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The teams in bold are my pick to win.

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My Carolina Panthers begin the season Sunday at San Diego.  If we have to play San Diego I’d rather play them in week 1, before all the rust has been knocked of LT’s tires.  If Delhomme is truly healthy we have a shot.  As Jake goes, so go the Panthers.

Baseball

Well, my Dodgers decided to finish off August by losing seven in a row and dipping below .500.  They still have a shot because the only team they have left to play with a winning record is Arizona, the division leaders who are 2.5 game ahead of the Dodgers.  With a month to play 2.5 games is possible, but they have to start playing better.  Of course, then they would play the Cubs in the divisional series and I’m not too excited about that.

Politics

If you go look at some of my old posts you’ll see that I acurately predicted three out of the four presidential and VP nominees.  I called Obama-Biden and McCain-Huckabee.  McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin is not terribly surprising to me.  She is a strong conservative who appears more moderate than she is.  She will solidify the “James Dobson Republicans” and she has a shot at energizing women (a group McCain does poorly with).  She has a record of ethics reform in the corrupt Alaska political system and will be able to contrast her experiences with Obama’s failure to take on the Chicago political machine.

There will be some tabloid trash about her at the beginning because nobody knows her and so people will believe anything written about her.  I don’t think her daughter’s pregnancy is relevant or warrants media coverage.  Seventeen year olds make their own decisions, some of them good and some of them bad.  A parent’s job is to help the child learn to take responsibility for those decisions and hopefully help them make the better decision when possible.

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The democratic primary alternates between pure joy and absolute tedium. There are only a few issues I want to talk about.

First, the Jeremiah Wright issue. One of two things is going on with Jeremiah Wright’s recent comments and Barrack Obama denunciation. Either Jeremiah Wright is completely out of it, believes that he is a martyr for the black community, and does not care if Obama is elected, or he understands that the only way Obama was every going to be able to move past him as an issue is if he went so far that Obama would have to publicly reject him. If the truth is the later, then both Obama and the Reverand are briliant politicans, if the truth is the former, I feel sorry that he can’t move forward.

Second, the Hillary gas tax recess issue (in all fairness this was originally McCain’s idea that Hillary latched on to, but Hillary has defended this idea with such idiocy that it is now solely her issue). At best it would make no tangible difference for this country’s citizens if the gas tax is suspended for the summer. At worst it would permanently and artificially raise gas prices, take money away from needed road and infrastructure repairs, and give money directly to oil companies and refineries. Hillary’s idiocy is that she will not admit, or even acknowledge that no credible source on the face of the planet thinks suspending the gas tax would be a good idea (for a decent summary and some of Hillary’s comments go here). A direct quote from Hillary that just makes me want to shiver: “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.” That’s the person I want in charge of our economy.

Finally, if Obama wins Indiana tomorrow, I think there will be a tidal wave of superdelegates announcing their support for Obama in the next week. If Clinton wins Indiana, the race continues until…

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10. Field of Dreams

My favorite moment in the movie is when Karin falls off the bleachers and chokes on her hotdog; this forces Doc Archibald to decide if will once again choose to be a doctor rather than a ballplayer. To me this moment affirms that the doctor made the right decision in his younger days. It’s wonderful to be able to play baseball and it’s wondeful to have that dream, but it is a far greater thing to be a healer. For some reason this moment has given me comfort when I have doubted my calling as a pastor.

9. Chariots of Fire

As a kid I hated this movie. It felt sooooo long and moved sooooo slow and was sooooo boring. As an adult I appreciate it a lot more. We are all called to use the gifts which God has blessed us with; but we are called to use them to serve God first. It is a dangerous thing to use our God given gifts in a manner contrary to God’s will.

8. The Hustler

I’m a sucker for a good pool movie and the music in this one combined with the great performances by Jackie Gleason, Paul Newman, and George C Scott make it the best of the bunch. However, the dark exploration of self-destruction probably means you shouldn’t watch this one if your feeling a little blue.

7. Raging Bull

Speaking of self-destruction… (side note: Raging Bull 2 is scheduled to come out next year…that just makes me sad.)

6. Bull Durham

Bull Durham is the second of five baseball movies on this list (yes I know baseball is over represented but baseball is probably the easiest sport to capture on film). The story of one man’s ascendance to the pinacle of his sport set against another man’s descent to the end of his career. The scene that best captures baseball is when the team is having a meeting at the pitchers mound because the pitcher can’t breath through his eyelids, the outfielder needs a live chicken to take the curse of his glove, and no one can figure out what to get the third baseman for his wedding. The coach comes out to see what’s going on and suggests that candlesticks always make a nice gift.

