Tom Brady, Coldplay, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 1)

“True Satisfaction,” Tebow has it, Brady would like to have it

Sound off on Tebow

Joy Behar and her liberal friends on “The View” gang up on pro-life Elisabeth Hasselback

SNL mocks Tebow and endorses Romney: Is Mormonism true?

Tebow’s team goes down to defeat, what next?

Tim Tebow verses and interviews

What is God doing with Tim Tebow? Fellowship Bible pastor of Little Rock ponders…

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Go ahead recruiting fans, allow yourself to wonder, for one day at least, if the Jarnell Stokes-to-Tennessee rumors could be true.

Let’s face it, UT basketball recruiting talk has primarily centered around Stokes the past two years.

Plenty of names have come and gone, but the conversation usually begins and ends with Stokes, the big transformer out of Memphis.

On Thursday, the talk will climax. Stokes, ranked No. 11 in the nation by Rivals.com, is announcing which school he will choose at Fino Villa in Collierville at 6:30 p.m.

Adding more fuel to the fire, Stokes has graduated from high school and will be eligible to play THIS SEASON once he’s attending classes and is approved by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

At one time, prior to the Vols running into NCAA issues, it was a widely held perception that the hulking 6-foot-8, 255-pound Stokes would wind up in orange.

He was that good that early, and UT was dutifully on top of his recruitment. Relationships were built, the future was discussed and games were attended.

But then the Bruce Pearl whirlwind hit, and the Vols’ coaches were taken off the recruiting road.

ESPN had a field day filled with barbecue-themed time lines throughout last season and Stokes, along with other top-flight recruits, was uprooted.

Since, Stokes has been courted by Kentucky, Memphis, Florida, Connecticut, Arkansas as well as numerous other programs that weren’t worthy of making his final list.

Tennessee, however, is back on that list.

It’s not necessarily a credit to Cuonzo Martin’s recruiting judgment, because with Stokes’ ability he would have been crazy not to try to get back in on him.

Instead, it’s validation that what Martin’s selling to recruits is real, and the right kind of players are interested.

Some players wouldn’t be drawn to Martin’s hard-nosed, team-first approach. This is the “ME” generation, and there’s even a few current Vols who have struggled to buy in.

You can find them on the bench.

But Martin’s talk about discipline, toughness and getting after it is music to Stokes’ ears.

The kind of player Martin is recruiting won’t be scared off when they learn that Martin sits players out of games for unexcused tardiness to class, and he pulls them from the floor if they aren’t playing defense.

Stokes could sign — and still might sign — with a much higher profile men’s basketball school that puts upwards of 18,000 fans in the seats on a bad night.

He has already been places where fans greet him at the airport on recruiting visits.

But the hype isn’t what it’s all about to Stokes, based on my dealings with him and those close to his recruitment.

He’s a “yes sir, no sir,” and “where’s the gym,” kind of guy. On his visit to Knoxville a couple of weeks ago, for the Pittsburgh game, Stokes wanted to work out at night – not go out.

Stokes has been working out early mornings and late nights since the TSSAA ruled him ineligible to play high school basketball this season on account of him transferring schools.

Stokes took the opportunity to graduate high school early and is ready to start college in January and possibly play.

How would that work out at Tennessee? Stokes said it’s up to his new coach if he plays or not.

It’s hard to imagine Martin resisting the temptation of using the gifted Stokes. Especially since Stokes’ academic approach is already on par with where it needs to be.

Wednesdays’ Memphis Commercial Appeal story noted that the Tigers don’t have a scholarship available for Stokes, but that he is eligible for an academic scholarship and could walk-on.

Martin isn’t allowed to discuss unsigned recruits, but it’s obvious to most the Vols could use immediate help on the front line.

Perhaps you’re still not sold that Stokes coming to Tennessee is a possibility.

Truth is, it doesn’t matter what fans believe.

Who would have believed a UT team lacking any future NBA players could beat a No. 1-ranked Memphis team in the FedEx Forum a few years back?

So, no, it doesn’t matter if the Vols’ fans believe, and judging from the sub-10,000 actual attendance the past two games, it’s obvious many don’t.

Obviously, if Stokes comes to Tennessee, the attendance would spike and hope would be restored.

But what ultimately matters is if Stokes believes in Martin – and if Martin believes in Stokes.

Martin isn’t recruiting Stokes because he’s a five-star prospect, so much as he’s a prospect that fits the direction Martin wants the Vols to go.

If Stokes didn’t fit the UT system and didn’t have great success, the gains of Martin signing Stokes would be short-lived, and it could actually work against the new UT head coach.

There are still people in Memphis who discuss how Tony Harris didn’t work out in Knoxville a decade ago.

Never mind what J.P. Prince, Dane Bradshaw and Western Tennessean Wayne Chism were able to accomplish, both on and off the floor.

For better or worse, Martin would be judged by how Stokes evolved in the UT program, should the Memphis big man decide Knoxville is the place to play basketball..

Martin will be the same coach and person in two days whether Stokes signs with the Vols, or should he choose to take his skills somewhere else.

And Stokes will be a great prospect wherever he lands.

For one day, however, Martin and the UT basketball nation can allow themselves to smile at the thought of Stokes becoming the cornerstone of the Vols’ basketball program.

