Mark Sanchez, "The Dirty One"

About a month ago I was listening to a naional sports personality on the radio discussing Mark Sanchez, QB for the NY Jets. He referred to Sanchez as "The Dirty One," in sort of a slip-in fashion. Almost missed it. Couldn't believe it.

Today on the radio, same guy, same nomiker. "The Dirty One," Mark Sanchez.

I was curious. Is this the only guy dropping "Dirty" Sanchez gloss, or is this a bigger issue? Googled "Mark Sanchez" "Dirty One," and, well, it's a common thing.

Is this offensive? I think it's funnÝ but, at the same time, I think it's wrong. Calling Sanchez dirty is clearly not racist. It is clearly using his name and a moniker to discuss a disgusting sexual practice. It's certainly juvenile, and in my mind it's regrettable.

Back again

The necessary evil of blogging is voicing your opinion.

That may seem weird. But the only time blogs ever come up in non-blogger conversation is when they come across something interesting, or when there's a story about a blogger's opinion landing them in some deep poo.

I've been essentially underground for about a year. Why? I didn't want my opinion biting me in the ass. But, today, with a couple of beers in me, I don't care.

So we're back. Today's opinions are in comments over at Jack Bogdanski's website, here and here.
Nothing super-fantastic or blow-your-dress-up-awesome, but it is what it is.

That's all for today.

WTF is going on at UO?

So University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer announced yesterday that Mike Bellotti is Oregon's new AD, and Chip Kelly (the current offensive coordinator for the football team) is the new head coach for the Ducks.

Except for one thing.

The moves will take place in an indisclosed time. John Canzano showed up on today's MSP to discuss, and said that Bellotti's identified the timeframe for the transition as being within the next 10 years.

Canzano expressed exasperation at the move, saying that it doesn't make sense for Oregon to enter into this sort of agreement if the move is not goin gto happen soon. The only rationale he could identify would be to ease the minds of recruits, since Chip's been identified as a head coach candidate by other schools and appeared ready to move. MSP host Gavin Dawson pointed out that a solid timeline raised the danger of a lame-duck scenario.

So what is going on? I think this move automatically raises a lame-duck scenario, with or without a set timeline. Much like the situation in Dallas with the Cowboys coaching situation, people will start looking at Bellotti as a caretaker and a head coach in name only. Sure, as the next AD he'll always be Chip's boss and Chip needs to toe the line, but when the players know that Bellotti's heading out (whenever that happens) and that Chip's the guy they have to suck up to, it creates issues in leading the team.

Besides, I don't think the team does this to keep recruits interested. The teams been through several offensive coordinators in the last 5 years, and has been consistently great. That indicates a solid program and solid leadership at the top, and so as long as Bellotti is there running the program, changing coordinators isn't the issue.

I don't think Chip Kelly signs this contract (and I'm sure there's a contract here) without some pretty specific assurances. I don't think he rides backseat to Mike for an indetermined amount of time when he could be a head coach now. And I don't think he signs a deal for a short term, either. The upside of this deal is that UO is a BCS power-program and has developed into a juggernaut; it's not likely he'd get a better shot anywhere else for a while. The downside is that (as Canzano said today) his offense will lose its luster and his stock will drop -- he must know football well enough to know that he needs to make his power play now.

I think we'll find out in the next few weeks (translation: after the impending bowl game) that Bellotti will coach one more season. Pat Kilkenny, who gets the credit for getting the new basketball arena built, will stick long enough to see the project through and, perhaps, bring on a new basketball coach (like Mark Few from Gonzaga), and then the transition takes place to a new sports regime with a new AD, football, and hoops coach rising (or falling) together. Meanwhile, I'm sure Chip is getting a nice Christmas bonus and, I'd guess, will play a pretty huge role in recruiting once the situation has gelled in the press.

Time will tell. I think it's a good move as long as it plays out in the near-term. If this transition takes more than a year, I think a lot of people will regret yesterday's announcement.

Happy Thanksgiving (2008 Edition)

So much to be thankful for...

Already had a beautiful wife, a fantastic daughter, a nice house and a great job. And this was all on top of a great group of family and friends. But I have to admit I've been blessed despite all of that.

This year, a new daughter (Ruby Jane, born Oct. 1), a bigger house to match, and positive developments professionally as well. Yes, there's much to give thanks for.

The only down-side is far less blogging. It's just getting too hard to find the time. But, in truth, that's not really that bad a thing, all things considered.

Anyway, for the many blessings I give my thanks to my God, my family, and my friends. And to you, I wish many thank-worthy moments whereever you are and whereever you go.

Happy Thanksgiving.

