American Soldier,
We owe you
Our praise for your service
Our patience when you struggle
Our prosperity when you come home
Our tears when you fall
We owe you
Our help
Our respect
Our gratitude
Our love
We owe you
The country in which we live
The flag we all salute
The liberty we all enjoy
Things we take for granted
We owe you
A debt we cannot pay
With money
Or words
Or statues
Or parades
We owe you
The peace with which we sleep at night
More that we can say
More than we’re willing to admit
Compassion, strength, honor, grace
We owe you
So please accept this humble genuflection,
to who you are and what you do.
A simple “Thank you,
American soldier.”
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Images
There are a lot of images in my head that I want to remember forever. Images I don't have pictures or video to remind me of, just the memories. I'm going to try to remember to at least write them down here as they come to me over time...
Image: Anna screaming louder and longer than I've ever seen or heard as she won the 2009 AWANA Grand Prix at Forest Park Baptist Church. No birthday or Christmas ever produced such a reaction. She was ecstatic like never before as she ran the length of the track to be surrounded by friends who all held hands in a ring and jumped and screamed together with her.
Image: Anna screaming louder and longer than I've ever seen or heard as she won the 2009 AWANA Grand Prix at Forest Park Baptist Church. No birthday or Christmas ever produced such a reaction. She was ecstatic like never before as she ran the length of the track to be surrounded by friends who all held hands in a ring and jumped and screamed together with her.
Monday, March 08, 2010
XXI Winter Games IV
A couple final notes on the Vancouver 2010 games, which ended over a week ago.
A. I am in withdrawal.
B. Although the summer games are incredible, my true love is for the winter sports.
C. Wang Meng, as dominant as she is, and she's arguably the single most dominant athlete in the world when compared to the rest of her sport, does NOT belong in the pantheon of the greatness occupied by people like Gretzky, Jordan, Tiger Woods and Shawn White. Those men transformed their sports, Meng is incredibly dominant, but hasn't transformed the game. Courses were altered for White and Woods. Teams changed their entire strategy to deal with Gretzky, and Jordan brought basketball to the world with his skill and popularity. Meng, who might be more successful than all of them, comparatively speaking, hasn't changed short-track at all.
D. China is set to become a global superpower in athletics. Don't be surprised if they win more medals at London 2012 than they did in Beijing 2008. They're leveraging their home-games success quite nicely. Sports is an opiate for the masses?! NO WAY! (Duh.)
A. I am in withdrawal.
B. Although the summer games are incredible, my true love is for the winter sports.
C. Wang Meng, as dominant as she is, and she's arguably the single most dominant athlete in the world when compared to the rest of her sport, does NOT belong in the pantheon of the greatness occupied by people like Gretzky, Jordan, Tiger Woods and Shawn White. Those men transformed their sports, Meng is incredibly dominant, but hasn't transformed the game. Courses were altered for White and Woods. Teams changed their entire strategy to deal with Gretzky, and Jordan brought basketball to the world with his skill and popularity. Meng, who might be more successful than all of them, comparatively speaking, hasn't changed short-track at all.
D. China is set to become a global superpower in athletics. Don't be surprised if they win more medals at London 2012 than they did in Beijing 2008. They're leveraging their home-games success quite nicely. Sports is an opiate for the masses?! NO WAY! (Duh.)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
XXI Olympic Winter Games III
And the awesomeness just keeps coming...
14) The South Korean women finished first in the 3k Meter Relay on the short track. HOWEVER, they were disqualified by the judges after the race, which gave China the gold and bumped the United States into bronze. Does it get any better than that?! YES! The Chinese were also credited with a world record time, even though they crossed the finish line in second! I should probably apologize for the inappropriate joy I feel at this whacked out turn of events... but I won't.
15) Speaking of whacked out: Lindsey Vonn crashed on the Giant Slalom, which hurt because she was in the lead by over half a second (that's like a 20 pt. lead in an NBA game--huge, but not impossible to beat). However, since the weather was so poopy, race officials had already sent the next skier down the hill. Standard procedure, and they got her stopped in time, but by random chance that second skier was defending gold medalist Julie Mancuso. Aaaggh! No way ANYBODY get jacked up like that in the middle of a run and comes back to repeat the same quality of performance. Julie finished the run in 18th and wept profusely. Sad day for U.S. Ski Team. AND, it looks like Ms. Vonn may have broken a finger, which seriously effects her chances in the slalom. "Oh no, we suck again!"
16) Silver for the United States in Nordic Combined Team?! NO WAY! But it did happen.
