fork.  The lady turned to his son and ask the reason for the fork.  The son's face broke into a smile. "You remember all those potluck dinners?  You see, Dad knew that death was not the end and the fork is to remind us that 'the best is yet to come.'"

You may find that story sappy and that is okay.  But as I look back over the past year I know I want to hold on to my fork...Happy Anniversary Penny....the best is yet to come!

Thanks for reading!

Jeff

 

HEY, I'VE BEEN THINKING

Radio Talk Show host, Larry King also wrote a weekly column in the USA Today for a number of years.  It would not have truly fit the criteria for a column one might think because it was just a group of thoughts formed into single sentences.  Something like:  "Michael Jordan-what a player."

I always enjoyed reading this weekly streams of consciousnesses and since I have had a difficult time paring down my thoughts to put into this blog, I thought I might try it.  So here goes...Larry King style.

I go through binge periods in my life.  Right now it is donuts...Birmingham offers some great dining choices with great variety in barbecue, pizza and ethic cuisine...I want to see NYPD Blue on Netflix. It is one of the greatest TV shows of all-time...I like animals better than "animal people"...Speaking of not liking something. Cubs fans. Need I say more?

I have found that screaming "Roll Tide" or "War Eagle" in church is the equivalent of saying "Amen" for some. Please stop!  Resist that urge to shout your allegiance whenever the name of "your"school is mentioned.

Deer are cute in movies and in cartoons but they are deadly killers on the highway...He is a tremendously talented baseball player but I just cannot root for Bryce Harper...Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is one of my favorite baseball writers...Is it just me or do Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus look like twins?

Broadcast network TV is dying a slow death.  Cable networks like AMC are producing much more compelling programs...Did CBS jump the gun too soon when they hired Stephen Cobert to replace David Letterman?  Jon Stewart would have been my choice of the two....Ted Cruz looks like Joseph McCarthy to me in more ways than one.

People who don't understand why Christians would go to dangerous parts of the world to share the gospel do not understand a belief in something worth dying for...this world is not my home.

The majority of Americans either have no life insurance or the wrong kind of insurance...buy term and invest the difference....There are way more good football announcers than baseball announcers!...Baseball is the hardest game to call.  Easiest?  Basketball...believe me!

Chicken drumsticks make much more sense than wings.  More meat!...

You know, not every "old" person who tries to give you advice is as crazy as you make them out to be.  Sometimes they do know a better way.  Just because they are older doesn't mean their ideas lose merit or credibility. That being said, we old guys still have a lot to learn!

Where is the "don't like at all" button on Facebook?...Yes, I love my wife, mother, father, sister, sons, daughters, cousins but I will not be bullied into "share if you....."!   There should be a "this post is stupid" button.

Okay, I'm done for now.  And to think Larry King got paid for doing this.  What a country!

Thanks for reading!

Jeff

"I DON'T KNOW"

My sister and I used to chuckle at my mom when during a lull in the conversation she would just out of the blue say, "I don't know."   She said it a lot and we always wondered, "What in the heck is she talking about?"  The older I get the more inclined I am to shake my head and say the same thing!

There are certainly things in this life that I don't know about.  I am far from an expert on anything.  I think the longer one lives, the more aware you become of the things you just don't have an answer to.

One thing that is a mystery to me is something that appears to be counterintuitive in principle.  It is the idea that we have become a society that cares too MUCH about what other people think; while at the same time, caring too LITTLE about what other people think.

Confused yet?  Here is my theory.   I believe that most, if not all, human beings want/need to be loved...or at least liked.  However, no matter what we do or how hard we try some people are just not going to like us.   Heck, we are not going to like everyone either.  At the same time, some go through life pretending they don't need others and it is their world and they are just allowing us to live in it.  They really don't care what anyone things.

 

I think the ills of our society and the world could all be fixed if we cared both less and more about what others think of us.

Point Number One:  As a teacher, I see students who daily hungry for attention.  Their desire to get this attention is manifest in a variety of ways.  It is easy for me to gaze with my adult eyes and see how futile some of the attempts really are.   The boys want the girls to think they are cool or hip; whatever the latest slang word for acceptance is these days.  The girls want the same of the boys.   Likewise, the boys want to impress other boys, and girls want to impress other girls.  

None of this is news. It has been going on for centuries.  At issue: impressing the wrong people, for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time.  I have witnessed the class clown stressing to get attention from his classmates, seeking their acceptance and approval while not understanding that they are actually laughing AT him and not WITH him.  He truly cares what a person, who will only be in his life for an instant, thinks of him in the moment; all the while ignoring how he is being perceived by others that have a much broader impact on his future. 

Another student will walk into class late thinking he is exempt from the concept of time.  He receives the laughter of his classmates because of his self-perceived coolness, NOT caring what the teacher, who holds great impact on his future, thinks about him.

Point Number Two:  It is just not our youth that struggles with this. Our society cares too much about the cars we drive, the houses we live in, the clothes we wear.  We care about appearances. We want to be up-to-date, with it, cool. We want to fit in, be accepted and to feel a part of something. 

 
The reason we care so much about these things is because we care about how we are looked upon by the world.  We care about having it...we just often don't care HOW we get it. Much like the child in the classroom!

