Just last week on Sunday August 21, 2011, I got to worship at the historic Park Street Church where Lowell Mason, Park Street’s first organist, is considered by many to be the father of American Protestant church music. He composed the music for many common hymns including “Nearer My God to Thee” and “Joy to the World.”
Actually the previous week on August 14th at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, I met someone who had just graduated from Harvard and that is where I got the recommendation to attend Park Street Church.
The Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, America’s first oratorio society, was organized at Park Street in 1815.
In 1816, Park Street started one of America’s first Sunday school programs.
The first Protestant missionaries to Hawaii (formerly known as the Sandwich Islands) were sent from here in 1819.
On July 4, 1829, the famous abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison, delivered his first anti-slavery address from the Park Street pulpit.
Lowell Mason, Park Street’s first organist, is considered by many to be the father of American Protestant church music. He composed the music for many common hymns including “Nearer My God to Thee” and “Joy to the World.”
Samuel Francis Smith’s hymn, “America” (otherwise known as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”), was first sung on the front steps of the church by Park Street’s Children’s Choir on July 4, 1831.
The Prison Discipline Society (America’s first prison ministry), the American Temperance Society, the Animal Rescue League (America’s first animal humane society), and the Boston Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. all began here.
America’s oldest radio ministry began at Park Street Church in 1923.
The Billy Graham evangelistic crusades were introduced to Boston at Park Street in 1949.
Dr. Harold J. Ockenga, Park Street’s minister from 1936 to 1969, was co-founder and first president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
I really think that if you took Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, you could not find ANY DIFFERENCE IN TALENT. To put South Carolina in that group in the past would have been silly. However, Steve Spurrier has them at that level now. Bringing in players the level of Marcus Lattimore is the difference. (Harry King thinks Lattimore may be Heisman material.)
I think about Tennessee’s famous November schedule. They have won about 98% of their November games in the last few years because they usually played Memphis, South Carolina, Vandy and Kentucky. Currently they hold the longest winning streak in the country against Kentucky and everybody knows how pitiful Memphis and Vandy have been in football, but now SOUTH CAROLINA IS TOUGHER THAN THEY USED TO BE AND THERE IS NO FOR SURE WIN BY UT LIKE THEIR USED TO BE IN THE PAST.
Speaking of Tennessee, I did want to note that although I don’t think a team with only 25% of their team being upperclassmen can compete for a SEC East Championship, I do think they will upset some teams and probably make a run next year.
I’m excited for the start of another football season and I’ve spent the last month doing a team by team analysis and rating of all 120 Division 1A (aka FBS) teams. My early season ratings have proven more accurate than the Vegas odds makers and last year I pegged Stanford as the 9th best team heading into the season (they were unranked), Oklahoma State rated 19th (also unranked) and had Texas (#5 ranked in the polls) as my 34th rated team. I’ve used my early season ratings to give me an edge over Las Vegas over the years and this year I want to share some conference previews with you. I will also have free analysis of almost every College game in the free analysis section at drbobsports.com.
I’ll start my previews with the SEC East and I’ll post my analysis of the exciting SEC West later this week.
Georgia
(Projected SEC record 5.5 – 2.5, 1st Place East)
Georgia was much better last season than their 6-7 record suggests and the Bulldogs are my slight favorite to win the SEC East. The Bulldogs out-gained their opponents 6.3 yards per play to 5.5 yppl despite facing a schedule of teams that was 0.6 yppl better than average. Georgia was also +10 in turnover margin and had great special teams play, so going 6-7 while out-scoring your opponents by 10.0 points per game was a complete fluke aided by an 0-4 record on games decided by 7 points or less. Georgia’s offense will be led by sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray, who emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation while being named 1st Team Freshman All-American.
Murray will have to adjust to life without star WR A.J. Green, who lifted the Georgia passing game from very good to great when he returned to the lineup after missing the first 4 games due to suspension. Murray was very good in the 4 games without Green, averaging 7.1 yards per pass play (against teams that would combine to allow 5.7 yppp to an average quarterback). Murray averaged 8.2 yppp (against teams that would allow 5.8 yppp) in 8 FBS games with Green in the lineup, so he’ll certainly miss his former star receiver.
I expect Murray to be a better quarterback this season but his numbers will probably be less impressive without Green’s dynamic playmaking ability. Georgia could get a boost in the running game with highly touted true freshman RB Isaiah Crowell as the main back thanks to the absence of last year’s top 2 rushers (Washaun Ealey transferred and Caleb King is out for the season with an injury). The Georgia defense hasn’t been too much better than average in recent years but this year’s stop unit has 7 returning starters and two major additions in run-stuffing DT Jonathan Jenkins (a JC transfer) and USC transfer Jarvis Jones. Georgia should improve significantly on the defensive side of the ball and their special teams will be among the best in the nation. The Bulldogs should be improved while being very likely to improve on their record in close games. Georgia will go from a losing team to a team that will be a major player in the hunt for an SEC Championship.
South Carolina
(projected SEC record 5.3 – 2.7, 2rd Place East)
South Carolina looks like the most well-rounded team in the SEC East from the line of scrimmage, but the Gamecocks will have to improve upon their horrible special teams if they want to return to the SEC Championship game. With their second game of the season being at Georgia, who has among the best special teams units in the nation, the Gamecocks will need to get it together soon if they want a leg up in the division race. There are no problems with South Carolina’s offense or defense, as the Gamecocks return the nucleus of last year’s strong attack (6.2 yards per play against teams that would combine to allow just 5.1 yppl to an average team) with QB Stephen Garcia coming back for his 4th year as the starter, sophomore RB Marcus Lattimore back after a very good frosh campaign (1197 yards at 4.8 ypr and 17 TDs) and 1st Team All-American WR Alshon Jeffery also returning after hauling in passes for 1517 yards at 17.2 yards per catch. Garcia can be turnover prone (14 interceptions last season), but South Carolina’s offense should be very good again this season.
South Carolina’s defense should be the unit that makes the difference this season, as the Gamecocks should fix some of the leaks in the secondary that allowed good quarterbacks to expose them last season. Overall, South Carolina was very good defensively in 2010, as the 5.4 yppl that unit allowed against FBS competition came against a schedule of teams that would combine to average 6.1 yppl against an average defense. The Gamecocks should be even better this season defensively with all of their key components back and with the addition of the top rated freshman defensive linemen (DE Jadeveon Clowney) and the return of LB Shaq Wilson, who led the team in tackles in 2009 but played just 1 game last season due to injury. South Carolina should be among the better teams in the nation from the line of scrimmage and they should improve their special teams enough to make a run at defending their SEC East championship. I actually have South Carolina rated as 1 point better than Georgia, but the Gamecocks face a tougher SEC schedule having to play at Georgia and having to visit Arkansas out of the West (Georgia’s tough SEC West opponent is their home game with Auburn, which is not nearly as tough).
Florida
(projected SEC record 4.5 – 3.5, 3rd Place East)
I expected Florida to be a very good team last season despite the absence of Tim Tebow, but the quarterback play was the worst in Urban Meyer’s coaching career, including his days at Bowling Green and Utah (even after compensating for level of opposing defenses faced). John Brantley was the top rated quarterback of his high school class and had two years in the system as a backup to Tebow, but Brantley was horrible in his first year as the starter. Brantley did connect on a better than average 61 percent of his passes, but the large majority of those completions were short passes (10.3 yards per completion is very low) and his 5.5 yards per pass play (including sacks) was well below even the lowest expectations (6.2 yppp is average). Overall the Gators averaged just 5.1 yards per play (against teams that would allow 5.1 yppl to an average FBS team) and the poor attack was too much to overcome, even with a very good defense (4.7 yppl allowed to FBS teams that would average 5.7 yppl against an average defense) and great special teams.
The Gators start a new regime with former Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as the head coach, highly regarded offensive coordinator Charlie Weis as the OC and former NFL defensive assistant Dan Quinn taking over the defense (although Muschamp will no doubt has a strong influence on that side of the ball). Florida still has elite talent and I expect the offense to be much improved while the defense comes close to last year’s standards despite returning just 4 starters on that side of the ball. I have Florida rated only 2 points worse than South Carolina and just 1 point worse than Georgia, but the Gators have the toughest SEC schedule of those 3 teams and that will make it tough for them to win the East.