17) Job opening! Dutch speed skating coach Gerard Kemkers pulled an All-Time Olympic blunder in the Men's 10,000 meters race when he yelled at Sven Kramer to switch lanes with eight laps left to go. Kramer is the world-record holder and 3-time defending world champion at that distance. The only person he was competing with for gold was himself. Thanks to Kemkers advice however, he was DQ'd. Not a lot of love lost between athlete and coach afterwards. This might not have been so bad, but speed skating is to Holland what television is to America.
18) Women's Ski Cross? Seriously, wasn't the men's event embarrassing enough? In the 7 heats they showed in prime time there was exactly ONE lead change past the first 50m. There were only about 3 position changes in the back of the races, and only once in the competition did the leading qualifier in each race NOT win. (YAWN!) Where's curling when you really need it?
I am a ski fanatic. I have no problem following other freestyle events, alpine, biathlon, Nordic combined, jumping or cross country races, but ski cross--AND I REALLY HOPE THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE IS READING THIS--SKI CROSS HAS TO GO!
19) This is what makes the Olympics great: Marjan Kalhor. Marjan Kalhor is the first woman from Islamic Republic of Iran (the official Olympic designation of that country) to compete in a Winter Olympiad. She will finish dead last in the women's Giant Slalom and has to wear a head scarf under her helmet to comply with Islamic dress code, but she's there. Kudos to her and all the other athletes like her. And kudos to Iran for allowing her to compete. There is always a group of athletes that come from nations sending only a small handful of representatives (often as few as one), who's biggest victory is marching in the opening ceremonies, and I wish them all the best. I hope their Olympic experience is everything the rest of us dream about.
14) The South Korean women finished first in the 3k Meter Relay on the short track. HOWEVER, they were disqualified by the judges after the race, which gave China the gold and bumped the United States into bronze. Does it get any better than that?! YES! The Chinese were also credited with a world record time, even though they crossed the finish line in second! I should probably apologize for the inappropriate joy I feel at this whacked out turn of events... but I won't.
15) Speaking of whacked out: Lindsey Vonn crashed on the Giant Slalom, which hurt because she was in the lead by over half a second (that's like a 20 pt. lead in an NBA game--huge, but not impossible to beat). However, since the weather was so poopy, race officials had already sent the next skier down the hill. Standard procedure, and they got her stopped in time, but by random chance that second skier was defending gold medalist Julie Mancuso. Aaaggh! No way ANYBODY get jacked up like that in the middle of a run and comes back to repeat the same quality of performance. Julie finished the run in 18th and wept profusely. Sad day for U.S. Ski Team. AND, it looks like Ms. Vonn may have broken a finger, which seriously effects her chances in the slalom. "Oh no, we suck again!"
16) Silver for the United States in Nordic Combined Team?! NO WAY! But it did happen.
17) Job opening! Dutch speed skating coach Gerard Kemkers pulled an All-Time Olympic blunder in the Men's 10,000 meters race when he yelled at Sven Kramer to switch lanes with eight laps left to go. Kramer is the world-record holder and 3-time defending world champion at that distance. The only person he was competing with for gold was himself. Thanks to Kemkers advice however, he was DQ'd. Not a lot of love lost between athlete and coach afterwards. This might not have been so bad, but speed skating is to Holland what television is to America.
18) Women's Ski Cross? Seriously, wasn't the men's event embarrassing enough? In the 7 heats they showed in prime time there was exactly ONE lead change past the first 50m. There were only about 3 position changes in the back of the races, and only once in the competition did the leading qualifier in each race NOT win. (YAWN!) Where's curling when you really need it?
I am a ski fanatic. I have no problem following other freestyle events, alpine, biathlon, Nordic combined, jumping or cross country races, but ski cross--AND I REALLY HOPE THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE IS READING THIS--SKI CROSS HAS TO GO!
19) This is what makes the Olympics great: Marjan Kalhor. Marjan Kalhor is the first woman from Islamic Republic of Iran (the official Olympic designation of that country) to compete in a Winter Olympiad. She will finish dead last in the women's Giant Slalom and has to wear a head scarf under her helmet to comply with Islamic dress code, but she's there. Kudos to her and all the other athletes like her. And kudos to Iran for allowing her to compete. There is always a group of athletes that come from nations sending only a small handful of representatives (often as few as one), who's biggest victory is marching in the opening ceremonies, and I wish them all the best. I hope their Olympic experience is everything the rest of us dream about.
