If you'd rather eat pancakes than waffles

I think we all know a few people we think are cheap. Not in a way that is thrifty, or out of necessity, or because they truly want to be wise with their money. No, we all know people that are just plain cheap. The ones that always try to give an excuse why they shouldn't leave a good tip or have to get $10.02 back from you that you borrowed because just a ten dollar bill won't do. This article is for them, I thought I was Cheap Until I Read These

Happy Birthday Nolan Ryan

62 years young. Nolan Ryan had already pitched in the Majors 20 years when he became my favorite baseball player. Watching him pitch at the end of his career from the late 80's into the 90's was a real treat. I remember staying up late to watch him pitch his 7th and final no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays. I had the opportunity to see him pitch once in person against the Indians at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I remember being a little jealous of the kid seated down next to the bullpen who Ryan tossed his warm up ball too. Although I was not the one who caught that baseball and although Ryan did not pitch particularly well that game, it was a thrill nonetheless to see him pitch. I always loved reading about how hard he worked to make himself a better pitcher, how he showed no fear on the mound, how he is a down to earth guy and was just going to give it all he had. That is why I really like this picture with a blood stained jersey and blood dripping from a lip that just took a line drive shot to it. He did not want taken out of the game. He was ready to get right back to work. Don't take me out, I am ready to play.

Loyal Sons

Just started reading this book about the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame. Although I am only a couple of chapters in, it has already been an excellent read. Makes me want to keep reading more and more. It really is good at describing the nature of the main players, the camaraderie of the team and university in general. The first chapter describes how the captain of the 1924 team,who was from California was impressed to go there by a couple alumni he had met. They shared how much they loved their time there and how it made them better men. It just reminds me of the scenes in the beginning of the movie, Chariots of Fire, when the new students are going around seeing what groups, sports, and clubs they wanted to join. They had so much enthusiasm, youthful exuberation, and desire to be a part of something great with their classmates. I think it would have been an interesting time to go to college in the early decades of the 20th century. Obviously the movie is Hollywood's take on what college was like, but it does seem there was a lot more time for good natured ribbing and play, as well as great studies being undertaken. With so little of the technology we have today and especially no where near the distractions we have with that technology, it would have been an interesting time to go from being a boy to a man.

"Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."

~ Grantland Rice, New York Herald Tribune, 18 October 1924.

On Faith

What is faith really all about? I just read about how people are faithful in Hebrews 11. How they exemplified the first verse that "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for , the conviction of things not seen." Is that all it is, believing in and looking forward to something even though we are not able to fully see or understand it? We can think of a child with the tooth fairy or the boogie man it seems, but is faith really the same as believing? It seems to me that it is more than just believing. As I think about the bonus track on LeCrae's album and the excerpts I read from Jonathan Edward's sermon, "The Christian Pilgrim, Or the True Christian's Life a Journey Toward Heaven," it seems that faith is more than just believing, but it is an act of dependence on the Lord to guide us and for us to know that what the Lord has to offer is such greater than what the world does. Faith causes us to want the things of the Lord and the things of heaven more than the things of the world. We are to hold loosely to the things of this world. Faith is a lifestyle. We read about Abraham, Noah, and Moses and see it was not just one act of faith that carried them, but a continuous growing of their faith each day in the promises of God. Faith is a lifestyle so that we become like what we hope to attain, and it enables us to encourage and sharpen those around us that we are journeying with in this Christian life.

~Originally written 24 November 2006.

Six Words

I reach for a dozen words,
but not seem to grasp what I think.
My mind races around in circles,
what do I say, how do I speak.
Striving for eloquence, intelligence
the hope that I am recognized,
yet only a blank slate is drawn.
Within that rock six words come to mind,
I love you, I praise you.
So simple yet so profound,
no need for the grand nor for the wow.
In intimate reverence they are spoken
as a heartbeat of the soul.
I love you, I praise you.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I tasted fruit that was forbidden
I murdered trust that you had given
And now I'm living in a place that's not my home.

The pain in your heart made you regret
The moment we spoke, did you forget?
Will my transgressions bring us all to our sweet end?

Maybe I'm just being too hard on myself. I don't know
Or is it that your mercy is much more than I deserve?

Betrayed by more than just a kiss
I did much more I must admit
Instead of letting it all end you bring new hope.

~ Mac Powell

Friday Night Lights

If there is only one show on TV that you are watching, Friday Nights Lights should be it. Back for its 3rd season, FNL keeps on churning out much watch TV. Make sure your TV is on or DVR set for Fridays at 9pm on NBC. You won't be disappointed.

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose.

Two Jews, an Iranian, and a Dutch Girl walk into a bar...