Tennessee
(projected SEC record 2.6 – 5.4, 4th Place East)
Tennessee will be better on both sides of the ball in year 2 of coach Derek Dooley’s tenure, but getting back to a bowl game after last year’s 6-7 season will not be easy. The Volunteers’ offense will be led by sophomore quarterback Tyler Bray, who played the last 8 games as a freshman and averaged an impressive 7.3 yards per pass play while facing teams that would allow 6.3 yppp to an average QB. I expect a slight drop in Bray’s production with the loss of his top 3 receivers, including Denarius Moore, who averaged 20.9 yards per catch, but Brey was much better than Matt Simms last season and overall the Tennessee passing numbers should be better.
The Vols were just mediocre running the ball last season, averaging 4.5 yards per rushing play (against teams that would allow 4.5 yprp to an average team) but I expect a slight improvement in the rushing numbers and the offense will be good if Bray cuts down on his interceptions (10 on just 224 pass attempts). The Tennessee defense allowed 5.7 yards per play (against teams that would average 5.8 yppl against an average defensive team) but that unit should be improved despite having just 5 returning starters. The run defense is still likely to be mediocre, but all 4 defensive backs return and the pass defense should be solid. Tennessee should be a few points better in 2011 than they were in 2010, but they’re another year away from contending for an SEC title and they will likely have to win all 4 of their non-conference games, or pull off an SEC upset, to make it back to a bowl game this season thanks to a brutal SEC schedule (they have to play the SEC West’s 3 toughest teams and two of those are on the road).
Kentucky
(projected SEC record 2.1 – 5.9, 5th Place East)
Kentucky has played in 5 consecutive bowl games, but I think that streak will end this season unless new quarterback Morgan Newton is much better than I expect him to be. Newton averaged just 4.5 yards per pass play (against teams that would allow 6.1 yppp to an average QB) on 145 pass plays as freshman in 09 and he was 0.4 yppp worse than average as the starter in Kentucky’s bowl game against Pittsburgh last season (4.9 yppp against a Pitt defense that would allow 5.3 yppp to an average QB). Without last year’s top receivers Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews I don’t see Newton being better than average on a compensated yards per pass play basis. The good news is that Newton has thrown only 3 interceptions on 191 career pass plays, as he usually tucks the ball and runs with it rather than forcing throws into traffic.
Last season’s rushing attack was way down even with 4 returning linemen and stars Derrick Locke (887 yards at 5.3 ypr) and Randall Cobb (424 yards at 7.7 ypr) combing for 1311 yards at 5.9 ypr. Overall the Wildcats were only slightly better than average running the ball in 2010 (4.9 yards per rushing play against teams that would allow 4.7 yprp to an average team) and they were 0.4 yprp worse than average without Cobb’s contribution running as a Wildcat quarterback. This season’s top returning back, Raymond Sanders, ran for just 254 yards at 3.7 ypr as a freshman last season and the Wildcats look like a below average rushing team even with 4 returning starters on offensive line. While I think Kentucky’s offense will go from 0.6 yards per play better than average to a bit worse than average, the defense should be much, much better with the loss of only one full-time starter from last year’s team. The Wildcats allowed 5.9 yards per play in 2010 (against teams that would average 5.6 yppl against an average defensive unit) but I project Kentucky at 0.3 yppl better than average this season. Overall, I don’t see Kentucky being much better than an average FBS team, and that’s not nearly good enough to compete in the SEC.
Vanderbilt
(projected SEC record 1.9 – 6.1, 5th Place East)
New head coach James Franklin insists he’s going to turn Vanderbilt’s football fortunes around and he has plenty of experience to work with (19 returning starters plus both kickers), but the Commodores need to greatly improve their pass attack if they have a chance at respectability this season. Incumbent QB Larry Smith was horrible as a sophomore, rating at 2.2 yards per pass play worse than average (3.7 yppp against teams that would allow 5.9 yppp to an average QB) and he was equally horrible last season (3.9 yppp against teams that would allow 6.1 yppp). Smith runs the ball pretty well (429 yards on 76 runs last season), but he’s simply not accurate enough (47.6 percent career completions) to lead the offense to much success.
There was hope that Jordan Rodgers could take over, but Rodgers hasn’t looked good in scrimmages, completing just 7 of 16 passes for a paltry 43 yards and 2 interceptions in the 1st scrimmage and he also struggled last Saturday in the final scrimmage. It looks like Smith will be back at quarterback and it doesn’t appear as if he’s gotten any better either based on the two scrimmages. Overall Vandy QB’s combined to complete just 23 of 48 for just 264 yards in first scrimmage and were even worse last Saturday. Vanderbilt does have two proven running backs in Warren Norman and Zac Stacy, who combined for 790 yards at 5.5 ypr last season, but the offense will only work if the quarterback play vastly improves. Vanderbilt’s defense should go from slightly worse than average (5.9 yppl allowed to teams that would average 5.7 yppl) to better than average against both the run and the pass with a much more experienced unit (8 returning starters this year and just 4 last year) and a good secondary. Vanderbilt gets Kentucky at home and that’s their chance to get out of the SEC East basement.
I’ll post my analysis of the exciting SEC West Division later this week and will post the other major conferences as the season approaches.
Antonya English, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, January 3, 2009
Tim Tebow had watched and admired Texas quarterback Colt McCoy from afar for quite some time, so when the two finally met last month, Tebow was excited about the opportunity. But their first conversation wasn’t about which country music star each has on his iPod (although that came later) or who plays on the better team. It was about God and the profound faith each publicly professes on a regular basis. “No. 1 what I like about him is his strength to show his faith and not be ashamed of that,” Tebow said. “We’re very similar in that way. And I wanted to compliment him on his beliefs and how he’s not ashamed to show it.”
A few days after that awards show at Lake Buena Vista, Tebow, McCoy and Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford were getting ready to step into the auditorium at the Nokia Theatre in New York before the Heisman Trophy ceremony began. McCoy and Bradford were nervous. They hadn’t been there before. Tebow, who won the Heisman last season, calmed them both by telling them to enjoy the moment. And if they should win, he reminded them, remember to give thanks to who deserved most of the credit.
“I just said give credit to God and represent for him,” the Florida quarterback said. “I really tried to (stress) that the whole time. I talked to them two or three times about it.”
And so when Bradford stepped onto the stage to accept his Heisman, one of the first things out of his mouth was giving thanks to God.
For Tebow, the son of Christian missionaries whose father, Bob, runs an orphanage in the Philippines, in good times and bad, no matter where he is or whom he meets, his faith is what guides the way. After the September loss to Ole Miss, Tebow gave the now-famous postgame speech to reporters in which he promised that he and the Gators would outwork every other player and team in the nation.
He ended it in much the same way he does many of his interviews — with “God bless.”
“Tim understands, we’re here for a reason,” said McCoy, the Heisman runnerup. “God has blessed us. He has given us the ability to play, to compete. And we just want to be a light for him out there.”
Holding firm to faith
On the September day the Gators walked off in agony after their loss to then-unranked Ole Miss, all eyes were on Tebow. It was he who had been stopped on a crucial fourth and 1 that ended the comeback hopes.
As he walked off the field, underneath his teary eyes, painted in white on his eye-black patches, was: Phil 4:13.
The Philippians 4:13 verse reads: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
He wears it in every game. It is, in essence, a guideline for his life.
“He doesn’t do it for show or for people to talk about,” sophomore offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey said. “It’s just a way to show what he’s about, what he believes, how he lives. It’s really that simple.”
After that loss, Tebow reminded his teammates that everything happens for a reason. God has planned it that way. Their goal was to find the good in the loss and turn it to their advantage.
Again, his faith never wavered.
“It’s who he is,” senior receiver Louis Murphy said. “You don’t question that. You respect it.”
Which is why Tebow can walk the very fine line of always publicly professing his faith, yet somehow never offending.
“He doesn’t fear anything,” UF coach Urban Meyer said. “A lot of people take their heart out, rip it out of their chest and lay it on the table. I’m not willing to do that, and certainly not my family. But Bob (his father) is that way, and Pam (his mother) and their whole family. They have such a strong faith. In this world of hypocrisy, there’s none (with them).”
