Replacement Justice

So the NFL has replacement referees... and they're stinkin' it up!  The call at the end of the Green Bay v Seattle game was a shocker. Then the NFL comes out in a statement and admits the refs missed a pass interference call on the play, but supports the ref's on the contested possession call. The Packers player clearly had full control of the football. I understand the league wanting to support its refs since they might be on the job again next week, but this just makes them look silly. You can watch the video of the play HERE.

There are some some pretty funny videos about the replacement refs on YouTube.  Here's a couple of examples. Enjoy!

Whistle (parody)

 Call It Maybe (parody)

In my mind it just highlights how deeply ingrained the value of "justice" is within our society. Although this is only a football game, we react against injustice. We want competent referees. The more blatant the injustice the louder the outcry. I heard somewhere that the NFL received 70,000 voicemails on Tuesday after the Seattle win. That's a lot of upset fans.

Some people I know have protested that there's more uproar about replacement ref's and bad calls than there is about serious moral failures within our society. This doesn't upset me. We live in a society of knee jerk reactions and media sensationalism. This is just another example.

Yes, in many respects the quality (or lack thereof) of the replacement ref's is really a petty issue in the bigger picture of life. But the same sports media took a decisive and proactive course when the abuse of Jerry Sandusky became public. Sandusky's abuse of young boys was not worse than any other abusive situation, but because he was a public figure his case captured the headlines. Again people were crying out for justice.

Sadly, it is true that we're surrounded by abuse and injustice and in many instances we grow callous to its presence. But even a referee furor reminds us of the heart of God. In Amos 5 God rejects replacements for genuine worship and holiness. Instead he says, Let justice roll on like a river. That's a vision we can all agree to, not just in the NFL, but throughout our society.

NFL Denominations

Just to prove I'm not the only guy out there who sees sports and thinks God!!!!

Here's a link to an article that compares NFL teams to various denominations. It's not particularly serious... so you just might enjoy it.

(While you're at it, here's a fun article by Josh Graves comparing Tim Tebow and Jesus. I promise, it's respectful.)

The Church of Christ is linked with the Cleveland Browns and characterised as "having a loyal fan base, but inadequate leadership". I'm not sure where the inadequate leadership line comes from. Perhaps it has to do with the congregational model of church governance.

Teams the Article didn't mention: (perhaps you can find a match. I don't care if it's a denomination, church, preacher... whatever... just have fun and don't be nasty!!)

Seattle: (Does Pete Carroll remind you of Joel Osteen?)
San Diego
Denver: (There's gotta be a line in here about seeking a Messiah!)
Houston
Tennessee  (Puritans, relocated to another land?)
Carolina
Jets (All the little guys... Cumberland Presbyterians, American Baptists, Non-Institutional Church of Christ... Significant, but never quite mainstream.)
Detroit
Cincinnati (The name sounds like "Sin" ... urban church plant maybe?)
Philedelphia
Atlanta
Washington
New Orleans (C'mon, they're Saints!!)
Tampa Bay
St. Louis 

Fantasy or Authentic?

With the completion of the first week of NFL games, the Fantasy Football Effect is in full swing. Based on the performance in one game fantasy owners are furiously dropping and adding players. (You did stay up until midnight to get first dibs on that high scoring free agent running back, right?) We know that the season can be made or ruined by successfully finding the elusive sleeper that you drafted while everyone else slept, literally.

This was a big fantasy week for tight ends with 10 scoring touchdowns. But I'm much more concerned about my running backs. In my two leagues only one of my starting or backup RB's scored in double figures. And this is the position that the "experts" suggest should be drafted first! I could be in for a long season if I can't find some points here. But it's only Week 1.... there's a long way to go.

Although fantasy football can be a lot of fun, we all make decisions about players based on very limited information. Everyone that drafted Toby Gerhart expecting him to share carries with a recuperating Adrian Peterson is now re-thinking that idea. Peterson had 17 carries and 2 touchdowns. Not bad for a wonky knee. But the team knew all along how healthy he really was. It's just the fantasy owners who are left in the dark.