Monday, February 22, 2010
XXI Winter Olympic Games II
A few more personal thoughts on the 21st Winter Olympiad...
7) Ski Cross. Loooooser. I love skiing, truly I do, but this is the first (and hopefully last) time we've seen this one at the Olympics and it's a real stinker. Snow Cross is a two-thumbs up awesome event, but just because it works on a snowboard doesn't mean it should be done with skis. Like the X-games' new "High Air" event, it begs to be cancelled.
8) Yeah, those South Koreans are still running their mouths and still backing it up. Dang!
9) This is the sloppiest television coverage I've ever seen at an Olympics. Seriously. Yesterday they spliced in an interview during the Men's Super Combined that featured a graphic of the final results. OOPS! Hope you weren't watching that... And the announcers apparently all took stupid pills before flying in to Vancouver. I say that because at nearly every venue I've seen they make incredibly dumb remarks that make me wonder if they're watching the same competition.
10) Doubles luge. Seriously?
11) You have to love Bode Miller. Even HE admits he's a tub of goo. The guy is totally out of shape (for an Olympian) and he STILL has three medals in three events. Rarely do you wonder if an athlete will have a heart attack during an event, but Bode makes you wonder. AND, although his lackadaisical attitude was really awful in Torino, he's cleaned up his act enough to be downright cool.
12) Kudos to Johnny Spillane AND Todd Lodwick for giving the United States real respectibility in the Nordic Combined. Spillane's silver is our first EVER medal in the event, Lodwick's fourth shows it wasn't a fluke. These guys are legit!
13) Simon Ammann, you are da' man! Guy can't jump out of a paper sack for eight years... eight years between double Olympic golds! And now he'll fade back into nothing, at least until Sochi 2014.
7) Ski Cross. Loooooser. I love skiing, truly I do, but this is the first (and hopefully last) time we've seen this one at the Olympics and it's a real stinker. Snow Cross is a two-thumbs up awesome event, but just because it works on a snowboard doesn't mean it should be done with skis. Like the X-games' new "High Air" event, it begs to be cancelled.
8) Yeah, those South Koreans are still running their mouths and still backing it up. Dang!
9) This is the sloppiest television coverage I've ever seen at an Olympics. Seriously. Yesterday they spliced in an interview during the Men's Super Combined that featured a graphic of the final results. OOPS! Hope you weren't watching that... And the announcers apparently all took stupid pills before flying in to Vancouver. I say that because at nearly every venue I've seen they make incredibly dumb remarks that make me wonder if they're watching the same competition.
10) Doubles luge. Seriously?
11) You have to love Bode Miller. Even HE admits he's a tub of goo. The guy is totally out of shape (for an Olympian) and he STILL has three medals in three events. Rarely do you wonder if an athlete will have a heart attack during an event, but Bode makes you wonder. AND, although his lackadaisical attitude was really awful in Torino, he's cleaned up his act enough to be downright cool.
12) Kudos to Johnny Spillane AND Todd Lodwick for giving the United States real respectibility in the Nordic Combined. Spillane's silver is our first EVER medal in the event, Lodwick's fourth shows it wasn't a fluke. These guys are legit!
13) Simon Ammann, you are da' man! Guy can't jump out of a paper sack for eight years... eight years between double Olympic golds! And now he'll fade back into nothing, at least until Sochi 2014.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
XXI Olympic Winter Games
Still addicted to the games. Can't help it. They are sports par excellence and nothing else comes close; not any sport's World Championships, not football's Super Bowl, not soccer's World Cup, not anything. And I'm especially fond of the winter olympics. I love mountains, I love snow, and let's face it, halfpipe blows beach volleyball right out of the water. Not saying the summer games are inferior, just that the winter games, for me, are more exciting.
What stands out to me in this olympiad so far?
1) Nodar Kumaritashvili: Luger who died in a practice run, forcing race officials to lower the start line, which caused competitors to use words like "boring" to describe the course. Absolutely tragic, but he died doing what he loved and at the absolute pinnacle of his sport's competition. (You'll go four years before you hear anyone mention luge again after the winter olympics.)
2) Crappy Vancouver weather. I don't think anyone would argue that the weather has been maybe THE story of the games so far. It's caused course conditions to stink at pretty much every outdoor event so far and thrown athletes off their game at multiple venues.