SOAP Notes

November 25, 2008
Matthew 20-22

S: Matthew 20:1-16

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; and to those he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.' When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.' But he answered and said to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous? So the last shall be first, and the first last."

O: A parable explaining the absolute nature of salvation and showing that we are not to envy those who seem to have attained it more cheaply.

A: I recall a night in college, sitting and conversing with a group of peers in a Bible study-type group. We were discussing heaven and degrees of reward. There was talk of jewels in the crown and mansions in heaven and such, and I took umbrage. Why wasn’t salvation enough? In that group and in many others I’ve been in, there’s the ongoing search for the icing on the cake of Christianity. Much, I suspect, is geared toward trying to puff oneself up over our Christian peers. A thought of “sure we’re both saved, but mine’s better because…” Or, perhaps a matter of fulfilling the human need to find justification and reward to make sense of greater sacrifice. Or whatever.

But this parable as I read it confirms my suspicion that salvation is absolute and the same for everyone. And, at least to me, it highlights the danger of expecting anything more (and missing the fact that there can be nothing greater). There is no pride in salvation; it isn’t earned and can’t be improved-upon or adorned. To worry about trying to put icing on the cake is to miss the substance of it and to risk losing the reward in our jealousy.

P: Lord, help me not to take pride in my salvation and help me not to compare my walk with that of another. Simply help me to accept Your gift and to treasure it, and let my life and my actions reflect what You have done for me. Amen.

CONGRATULATIONS TO BARACK OBABA

And thanks to John McCain for being first-class in accepting defeat. Though I didn't vote for you, you are a great American.

Now, This IS A Scary Thought

From a Newsweek commentator, interviewed by CNN...

CNN: Does [the selection of Sarah Palin as VP candidate] make you concerned about Sen. McCain as a president?

Zakaria: Yes, and I say this with sadness because I greatly admire John McCain, a man of intelligence, honor and enormous personal and political courage. However, for him to choose Sara Palin to be his running mate is fundamentally irresponsible. He did not put the country first with this decision. Whether it is appropriate or not, considering Sen. McCain's age most people expected to have a vice presidential candidate who would be ready to step in at a moment's notice. The actuarial odds of that happening are significant, something like a one-in-five chance.

Here's a link to Zakaria's artical at Newsweek, "Palin is Ready? Please." Frankly, a better title, there isn't.

I Love Tina Fey

Also, Palin's almost this horrible...

"Everyone Has Their Dan Quayle"

I love my best friend, JLowe. But I can't, CAN NOT, see how we can let this person be a heartbeat away. I'm no state governor, and I'm certainly no vice presidential candidate, but I'd argue that putting this person in line to be president is reason enough to vote against John McCain.





Sarah Palin seems like a great lady. But she's not presidential, she's not vice presidential, and she's not the person to put in the batter's box.

SOAP Notes

September 23, 2008
Daniel 11-12; Luke 6

S: Luke 6:27-35
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”

O: The Beatitudes section, where Jesus lays out desirable traits and, in the midst, offers a profound challenge to everyone who claims to follow Him.

A: It is amazing how often you can read the same section of the Bible and yet always find something new. I’ve read the Beatitudes numerous times. We all know the “blessed are the poor, the meak,” and so on. We all know the Beatitudes as a place that talks about turning the other cheek. We all know it as a place of some quaint blessings that can be inspiring or can be great throw-away lines in a Christian conversation.

I hadn’t noticed the challenge in them, though. I mean, I imagine I’ve seen it before, but on this night it really hits me. Jesus spends a fair amount of time confronting people who live a good life with the fact that they do it on easy terms.

As I look at others around me, and as I look at myself, I find that it is very easy to feel self-satisfied and pious after doing little things for others. Particularly when they are people that don’t offend, people that we think deserve our kindnesses and our time. We are kind to those who we like, or who we at least don’t have something against. We give to those who we know will share with us as well, or we give with the knowledge that our charity will be rewarded in another way. We act in kindness toward those who we feel kindness towards.

But the challenge is so much greater, and lays bare the failure that is inherent in us all. I sit at work, or at home, or in my car, and sometimes find myself plotting and scheming against perceived enemies. And the feeling in my heart is malice; there is no kindness there. I can think of a number of people who I dislike such that I would never lend them a pencil, let alone reach out to support them or speak out a kind word to them. I can think of a number of times in the past that I’ve failed the challenge.

I think of myself, and others think of themselves, highly for the kindnesses they do to those they care about, but Jesus makes it clear: how does that make me any different? My calling in this world, my purpose, isn’t to be just more of the same. I’m to be different, a reflection of something greater, and in simply upholding the status quo, I am failing monumentally.