Posted by Mike Griffith on December 21, 2011 at 3:27 PM |

Comments

All th talk in Memphis is he will end up at UT. I would really love to see him in Tiger blue but the fact that we dont have a scholarship available takes us out of the running right away. Enjoy this kid Knoxville, he is going to be great.

Posted by: tigersteve at December 21, 2011 4:00 PM

Thanks for a classy post tigersteve. It would be good to land a great kid who also happens to be a great player. Thursday will be an interesting day for a lot of people.

Posted by: FWBVol at December 21, 2011 5:36 PM

if Stokes chooses UT i can’t really blame him…UT will have a TON of minutes to offer him, and Memphis doesn’t have a scholarship…he’d have to walk-on with an academic scholarship.

Posted by: Drew at December 21, 2011 7:12 PM

I live in Memphis and just saw Jarnell Stokes and his dad both wearing ORANGE at Walmart. He had on black pants and a hoodie with a power T and an orange hat. GO VOLS!!!

Posted by: vol22 at December 21, 2011 8:39 PM

Congrats UT, if its true… UK can’t get them all… besides, its a good nature border rivalry!

Posted by: UKSkywalker at December 22, 2011 3:17 AM

Jarnell Stokes reveals college choice on Thursday, Arkansas in the mix

Will Arkansas get Stokes to sign? CBS predicts the answer is no

EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview.

To Download this video copy the URL to www.vixy.net

Tom Brady is still searching for satisfaction in his life. Over the years I wanted bands like Kansas and Coldplay ask these same questions.

Coldplay performing “Glass of Water.”

Back in 2008 I wrote a paper on the spiritual themes of Coldplay’s album Viva La Vida and I predicted this spiritual search would continue in the future. Below is the first part of the paper, “Coldplay’s latest musical lyrics indicate a Spiritual Search for the Afterlife.”

Coldplay’s latest musical lyrics indicate a Spiritual Search for the Afterlife

In Coldplay’s latest songs you can see that something has changed about the focus of the band’s song writing. What is going on? The internet has been full of speculation concerning the radical lyrical change in the latest Coldplay work compared to the previous 3 albums.

Russ Briemeier of Christianity Today: “What does it all mean? With so many questions posed, a single interpretation of this album is virtually impossible…

Yet taken collectively, there is no ignoring the fact that spiritual themes are prevalent throughout the album. Viva La Vida seems to be about coping with death in a world corrupted by sin, temptation, and war. Though it never goes deeper than mentioning God or referencing a specific theology, the lyrics often yearn with hope and love for a better world—utopia or heaven, it’s up to your interpretation… Viva La Vida is often provocative, spiritual, and seemingly on the verge of identifying a greater Truth, asking and inspiring many questions without providing the answers.”

The Spiritual Search for the Afterlife

Many of Coldplay’s latest songs mention God and other Biblical themes such as dealing with death, and the afterlife and the shortness of life.  It seems to me that Coldplay has focused on spiritual issues in their lyrics but they are still in the process of working out all the answers and still formulating their religious belief systems. Here is a sample of their latest works:

In the song “Glass of Water”:

Oh he said you could see a future,
inside a glass of water,
With riddles and the rhymes
He asked ‘Will I see heaven in mine’
Ooooh, oooh, ooooh …

Possibly searching for the path to Heaven or hoping after death heaven is the destination. It reminds me also of the song “42” that says, “You thought you might be a ghost, You didn’t get to heaven but you made it close.”

(Coldplay performs “42”)

In the song “Now my feet  won’t touch the ground”:

Now my head won’t stop
You wait a lifetime to be found

Here someone maybe searching for you instead of you searching for someone else? Could it be a way of saying that God is searching for you in a sense? In the context of the rest of the album that may not be such a bad interpretation.

The song “42” states,

Those who are dead are not dead
They’re just living my head
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well
Oh…

Time is so short and I’m sure
There must be something more

This is the same question that Solomon asked 3000 years ago in the Book of Ecclesiastes.  He knew there was something more. The Christian Philosopher Francis Schaeffer noted that Solomon took a look at the meaning of life on the basis of human life standing alone between birth and death “under the sun.” This phrase UNDER THE SUN appears over and over in Ecclesiastes. The Christian Scholar Ravi Zacharias noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term UNDER THE SUN — What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system and you are left with only this world of Time plus Chance plus matter.”

Solomon had all the resources in the world and he found himself searching for meaning in life and trying to come up with answers concerning the afterlife. However, it seems every door he tries to open is locked. Solomon found no lasting satisfaction in riches (Ecclesiastes 2:8-11), pleasure (2:1), education (2:3) and his work (2:4). None of those were able to “fill the God-sized vacuum in his heart” (quote from famous mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal). That reminds of the Coldplay’s words in the song “Lost”: “Every river that I tried to cross, Every door I ever tried was locked.”

Moreover, what looms over Solomon’s search for meaningful answers is his upcoming death. In the song, “The Escapist,” which shares tract 10 with the song  “Death and all his Friends,” Coldplay notes:

And in the end
We lie awake
And we dream
We’ll make an escape

Is this an escape from Death? Since this song follows the song “Death and all his Friends,” it seems that would be the case.

Death and all his friends

This is a tribute to Queen…

Coldplay – Death and all his friends from the album Viva la Vida ..

________________________________

Tom Brady, the answer is Jesus Christ!

Uploaded by HarvestTV on Jan 28, 2008