Meyer admits he had heard about Tebow’s strong beliefs, and when he first met him, he was skeptical.
“I was like okay, come on, the Philippines, c’mon give me the real gig here,” Meyer said. “You want a hat? What’s the deal? But it’s true. It’s all from the heart. I love that guy. I’ve never met one like him.”
Tebow understands that being the starting quarterback at Florida has given him a platform to tell others about his faith in a unique way. His high profile is what got him into Florida state prisons last summer to talk about Jesus. Talk of his faith is what caused a large group of men to convert.
“For me, I just want to be a good role model, like (former UF quarterback) Danny Wuerffel was for me and several other guys that I looked up to,” Tebow said. “I want to be someone that kids can look up to in today’s society.”
In this era, church attendance in many places has waned. Why has Tebow been able to stand out with his faith without opposition?
“I really think a lot of it is because he’s just a good person,” said Matt Hayes, national college writer for the Sporting News. “There’s so much negative about sports in general these days: from off-field issues, to coaches breaking contracts, to the daily police blotter report. Here you have a guy like Tebow who not only is one of the elite players in the nation, but is genuinely someone who looks for the good in people and wants to help. That’s not to say there aren’t other players who don’t think/feel/act the same way, but Tebow’s success on the field has put him in position to be recognized for what he accomplishes off it.”
And it’s not something Tebow takes lightly.
Just a regular guy
So how does a star player who is so grounded in his faith manage to remain the most popular guy on the team, never isolating himself from others?
By being just one of the guys.
In his rare off-time, Tebow isn’t standing on a corner waving a Bible and a sign condemning nonbelievers to hell. But he is working prison ministries, traveling to foreign countries to give his testimony and volunteering for those less fortunate. He holds Bible studies and participates in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Former roommate Tony Joiner often participated in the Bible study, which he admitted even surprised him. Tebow listens to Kenny Chesney and tells jokes like everyone else.
“He’s just a regular guy,” receiver Percy Harvin said. “To us, that (his religion) is just Tebow. That’s who he is, so it doesn’t seem unusual. And everybody understands that.”
Added Murphy: “I can’t explain it any better than this: He’s a great God man, and everything falls in line for him because of the way he lives.”
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 24, 2010.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of March 26, 2009
Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is a retired American soccer player who finished his career for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer (MLS), but spent the majority of his time in MLS playing for the Columbus Crew. For much of his career he played in Europe, notably for Fulham in the English Premier League.
During his time in London, McBride became a fan-favorite[2] as well as team captain; after leaving the club, Fulham re-named the sports bar at Craven CottageMcBride’s in his honour.[3][4]
Born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, McBride played varsity soccer at Buffalo Grove High School, under coach John Erfort, where he led the Bison to the Illinois state championship in 1988, his junior year. During a playoff game against Fremd, McBride broke his nose in the first half, but came back into the game to score the game winning goal. In his four years in high school, he scored 80 goals, 33 as a senior despite playing his senior season as a defender.[5] In the regional final against Stevenson High School his senior season, McBride played goalkeeper, stopping four of eight penalty kicks after the game ended tied.[6] McBride was also named an All-American by Parade Magazine.[5] Later, as a professional, he signed a contract with Nike with the condition that the boys’ varsity soccer team receive new uniforms every two years.
McBride had an illustrious career with Saint Louis University, from which he graduated in 1993. In his four seasons with the Billikens, he played (and started) in 89 games, and set career records for goals (72), assists (40) and total points (184).[5] While at school, McBride was a 1992 second team and a 1993 first-team All-American.[7][8] He also was named Most Valuable Player of the Great Midwest Conference three years straight, as well as being named to the All-Conference first-team during this stretch. He trained at the world famous Magna Fitness Center. In August of 2009, Brian McBride received a nursing degree from the College of William and Mary.[9]
McBride briefly played for the minor league Milwaukee Rampage. In 18 games, he scored 17 goals and assisted another 18. That year also saw Tony Sanneh playing with the Rampage. Both Sanneh and McBride would play professionally in Germany, in MLS and on the U.S. men’s national team.
They linked up for a historic goal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In a game against Portugal, Sanneh, playing right back, played a cross into the box which McBride put into the top corner. After the game, McBride mentioned, “We joked about it in the locker room, it is a play we have done a thousand times [while teammates with the Milwaukee Rampage]. “I took a step in at the far post and lost my marker. He delivered a beautiful cross and I knocked it home.”[10]
In 1994, McBride left the United States to ply his trade in Germany. At the time, VfL Wolfsburg played in the German Second Division and provided several aspiring American players an opportunity to play football in Europe. These included Chad Deering, Claudio Reyna and Mike Lapper, as well as McBride. McBride struggled to find playing time with the club and also had difficulty scoring. However, one of his two goals came in an 2-1 upset victory over Bayern Munich in the German Cup quarterfinals. At the end of the season, McBride gained a release from Wolfsburg and when MLS was created, chose to return to play in the United States.
McBride returned to America in 1996 for the inaugural season of Major League Soccer, for whom he was the first overall pick of the MLS Inaugural Draft. McBride would proceed to play eight years with the Columbus Crew, amassing 62 goals (no longer tied for the club record with Jeff Cunningham) and 45 assists in 161 league games, before his move to England. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI.
In 2011, the Crew honored McBride by naming him the inaugural member of its Circle of Honor.
While playing for Columbus in the MLS, McBride spent two loan periods in England. The first came in 2000 when McBride played for Preston North End, then managed by David Moyes. While McBride played well for the club, he sat out several games after having a blood clot surgically removed from his arm, which consisted of having a rib removed.[11] The clot came as a result of a hard collision McBride had suffered during his first game with Preston. As McBride’s loan spell came to an end, Preston attempted to purchase his contract from MLS for $1.8 million. MLS rejected it, considering McBride to be worth twice that amount.[12] Two years later, Premier League club Everton were beginning to slide down the table. David Moyes, now with Everton, remembered McBride’s success with Preston and sought the forward’s services to help Everton. During McBride’s three months with the club, he did not disappoint Moyes, scoring four goals in eight games, including his first game with the club, a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. He made close friends during the short time with players such as Leon Osman (with whom he still plays football) and Richard Wright.[13] Everton, unlike Preston, merely sought to extend McBride’s loan period, but MLS rejected it, preferring a transfer over an extended loan for McBride.[14]
In January 2004, Premier League club Fulham bought McBride’s rights from MLS for $1.5 million. He played 18 games during the last half of the 2003-04 season, scoring a total of five goals. His scoring pace remained steady through the next two seasons. In 2004-05, he played 31 league games and six cup games, scoring six league and three cup goals. In 2005-06, he played 38 league games and one cup game, scoring 10 league goals and one cup goal. McBride’s original contract with Fulham continued only through the 2005-06 season. However, on 10 March 2006, he signed a one year extension which took him through the end of the 2006-07 season. On February 2, 2007, he signed yet another one year extension, taking him through the 2007-2008 season. He has a reputation as a battler with a high work rate, a trait prized in English football.
McBride was Fulham’s top scorer for their 2006-07 Premier League campaign with twelve goals to his name. He was given Fulham’s captaincy in August 2007.[15]
When scoring the opening goal in a home match against Middlesbrough on August 18, 2007, McBride dislocated his kneecap. He wouldn’t make his return to action until a friendly against Cardiff City in late January 2008, and resumed his Premier League duties as a substitute against Aston Villa on February 3, 2008.[16] McBride scored his first goal since his injury against Everton at Craven Cottage on March 16, 2008, in a 1-0 victory for Fulham.[17][18] The then Fulham manager Chris Coleman commented it was such a shame that McBride hadn’t been ‘discovered’ earlier in his career, and played more in England.
On May 28, 2008, McBride announced that he would be leaving Fulham to return to the United States to play in MLS.[19]
After scoring twelve goals in 2006-07 season which helped Fulham retain their Premier League status, on May 14, 2007, McBride won the Club’s Player of the Year award. He won it again in 2008, and became such a popular figure that the club renamed a bar inside Craven Cottage “McBride’s” in June 2009.[20]
Following the end of his one-year contract extension, McBride decided to return to the United States to end his career in MLS. He expressed his desire to play for Chicago, his hometown.
