On Any Given Day

ticket.jpgLast Saturday morning, our family awoke at the crack of dawn and headed down to Game Day in T-town. It was only a 2 ½ hour drive from Huntsville to Tuscaloosa, but for all practical purposes it might as well have been 40 years.

I say that because that’s what it felt like–1966. After the obligatory pregame meal at Dreamland BBQ, we arrived on the beautiful, oak-lined, University of Alabama Quad, bordered by Denny Chimes to the south and Gorgas Library to the north. The stereotypical Southern fixation with the past was never more perfectly illustrated than by the Crimson-clad legions bivouacking on the expansive green, reveling in the memories of past teams and glory years gone by.… Read the rest

A Sneak Preview

The largest phantom, of course, belongs to legendary Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. His presence is seen and felt in every corner of the Quad and in the shrine and museum which bears his name located on (where else?) Bryant Drive. Houndstooth hats, SEC and national championship trophies, the rings, and of course, his desk and chair, are on full display, sacramental relics which render the gazing Tide faithful breathless, teary-eyed and all atremble.

Coming tomorrow–Game Day in T-town

… Read the rest

Do You Want to Hear Something Really Scary?

Things I love about this time of year:

  • Cooler, crisp weather and the extra spring in my step during my morning run.
  • The pageantry and thrill of college football (Roll Tide!)
  • Midnight Madness, and the beginning of college basketball season (Go Duke!)
  • The MLB playoffs and World Series (Go Cards! Please?)
  • Watching (and coaching) my sons play soccer
  • Having a fine dinner with Eyegal and driving home with the top back and the windows down
  • Catching a glimpse of God in the bushes and trees which are just starting to burn with the fiery colors of fall
  • Pumpkins. And the sweet aroma of decay emanating from piles of fallen leaves

Things I hate about this time of year:

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A Blogiversary and Some FAQs

On the occasion of my first blogiversary, I thought I would answer a few blogging FAQs (or at least some that you might like answered).

Q: When did you first hear about blogging?

A: Until Hurricane Katrina, I had never heard of blogging. But in the aftermath of the storm, I began reading blogs containing first-hand accounts from people in affected areas of the Gulf Coast and was hooked. I couldn’t believe how quickly and efficiently one could leap via links to so many different places, people and perspectives. I discovered several bloggers who were members of my particular denomination, the Church of Christ, as well as fellow Harding University alumni.… Read the rest

A Doubting Faith

As humans, we can merely sense the existence of a higher truth, a greater coherence than ourselves, but we cannot see it face to face. That is either funny or sad, and humans stagger from one option to the other. Neither beasts nor angels, we live in twilight, and we are unsure whether it is a prelude to morning or a prelude to night.

There is much in this article by Andrew Sullivan which rings true to me.

Very much indeed.

… Read the rest

Ready? Okay!

As someone who has been there, I can tell you there is no prouder moment in a father’s life than when your eldest son dresses in drag and proceeds to shake his booty in front of a large crowd of your friends and neighbors:

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I should point out that the occasion was the annual Grissom High vs. Huntsville High Powderpuff football game conducted as a benefit for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So, it was for a good cause that Number One dressed in a miniskirt and participated in a dance routine at halftime that made his old man blush and start looking around for a pair of sunglasses and a wig.… Read the rest

A Red State of Mind–A Good Read

The stack of books on my nightstand is about to get one louder, uh, I mean higher. My blogging friend Nancy French has a new book coming out October 9th–A Red State of Mind: How a Catfish Queen Reject Became a Liberty Belle. If that down home and intriguing title doesn’t grab you, maybe the paperdoll cutout with the big hair will:

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You gotta admit, that took some guts. The book chronicles the adventures of a conservative, evangelical former beauty queen reject from Paris, Tennessee as she plunges headlong into the deep, Blue State waters of New York City and Philadelphia.… Read the rest

Maranatha

I normally try to keep my eyes focused on the humorous, upside of things; it’s one of the ways I keep my sanity. Besides, there are plenty of other places to which you can go that do a great job of chronicling and dissecting the bad and the ugly.

But the events of the past week are weighing heavy on all of us this morning, and yesterday’s news of the massacre which took place at the one-room Amish school house in Pennsylvania only adds to the crushing burden. There are simply no words. We can only hang our heads and weep at the insanity and horror of it all.… Read the rest

A Tale of Two Hats

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The weekend has concluded, the Tide hung in there for a while but didn’t escape from “The Swamp” and “Wide Right Jesus” is still signaling “no good.”

But unless the world screeches to a halt and stops spinning on its axis, the Crimson Nation should be be smiling next week at this time after dismantling one of the nation’s most feeble college football teams, the Duke Blue Devils. I suspect the boys from Durham are making a handsome sum for showing up in Tuscaloosa for their thrashing. Duke lost their Homecoming game 37-0 to UVa on Saturday, so look for Saturday’s game to get butt ugly very quickly.… Read the rest

Wide Right Jesus

egg_beater_jesus_for_www.jpgI’m grateful to Full Professor Elrod for reminding me that we have our own version of “Touchdown Jesus” right here in Huntsville. “Eggbeater Jesus” is a 43 feet tall mosaic Messiah consisting of approximately 14 million pieces of the very finest Italian tile. This culinary Christ is located on the side of the First Baptist Church on Governors Drive near downtown Huntsville, just a few steps from where I work.

The name should be self-explanatory, but given the performance of Alabama place kicker Leigh Tiffin (3 missed FGs and 1 missed PAT) last Saturday against Arkansas, I would propose we give Him a new title– “Wide Right Jesus.”… Read the rest

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Watcha Gonna Do?

cops500.jpgIt was half past midnight, and I had just started to dream. About what, I don’t remember. I just know that moments before, I had passed through the that warm and hazy tunnel connecting reality to reverie. Shapes and voices were emerging and the jumbled nightly narrative had begun–instructing, soothing or tormenting–it was anybody’s guess what shape the storyline would take tonight. And then came the knock.

And then the creak of our bedroom door opening. “H. just got pulled over by the police. He’s in front of the house,” informed Number Three Son.

H. is a college student, a good friend and a youth ministry major.… Read the rest