5. Hoosiers

Every time I watch Hoosiers I’m suprised at what a good movie it is. I think this movie is the opposite of self-destruction. Everyone is going through the long slow process of getting over their destructive behaviors and becoming better human beings. Whenever I have to speak in front of a really big group I think back to the scene in Hinkle Field House when Coach Dale measures the basket to show the boys that even though the arena is bigger, the court is still the same. For me even if the crowd is bigger, the message stays the same.

4. Pride of the Yankees

Gary Cooper taught me that life is not fair. Sometimes bad things happen for absolutely no good reason. What matters in life is how we respond to our unique circumstances.

3. League of Their Own

This is by far Madonna’s best movie.

2. Mystery, Alaska

This movie captures how sports has the potential to bring people together as well as the potential to destroy people. The town of Mystery gets the chance to prove that their hockey team can compete with anyone. If they fail, the town will never be the same. (Spoiler!!!)The greatest thing about this movie is that they don’t win. But even though they don’t win they do not fail.

1. The Natural

What is there to say about the quintessential sports movie. The natural is the story of a man whose youthful potential is destroyed, but who is able to recapture what he could have been. The movie of the natural is the story of a man who narrowly escapes self-destruction. The book is the story of a man who continues to make the same mistakes and in the end loses. The movie is great because Roy Hobbs summons one final burst of energy and ends his short and star-crossed career with one final homerun. This is the way we wished life was. The book is great because Roy Hobbs who all is life has made the same mistake over and over strikes out. This is the way life tends to be.

Honorable Mentions: The Sandlot (which should be on this list but I wouldn’t know which other baseball movie to remove) Cars (which may move on to this list some day), and Caddyshack (which has great moments but just doesn’t make it for me as a great movie)

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Basketball

My Jayhawks made the Final Four!!!  It was a tough game to get there (I think Davidson was much better than a 10 seed), but all that matters is they got there.  I priced tickets this morning and if it wasn’t such a long drive I would go.  It seems that it’s destiny that Kansas has to play a Roy Williams led North Carolina team and then avenge last years loss by beating UCLA in the national championship game.

Hockey

It looks like my Senators will make the playoffs.  That’s all that matters.  Once the new season begins anything can happen.

Football

My wife was excited that Green Bay and Minnesota are playing in the opening Monday Night Football game.  Green Bay’s first post-Favre game (or so we think…)

Politics

Can Pennsylvania hurry up and vote already?!?!?!?

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Football

There was a rumor yesterday that the Falcons were going to pick up Daunte Culpepper, Randy Moss, and Michael Turner.  Fortunately for my Panthers Moss went back to the Pats, and Daunte does not scare me.  The Falcons did pick up Michael Turner but I’m not as impressed with him as I used to be.  I was shocked that the let Warrick Dunn go, he was a quiet stud.  I would be very happy if Carolina quietly picked him up.

Baseball

My Dodgers are the team to beat in the NL.

Politics

Tomorrow is a very important day but the only thing it will settled is the Republican nomination.  McCain will sweep tomorrow and Huckabee will be forced to concede.  I still think Huckabee will end up being the Republican VP nominee.

On the Democratic side the candidates will continue to split deligates almost down the middle.  Nobody is ever going to get the majority needed.  Sen Clinton knows that she will never beat Sen Obama with pledged delegates, but she also knows that she has the greatest political machine of the last 30 years behind her.  As long as Clinton can keep that machine from falling apart she will win the Democratic nomination with super-delegates.  Fortunately for Obama that machine is shaking and disintegrating a little more every day.  If Obama can keep pounding out wins and remain the popular favorite, he can break the machine and win the nomination.

At the end of the day the Democratic nomination will not be decided by the people; it will be decided by the party elders.  If Clinton wins she will be forced to take Obama as her VP, if Obama wins I think he picks an old white guy (I’m still calling Joe Biden).

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It seems most likely that someone within the Clinton campaign released the picture (probably without Hillary’s knowledge) in an effort to attack the Obama campaign.  When the people in control of the campaign realized what had happened the only way they could spin it would be to pretend to stay above the fray.  I’m remembering why I did not care for the first Clinton presidency, there was too much spinning and you never knew what was true.  I think Bill was a decent president but he could never let a spade be a spade; Hillary seems to have a similar problem.

Basketball

I’m thankful that I am a fan of a basketball team for whom 3 losses in the regular season is a disappointment;  having said that, I was very disappointed in Kansas play at Oklahoma State.  It was another loss where Kansas played in a hostile environment and had a shot to win at the end, but they did not play well.  If the learn from it, then it will be okay.  If they can’t learn from it then this season will end early in heartbreak.

