At the end of each year, I often reflect on what, in my mind, were the most memorable moments in sports. In the NFL, the year began with a 16 – 0 team (New England Patriots) and ended with a 0 – 16 team (Detroit Lions). Who could forget the amazing catch made by an unknown receiver named David Tyree of the NY Giants as they ruined the New England Patriots bid for a perfect season. Check out Tyree’s book, More Than Just The Catch (see below). It is a story of mistakes, second chances, hard work, perseverance, and faith. It is also a story of love and ultimately a story of grace. Without “the catch” the Giants probably wouldn’t have won the Super Bowl and without God’s grace Tyree probably wouldn’t have even been in the NFL. God’s grace is amazing!
February brought on the Mitchell Report and Roger Clemen’s bizarre behavior. Has any professional athlete ever “fallen from grace” so quickly? Once a sure fire first-ballot Hall of Famer, he was brought down by conflicting testimonies at congressional hearings. Many who followed the testimonies seriously doubted that what he was saying could possibly be the truth. One lesson we can all learn from this sad story is that, as hard as it may be sometimes, it is much easier to just tell the truth than to try and keep up with a lie. Truth is essential!
In June, Tiger Woods’ performance at the U.S. Open was an amazing feat. How is it possible to do what he did without the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee? Equally memorable, for me, was the sportsmanship shown by Rocco Mediate and the fans at Torrey Pines. If it had been possible for both men to win, it seemed that few people would have been upset. The event certainly renewed my faith in the fact that true sportsmanship can still exist at the highest levels of competition even though it seems to be absent in most other professional sports. Honesty, integrity, and sportsmanship that are maintained in the sport of golf have been replaced by performance-enhancing drugs, loopholes, and questionable ethics in other sports where winning is all that seems to matter. Sportsmanship matters!
Who could ever forget Michael Phelps performance in the Beijing Olympics in August? Eight gold medals! I’m old enough to remember Mark Spitz and what he did in 1972 at Munich. I never thought that his gold medal record of seven would ever be broken. Phelps would have only tied Spitz’s record if it were not for teammate Jason Lezak and his amazing last 50 meters in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay defeating France’s Alain Bernard by eight hundredths of a second (.08). Teamwork is critical! This small victory margin looked large when Phelps edged out Serbia’s Milorad Cavic by one hundredth of a second (.01) in the 100 meter butterfly. Finishing strong is crucial!
Other memorable stories and lessons to learn that I will remember from 2008 are Brett Favre retiring and unretiring, Tampa (Devil) Rays going from worst to first, Nadal vs. Federer in a classic Wimbledon final lasting nearly 5 hours and the NCAA Men’s basketball championship game in which Kansas defeated Memphis in overtime. Let me know why other stories from 2008 stand out in your mind. For me also, the year 2008 will always be remembered as the year in which God allowed us to begin the ministry of CSPN. I hope that it is an encouragement and blessing to you. Thanks for being connected with CSPN. May God bless you in a greater way in 2009!
The Victory is His,
Coach Scott
I Chron. 29:11-13
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2 comments:
One particular story of sportsmanship stands out to me. I cannot remember the specific teams, but it involved two small colleges on the west coast (either Oregon or Washington).
It was between two girls fastpitch softball teams. One girl was a junior, and she had been an exceptionally good player, but she was smaller and had never hit a homerun.
She steps up to bat and hits her first homerun, but as she rounds first base she tears her ACL. She must round the bases and cross home plate without any assistance from her teammates or she will be called out. Two opposing players ask they umpire and he confirms that they can help her around the bases. They picked her up and carried her to each base where she touched each base with one foot. They then carried her across home plate. Incredible show of sportsmanship.
Dan,
Thanks for reminding us of this great sports memory of 2008. ESPN featured this in a story called, "The Best Homerun Ever". We have a copy of it on video and will try to post it sometime in the future. It is a great story of sportsmanship. Another more recent story of a team helping out an injured opponent happened recently in a Christian school basketball game in the Atlanta area. This story involves one of our Northland graduates (head coach Mike McCarty)and is currently posted on the front page of CSPN's website (www.cspnonline.com) Check it out. Thanks again for contributing to CSPN and for telling others about CSPN.
Coach Scott
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