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- and other less important issues from outside the diamond.
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THE POPE BLESSING THE VIRTUES OF SPORTS - THANKS POPE.
"The correct practice of sport must be accompanied by practicing the virtues of temperance and sacrifice; frequently it also requires a good team spirit, respectful attitudes, the appreciation of the qualities of others, honesty in the game and humility to recognize one's own limitations. In short, sports, especially in less competitive forms, foster festive celebration and friendly coexistence. While playing sports, Christians also find help in developing the cardinal virtues—fortitude, temperance, prudence and justice."
Pope John Paul II
25th World Day of Tourism
"Sports and Culture:Two Vital Forces for
Mutual Understanding, Culture and Development among Countries."
September 27, 2004
Even Popes recognize the virtues of sports in our lives and the values they can promote to make us into better citizens of the world and better people. That's cool.
I am thankful for the blessings that some of my favorite athletes and coaches provide to us all.
Baseball:
Albert Pujols
Mariano Rivera
Matt Holliday
John Smoltz
Jamie Moyer
Lance Berkman
Orel Herschiser
Coaching:
John Wooden
Tony Dungy
Bobby Bowden
Turner Gill
Football:
Tim Tebow
Kurt Warner
I will be watching to see if the Giants make a bid for Matt Holliday. A solid bat, great clubhouse presence and a great role model.
Obviously, it doesn't get much better than Albert Pujols, who is going to have a stranglehold on NL MVP for years to come.
While I'm happy to see Turner Gill get a long overdue shot on a big time stage at Kansas, it is offset a bit by the way Florida State allowed Bobby Bowden to end his career at Florida State. Bowden put that school on the college football landscape. Shame on FSU for not allowing him to go out on his own terms.
As for Tim Tebow, I would take him on the Giants no questions asked. Where they will be drafting, I'm not sure if you get much more value out of another position and Eli can't play every down...like Peyton Manning does....dang maybe he can. Hopefully, he gets the chance to compete somewhere as a QB, that boy can get some things done and win some games for you.
BLESSING - "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. - Genesis 12:2
What an awesome message delivered by this song. In this season where we are giving thanks for all the blessings that we have, it is important to understand and be grateful for the opportunity to deliver similar blessings to others.
God’s purpose is that his people should be the means of bringing blessing to the world. As we receive his blessings into our lives, those blessings should also touch others.
When those that freely receive life's gifts also give freely and generously, then all mankind benefits and you are truly living life to its fullest.
Today, I am especially thankful for those special people who have blessed my life and motivate me to be a better person simply as a result of knowing them and having them as a part of my life: My mom, Ledra and Erik. Thank you.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL. --------------- THE BLESSING - John Waller Let it be said of us while we walked among the living let it be said of us by the ones we leave behind let it be said of us that we lived to be a blessing for life let it be said of us that we gave to reach the dying let it be said of us by the fruit we leave behind let it be said of us that our legacy is blessing for life this day you set life, you set death right before us, this day every blessing and curse is a choice now and we will choose to be a blessing for life let it be said of us that our hearts belonged to Jesus let it be said of us that we spoke the words of life let it be said of us that our heritage is blessing for life (chorus) for your Kingdom for our Children for the sake of every nation --------------------------- FURTHER FOOD FOR THOUGHT THIS THANKSGIVING:
Thanksgiving and Marginal Utility by Gary North from the website LewRockwell.com
The first official Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on June 29, 1676 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston. But Gov. Jonathan Belcher had issued similar proclamations in Massachusetts in 1730 and in New Jersey in 1749. George Washington proclaimed a day of thanksgiving on October 23, 1789, to be celebrated on Thursday, November 27. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln officially restored it as a wartime measure. The holiday then became an American tradition. It became law in 1941.
Lincoln was a strange contradiction religiously. He was a religious skeptic, yet he invoked the rhetoric of the King James Bible – accurately – on many occasions. His political rhetoric, which had been deeply influenced by his reading of the King James, was often masterful. For example, when he spoke of the cemetery of the Gettysburg battlefield as "this hallowed ground," using the King James word for holy, as in "hallowed be thy name," he was seeking to infuse the battle of Gettysburg with sacred meaning – a use of religious terminology that was as morally abhorrent as it was rhetorically successful. It is the sacraments that are sacred, not monuments to man’s bloody destructiveness. In that same year, 1863, he used biblical themes in his October 3 Thanksgiving Day proclamation.