Well, not really into a bar, nor is that the punch line to a joke coming next, but they were all at the bible study I attend on Tuesdays. It was awesome to see Alon, Heim, Kevin, and Mariella all together. Seriously, I don't think one would find that mixture of cultures together in a peaceful, loving manner in many places. It is cool to see how the Lord can orchestrate events that they could all be here at the same time and be able to encourages us and each other. Even amongst themselves they really seemed to just flow really well together, feed off each other, and just be able to have lots of fun together. To borrow some words from Kutless, there is a joy inside of them, one that I know only God could originate, with just one smile I could see the faith we share inside. It is just exciting to be able to see all of them and hang out. Once they leave, it's hard to know exactly when we will meet again.

I am also excited that Kevin and Mariella along with Ken and Mary and the fam will be down in Florida at the tail end of my trip there. I am sure there will be a lot of laughs being able to meet up with them. God is good.



I ran across this article today on ESPN about Bill Werber, who just past away at 100. He was the oldest living major league player. The article talks of how he was teammates with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Wow! Two all-time greats. Its hard to imagine sometimes there are people alive who actually saw Ruth play. I just think of how much a man like Bill Werber had seen throughout his life...two world wars, the first cars, airplanes, a man on the moon, all the way to the dawn of the internet age. I would have to think he could never have dreamed of all that he would see through out his life.

T-Rex and Snuggies

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt's "The Man in the Arena" speech is one of my favorites. It spurs me on to want to try new things, not worry about what others think, work hard, and want to keep moving forward even when failure comes at times.



And now onto snuggies....

I keep seeing infomercials for these crazy looking blankets with arms. They look comfortable and seem to be useful for staying warm reading, at a football game, or a Xavier basketball game. At least that is what my friend Dave thinks would be sweet. Imagine a sea of snuggies in the student section. Intimidating? Maybe. Hilarious? Yes!

Pomp and Circumstance

"Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The Royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, Pomp, and Circumstance of glorious war!"

~ Shakespeare from Othello, Act 3, Scene 3

I seem to enjoy pomp and circumstance. Ceremonial events, whether a wedding, a graduation, or an inauguration, seem to bring out a sense of properness, order, respect, pageantry, and dignity which I think are often lost in a culture filled with so much of a go-go-go attitude. Even simple events like a family meal at the dinner table or wearing your Sunday best seem to have been whisked by the wayside. I remember my own college graduation and enjoyed the scene as we all clad in our robes marched behind the resounding sounds of the bagged pipe player.

A quick side note, I think being led in by a bagged piper was awesome. The music created seems to be a perfect entrance for those graduates reflecting upon their time in college as well as upon the exciting new places they will be going upon commencement

The picture of graduation will not be something I will forget. I don't remember much of what was said during the various speeches, but I do have etched in my mind the processional across campus in the sunshine. The colors of the flowers & grass, and the colored doctoral robes of the professors & banners of the different schools seem to have been so bright and vivid, as if they were signaling the dawn of a new period of our lives. Even as almost 4 years have passed since that day in May, its beauty and grace still speak to me. We should take more time to remember the pomp and circumstance of life.

MLK in Canton

"Only the mediocre man is always at his best" ~ W. Somerset Maugham


Today the local radio station played three of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches to celebrate the day named in his honor. Two were widely known speeches: "I have a dream" and "I've been to the Mountain top" given the night before he was killed. The third one played was one he gave in Canton in March 1964. It was interesting to hear that MLK spoke right here in Canton (I did not know that). The speeches themselves were still very stirring 40+ years later. As I have been involved in Toastmasters the past few months, I have become more keen in listening to public speaking, and what really makes one come across well. MLK's passion and conviction could be heard through every word he shared and makes me want to be able to have half that ability when I need to speak myself. Both in getting my point across so infaticlly and more importantly being able to be used as vessel for the Lord bringing much change to an individual, a community, and a nation.

The Palestra, what's that?

In Ancient Greece, young men would compete in a variety of events in a rectangular enclosure, a PALESTRA, in view of spectators. In general, it was a place for athletic activity. A historic example of the modern day gymnasium.

As well, the Palestra is the name of the basketball arena at the University of Pennsylvania and the inspiration for the name of this blog. Over the years, I have become enamored with history, especially with historical venues, that seem to have so many stories echoing from their walls. Be it Wrigley Field, Pat's King of Steaks, or Birdland. For my final paper in my Sports in America class, taught by the venerable JJG, I chose to write on the Palestra. There were many tales to tell of the Palestra, its place in Philadelphia sports, its use as the focal point for the Big 5 Philly basketball colleges, and its role in helping create racial equality in the city of brotherly love and college basketball. Quite the inspiration.