Baseball

I had my first fantasy draft this last week. My batters: Mauer, LaRoche, Weeks, Beltre, Reyes, Francoeur, Ibanez, Fukudome, and Willingham.  My starting pitchers are: Peavy, Bedard, Lilly, Wainwright, Zito, Glavine, and Andrew Miller.  My relief pitchers are: Nathan, Rodriguez, Rivera, Perciaval, and Accardo.  I’m pretty happy with that as my first draft.  I wish I had a little more power hitting, but I think I can win with it.

The Dodgers first spring training game is Thursday!!!

Soccer

Tottenham Hotspur defeats Chelsea to take the Carling Cup!!!  UEFA Cup here we come.  (I recognize that no USAmerican understood a word of those two sentences)

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I’m feeling some disrespect toward my Jayhawks. They are the only 2 loss team to have both of their losses to ranked teams, yet they are ranked behind all the other 2 loss teams. That’s okay…hopefully, it just makes my boys hungry.

Baseball

I was at school last week so I couldn’t watch the Roger Clemens hearings, but the ESPN live blog of the event was fascinating. I think I’m one of the few people in the world that believes Clemens, but does it really matter. There is never going to be any way of knowing who used illegal substances and who did not. The players union needs to recognize that it is endangering it’s existence and embrace an extensive testing policy.

I’m drafting my first fantasy team either this week or next week. Yeah!!!

Football

I am very concerned about a work stoppage in the NFL in 2009 or 2010. I think the salary cap is good for the league. I understand why players don’t want it as it does create an artificial ceiling. I’m just worried that the two sides are going to destroy my favorite league.

Politics

Why did Mitt Romney endorse McCain? I can’t really figure out what the upside is for him, unless he’s playing for the VP position. I just don’t know who a McCain/Romney campaign would inspire. I’m glad to see that the calls for Huckabee to give in have lessened. I think everyone figured out that the only way the media is going to pay any attention to the Republican side is if Huckabee is still in the race.

I think the Hillary Clinton campaign jumped the shark today claiming that Obama is plagerizing from his friend and coworker Deval Patrick. First, I think something has to be written in order for it to be “plagerized”. Second, If I’m thinking through issues with someone, we are probably going to attack the problem with the same kind of language. Third, so what…they used a similar argument.

The Clinton campaign knows that they can’t go negative without receiving the ire of the democratic party. So this is as close as they can get to going negative. It’s pretty weak.

Hockey

Ottawa is in real danger of not winning it’s own division. After a great start they have allowed the Canadiens to catch up with them. They’ve lost 12 of their last 20 games. Let’s pick it up and play strong the last 23 games, then we can hit the playoffs running.

That’s all I’ve got…have a great week.

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Football

There are rumors that Carolina may trade for Chad Johnson.  Can you imagine the passing game we would have with Steve Smith as the #1 and Chad Johnson as the #2.  Then if we could get our hands on a couple lineman (on both sides) and a safety that could cover we would be sitting pretty.

Hockey

Thank goodness Richard Zednick is okay.  That was really scary.  If you’re squimish do not look too closely at the video.

Politics

Yes politics are a sport.  Unless Hillary Clinton can pull out a surprise win before March, I think she’s toast.  Rudy Guilliani proved that momentum still matters.  If Sen. Clinton goes 27 days without a win I just don’t see any way she can get the nomination.

On the Republican side, I think John McCain should be grateful that Mike Huckabee is still in the race.  If Huckabee drops out then the media has no reason to even mention the Republican side and the Democrats get all the attention.  Elections, more than anything else, are about name recognition.  Because Huckabee is still fighting, McCain is still getting attention.  If Huckabee continues to do well, I don’t see any way that McCain could choose anyone else for his VP.  However, if Huckabee goes negative in any way he’s out.  I think Huckabee knows that he’s playing for a VP nod and that one false step will end his chances.  I’m very impressed with how he is playing it so far.

My prediction remains the November race will be McCain/Huckabee vs Obama/Biden.

Baseball

Pitchers and catchers report this week.  If Roger Clemens did not use performance enhancing substances I think it will all be cleared up here in the next month.  If he did use performance enhancing substances I think his lawyers are putting him in a very dangerous position and he will end up in prison.  Here is an article analyzing Clemens performance as compared to other pitchers.  I think the analysis is flawed (read the comments and you’ll see why) but it’s an interesting read.