It seems to me that church is often a "fantasy land" where people put on big smiles and wander around trying to convince potential fantasy owners that they've got a great season ahead of them. All their injury issues are behind them. Their faith holdout isn't an issue any more. They're a team player. They don't go out on the town after midnight. BUT, no one really gets to peak behind the curtain to see what's really going on.

Is this person reliable? Does "fine" mean, "I had a huge fight with my wife on Friday, but we're both pretending it didn't happen. The couch is fairly comfortable." Will that weakness that interrupted last year be a problem when it's tested again this year? (Of course, we don't get to look at the MRI and know whether or not the injury really healed.) Is your heart in the work ahead? Are you playing for self or the kingdom?

God designed the church to work together. To strengthen each others' weaknesses. On my other blog, I've just written how the Spiritual Gifts God gives individual are not intended for personal glory, but to be used in serving others. Consider a basic Godly value like "honesty". How honest are you on a Sunday morning? Are you more honest with other Christians during the week? God expects his people to demonstrate authenticity, not only towards Him, but toward each other.

The book of Psalms contains many songs that drip with raw emotion. Whether joy, anguish, anger, or uncertainty you'll find it in Psalms. Perhaps that's why this book is the most read of all the Old Testament books. God wants us to be honest. It's who He is. God is the ultimate reality. Let's not turn his church into a "Fantasy Kingdom" awarding points for fake smiles.

Who's your fantasy football sleeper this year?  Did you get him, or are you watching him inspire a winning season for someone else?

New Beginnings: NFL

The NFL season kicked off last night with those Dallas Cowboys rocking the defending champs, the Giants of New York. College football began last week. Chi has returned to the world.

One great part of living with a foot in each hemisphere is following different sports. Last week MY Carlton Blues who at the start of the season guaranteed a top 4 finish bombed out without making the finals at all!!  So this Sunday MY Indianapolis Colts start their season. HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL!!

At the start of a new season anything is possible. Every team, or at least the fans, believes they can end the season holding the championship trophy.  This year in the NFL there are 5 teams starting rookie quarterbacks: Indy; Washington; Miami; Seattle; and Cleveland. In addition another 5 teams are starting quarterbacks just in their second season in the league: Arizona; Carolina; Cincinnati; Minnesota; and Jacksonville.

Each of these teams hopes that their guy will turn out to be a legend. They hope that their guy will lead them to the Promised Land, if not this year, then at least in the next two or three. But regardless of the age of the quarterback everyone gets a new start, a fresh beginning. Success or failure: what happened last year is in the past. This year provides a fresh slate an opportunity to confirm or disprove the impressions fans formed based on previous performances.

Last night we saw that. I kept seeing stats for Eli Manning 4th quarter comebacks in 2011 (7) compared to Tony Romo giving up 2nd half leads in 2011. First game of 2012, none of those stats mattered. Eli couldn't mount a comeback, Romo didn't crumble. New year. New opportunities. This year, a legacy can be made.

It amazes me how many people fail to understand that Christianity is all about this same fresh start. Because of Jesus we can leave our past performances behind us and move on with a clean slate. Our opportunity is even better than professional sports. Two or three bad seasons will see you off the team and maybe even out of the league for good. But God keeps giving us new opportunities each time we mess up.

Many people want to present Christianity as a worldview fueled by hate, or the Bible as a legal code that's impossible to keep. In reality God gives us a vision of hope. He gives us excitement that our new season will be a Championship season. We'll encounter some losses along the way. We may even go stretches when people give up on us (2011 Giants??), but God will never give up on us and will present us with the eternal crown He's saving for all his champions.

In sports, only one team can win. The hopes of 31 NFL teams will prove futile this year. But with God, once we join his team we don't just hope, we know, we're going to win.

So You Think You're Smarter...

Quick post to invite anyone who's interested to join a couple of ESPN competitions. I thought it might be interesting to give readers of the blog the chance to compete against each other. :-) (All 2 of you!  Hi Mum!!)

FIRST, you get a chance to pick winners in college football. ESPN selects 10 games each Saturday, all you have to do is pick the winners!