On July 30, 2008, McBride was traded to the Chicago Fire for Chad Barrett, a first round pick in the MLS SuperDraft and conditional future considerations. He made his Fire debut on August 16, 2008, coming on as a second-half substitute against D.C. United. McBride scored his first goal against Houston Dynamo. McBride scored the first goal in the MLS Playoff Eastern Conference Championship against the Columbus Crew, his former club. However, Chicago lost that game 2-1 and were kept from being in the MLS Playoff final.
McBride scored nine goals during the 2009 season, including two goals in the three SuperLiga games in which he played.
On September 3, 2010, McBride announced that he would retire following the 2010 MLS season. McBride scored his 80th career goal (in MLS) during his final match before being substituted off to a standing ovation.[21]
McBride was a significant player for the United States national team, earning 96 caps and scoring 30 goals for the national team. He made his international debut in 1993.[5]
He was part of the U.S. team that played at the 1998, 2002, and 2006 FIFA World Cups. He scored at the 1998 and 2002 tournaments and in doing so, became the first American player to score at two World Cups. Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan have since equaled this feat. McBride is third behind Bert Patenaude and Donovan for the most World Cup goals for an American with three.
On May 2, 2006, McBride was named to the U.S. roster for his third consecutive World Cup. At the 2006 World Cup, McBride was severely bloodied in a group stage match against Italy after being elbowed in the face by Daniele De Rossi. He needed three stitches. As punishment, De Rossi was banned for four matches and fined CHF 10,000.[22]
Following the end of the tournament, McBride announced his retirement from international duty on July 26, 2006.[23] He is the first-ever spokesperson for the Central Ohio Diabetes Association. He donated $100 to the association for every goal and assist he tallied for the U.S. National Team.[5]
On July 18, 2008, McBride was named as one of the three overage players on the U.S. Olympic Team and served as captain.[24][25]
Below is a list of the best 10 players. I do not agree totally with the list.
“This is a century old question that will impact future generations, some say that he won everything with the best team, but in that same thought, remember this is a team game. Pele was terror to any goalie, he only presence in the area shuke fear in their very core. But beyond that a player goes beyond the field, sets standards of living for other players and fans, the only one to positively do this is not but Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, any more questions check his numbers.
“Just look at his goals on You Tube, he could whack the from a mile out or dribble them into the back of the net, he was the most complete player the game has ever seen and unlike modern players didn’t have the comfort of referees protection… opposing players tried to kick him off the park. I remember seeing him in the early 70’s and frankly it was a time to really watch football rather than spoilt brats thinking they are a lot better than they really are.
“When you see this guy play, it’s like everything else around you doesn’t matter. The ringing phone doesn’t disturb you. The chatter of the people makes no impact on you at all. It’s just him, him and his game. Pele wasn’t just another amazing football player, he was an excellent one, a prodigy, incomparable, and probably, someone this world will never see again in the next 100 years. He simply is, a football legend.
“he is the perfect player, A complete package who can drible, juggle, freekick, deadly crosses, long range efforts, never ending stamina, great accuracy with both feets, serious pace, his hight which he can achieve when he jumps for the ball, perfect body shape, unforgetble free kicks and last but not the least he is from portugal and unarguabley he is the player they have ever produced and might not produce same again, his coutry of origin is not that famous as for pele, maradona, messi, ronaldhino and zidane but still he is now among them which means his will and hungar for goals and win is greater then any of em! I love his style!
“I just had to! he is one of the best, he scores goal, he set up goals, good at taking free kicks ^^ he is the most skillful player ever lived! he made a good decision to leave man utd because now he can go up against he’s arch rival lionel messi which he lost to a couple of time but he never gave up thats exactly the pasion you want for football! he’s the best and you all know it but just wont admit it…
“Crisitiano Ronaldo Is amazing, His an inspiration. He inspires me to play soccer and to live my dreams. ” Im living a dream I never want to wake up from” Thanks Ronaldo youve shown me that anyone can be anything & live up there dreams you just gotta make it happen & Believe. Love you Cristiano! Good luck in the future (:
3Ronaldo (Ronaldo Luiz Nazario da Lima)“ronaldo is the greatest striker ever played football with that speed an skill he’s the best ever may i call him the phonomonen, the king , the number 9,the best ever rooooooooooooooooooonaldo“Ronaldo is the best footballplayer I have seenï¼Thestar_lol“how is he not number 1? he’s the maddest player ever, SCREW PELEdecorulez97More comments about Ronaldo (Ronaldo Luiz Nazario da Lima)
4Diego Maradona
“maradona is much better then ronaldo, cristiano ronaldo and much better than Pele he’s so dumb I dot even know him wow that is sad right. Diego Maradona may score a goal with his hand but thats how smart he’s he always want’s to win and never wants to lose like some other. you should put him number 1. He can dribble all the field without losing the ball that must be cool. Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo can’t do that. I don’t know about Pele couse again I don’t know him. Everybody thinks he’s a bad player only because they are jelous. He’s not sneaky because it is not his foult that the revery didn’t look. What would you say if he didn’t score with his hand. If that never happend you would say he’s far far the best player in the world.
“no one can move the ball with such pin-point accuracy as Maradona can (and still can at the age of 50)… Pele’s goal score is misleading. Half of his goal scores came from unofficial matches, including state and suburban competitions, practice matches, and meaningless club friendlies. He recorded these goals unofficially himself, how petty! This explains why his record of the number of matches he played was much higher than fellow Brazilian players at the time. He could win no world cup in the 50s and 60s if he was born in Argentina.
“Diego Maradonna was the greatest and had skill no other footballer could even dream of. He was better than Pele.
Some of the names on this list though are an absolute joke like Beckham rated at 11 and Michael Owen being rated so highly. Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer are way better footballers than both Owen and Beckham who shouldn’t even be anywhere near the list. Especially Beckham the most over rated player in the history of the game.
His playing skills were simply marvelous, amazing, punctuated in my opinion by his incredible performance against Brazil in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. At that point of his career he was more Brazilian than any Brazilian at the time.
Always present when needed, he led France to back-to-back major championships in 1998 and 2002.
Came back in 2006 and almost won it for France in overtime with another amazing headshot (his specialty in the Finals) blocked by a certain Gianluigi Buffon, at the top of his craft.
Zidane’s name should be well ahead of the two Ronaldo’s. Cristiano is a great player but he hasn’t won anyhting worthy now and probably won’t.
“Zindane is higher than Ronaldhino.
Ronaldhino cant play big games. He can never use his tricks when he play. The fake u-tube video(gitting the post several times) does not make him great.
Pele …dont know about hi. Looking at the videos, i dont think he can be compared to Zidane.
Football was different then. It was not competetive.
Pele is better than general but not great because he did not face great opposition and he didnt have magic touches like zidane or other players have these days. he was just a mere shooter like Trazeguet….he got lucky. But zico is better in Brazilian player.
“not the most amazing but the best, the coolest, one of the most passionate, the best playmaker, the greatest player ever!
i’m not french, he’s never played for my team, I am totally neutral and rarely wrong! 😀
“He is the greatest, a perfect dribbler, free-kick taker, Guys don’t forget the free-kick against England on the quarter finals on 2002 world cup. He was great in Barcelona too, where he remarkably gained popularity and love of millions of fans, I really don’t think any other player has such a dribbling ability. When I see his videos of Barcelona and Bralizian days of him I feel so happy to see his style of play, Two times World Player of the year consecutively is not a joke. He is the god for me and all the other DIHNO’s fans.