That’s all I’ve got; have a great week.

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Basketball

Kansas beat Missouri; order has been restored to the universe.  I was disappointed in how KU came out against Colorado on Saturday.  I hope they can tighten things up a little before tournament time.  I hope Kansas plays Memphis; I want to be able to say that we beat them head-to-head.

Politics

Yes, at this stage politics is a sport.  Super Tuesday is tomorrow.  I am so excited, there is going to be so much going on.  My dream outcome has always been a McCain-Obama matchup in the general election.  I would be happy with either of them.  I think Huckabee would make a great VP for McCain; it would lock up the social conservatives and allow Huckabee to mature.  I think with a little seasoning Huckabee could be a very good politician.  I don’t know who I want as Obama’s VP.  I think everyone assumes that whoever loses the nomination will be chosen as the VP;  I think that will be true if Hillary wins, but if Obama wins I just can’t see him picking Hillary.  Joe Biden would be an awesome choice.  Can you imagine it: McCain-Huckabee vs Obama-Biden?  That would be amazing.

Baseball

9 days until training camp.

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Football

I love all the “Tom Brady’s ankle is in a cast” talk, it’s beautiful. I think it may be the greatest ploy to keep the team focused that I have ever seen.

Hockey

Did you see the All-Star game yesterday, me neither. I even tried, but apparently I don’t get that channel. I was bummed. Go Senators!!!

Well, that’s all I’ve got. Have a great week.

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Football

As my wife and I were watching the end of the Packer-Giants game, I really thought my wife’s team was going to pull it out.  We both knew that Tynes was going to miss the second field goal (great use of a time out by Mike McCarthy by the way).  Then as soon as the ball left Favre’s hand we knew it was short and inside and prime to be picked.  Any excitement in my house drained away.

I’m a little disappointed that the Packers aren’t going to the Super Bowl; I feel a little bad for my wife (although she doesn’t live and die by sports quite as much as I do).  However, it will be easier for me root for the Patriots now.  It’s not so much that I want the Patriots to win, but I truly respect the coaching job by Bill Belichick.

Basketball

Another week and another couple victories for my Jayhawks.  There are only three games left that I’m really worried about: at K-State, at Texas, and at Texas A&M.  You never want to overlook anyone in the Big XII but those are the three I worry about.  I does appear that the stars are aligning for a special season.  The conference tournament is in Kansas City and unless they implode they won’t have to play in California (I’m still a little bitter about having to play a lower seeded UCLA in SoCal).  The Omaha-Detroit-San Antonio road looks pretty good (although I think Houston is closer than Detroit).

Soccer

Landon Donovan (probably) became the leading US scorer in international play during the United States’ 2-0 win over Sweden.  We’ve still got a while before World Cup qualifying begins.  A while back there were some rumbles about making the World Cup every 3 years; I could get behind that idea.  Just over halfway in English Premier League and Tottenham Hotspur is thoroughly entrenched in the middle of the pack.  Another year of mediocrity.

Well that’s all i’ve got.  Have a great week.

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Football

My wife is a die-hard, birth-right Packer fan and I will be very happy for her if Favre and Company can pull off winning the next two games. However, I am officially on the Patriot bandwagon (my panthers are out so I can pick any team I want). I think Bill Belichick has done the greatest coaching job in the history of sports. He has impressed a perfect team first mentality onto his players. He has never allowed his team to let up. I love Tony Dungy but that was the mistake he always made; once his team had secured a spot he let them rest. Football is a game of momentum, once you loose your momentum it’s hard to get it back. Go Patriots.

Hockey

How do my Senators beat the Red Wings and then lose to the Islanders? I think somebody lost a little focus. Still, just over half way through with the second best record in the league. I’m happy.

Other Thoughts

It looks like the NCAA will explore a football playoff. I am of two minds about this. I do not think that it is necessary to have a “national champion” in a sport like football. You don’t really play enough games to truly determine the best teams. But there does seem to be something in human nature that wants to declare someone the ultimate winner. If you have to have a champion I think a 10 team playoff incorporating the current BCS bowls makes the most sense. You would take the 6 BCS conference champions plus 4 wild cards (no more than 3 teams from 1 conference) you could even set it up so that the bowls could keep their traditional affiliations.

I was also happy that the NCAA voted to make it so an athlete would not lose their scholarship for pregnancy or illness. I think that was something that needed to be addressed for a long time.

Only one month until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. I’m excited about Joe Torre being added to my Dodgers. I’m hoping that we can pull off one more big acquisition before the season starts.

Well that’s all I’ve got. Have a great week in sports.

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