For a few different reasons, we could say that sports are an important part of life.  Our recent post about the Packers tells about one reason — to wit, the importance of putting the team and the mission before yourself.  In the media recently, we have seen three examples of another of those reasons — to wit, athletes sometimes show us astounding character in their efforts on and off the field:

• Jeremy Lin was interviewed on 60 minutes about how he overcame racial prejudice to become an NBA star.
• R. A. Dickey was also interviewed on 60 minutes about how he overcame sexual abuse, a failing marriage, and a failing pitching career to become the first knuckleballer to with the Cy Young award and more importantly, to have a restored marriage.
• Jackie Robinson was featured in 42, a film about his fight against overwhelming racial prejudice to become an MLB star.

These are the kind of stories that can give us and our children a real vision for what a life well-lived looks like, a vision for the right way to overcome various forms of adversity.  Each of these men overcame a different obstacle, but each of them has or had the same trust in Jesus Christ, especially through the roughest spots.  In the media portrayals this is often ignored, but in each case we note that these men are/were characterized by the sweet, quiet confidence that is the outworking of faith a sovereign God.

Recently, someone asked who my favourite Packers player is.  I realized that I have not picked out any one player to respect more than the others and that Mike McCarthy has apparently done a fantastic job of creating a team environment where each player takes responsibility for his own actions, in public does not criticize others on the team, and is focused on what he can do to make the team win.  During this last season, I thought that the wide receiver corps was the prime example.  Each of those guys (Driver, Jennings, Jones, Nelson) was a class act, displayed character at all times, gave credit to others when things went well, and took blame when things went poorly.  And the quarterback (Rodgers) did the same.  Now that Driver has retired and Jennings has moved to the Vikings, we have hope (based on history and continuity) that this trend will continue.

Kudos to the Packers, and the wide receiver corps of the 2012 season gets the nod for favourite player.

Just the other night K’s school held its “Holiday Concert.”  I proposed an informal over/under bet.  Which would be greater, the number of unexpurgated Christmas Carols or the number of Hanukkah songs?  While I thought myself to be clever, the question was moot.  The single “Hanukkah” song was only tangentially related to the holiday — simply stating that “Shalom Aleikhem” means “peace to you” — and the “Christmas” songs were two: Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Here We Come a-Wassailing (Caroling).  So the Christmas songs would have won the day, if only technically, but hark!  The latter carol has been altered!  Now you are saying to yourself, “Come on.  A real live communist could barely object to that song.”  I concur.  Leave it to your local public school choir teacher, however, to find something objectionable.  Here is the chorus to Here We Come a-Wassailing:

Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too;
And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year
And God send you a Happy New Year.

And here are the last two lines as sung by the second-graders:

And we wish you and send you a Happy New Year
And we wish you a Happy New Year.

It is time for another restaurant challenge.  Last week, we had the rare occasion to visit a Chipotle Mexican Grill, and so we believe we have enough information to make a fair analysis between Chipotle and Qdoba, two nearly identical restaurants.  Let us compare:

1. Chipotle has brown rice, plus the rice has cilantro.  Point for Chipotle.
2. Both have delicious meats and burritos.  The beef at Chipotle is great.  The Ancho Chile BBQ at Qdoba is fantastic.  This round is a draw.
3. If you get salsa in a cup at a Chipotle, they charge $1.25; Qdoba does not charge extra.  Point for Qdoba.
4. If you get a naked burrito at Qdoba, they do not charge you when you ask for chips to go with it.  At Chipotle, you will pay for them.  Point for Qdoba.
5. Qdoba has cheese sauce (with the unfortunate moniker “3-Cheese Queso Sauce”).  Chipotle has none.  Point for Qdoba.

Qdoba has just handed Chipotle a whoopin’.

Kodiak Jack’s is now offering a “Free Lunch, including unlimited fries” with purchase of the soup and salad bar for $6.99.  It is an interesting ploy — free lunch only $7 — but by the unlimited fries, you know they are targeting Red Robin.  So Let’s compare:

1. The Salad: KJ’s salad bar is mediocre.  You don’t get a salad with your burger at RR.  Half a point for KJ’s
2. The Burger: KJ’s burger is solid, perhaps better than RR in it’s basic form.  But RR has all the fancy toppings, so we’ll call this one a draw.
3. The Fries: KJ’s has unlimited fries, RR has bottomless fries.  KJ’s fries, however, are skin on.  Point for KJ’s.
4. The Price: KJ’s charges $7 for all this.  At RR you will pay $9-10 for the burger and fries.  Point for KJ’s

At least for lunch, Kodiak Jack’s just blew Red Robin out of the water.

Heard on the radio tonight…this advertisement struck me as particularly asinine:  Have you been wanting an iPad but money is tight?  Then stop on down to the car credit center…we’ll get you approved for an auto loan and with every car purchase we’ll enter you for a chance to win an iPad.  Stunning!

Reviewing the most recent bundle of medical bills, we find the following contrast instructive:

• Cost to see the family doctor and be tested and treated for strep throat: $275
• Cost to see the quick-care doctor (at Wal-Mart) and be tested and treated for strep throat: $65

Both offices are members of medical group X.

 

 

A friend and I watched the new Sherlock Holmes together.  It was just as enjoyable as the first and about as good as a sequel could be — enough of the first to give you the taste you want, yet enough freshness too.  About this film, however, one thing stood out — the relationship between the Holmes and Watson characters.  In this film, the pair enjoyed a friendship, a brotherhood, a bond that I dare say most men today wish they could have, but don’t know how to find it.  Furthermore, this bond was portrayed in a way that you rarely see in popular media.  To wit, in a way that was warm, wholesome, and uplifting.  It was not overplayed.  It was definitely not belittled.  In fact, the character of the friendship buttressed the entire story line and I walked away with a notion that I need to do more to nurture my masculine friendships.

We have had enough of hearing about “holiday lights,” “holiday shopping,” “holiday songs,” and the “holiday season” that we shall have to introduce a negative post here.  Now you know we are not a negative person, so really this will just be a bit of thinly disguised levity.  We recently discussed with a friend what the worst Christmas songs of all time were and concluded that a top five list was in order.  The criteria: A nationally popular song; as written, not as covered; although a particularly bad or good cover might tip the scales one way or the other; a cover is eligible for dishonorable mention. So here they are, our top five worst Christmas songs of all time:

1. Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas-time
2. So This is Christmas (War is Over)
3. Little Saint Nick
4. Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer
5. Santa Baby

Dishonorable Mention:

• Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey
• Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Bruce Springsteen)
• Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do you have a Christmas song to nominate?  Nominations will almost certainly make dishonorable mention.