“RONALDINHO IS ONE OF THE BEST SOCCER PLAYERS EVER HE IS EVEN BETTER THAN MARADONA. HE HAS GOOD DRIBBLING ABILITIES. HAVE U SEEN THE GAME HE PLAYED AGAINST ENGLAND WOW. THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST GAMESHE PLAYED HE ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TO DO HE NEVER USES THE SAME TRICKS HE HAS BLESSED FEET. THATS WHO I WANT TO BE LIKE WHEN I BECOME A PRO HOLLAR AT ME IF U THINK I CAN MAKE IT
“no one can tosh him he is a ninja he is di only complete footballer in di world only man I see use is back to make a true pass is that amazing marodana could not class with him di reason why he use drugs to play di game I would not have marodana in my 5,000 thousand list
“What! is this possible? Messi down here? I frankly think you guys should throw away those Black and White televisions and get a better one. What are you even telling me? That Cristiano Ronaldo Ronaldo Zidane Zico Jari Litmanen(No way) and Gheorghe Hagi(Who is this guy anyway) are better than Messi? Even Maradona can’t compare himself with Messi, Almost all the things Maradona did, he did them when he was high but Messi doing his stuffs with clear eyes, That guy is almost the greatest and he will be very soon. This is how the real list should be:
1. Pele(No doubt about that)
2. Ronaldinho (The most gifted feet in football ever)
3. Messi (The magnetic touch and heading towards the 2nd position soon)
4. Xavi (The 360 degrees turn master)
5. Cruyff (First apprentice of the total football). Then maybe
6. Maradona (The King of stamina)
“He is a fantastic team player (unlike C. Ronaldo)
He can dribble like Maradona.
He has scored more goals in one season in La Liga than Ronaldo (the better one)
He never seems to dive (he realises he has better impact on the game if he stays on his feet)
When he is fouled he rarely flies off the handle. (Unlike Maradona)
He would never (and has never) claimed to be the best player ever over others.
He generally keeps quiet and lets his football do the talking. (Unlike Pele)
Admittedly, I am biased and am too young to have a fully informed viewpoint. I am CERTAIN Messi is better than CR7, to suggest otherwise is dellusional…
“How can C. Ronaldo be a better player than Messi. Messi is a better dribbler, better passer and he has an exellent accuracy(when hitting on the target), an accuracy which C. Ronaldo will never have. The only thing that C. Ronaldo can do better then Messi is run faster and hit stronger, but thats nothing if you don’t have accuracy(from 10 shots only 1 is on the target). He is just hitting the ball(by luck) until one of the will go straight to the goals. So what I whant is Messi is a better player than C. Ronaldo. I hope most of the people will agree with me.
8Zico“his free kick could kill any goalkeeper…Mpafoklaniaris“He is a coach of FENERBAHÇE…Fenerbahçe was played quarter final match with chelsea in CL.Fenerbahçe will be most valuable football clup with Arthur ZÄ°COWE LOVE WHÄ°TE PELE ‘ZÄ°CO’MAWENSY“he is the best turkey footballer over i’m love ithe’s the best; )
More comments about Zico
9Jari Litmanen“See some old footage him playing… Simply the best!“He is the greatest Finnish player in history! he is very good and reminds of the prime time of Soccer!“Unbelievable first touch on ball and he is always aware what is happening in game. He has eyes on his back. Definitely a big team player. He is master of passes and he can shoot accurately too.
10Gheorghe Hagi
“truly one of the greatest players what the world had, only a miracle had held back Romania to reach the World Cup 1994 Semi Finals with him
MatrixGuy
“The BEST player in Turkey and one of the best in the world.. Turkey and Galatasaray will never forget him!..
LEO75
“The current romanian football needs NOW a football player like Hagi! (or more players better than Ghorghe Hagi, like me:) )
My son played football for Coach Carter at Arkansas Baptist in 2004 when the Ark Bapt Eagles won their only Conference Championship in Football that they did not have to share (in 98 they shared a championship with Carlise and Harding). I will be pulling for my Ark Bapt Eagles but I wish him well too.
CCS’ Carter has seen football from many viewpoints
Michael Carter has a range of experience, both public and private, in Arkansas high school football.
He played at Greenbrier when it was a AA school, then coached at Vilonia, Clinton, DeWitt, Arkansas Baptist and Little Rock Christian. He worked at many of those programs when they were AA schools.
So he’s ready and eager to take over the reins at Conway Christian from Chuck Speer, who birthed the program and guided it through infancy during a seven-year span before leaving for Corning last spring.
“I’ve coached public and private schools and there is not really any difference with the kids; kids are kids,” he said. “The difference is public schools don’t have to rely as much on outside help for just about everything. You have to do a lot of community work in the community and have to have support from the private sector to get to where you are.”
He’s been pleased with the support of the Conway Christian community as the school has its sites set on making the state playoffs for the fourth straight year as an Arkansas Activities Association member.
“The hardest thing and the biggest challenge has been the mental aspect of what we’re doing — not only for players, but for parents in getting them to buy into what is going on and they’ve done a great job of buying in,” he said
“We’ve been coaching the heck out of these players and I have been very pleased with how the players and the community has bought in,” said Carter, who was a quarterback at Greenbrier and a tight end under Harold Horton at the University of Central Arkansas. “The most pleasant surprise is you hear talk about this kid and that kid when you arrive and now a couple of kids have stepped up who nobody talked about and expected to step up. We have some great kids, smart kids who have picked up the new offense well.”
Carter, who has coached 14 years, has installed a completely new offense and defense. The run-powered pistol spread of past years has been scrapped for the more wide-open spread, very similar to what Conway High runs.
“We’ll run a lot of option out of it,” he said. “And we’re not abandoning the run, just throwing the ball more. I think this is the style of offense that will help us compete year in and year out.”
Defensively, the Eagles will switch from a read-and-react style to one more aggressive at the point of attack. “We’re are going to attack all over the field,” he said.
While his offensive and defensive philosophies are different than when he played under Horton, the basics are the same.
“Coach Horton always said that everything runs through the front and we want to make the offensive line the strongest part of the team, this year I think it is our strength,” he said.
And from what he’s seen early, he’s not bashful in setting his sights on the Eagles making another playoff appearance.
“The first week I was here, people asked me how I was gonna replace a good quarterback (Kirby Powell) and two good running backs (Bates Isom and Adam Ragland),” he said. “Now that I’ve seen what we’ve got, I’ve got high hopes for this team.”
John Brummett in his article, “A new civil rights struggle in Little Rock?” Arkansas News Burea, August 25, 2011, asserted the main role vouchers should have is “providing new models for regular public schools to emulate, not about replacing regular public schools.”
The Heritage Foundation cares nothing about saving the public schools. If the public schools do not adapt then they will fail under the voucher system. That is the point. I am sure that many public schools will adapt and survive. However, those who don’t will be knocked out of business. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO SAVE ALL THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
The cost of public education per student is too high. Over $28,000 for kids in Washington D.C. and over $12,000 in Houston, Texas.
What is the true cost of public education? According to a new study by the Cato Institute, some of the nation’s largest public school districts are underreporting the true cost of government-run education programs.
Cato Education Analyst Adam B. Schaeffer explains that the nations five largest metro areas and the District of Columbia are blurring the numbers on education costs. On average, per-pupil spending in these areas is 44 percent higher than officially reported. Districts on average spent nearly $18,000 per student and yet claimed to spend just $12,500 last year.
It is impossible to have a public debate about education policy if public schools can’t be straight forward about their spending.
Origins of the Universe (Kalam Cosmological Argument) (Paul Kurtz vs Norman Geisler)
Published on Jun 6, 2012
Norm Geisler argues via Kalam Cosmological Argument for the origins of the universe with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. No matter how much evidence Geisler gave, Paul Kurtz refused to fully acknowledge the implications of it, while NEVER giving evidence for his own interpretation of the universe’s beginning.