"It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord."
He went on, in the tradition of a Puritan Jeremiad sermon, to attribute the calamity of the Civil War to the nation’s sins, conveniently ignoring the biggest contributing sin of all in the coming of that war: his own steadfast determination to collect the national tariff in Southern ports.
In his proclamation, he made an important and accurate theological point.
"We have been the recipients of the choisest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown."
"But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."
This observation leads to the same question that Moses raised long before Lincoln’s proclamation: Why is it that men become less thankful as their blessings increase?
1. Joey Bart 6-2, 215 C Power arm and a power bat, playing a premium defensive position. Good catch and throw skills.
2. Heliot Ramos 6-2, 185 OF Potential high-ceiling player the Giants have been looking for. Great bat speed, early returns were impressive.
3. Chris Shaw 6-3. 230 1B Lefty power bat, limited defensively to 1B, Matt Adams comp?
4. Tyler Beede 6-4, 215 RHP from Vanderbilt projects as top of the rotation starter when he works out his command/control issues. When he misses, he misses by a bunch.
5. Stephen Duggar 6-1, 170 CF Another toolsy, under-achieving OF in the Gary Brown mold, hoping for better results.
6. Sandro Fabian 6-0, 180 OF Dominican signee from 2014, shows some pop in his bat. Below average arm and lack of speed should push him towards LF.
7. Aramis Garcia 6-2, 220 C from Florida INTL projects as a good bat behind the dish with enough defensive skill to play there long-term
8. Heath Quinn 6-2, 190 OF Strong hitter, makes contact with improving approach at the plate. Returns from hamate bone injury.
9. Garrett Williams 6-1, 205 LHP Former Oklahoma standout, Giants prototype, low-ceiling, high-floor prospect.
10. Shaun Anderson 6-4, 225 RHP Large frame, 3.36 K/BB rate. Can start or relieve
11. Jacob Gonzalez 6-3, 190 3B Good pedigree, impressive bat for HS prospect.
12. Seth Corry 6-2 195 LHP Highly regard HS pick. Was mentioned as possible chip in high profile trades.
13. C.J. Hinojosa 5-10, 175 SS Scrappy IF prospect in the mold of Kelby Tomlinson, just gets it done.
14. Garett Cave 6-4, 200 RHP He misses a lot of bats and at times, the plate. 13 K/9 an 5 B/9. Wild thing.
2019 MLB Draft - Top HS Draft Prospects
1. Bobby Witt, Jr. 6-1,185 SS Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) Oklahoma commit. Outstanding defensive SS who can hit. 6.4 speed in 60 yd. Touched 97 on mound. Son of former major leaguer. Five tool potential.
2. Riley Greene 6-2, 190 OF Haggerty HS (FL) Florida commit.Best HS hitting prospect. LH bat with good eye, plate discipline and developing power.
3. C.J. Abrams 6-2, 180 SS Blessed Trinity HS (GA) High-ceiling athlete. 70 speed with plus arm. Hitting needs to develop as he matures. Alabama commit.
4. Reece Hinds 6-4, 210 SS Niceville HS (FL) Power bat, committed to LSU. Plus arm, solid enough bat to move to 3B down the road. 98MPH arm.
5. Daniel Espino 6-3, 200 RHP Georgia Premier Academy (GA) LSU commit. Touches 98 on FB with wipe out SL.
2019 MLB Draft - Top College Draft Prospects
1. Adley Rutschman C Oregon State Plus defender with great arm. Excellent receiver plus a switch hitter with some pop in the bat.
2. Shea Langliers C Baylor Excelent throw and catch skills with good pop time. Quick bat, uses all fields approach with some pop.
3. Zack Thompson 6-2 LHP Kentucky Missed time with an elbow issue. FB up to 95 with plenty of secondary stuff.
4. Matt Wallner 6-5 OF Southern Miss Run producing bat plus mid to upper 90's FB closer. Power bat from the left side, athletic for size.
5. Nick Lodolo LHP TCU Tall LHP, 95MPH FB and solid breaking stuff.