3) However, weather ALSO caused the women's downhill to be postponed which gave Lindsey Vonn enough time to recoup from injury to be able to embarrass the rest of the field. Most dominating women's world cup season ever? So far! (six wins in seven downhills)
4) Two reasons to hate South Korean short track skaters: First, they're talking trash, and second, they're backing it up. Gotta love Lee Ho-suk's ALL-TIME biggest blunder in the 1500m though. They had the sweep locked! But he just couldn't leave it be, so Apollo Ohno and J.R. Celski took silver and bronze when he crashed into his own teammate. Thank you Lee!
5) Shaun White is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! His win in the men's halfpipe was the stuff of legend. I truly believe he belongs in the pantheon of sport next to men like Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan. He has truly transcended snowboarding. And he has a great nickname too. Who doesn't love "The Flying Tomato?"
6) Wang Meng. Yep, a female Chinese short track skater. She's probably the most dominant athlete on earth in comparison to the rest of sports. I mean, the Flying Tomato is cool, but Meng is 101-1 since her gold medal in Torino in the 500m. 101-1! AND the only loss was because she tripped, she beat herself. The woman hasn't been legitimately beaten in over FOUR YEARS! And, yes, her victory in this year's games was every bit as dominant at White's was in halfpipe. Epic. If she skated more distances, she'd be in the pantheon as well.
What stands out to me in this olympiad so far?
1) Nodar Kumaritashvili: Luger who died in a practice run, forcing race officials to lower the start line, which caused competitors to use words like "boring" to describe the course. Absolutely tragic, but he died doing what he loved and at the absolute pinnacle of his sport's competition. (You'll go four years before you hear anyone mention luge again after the winter olympics.)
2) Crappy Vancouver weather. I don't think anyone would argue that the weather has been maybe THE story of the games so far. It's caused course conditions to stink at pretty much every outdoor event so far and thrown athletes off their game at multiple venues.
3) However, weather ALSO caused the women's downhill to be postponed which gave Lindsey Vonn enough time to recoup from injury to be able to embarrass the rest of the field. Most dominating women's world cup season ever? So far! (six wins in seven downhills)
4) Two reasons to hate South Korean short track skaters: First, they're talking trash, and second, they're backing it up. Gotta love Lee Ho-suk's ALL-TIME biggest blunder in the 1500m though. They had the sweep locked! But he just couldn't leave it be, so Apollo Ohno and J.R. Celski took silver and bronze when he crashed into his own teammate. Thank you Lee!
5) Shaun White is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! His win in the men's halfpipe was the stuff of legend. I truly believe he belongs in the pantheon of sport next to men like Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan. He has truly transcended snowboarding. And he has a great nickname too. Who doesn't love "The Flying Tomato?"
6) Wang Meng. Yep, a female Chinese short track skater. She's probably the most dominant athlete on earth in comparison to the rest of sports. I mean, the Flying Tomato is cool, but Meng is 101-1 since her gold medal in Torino in the 500m. 101-1! AND the only loss was because she tripped, she beat herself. The woman hasn't been legitimately beaten in over FOUR YEARS! And, yes, her victory in this year's games was every bit as dominant at White's was in halfpipe. Epic. If she skated more distances, she'd be in the pantheon as well.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
2010 Life Goals
Not gonna sweat much over this one, but here's a few things I want to get done this year:
1) Read the entire Bible (even Leviticus).
2) Get down to 170 lbs. and STAY.
3) Build an exercise habit that survives the winter.
4) Disc golf 25X
5) Folfathon: Wichita
6) Fish 10X
7) Put another stamp in my passport.
8) And this is the biggie... Peak out on Mt. Bailey.
Honestly, there's a lot more I could put on here, serious things like "spend more time with my kids" or "lead 12 people to Christ," and I'm sure I could fill the page with great spiritual goals that would make me look like some kind of circus-freak Christian or something, but these are the selfish little things I'd really like to do. Frankly, I think a lot of those selfless 'spiritual' goals will probably be requisite to actually achieving this list. Hope I'm right.
1) Read the entire Bible (even Leviticus).
2) Get down to 170 lbs. and STAY.
3) Build an exercise habit that survives the winter.
4) Disc golf 25X
5) Folfathon: Wichita
6) Fish 10X
7) Put another stamp in my passport.
8) And this is the biggie... Peak out on Mt. Bailey.
Honestly, there's a lot more I could put on here, serious things like "spend more time with my kids" or "lead 12 people to Christ," and I'm sure I could fill the page with great spiritual goals that would make me look like some kind of circus-freak Christian or something, but these are the selfish little things I'd really like to do. Frankly, I think a lot of those selfless 'spiritual' goals will probably be requisite to actually achieving this list. Hope I'm right.
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