Go saints?

I'm quasi rooting for the Saints today. The reason? Bob Irsay! As a person who spent more of my life in MD than any other state, I still have not forgive him for moving the Colts from Baltimore because the city fathers had the audacity to ask him to help pay for a stadium for his team.

I think the Colts will win, but wouldn't a Saint victory be something?

Go Ravens...

Today's upset of the Titan's sealed my on-going question of whether I should root for the Ravens. Count me as a fan and send me some Raven's apparel. A Joe Flacco Jersey for my upcoming 40th would be nice.

I need to do some research, but I suspect the Ravens are one of the most successful (in terms of overall winning percentage) NFL teams in the Mid-Atlantic region over the past 10 years (for those of you not familiar, that's MD, VA, WV, PA, NY, NJ, and DE). Five of the last ten seasons they've won more than 10 games in a 16 game season.

I've not done any statistical analysis, but I suspect it's a close call between the Eagles, Yankees, and Ravens. DMC-do you know how these teams compare?

Live from the most-powerful city on earth...

That's how Tony Kornheiser used to start his daily radio program here in DC. Anyhow...

I'm here in Washington now and spending most of the day with my parents.

Tonight I get to hear a nice plenary session on the core of the contemporary university. Tomorrow some colleagues and I present a short session on the Virtue and Commerce course we developed this past year.

After the conference tomorrow night, were taking in one of the "most important English language plays of the 20th Century" at the Warehouse Theater.

Sunday, after the conference session, we're going to the new Nat's stadium for an inter-league game between my childhood team and the Nats. I have this on-going identity crisis (which I've blogged about before...). The effect of this identity crisis is I can't decide which hat to buy at the game on Sunday. Any thoughts?

College Basketball Coaching Carousel

As mentioned earlier, my current university recently fired their Basketball coach, and hired a new one.

Yesterday, my former university fired their coach. Kelvin Sampson is apparently a good coach...if you only look at win/loss records. But if you look at a coach's responsibility to mold the character of young men and women to become persons of integrity and achievement, this guy is done.

Despite his personal record of dishonorable behavior, IU found a way to justify hiring Sampson two years ago. Perhaps this is yet another piece of evidence pointing towards the general incompetence of former IU President Adam Herbert.

Now that both of them are gone, perhaps the student athletes will grow up in a more constructive environment. One where people take responsibility for their own actions and play within the rules and without excuses. Looks like the kids took a step in the right direction today.

PS - with all this going around me you'll be glad to know that a least this guy seems to have a long-term contract with one of my alma maters.

The Kings Girls

It's been a good week at the Staples Center! Today Chun, Ronk and I went to a King's game. After the first period the Kings girls were up giving away shirts and my buddy Chun got one. Here he is posing with three of them.

The game was lame-o. It started out great with a 1-1 tie after the first period. In the first ten-minutes of the second period the Blackhawks scored 4 goals to take a 5-1 lead.

The Kings were playing so poorly that we decided to leave with 10-minutes left. However, right before we left, the Kings scored. And, as we were leaving (literally at the exit doors) they scored again (now it was 5-3 with about 7-minutes left). We talked about staying, but decided they had no chance. I just got home and saw this headline on the Yahoo!Sports..."Blackhawks escape Kings". Doh! We should have stayed!

A new era (Part 2)

Here's a nice story from the LAT about our new coach. I'm confident this is a step in the right direction for our men's team.

The Power of Sport

It's nearly Super Bowl Sunday. I'm excited that the NFC has finally returned to the big game. Like many of you, I'll be heading to a friend's house for the big game. It's funny how sports can bring people together.

An old buddy from college shared this inspirational video with me today. It's a great example of the power of sport.

RD is ahead by 6 after 9. He was up by 21 after the 18th hole! OUCH!

The Joys of Pepperdine Baseball...

As I've said on these very pages, one of the simplest joys of life in Malibu is catching a Wave's baseball game (here's the upcoming schedule). The sun, the view, the slow pace of baseball, and oh-yeah...the Waves are ranked 14th in the NCAA. Well, in addition to all of that, the LAT reports that there is a new attraction...the team has been adopted by Pamela Anderson.

Only in Malibu.

Fidelity and commitment...

Are big words. These words are rich with meaning for people like me who have done lots of premarital counseling, youth ministry, and local church ministry. However, I'm beginning to question the importance of Fidelity and Commitment in one aspect of my life. It's quite personal, but I'll share it now.

As you may know, as much as any other single place I consider the Maryland suburbs of DC "home". I've lived there a cumulative 14 or so years of my life. When I first moved there in 1977 I was a die-hard Cowboys fan. But somehow over the next 20 years I gradually become both a Cowboys + Redskins fan, and finally pretty much a 'skins fan (the drug-fueled teams of the 90's did not help to inspire my commitment to the 'boys in blue).

Additionally, because there were no other MLB teams in the area, I became a bit of a O's fan (especially in singing the National Anthem, but that's another story all together).

Anyhow...in the seven or so years since I've left the Maryland suburbs several things have changed. For one...the 'skins have sucked. They've made the playoffs twice since their last Superbowl victory in 1991 and have a post-season record of 2-2. Not exemplary. The O's have been even worse.

And other things have changed too...most importantly, Maryland finally replaced the Colts with a team of their own. And the Ravens have been a very good team. By no means is it a stretch to say they are the most successful NFL team in history as a ratio of games won/lost in their entire history. I remember the first NFL game I ever attended was actually an old Colts game in Memorial Stadium. Those were the days... I'll never forget the morning I woke up to the news that Bob Irsay moved the team to Indy in the dark of the night without telling anyone it was going to happen. Jerk. I still can't be a Colts fan despite living in Indy for four years.

Another new development is the addition of the Nats to the MLB. While they have not been a stellar team, they are no worse than the O's.

So, I find myself thousands of miles from "home" considering whether I'm really committed to the O's and 'skins, or if I should consider breaking my vows and sporting a little purple and yellow (I especially like the Maryland flag on the sleeves) to go with my new Nats tee shirt that I got for Christmas.

So, what do you think? What is the nature of fidelity in a world of free agents, salary caps, and teams that literally switch cities to find higher profits (e.g., Colts to Indy, Browns to B-more, Expos to Washington...). Can a fan legitimately be expected to be faithful to a single team for his whole life? Is athletic monogamy even a healthy concept?