Pure Joy

Bracketology, smacketology! The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are headed to the Sweet 16. Upset Kings. Bracket Busters. For those of you who don't know what this means, let me explain it to you. In the 1999 - 2000 season, UNLV had the best college basketball team on the planet. They beat Duke in the Championship game by 30 points. A record that still stands. And yes, you read that right. They crushed Duke 103 - 73. The next season they went to the Final Four undefeated but were upset in a close rematch with Duke. And that was it. Over the next 16 years, there was an occaisional appearance, but never the Sweet 16. Until now. I am not sure they can beat Oregon, but hey, who thought they could beat Wisconsin? Certainly not Timmer, who had them losing in the first round to Georgia Tech. Look at the faces of these kids. Pure joy. I love sports. There are not many things in life that can bring that kind of joy. Welcome back UNLV! Finally, for all of you bracket people, here are my Final Four picks. Florida, Kansas, Georgetown, and Texas A & M.

Tournament Time

They’re back. That’s right. The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, the former basketball powerhouse of the Southwest are back in the dance. The NCAA Championship. March Madness. The thing every college basketball junkie lives for. We all owe Coach John Wooden, UCLA, and a skinny kid named Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, for our annual party, and through the 70’s and 80’s one of the most exciting teams to watch was the Jerry Tarkanian coached Runnin’ Rebels. I moved to Las Vegas in 1979 and, being a sports nut from Los Angeles, started looking for a professional team to follow. The Rebels were all we had in those days. Michael Johnson and Spiderman Burns. Not great, but good. And they played in the Las Vegas Convention Center. But Tark worked hard to bring high quality players to an up and coming program. Vegas and Tark were the perfect couple. He brought in winners and the city showered him with love. During my days there I was able to see many of the Rebel greats play in person. Ed Catchings, Danny Tarkanian, Elridge Hudson, Armon Gilliam, and Fearless Freddie Banks(pictured here). These were the guys who came before what was one of the great college basketball teams in history, the 1989-1990 powerhouse that had Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt, and of course Larry Johnson. I was also fortunate to see some great non rebel players. Guys like Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Len Bias of Maryland. But the real stars were always the Rebs. It has been a number of years since UNLV has had much to get excited about. Since Tark left, the school has been left wondering if they were ever going to see a return to prominence. Well that day has finally come! I watched the WAC Championship Game the other day. It was held at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas, the home court of UNLV. It was packed, the Rebs were runnin’, the defense was outstanding, and they defeated longtime rival BYU. This week they will play Georgia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. No matter how it turns out, it is good to see the Rebels back in the mix. The style of ball they play, runnin’ and gunnin’, is great for recruiting, exciting to watch, and for the first time in a long while, their future looks bright. Now if the NCAA will just leave them alone. (kudos to sports illustrated, the rj, and google for the photos)

The Real Mission

It is good to be back! I left the US a little over three weeks ago to prepare for a week of ministry in Southern Mexico. There were 10 of us and our mission was to finish a church building in the village of San Baltazar Guelavila. We were also able to complete a planned expansion of the training center we built in 2005 for Zapotecan Leaders and Pastors who are unable to access traditional learning opportunities in Oaxaca. The first classes that we are helping coordinate will take place in late July/early August of this year. "Thanks for a great week of ministry. I can't think of anything that would have made the trip any better." Doug Fogg, Portland, Oregon This worship center was started in July of 2006. Our teams, along with our Mexican brothers began the first day last year by digging trenches for the footings and foundations. Once those were dug, we had to bring in and place in the trenches almost 4 tons of green cantara stone. Once that was done, we mixed and poured over seventy-five 110-pound bags of concrete, adding an equal amount of rock and sand to each bag. The next few months saw local builders putting the blocks up and getting the building ready for the roof and windows. Ebenezer Baptist Church, San Baltazar Guelevila, Oaxaca, Mexico In January, members of the sponsoring church from Mexico, First Baptist Oaxaca, oversaw the installation of the trusses for the final stages of the roof. On Friday, February 23 the roof was completed and on Saturday the 24th a celebration was held that was attended by over 200 people from the community and other nearby Zapotecan churches. "Thank you for helping make our dreams come true. God really answered our prayers." Americo and Norma Santana, Co-Pastors, Ebenezer Baptist Church, San Baltazar, Oaxaca For me, it is a real gift from God to be part of something like this. Rarely in our society do we get the chance to make a real impact on an individual’s life, and almost never can we impact an entire village or city. To the members of our most recent team, Brian Douglas, Mark and Susan Doverspike, Faith Baptist of Harney County, Oregon, Palos Verdes Baptist Church, Cornerstone Church of Ione, First Baptist Church of Oaxaca City, and our many supporters and staff of Adventures in Life Ministry, thank you for helping make a dream come true for the new Ebenezer Baptist of San Baltazar Guelavila. The February 2007 Adventures in Life Oaxaca Men's Ministry Team (for more infomation on how you can make a real kingdom difference, visit www.ailministry.org)