The end of the passage deals with an ultimate reward. I don’t think that’s the point, though people always seem to need to feel that their labor isn’t in vain. What I know is this: I want to be better, not for an award, but for the difference I would be, and for the difference that would make in me. The ultimate reward is nice, but the immediate gain is just as important.

P: Lord, please help me to go beyond what everyone does. Help me to be a reflection of Your greatness. Help me to be different and to exhibit something more. Amen.

SOAP Notes

September 2, 2008
Ezekiel 17-19; Revelations 7

S: Ezekiel 18:20 & 30a

"The person who sins will die The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct," declares the Lord GOD.”

O: The Lord clarifies accountability; we are each judged by our own actions and aren’t judged by the conduct of others.

A: Two separate trains of thought for the day.
1) It is sometimes easy to try to pass through Christian life like we pass through so much of our life, on appearances and not on substance. One of those appearances is the company we keep. If I hang with Christian people, I’m a Christian. If I spend my time with people who love and obey God, I’m assumed to be like them, and (in fact) I internalize that assumption into a belief that I’m doing just fine.

In the past, I’ve focused on a saying I picked up from a sports talk guy I like to listen to. “You are who you roll with.” For me, that means that a person can be judged (at least to a certain extent) by the company that they keep, without taking the time to evaluate the person on their own merits. That dovetails nicely with a bit of intellectual laziness that I’ve always, quietly, held dear and close. That stereotypes exist for a reason, and that very often they are somewhat grounded in truth. So, therefore, it’s okay to embrace them and approach people through the applied stereotypes that fit with who they are. Racial, sexual, whatever.

While it may be true that people gravitate towards groups they identify with, or that stereotypes can be a useful tool in social interaction if properly (and judiciously) used, it is important to note that each person is special, is their own wondrous creation. To discount them or, worse, disregard them based upon our judgments of who they are based on where they’re from is a sin. Not a deep thought, but a thought nonetheless.

2) Deeper question: How does this passage relate to other parts of the Bible?

“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” (Exodus 20:5)

I cheated here. I was looking for the verse and found a sermon someone wrote about it here. I don’t know who this Ray Fowler is, but he distinguishes between the idea that we are doomed by our forefather’s sins, which is false, and subject to certain consequences of them, which is true.

One can misread the Bible to say that we are bound. We are bound by God’s will. We are bound by a certain destiny. We are bound by the evil that others have done before us. We are doomed to failure if God wants us to be, or destined for success if that’s what God’s plan is.

The support is found in verses like Exodus 20:5. If our father’s sins are passed down, I’m subject to the damnation, and there’s no point in trying. But this is not what the verse means.

We should not be so foolish as to believe we live in a vacuum. Like the butterfly in China whose wing-fluttering creates the gust of wind elsewhere, we are each affected by the behavior of others. We are more affected by the people we are more bound up with. The things that my father (and mother) do (or don’t do) have an affect on me, whether I perceive it or not. I am a part of the world in which I lived, and my actions are informed by that which occurs around me. Likewise, my daughter is subject to what I do, and the example I set, and the behavior I portray, and will live a life which mirrors or responds or portrays that. Which is not to say that she’s doomed to repeat my mistakes. Indeed, she may learn and grow from them, or avoid them, or whatever. But the hurdles I lay out will be hurdles she has to clear. How she lives her life, the decisions (or, more importantly, The Decision) she makes will be her own, and will be the sole basis of her judgment. But I can either help or hinder her, and that is what to take away from today.

P: Lord, help me to consider people on their own merit and to see them for who they are in and of themselves. And help me to think about my actions globally, not just in the moment, but in the aftermath as well. And help me to help my children to make wiser choices than me, even if they are stuck in the wake of the bad ones I’ve made. Amen.

I have a dream, too...

That some day, this day, a man will fulfill his promise.

And that this country, our country, will let him.



Go Barack.

SOAP Notes

The latest SOAP Notes entry:

August 26, 2008
Jeremiah 50-51; 3 John 1

S: Jeremiah 50:3-5
"For a nation has come up against her out of the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off, they have gone away! In those days and at that time," declares the LORD, "the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be the LORD their God they will seek. They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction; they will come that they may join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.”

O: Although this particular verse discusses a particular time, wherein the sons of Israel will seek the Lord in despair and be given a great victory, I think it pretty well wraps up the sort of situation that, typically, helps Christians remember what (or rather Who) they’re about.