Vincent Bugliosi has struggled with whether God exists. He’s not sure, and he contends that both sides in the debate should not be dogmatic. The opening words on the flap of his new book Divinity of Doubt: The God Question[1]summarize his position: “Do you believe in God? If your answer is yes or no, Vincent Bugliosi will prove you wrong.” That’s a pretty bold claim for an evolved human. If God does exist, Bugliosi argues, “he has chosen to keep those he created in the dark about him.”[2] He sets forth his operating assumption in a clear and unapologetic way:[W]hat follows [in this book] is an almost unremitting, scathing, indictment of God, organized religion, atheism, and theism.[3]I’ll come back to his interpretive paradigm in a moment. How good of a prosecutor is he?Mr. Bugliosi has had a storied legal career. He was the prosecuting attorney for the city of Los Angeles during the Charles Manson trial in the Tate-LaBianca murders. He was also a professor of criminal law at the Beverly School of Law in Los Angeles. Bugliosi was something of a prosecuting phenomenon during his tenure, “in a class by himself,” at the time, “105 convictions out of 106 felony jury trials; . . . 21 murder convictions without a single loss.”[4]Bugliosi came to my attention when I read his book Helter Skelter (1974), a disturbing chronicle of events leading up to the Tate-LaBianca murders and the subsequent trial. The book digs deep into the bizarre motive behind the murders: Manson saw himself as the prophetic voice of the Beatles as he deciphered their cryptic messages embedded in songs like “Revolution 1,” “Revolution 9,” “Piggies,” “Blackbird,” and, of course, “Helter Skelter.” Manson believed that the Beatles were calling for a revolution, “an imminent black-white war.”[5] Family member Gregg Jakobson explained it this way:“It would begin with the black man going into white people’s homes and ripping off the white people, physically destroying them, until there was open revolution in the streets, until they finally won and took over. Then black man would assume white man’s karma. He would then be the establishment.”[6]After the mass killings and eventual black ascendancy, the blacks in charge would turn to Charles Manson for help. Manson reasoned that blacks had been under “whitey’s” influence for so long that they would not be able to rule effectively. He would then put the black man back in his subservient position, and he would then rule the world.[7] Manson, standing only five feet two, was convincing enough in his peculiar scheme that he got a group of teenagers and twenty-somethings to kill for him.
To a certain degree, justice was served in the Tate-LaBianca murders. Manson and five of his followers got the death penalty for their vicious crimes. But on February 18, 1992, the California Supreme Court had voted 6–1 to abolish the death penalty in the state of California. While California has since restored the death penalty, the new statute was not retroactive. Manson and his murdering compatriots remain in prison.
While Bugliosi had no official role in the O.J. Simpson trial, he followed the case with a prosecutor’s eye and wrote Outrage in response to the not-guilty verdict and what he believes was gross incompetence on the part of the prosecution. Unlike the Manson case, Bugliosi believes that justice was not served. In the Epilogue to Outrage, Bugliosi bears his soul and the struggle he has had with justifying God’s goodness with the presence of evil in the world and God’s “inaction” in the trial in allowing a murderer to go free:
When tragedies like the murders of Nicole and Ron occur, they get one to thinking about the notion of God. Nicole was only thirty-five, Ron just twenty-five, both outgoing, friendly, well-liked young people who had a zest for life. How does God, if there is a God, permit such a horrendous and terrible act to occur, along with countless other unspeakable atrocities committed by man against his fellow man throughout history? And how could God–all-good and all-just, according to Christian theology—permit the person who murdered Ron and Nicole to go free, holding up a Bible in his hand at that? When Judge Ito’s clerk, Deidre Robertson, read the jury’s not-guilty verdict, Nicole’s mother whispered, “God, where are you?”[8]
Mr. Bugliosi’s honesty is refreshing. He’s not an atheist. He finds it difficult to believe in God under the circumstances and according to his criteria.
On what grounds, however, can the atheist object? Mr. Bugliosi assumes the existence of God and the ethical system espoused by Christianity to make his case against God in light of the existence of evil. “The unbeliever,” Greg Bahnsen writes, “must secretly rely upon the Christian worldview in order to make sense of his argument from the existence of evil which is urged against the Christian worldview!”[9] In the end, the unbeliever uses stolen credentials (Christian presuppositions), establishes himself as prosecutor and judge, and then takes his seat in the jury box to render a verdict against God. Everything he uses to construct his system has been stolen from God’s “construction site.” The unbeliever is like the little girl who must climb on her father’s lap to slap his face. . . . [T]he unbeliever must use the world as it has been created by God to try to throw God off Hs throne.”[10]
None of this is designed to demean Mr. Bugliosi. But we are justified in putting his arguments on trial since he has seen fit to put God’s existence on trial. In an interview, when he was asked whether he believed in God, he stated, “If we were in court I’d object on the ground that the question assumes a fact not in evidence.”[11] The evidence is there, but Mr. Bugliosi has set the ground rules for what he will enter into evidence. In essence, if the evidence does not fit his operating presuppositions, then for him it is not evidence. John Frame answers such flirtations with wholesale autonomy in an unbending manner, as John Frame puts it:
Unbelievers must surely not be allowed to take their own autonomy for granted in defining moral concepts. They must not be allowed to assume that they are the ultimate judges of what is right and wrong. Indeed, they should be warned that that sort of assumption rules out the biblical God from the outset and thus allows its character as a faith-presupposition. The unbeliever must know that we reject his presupposition altogether and insist upon subjecting our moral standards to God;s. And if the unbeliever insists on his autonomy, we may get nasty and require him to show how an autonomous self can come to moral conclusions in a godless universe.[12]
Mr. Bugliosi consistently criticizes the prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson trial for not raising crucial points of evidence. One wonders why he nowhere deals with the argument that if there is no God then there is no morality or a call for outrage when personal sentiments (like his own) are offended.
Remember, Mr. Bugliosi is a prosecutor. He’s noted for doing exhaustive research. In addition to Outrage, he has also written Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (2007) and The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (2008). Reclaiming History is more than 1600 pages. It includes a CD-ROM with an additional 1000 pages of footnotes. “It analyzes all aspects of the assassination and the rise of the conspiracy theories about Kennedy’s assassination in the years subsequent to the event. The book won the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.”
Divinity of Doubt is different. Yes, there are endnotes, but only a few of them cite any contrary evidence. He doesn’t spar with contrary evidence put forth by those who have wrestled with similar questions and have not turned into theistic skeptics. In light of 1000 pages of footnotes on the Kennedy assassination, one would expect a more rigorous interaction with what other theistic scholars have written on the subjects Mr. Bugliosi discusses. We are talking about God here! It’s like a prosecutor making his case without a defense attorney present. Piece of cake.
Endnotes:
Vincent Bugliosi, Divinity of Doubt: The God Question (New York: Vanguard Press, 2010), 129. [↩]
Starling Lawrence, “Editor’s Note” in Vincent Bugliosi, Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away With Murder (New York: W.W. Norton, 1996), 11. [↩]
Vincent Bugliosi, with Curt Gentry, Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1974), 244. [↩]
Greg L. Bahnsen, Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith (Atlanta, GA: American Vision, 1996), 170. [↩]
John A. Fielding III, “The Brute Facts: An Introduction of the Theology and Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til,” The Christian Statesman 146:2 (March-April 2003), 30. [↩]
I’ve only found one modern author who even suggests that John might still be alive. David Dolan’s Israel in Crisis is a perfect example of forcing the Bible to fit an already developed prophetic system. Dolan tries to explain Jesus’ comments in John 21:18–23 in which Jesus says to Peter about John, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me” (21:22). Because Dolan holds to a futuristic eschatology, he must force Jesus’ words into his dispensational mold: “In further nonbiblical research, I discovered that many early church authorities believed that John had never died. This was based on the Lord’s mysterious words in John 21 and also on the fact that, unlike the other apostles, no credible account exists about his death. I suspect that may be because John did not die.” (David Dolan, Israel in Crisis: What Lies Ahead? (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 2001), 143.) Dolan speculates that John could have been living on a Greek island for two millennia, wandering around the world hiding his true identity disguised, or caught up into heaven like Elijah where he has been supernaturally preserved until he is needed. John 21:23 refutes this notion: “yet Jesus did not say to [Peter] that [John] would not die, but only, ‘If I want to remain until I come, what is that to you.’” [↩]
Debate: Christianity vs Secular Humanism (6 of 14)
Lane Kiffin and his wife Layla named their son “Knox.”
I really think that Tennessee has a great running back in Tauren Poole, but I have some questions about a team that has only 25% of their players as upperclassmen (Juniors and Seniors). It seems that next year they may be hitting their stride. Harry King must agree because Tennessee didn’t even get close to anyone’s top 25 this year and Harry ommitted them too in his top 25 list, “Arrows for college teams,” Arkansas News Bureau, August 9, 2011.
Although I have never personally been a Tennessee fan, I was told by my grandfather that a cousin of his was a kicker for the Vols. My grandfather grew up in Franklin, Tennessee with his brothers and sister. They used to get up at 2 am on Saturdays and travel to Knoxville by 1pm for the kickoff. My grandfather attended the University of Tennessee in 1921-23 until his money ran out. My grandfather told me he was relatives with Buck Hatcher who was a star player for the Vols.