Get in the NCAA action now:
http://games.espn.go.com/college-football-pickem/en/group?groupID=8479

THEN, if NFL is more your thing, there's a comp for you. This is just a straight up pick 'em comp. The only twist is that there's some mercy shown as your worst week is omitted from the final score.  Here's the link for that:

Get in the NFL action now:
http://games.espn.go.com/nfl-pigskin-pickem/en/group?groupID=12211

Get excited!!! It's football season again!!!

The Wildcard

I'd write about Carlton missing the finals and firing Brett Ratten and the terrible run with injuries we've had this year... but I'd just spill more tears in my keyboard.

Instead, I'll write about my US sports team still shooting for a shot in the playoffs: "MY" St. Louis Cardinals. As I write, the Cardinals hold down a wildcard spot with a one game lead over Pittsburgh and San Fransisco. BUT only because MLB added an extra wildcard team to the playoffs in 2012.

This year each conference will have TWO wildcard teams. (The two teams with the most wins who failed to win their division.) These two teams will play one, that's right one, uno, one game to determine who will advance to the playoffs proper.  The fact that the rest of MLB is built around 3 & 4 game series in the regular season and 5 & 7 game series in the playoffs apparently doesn't challenge the integrity of a one game playoff.

I understand that this winner take all game will add tension and excitement to the playoffs. It also rewards the teams who win their divisions by giving them some additional rest. It also gives an additional fanbase some hope and more teams will have something to play for. They're all great reasons for holding this game. (Did I mention TV ratings and revenue?)

But after playing 162 games over the course of the season. After playing multiple games in each city the team visits to test the depth of the pitching staff and ensuring the cream really rises to the top. Despite heralding the effectiveness of a 5 or 7 game playoff series in determining who really is the best team. Now Mr Stern wants to convince us that a sudden death playoff is a great way to decide a playoff spot! That just doesn't make a lot of sense. (Although, I will be pretty pumped if "MY" St Louis Cardinals squeeze into that extra spot!)

It's not just baseball that's illogical with its playoff system. Since I opened with an Aussie Rules comment I guess I can close with one too. (Read the complete list of VFL/AFL finals variations here.) The old VFL for many years just had the top 4 teams make the finals. Then in 1972 this changed to the Final Five. In the wake of Brisbane and West Coast joining the competition the finals were expanded in 1989 from the Final Five to the Final Six. In 2000 the league moved to the current Final Eight as there were then sixteen clubs.

This crazy situation means that until Gold Coast joined the competition in 2011 you only had to finish in the top half of the competition to make the finals! Hardly a standard of excellence. But realistically, it's all about making money, not creating a fair system. I guess really, the most fair system is the English Premier League which simply rewards the team with the best record at the end of the season: No finals.

The fact that only one AFL team has won the premiership after finishing fifth (Adelaide 1998) only adds to the futility of expanding the number of teams in the finals. At least in baseball 5 wildcard teams (including "MY" St. Louis Cardinals in 2011) have won the World Series demonstrating that it's reasonable for them to be competing.

Although the movement is always to allow more teams to qualify for post-season play, it still irritates me.  Making the playoffs should be a reward for a top season, not a right for being slightly better than average.

I'm so glad that God's gone 2000 years without any changes to his requirements for qualifying for "post-life" experience. It must be tempting to change the standards and let more people qualify. After all, we know that God doesn't want anyone to miss out. (2 Peter 3:9) But God is consistent. Jesus is THE way, truth and life, "No one comes to the Father except through him." (John 14:6).

To Save a Life

Not a long post today. I just want to point my readers to a friend's post about MLB umpire Jim Joyce. Jonathan discusses the two times this guy's made ESPN headlines in the past couple of years. Read his post HERE.

In 2010 Joyce botched a call that robbed Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga of a historic perfect game. 

HERE's a longer ESPN interview and story written 6 months later. It's a fascinating read. I am particularly amazed at the messages the baggage handlers in Detroit wrote on his luggage tags!!

You can watch the call and hear Joyce's apology in the post match interviews. Joyce's honesty and willingness to answer this many questions is amazing!! (NOTE: the language is a little salty in spots.)

In 2012 Joyce turned up to umpire a game and ended up performing CPR and saving a woman's life. Read the details HERE.  There's no question which is the more significant action!