A: The funny, or tragic, thing about Christianity for many people, often including myself, is that it’s a religion of desperation. My faith is strongest when I’m in the direst straits, which isn’t saying much, because so often my faith is barely existent. For so many, the time that we come to the Lord, where we draw near to Him and whisper hymns of praise and love, are those times when we’re just looking for a deliverance or a miracle or a provision. We’re suck-ups and sycophants, suddenly playing Yes-Man in the hopes that we’ll get what we want out of the relationship through sheer flattery and lip service.

The stable Christians, the real devout ones, see this for what it is. So, of course, does Jesus. Although Jesus is always happy to have our attention, and always longs to have us focused on Him for our provision, how off-putting it must be to only see us when we want something out of Him. Whereas devout people of God make Him a part of their daily life and include Him in their ongoing struggle, the fledgling masses continue just to see Him as a shelter in a storm.

I know the difference between friends of commitment and friends of convenience. I have friends who are always there for me, who care about me when their life is good or bad (and, likewise, when mine is good or bad), and who aren’t there to use me. And I have “friends” who only show up when there’s something in it for them.

Worse, I’m that “friend” to some, and I know it going in.

In those times of “friend”ship, where I’m being used, I can’t wait for my “friend” to leave so I can get back to enjoying true friends. In those same times, where I’m the one glad-handing and siphoning from the goodwill of others, I know they’re just humoring me as long as is necessary to get me away.

And, so, the application: I need to be a friend to Jesus, and not just a “friend.” I need to spend time with Him everyday, whether I have an acute need to attend to or not. For although Jesus, miraculously, doesn’t lose patience with our failings, God forbid someday I should show up in a time of need and have Him say “get away from me, you parasite! You pay me lip service, but I know you don’t really care.” God forbid that moment come, because (of course) He’d be speaking the truth, and I’d have no defense. Thank God that moment won’t come, but it makes my heart sick to think of such a time…

P: Lord, thank you for my true friends, and for the model they are to me of what true friendship is. Help me, Lord, to understand that You, too, are a friend, and that You want a relationship with me. Not one of convenience, and not one born out of acute need. Help me to respect You enough to include You, and help me to be a true friend to You, just as You have always been a true friend to me. Amen.

SOAP Notes

The latest SOAP Notes entry:

August 12, 2008
Jeremiah 10-12; John 14

S: Jeremiah 10:3-8; 12-14

For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. "They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter. "Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good." There is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and great is Your name in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You. But they are altogether stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion--their idol is wood!

It is He who made the earth by His power, Who stablished the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses. Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

O: This section laments the people who worship false gods over the True God, but further highlights the tendency of man to put the cart before the horse, in worshipping the created over the Creator to their detriment.

A: My SOAP times are constantly annoying to me, in the sense that what I see in these verses is always a rather simple and obvious shortcoming in myself. And today I see the rather straight-forward issue of priorities. Worship, in so many ways, is a concept in the Bible that simply points out prioritization. Worship = attention = time = devotion = investment, so that when there’s discussion of worship, what it really highlights is that to which we are devoting and investing our time and attention, which in turn illustrates how we rank things in our lives.

Another annoying thing in my SOAP times is the realization that there are so few of them. It seems that my Bible reading almost exclusively consists of these SOAP periods, so as I look back and see I haven’t done a SOAP in months, it highlights just how low this exercise (Bible reading) is in my prioritization scheme.

Thinking over my last month, what has occupied my time? Noble things, like my wife and daughter and moving and work. Spending time with friends, doing favors for people here and there, reassuring clients who need someone to tell them things will be okay. But, just as often (or more often) I’m doing useless, inane, foolish, trifling things. Facebook MobWars or TV or beer drinking or reading magazines or telling stupid jokes or whatever. And both of these lists, the noble and ignoble, consist of things that are all priorities that should fall behind my God. They are all benefits that flow from him, so to worship them, or devote time to them, or pay attention to them, or invest myself in them to the exclusion of their source is ridiculous, short-sighted and wrong.

What to do? Well, the first step in solving any problem is recognizing it. The next step is addressing it. I clearly need to devote time that goes to other things (particularly the useless ones) to my God, and I need to place the noble things in their proper perspective, as things secondary or tertiary or whatever to the source from whence they came. And while appreciating them and servicing them is well and good, to look at them as being primary in importance is wrong, and I must catch myself when that occurs. To fail to address this is to invite ruin, and also to risk losing the benefits of the Creator by excluding Him from my life.

P: Lord, please help me to develop a proper value system in my life, and help me to establish priorities that reflect the correct weight of the things that I devote and invest my time and attention into. Help me to appreciate what You’ve provided without letting those things rule me, and help me to be mindful of their Provenance and to focus my attention appropriately toward You. Amen.