Sure enough Buck Hatcher did play for the Vols and he kicked a 53 yard field goal on Nov 13, 1920 to set a record. Later my grandfather’s brother Mack had the “Mack Hatcher Memorial Highway” named after him. He was a Gideon and often helped those who needed help in his Williamson County. (A Gideon is one who gives out Bibles, below you will find the gospel in tract form). He stood six foot eleven and his sister Sara Lou was six foot four.
Vandy is not going to be good, but they can sneak up on people. In fact, Arkansas does not have a good record against Vandy and they are on our schedule this year. We better watch out. My great Uncle Mack used to say. “There goes Vandy talking about their All American again. Their team stinks so they have to build up one player!!!” That player may be Jordan Matthews who is an excellent receiver.
Strengths: In his second year as Volunteer coach, Derek Dooley has found a quarterback in sophomore Tyler Bray. If the spring is any guide, the team may now have the depth and experience required in the offensive line. It returns four starters there and should be able to run the ball with more consistency than it did a year ago. The defense has some nice building blocks with four returning starters in the secondary, including hard-hitting free safety Janzen Jackson, and DE Malik Jackson.
Weaknesses: Tennessee is still pitifully thin in the defensive line, where its top interior lineman at spring practice’s end was converted O-lineman Daniel Hood. Bray must prove he can make better decisions on a consistent basis and will have to throw to a new group of starting wideouts, although Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers have considerable promise. Overall, the Vols still lack the required depth to be more than a spoiler in the East Division, but are building a nice foundation.
Vanderbilt
Returning Starters: 19, kicker, punter
Strengths: No team in the SEC returns more starters than the Commodores, who if they can stay healthy for the first time in three years will threaten deeper, more athletic teams. Any SEC program would love to have the likes of RB Warren Norman, MLB Chris Marve and CB Casey Hayward on their two-deep. New coach James Franklin and his staff helped QB Larry Smith become more accurate during spring practice. Franklin recruited the school’s best class in years, even stealing four-star QB Lafonte Thourogood away from Frank Beamer’sVirginia Tech.
Weaknesses: As always, Vanderbilt doesn’t appear to have the kind of depth required to compete and win in the SEC. Its offensive line does return all five starters, but still looks like it could get pushed around by better defenses. Will the Commodores’ front seven be able to hold up against the rigorous SEC schedule? And can they play a more disciplined brand of football than they have the last two years, when they have seemed to save killing mistakes for the most critical moments?
___________________________________________
I mentioned above that my great Uncle Mack was a Gideon. He used to go to local churches and encourage people to join the Gideons. He passed out Bibles his whole adult life. He was not a wealthy man, but at his funeral many people stood up and told about him paying their doctor bills and bringing them food. What made him tick? It was the Christ of the Bible. Below is a simple presentation of the gospel.
John Stott discussing when he feels most alive. This clip, and 5 others (found on LICC’s YouTube page), have been posted in memory of LICC’s founder John Stott, who passed away on 27th July 2011 aged 90. Visit the full tribute to John at http://www.licc.org.uk/tribute. The clips are all taken from 25 & On, a celebration DVD of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity’s 25th Anniversary. The full interview is available from LICC on CD (www.licc.org.uk/shop/product/25-on).
Back in the 1970’s I read the book “Basic Christianity” by John Stott. While in London in 1979 I had the opportunity to attend a Tuesday evening prayer meeting where there were about 40 people and I got to hear John Stott speak. I was so thrilled to get to hear him speak in person.
I have included several clips on him because I wanted to honor him after the wonderful godly 90 years he lived.
John Stott’s classic book has introduced generations to Christianity with wisdom and clarity. This video celebrates the 50th Anniversary Edition of this important book by one of the world’s most important Christian voices.
John Stott died on 27 July 2011 aged 90 years. This video contains highlights of his Funeral at All Souls Langham Place in London on Monday 8 August 2011. Produced and displayed with permission from John Stott’s family.
Music clips used by permission of All Souls musicians and Jubilate Hymns (www.jubilate.co.uk)
The funeral for John R. W. Stott, one of the most famous evangelical preachers of the last century, will be held today in London at All Souls Church, Langham Place, where he served with distinction for so many decades of ministry. In honor of John Stott, I here republish an interview I conducted with the great preacher in 1987. The interview was first published in Preaching magazine, for which I was then Associate Editor.]
John R. W. Stott has emerged in the last half of the twentieth century as one of the leading evangelical preachers in the world. His ministry has spanned decades and continents, combining his missionary zeal with the timeless message of the Gospel.
For many years the Rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London, Stott is also the founder and director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. His preaching ministry stands as a model of the effective communication of biblical truth to secular men and women
The author of several worthy books, Stott is perhaps best known in the United States through his involvement with the URBANA conferences. His voice and pen have been among the most determinative forces in the development of the contemporary evangelical movement in the Church of England and throughout the world.
Preaching Associate Editor R. Albert Mohler interviewed Stott during one of the British preacher’s frequent visits to the United States.
The Text Means What the Author Meant
Mohler: You have pictured the great challenge of preaching as creating a bridge between two worlds — the world of the biblical text and the world of the contemporary hearer. That chasm seems ever more imposing in the modern world. How can the preacher really bridge that chasm?
Stott: Any bridge, if it is to be effective, must be firmly grounded on both sides of the canyon. To build a bridge between the modern world and the biblical world we must first be careful students of both. We must be ever engaged in careful biblical exegesis, conscientiously and continually, and yet also involved in careful study of the contemporary context. Only this will allow us to relate one to the other.
I find it helpful in my own study to ask two questions of the text — and in the right order. First, “What does it mean?” and second, “What does it say?”
The answer to the first is determined by the original author. I am fond of citing E. D. Hirsch in his book Validity in Interpretation, when he wrote: “The text means what its author meant.”
That is my major quarrel with the existentialists, who say that the text means what it means to me — the reader — independent of what the author meant. We must say “no” to that. A text means primarily what its author meant. It is the author who establishes the meaning of the text.
Beyond that, we must accept the discipline of grammatical and historical exegesis, of thinking ourselves back into the historical, geographical, cultural, and social situation in which the author was writing. We must do this to understand what the text means. It cannot be neglected.
The second question moves us from the original meaning of the text to its contemporary message — “What does it say?” If we ask the first question without asking the second, we lapse into antiquarianism, unrelated to modern reality.
On the other hand, if we leap to the second question, “What does it say today?,” we lapse into existentialism, unrelated to the reality of biblical revelation. We have to relate the past revelation of God to the present reality of the modern world.
Mohler: That requires a double exegesis — an exegesis of the text and also an exegesis of life. Is it your opinion that most evangelicals are better exegetes of the text than they are of life?
Stott: Oh, I am sure of it. I am myself and always have been a better student of scripture than of the present reality. We love the Bible, read it and study it, and all of our preaching comes out of the Bible. Very often it does not land on the other side of that chasm, it is never earthed in reality.
The attractiveness of liberal or radical preaching, whatever it is called these days, is that it tends to be done by genuinely modern people who live in the modern world, understand it, and relate to it. But their message often does not come from the Bible. Their message is never rooted in the textual side of the chasm. We must combine the two relevant questions.
Mohler: Most of us think of ourselves as modern persons, and yet we may lack a suitable hermeneutic of the contemporary. What have you found to be helpful as you seek to be a better student of the contemporary world?
Stott: I mentioned in Between Two Worlds how very helpful I found involvement in a reading group I founded about fifteen years ago. They are graduates and professional people — doctors, an architect, an attorney, teachers and so on. All are committed to Christ and the Scripture and yet anxious to be modern and contemporary people. We meet every month or so when I am in London.
We decide to read a particular book, or see a particular play or exhibition, and spend the evening discussing it. We give most attention to books. We go around the circle and give our immediate impression before eventually turning and asking “Now, what has the Gospel to say to this?” I have found it enormously helpful to be forced to think biblically about modern issues.
Mohler: So you would point biblical preachers not only to the biblical text, but to a very wide reading?
Stott: Absolutely. I think wide reading is essential. We need to listen to modern men and women and read what they are writing. We need to go to the movies, to watch television, to go to the theater. The modern screen and stage are mirrors of the modern world. I seldom go on my own. I go with friends committed to the same kind of careful understanding.
