football

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Blind Side-a movie critique

I watched Blind Side this weekend, the story of a rich white family that takes in a poor black boy, helps him pick up his grades, his self-esteem, his sports ability, and eventually propels him into Old Miss and the Baltimore Ravens. This is a great story.

I know that for every one of these, there’s a thousand failures. But it’s a prime example, an extreme example, of what Christian charity is all about. It’s about going the extra mile, regardless of the challenges, regardless of the possible outcomes. It’s about overcoming obstacles put in our way by society.

The Tuohy family didn’t just throw money at a problem, they got involved. Involved in a big way. From giving a poor boy the benefit of the doubt to sleep on their couch for a few nights, to clothing him, feeding him, getting him out of his personal prison, giving him genuine love. The depicted cameraderie between the real son and the boy, the compassion of the whole family to really show him welcome with open arms. Of course there’s the doubters-the english teacher, the acquaintances from the ‘hood’, the circle of friends Leanne left behind, the real mother, the coach. But through it all, with perseverence, and genuine Christian love, even with a few mistakes, like when Leanne questioned whether she was giving Mike what she wanted, or what he needed and wanted, God blessed the family, and Mike with something greater than his career. God graced Mike with a family, and the Tuohy’s with the knowledge that they did what Jesus asked us to do-Mike was hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned, and they gave him both spiritual and physical food, drink, clothes, and comfort-a truly great gift.

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Saints win Super Bowl (x)LIV

There are so many stories around this first Superbowl win…

Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees cements his place in New Orleans lore

By Jeff Duncan / Times-Picayune

MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. – Sunday started in New Orleans with the Rev. Monsignor Crosby W. Kern (pastor at historic St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans) celebrating Mass with a Drew Brees jersey underneath his vestments.

It ended in Miami Gardens with Brees standing atop a gridiron altar to accept the Pete Rozelle Trophy as the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV after his near flawless performance led the New Orleans Saints to their first world championship…

Ah, what the heck, just go to www.nola.com/saints for all the skinny.  But what a way to end a vacation!  A week at Atlantis, in the Bahamas, an almost-missed connection in New York on Saturday due to flight delays (we still don’t have our luggage!), and a day culminating in a Saints first-ever Super Bowl win.  As soon as I have the DVD, I’ll be inviting folks over nightly for viewing.

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Sportsmanship

I’ve been arguing over football since Monday.  A Vikings fan or two thinks the Saints are a dirty team because they went after Brett Favre, I think particularly with one or two of the hits he took.  Especially the high-low hit.  But if you watch the play, the offensive linemen were engaged with the defensive linemen, and their combined force pushed the DL’s into the quarterback, which is probably why it wasn’t flagged.  Anyway, these Vikings folks say that it was ‘classless’ for the Saints to attack the guy that way.

I just don’t see it that way.  Of course, I’m a Saints fan.  But I’m a sports fan, too.  And my observation, over many years of watching the elite play against each other, is that, to win, they target the opponent’s weaknesses, and try to chip away at his strengths.  Every time.  When Federer plays Nadal, and sees that he’s limping a little, or doesn’t stretch like he normally does, he exploits that weakness as long as he can.  Nadal will try to compensate, and Federe will spot another hole in Nadal’s game, and it goes back and forth.  Seldom does an opponent not know where to attack his adversary.  They study game-film to find it.  It might be subtle or it might be obvious.  Football teams do this every week.  As long as there’s been film, NFL teams have gotten the last three performances by their opponent to study, to try and devise a scheme that will beat the other team.

Now, I’m not saying that the Saints should be awarded halos.  Professional-level adversarial sports are brutal, animalistic.  Even in ‘tame’ baseball, runners slide into second base with their spikes forward, attacking the base defender, and look to bowl over the catcher when headed home.  Pitchers use the inside pitch to push the batter back away from the plate.  Sometimes they even hit the batter on purpose.  Basketball players have their techniques as well, and so do hockey players.  Every sport has its underbelly, except the ones where you’re fighting against something natural, like golf or skiing.  Even ice skating has its Tonya Harding.  Most fans of NASCAR watch to see the crashes.

Anyway, if you think the Saints are dirty for what they did to Favre, you probably should stop watching sports.  At least team sports.  I will admit that I felt sorry for how unprotected Brett was.  His line let him down, letting him get hit, while avoiding any sacks.  I’m proud, for once, of the Saints, they did what was necessary to move to the next game, and they needed every ounce of advantage to do it.  Sorry, Vikings fans.