One can lie, cheat, stab somebody in the back. Some can be unethical, dishonest, and ruthless. People can treat individuals with contempt and disrespect while seeking to gain the admiration of others.  We can sacrifice our own character in an attempt to gains someone else’s approval. 
 
I grew up in a very modest setting.  Having shared my background with someone once, I was later described as “having grown up poor.”   I never thought of myself as poor and I still don’t think that way.  But to the person describing me I was.  Sadly, this person put great stock in wealth and social status…on appearances. 
 

When I had the opportunity to attend some social functions with the so-called “socially privileged” I discovered that many of these people were well-dressed pretenders, snobs and slobs.  There was the woman married to a surgeon that was so drunk that she embarrassed the entire table where we were sitting.  There was the man who had schemed his way to financial “success”, only to have landed in prison for fraud.  There was another businessman who conducted his career like a “three-card monte” shyster, moving his business and companies around to stay one step ahead of the feds. They care so much; and at the same time care so little!

I have written about my parents in some previous blogs.  I miss them both very much.  My mom had her own version of the Golden Rule: “You aren’t any better than anyone else; but no one is better than you!”  It was her way of trying to keep us grounded but at the same time confident.  It was her way of acknowledging that no matter what one has or doesn’t have, at the core, we are all the same. 

 
It seems like she knew quite a bit.  She knew: We all want to be well thought of by someone.  We all need affirmation.  We all need to be respected.  We all need to be acknowledged. We all need to be loved.  The question is:  How are we going about getting it?

Then again…I could be wrong.  “I don’t know!”

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

Top That

I  have not posted a blog since last July.  While some people experience writer's block my problem has been having too many things I wanted to write about.  Not knowing where to begin actually kept me from writing at all. I re-married in June, took a once in a lifetime honeymoon trip in July and gave away my youngest daughter to her husband in October.  I wanted to write about all of those events.  I also had thoughts on Robin Williams' suicide, attending a new church, same-sex unions and terrorist attacks.  I have thoughts about Brian Williams' mistake and the wonderful skills of CBS newsman Bob Simon.  Perhaps someday I will get around to putting those thoughts in writing.

It was nearly one year ago today that I posted a blog about the Finley Awards given at this time every year.  This is the 20th Finley Awards since the death of the long-time Berry football and girls basketball coach.  If you missed my blog last year perhaps you will want to check it out below this post.

My dear friend, Bob Cofield was the deserving recipient this year for the Hoover City Schools employee honor.   Bob's name was announced at an assembly last Friday morning before the entire senior class.  He accepted the honor with his typical humility.  You see, know one who thinks they deserve this awards actually does!

One of the people who nominated Bob for this character recognition put it this way:

"I remember when the Bob Finely Award was first created for both a student and an employee of Hoover City Schools.  The original goal was to identify individuals who may fly below the radar.  The award was not designed to add to the trophy case of individuals that are frequently recognized for personal accomplishments but rather to call attention to the quality of the life lived.   Bob Cofield has lived that type of life.  He has touched the life of hundreds of people inside the walls of Hoover High School and out.

I know that Coach Bob Finley would be proud to know that hundreds of young people have been acknowledged for their character since the advent of this award in his name.  However, it is my belief that he would also be uncomfortable that so much time and effort has been invested in keeping his name and legacy alive.

Bob Cofield does not desire, seek or pursue the recognition of the Finley Award.  He does not set his sights to be like Bob Finley, his desire is to live a life that reflects his faith and devotion to Jesus Christ."

The Finley Award is a wonderful honor but it pales in comparison to the eternal rewards promised to us by God. The interesting thing is...we really don't deserve that! And the adversary continues to remind us. He reminds each of us in an effort to get us to give up, to quit, to submit to our will and not that of God. Yet God has provided for our redemption through His son, Jesus Christ.

You CAN earn a Finley Award.: do all the right things, say all the right words, be just a little bit better than somebody else. That does not work with God. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. For Christians or non-Christians reading this blog: You CANNOT earn salvation! No amount of good works will get it done. The stark reality is that we are deserving of death when compared to a holy and perfect God.

The battle between ego and humility takes on an entirely different look when we exam it through a heavenly lens. Ego: "I can do it on my own. I can go on mission trips, feed the homeless, pray, get baptized...I can earn it. Thanks Jesus for dying on a cross and dying the death that I deserved to die. I appreciate that you conquered sin and death but I think so highly of myself that I am going to work my way to heaven on my own!"

Humility: "I know I have messed up. I know I don't deserve forgiveness. I know I don't deserve grace. I know that I cannot do this on my own. I need a savior! I give my life to you to use me as you would see fit. Thank you for forgiving me and loving me when I do unforgivable things and when I am unlovable. Forgive even when my pride and ego tells me that I don't need forgiveness."

Christ dying on the cross is not a "get out of jail free card"! Christ never promised an easy life. Ask the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS!  "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it." (Mark 8:35)   Damned to hell be the wealth, health and prosperity gospel.

I am thrilled that Bob Cofield will be honored at a banquet recognizing his great character.  Even though this is an award he never sought or one he even feels he deserves, few men I know deserve it more.  I will be there that night and look forward  to listening to his acceptance speech. Knowing Bob, he will give the honor, glory and praise to the person that promises the greatest gift...and no award on earth can top that!.