Mohler: You have made it clear that you see preaching as a glorious calling and vocation. What do you see as the greatest contemporary need in preaching? Where is biblical preaching falling tragically short?
Stott: Well, in the more liberal churches, it falls woefully short of being fully biblical. Amongst the evangelical churches it falls short by being less than fully contemporary. I can only repeat the great need of struggling to understand the issues of the modern world. Nevertheless, there is a tremendous correlation between the issues of the biblical world and the modern world.
People are actively seeking the very answers Jesus provides. People are asking the very questions Jesus can answer, if only we understand the questions the world is asking.
Aaron Douglas has first Alabama spring football practice
Lane Kiffin praises RT Aaron Douglas
In the last part of July, then I spent the next few days researching the “27 Club.” It was very sad to read about these famous musicians that all died at age 27 because of suicide or drugs. Just a few weeks ago I read about Aaron Douglas and his tragic death. He played on the offensive line for Tennessee and he was available to play for Alabama this fall. Below I have posted several pictures of Aaron and links to my previous posts on the “27 club]
Tennessee tackle Aaron Douglas (78) prepares to block Georgia linebacker Darryl Gamble (50) on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 at Neyland Stadium.
Photo by Fernandina Beach Police DepartmentRodney Odum has been arrested in death of ex-Vol Aaron Douglas.
Aaron Douglas, photographed in the News Sentinel studio in 2008. The former Maryville High School and University of Tennessee football standout was found dead on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, at Fernandina Beach, Fla. He was 21.Photo by Amy Smotherman BurgessAaron Douglas during the first day of fall practice at the Haslam Field on the University of Tennessee campus in 2009.
Originally published 11:25 a.m., August 23, 2011
Updated 02:01 p.m., August 23, 2011
Aaron Douglas didn’t have the controlled substance that would ultimately cause his death when he called for a taxi cab late May 11, according to police..
En route to the house where his body would eventually be discovered hours later, the former Maryville High School and University of Tennessee football standout bought two Methadone pills from his driver, 50-year-old Rodney Young Odum, who had a reputation as a “mobile drug dealer,” according to police.
Odum was arrested late Monday and charged with manslaughter and sale/delivery of a controlled substance, Fernandina Beach (Fla.) Police Chief James T. Hurley announced Tuesday. Odum is currently being held on $50,000 bond at the Nassau County Jail.
Aaron Douglas and his three year-old sister Ashley watch from the sidelines during a powder puff girls game at Maryville High School in 2007. The senior football players helped to coach the senior girls who participated. Douglas plays tight end for Maryville which has gone undefeated in his four years on the team. Douglas will be heading to Tennessee to play for the Volunteers next year after helping Maryville win its fourth state championship title in four years.
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“The combined opinions of police detectives, the State Attorney’s Office, and the Douglas family were considered in determining that Manslaughter was the most appropriate charge in this case,” Hurley wrote. “The victim clearly shares some responsibility for the reckless behavior that took his life. However, Mr. Odum reportedly had a reputation as a mobile drug dealer, making it very easy for the victim to locate and ingest the drugs that killed him.”
The 21-year-old Douglas, who had transferred to Alabama for the 2011 season, had more than just Methadone in his system when he was found dead early May 12 on the second-floor balcony at 2570 First Avenue in a Fernandina Beach house. A medical examiner’s toxicology report revealed trace amounts of Diazepam — also known as Valium — Carisoprodol — a type of muscle relaxant — Meprobamate, Nordiazepam, Oxycodone and Cannabinoids.
The Methadone pills, alone, were “sufficient enough to cause death,” Hurley wrote. Without it, Douglas would have likely survived, as Hurley wrote “no other combination would have likely caused death.”
“Although it is often difficult to pursue criminal charges in cases involving drug overdoses, this case provides us the ability to send a clear message that we intend to prosecute those that openly dispense dangerous drugs in our community whenever possible,” Hurley wrote.
Odum’s arrest is the fifth in relation to Douglas’ death. On June 21, the four residents of the house — Daniel Stouter, 24, Dana Luberto, 23, Neal Clements 22, and Nathaniel Flanders 21 — were charged with allowing an open house party “wherein at least 16 persons under the age of 21 were allowed to consume alcohol and/or narcotics.
Following a dinner in Jacksonville, Douglas was last seen alive at 2 a.m. early May 12. He was found dead a little more than six hours later.
Douglas, a former freshman All-America offensive tackle with the Vols in 2009, transferred from UT after the coaching change from Lane Kiffin to Derek Dooley before his sophomore season. He played one season at Arizona Western College before signing with Alabama at the end of 2010.
The son of a former UT football star, David, and a former Lady Vols basketball player, Karla, Douglas was charged with driving under the influence last Christmas Eve in Maryville. He was punished internally by Alabama coach Nick Saban, but responded with a strong spring and was in line for playing time at left tackle.
Maryville High School Maryville tight end Aaron Douglas, the No. 1 football prospect in the state of Tennessee poses for a photo with his father, former Tennessee football player David Douglas Monday, July 17, 2007 in Maryville, Tenn.
Tennessee running back Montario Hardesty (2) runs the ball as tackle Aaron Douglas (78) and center Cody Sullins (66) block Auburn defenders on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at Neyland Stadium.
Amy Winehouse died last week and she joined the “27 club.” Pete de Freitas of Echo and the Bunnymen is also a member of the “27 Club.” This is group of rockers that have died at age 27. A tribute to the amazing drummer of one of our biggest influences, Echo & The Bunnymen. We […]
cc ‘Janis Joplin’ 2/5 from True Hollywood Story (Janis was having affair with Pigpen) Jerry Garcia (guitar, vocals), Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (vocals, harmonica), Bob Weir (guitar, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass), Mickey Hart (drums), Bill Kreutzman (drums). Grateful Dead “Don’t Ease Me In” Live @ Canadian National Exhibition Hall Toronto, CA June 27th, 1970 Grateful Dead […]
Amy Winehouse died last week and joined the “27 club” which is a group of rockers that died at age 27. Gary Thain also joined that same group long ago and I wanted to look at his life today. Uriah Heep – Wizard bb By Sean Nelson, Special to MSN Music , July 23, 2011 […]
Recently Amy Winehouse joined the “27 Club” when she died of a drug overdose. The “27 Club” is a group of rockers that died at age 27. Unfortunately Jimi Hendrix died at age 27 in 1970 and Janis Joplin did the same three weeks later. Today we are going to look at her life and […]
JIMI HENDRIX : FINAL INTERVIEW . The other day when Amy Winehouse died she joined the “27 Club” which includes other famous rockers who died at age 27. Most of them died because of drugs. Unfortunately Jimi Hendrix joined the club for the same reason. Something special for all music and Beat Club-Lovers on YouTube: […]
Amy Winehouse died at age 27 and unfornately joined the “27 club” which is made of famous rockers that died at age 27. Pete Ham was a member of Bad Finger which was one of my favorite groups that I followed. “Come and get it” was my favorite song of theirs. ___________________________________ Badfinger perform a […]
Brian’s Blues, Brian Jones on guitar in the early stones years. unreleased track Brian Jones died at age 27 just like Amy Winehouse did. I remember like yesterday when I first heard the song “I can’t get no satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. I immediately thought about Solomon’s search for satisfaction in the Book of […]
The Rise And Rise Of Kurt Cobain part 1/3 Amy Winehouse joined the “Club 27 the other day with her early death. I am going through the others one by one. Today is Kurt Cobain. 7. Kurt Cobain very rarely does an artist come along and not just upset the “apple cart” but drops […]
Jim Morrison – Feast Of Friends – (The Doors Documentary) (1969) (Paul Ferrara) 1/4 I was saddened by the recent death of Amy Winehouse and her inclusion into the “27 Club.” This series I am starting today looks at the search that each one of these entertainers were on during their lives. Today I look […]
Amy Winehouse’s family speaks out Parents, Public Braced for Amy Winehouse’s Death Through Five-Year Fade Posted Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:13pm PDT by Chris Willman To Amy Winehouse’s family, the singer/songwriter’s death was not unexpected. It was “only a matter of time,” her mother, Janis Winehouse, was quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror. She’d […]
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