The Mission Top Five

Here it is and this week we have another pretender to the Top Five throne. Let's face it. The top four teams are virtually inseperable so everyone else in the country is fighting for the number five slot. Today that honor falls to West Virginia, who will probably lose this week. Gordon, I am sure that if Oregon wins their big Game Day battle against Cal in a couple of weeks, they just might finally crack the top five. The bigger question will come when one of the big four loses. Will pollsters drop them or will they acknowledge that even with a loss, these four are head and shoulders above the rest of the college football fraternity. 1. LSU (4-0) – LSU replaces USC at number one in part because of another strong performance against a ranked team and in part because of Ball St hanging 600 yards and 40 points on Nebraska making USC’s win last week a little less impressive. 2. USC (3-0) – Remember that the top 2 play for the title. There is little difference between numbers one and two. USC will get a stiff test on the road against Washington this week. 3. Oklahoma (4-0) – Another week, another 50 points. The streak may end against a stout Colorado defense this weekend, but an easy win will still be there for the taking. 4. Florida (4-0) – The defending national champs get their shot at revenge this week. Struggling Auburn is the opponent and my guess is that it will take some offensive touchdowns to pull the upset this year. 5. West Virginia (4-0) – This is the week for West Virginia. During this great run over the past few seasons, they still haven’t knocked off a highly ranked foe on the road. The win won’t be coming this week because the defense still hasn’t been tested and will fail this week.

I spent a few hours at the emergency room the other night. It was about midnight when my wife got me there and I was in as much pain as I have ever experienced in my life. It was if the upper part of my stomach was going to explode. I wasn't real worried until the doctor did an EKG and had a heart monitor hooked up. Then I got worried. I mean, a heart problem is a little more serious than a stomach issue. The bottom line... he did not think I had a heart attack, but he also had no real idea what caused my pain. Just once I want a doctor who is not practicing medicine and then maybe I can get a real answer. For you politicos, O'Reilly is getting jobbed. His comments were not racist and for MSNBC or CNN to imply as much without also attacking Juan Williams, the black, liberal NPR White House reporter is totally disingenuous. For a great post on this, read Conservatism with Heart. What is going on with inflation? I don't know about you but everywhere I shop, the prices are up. Gas is up almost 200% over the last two years. Heating oil is going to skyrocket this winter. Prices are up because delivery prices are up. Food costs more. Clothing is more expensive as is almost anything else you buy at the store. And yet we keep hearing that we are not experiencing inflation. Given the facts that we all know to be true, how can this be? Here is a great family game. It is called Ticket to Ride. You basically build railroad lines across either the US or Europe in a competition against 2 to 5 other people. It is a great game, lots of fun, and even helps with geography. If you are one of those types of people that loves to play games with your family or friends, get this game. You'll be glad you did. Living a life pleasing to Jesus can be really tough. In light of a biblical call to be on the side of the poor and disenfranchised of the world [personified in the life and teachings of Jesus], how does the Christian population of the US justify biblically the riches that we surround ourselves with every day? Even the poorest people in the US have more options and opportunity than most people in the developing world. I often wonder what God thinks of how we deal with that. Or if most of us even consider that as we go about our daily lives.

The Mission Top Five

Here you go folks. I told you last week that I didn't think Wisconsin belonged in the Top Five and lo and behold, Shadow Sports dropped them a little. Gordon, Oregon is getting close in the complete poll, [Number 10] but they are still not Top Five material. Actually, here is where I am at in all of this. The top four teams in the country are USC, LSU, Oklahoma, and Florida. No question about it. They could all lose a game and in my opinion, they'd still be the best 4 teams in the country. So that leaves one place for the rest of the college football fraternity to fight over and this weeks winner seems to be...Penn State. With the worst helmets in football. Finally, I told you either Michigan or Notre Dame would win last week. The question now becomes whether or not Our Mother of South Bend can even score a touchdown on offense. Rankings (W-L, Last Week in Parenthesis) 1. USC (2-0, 1) – USC looked impressive enough in a tough road game to keep the top ranking. Things get a little easier this week (Washington St. at home). For anyone on the west coast, avoid the ABC Saturday night slaughter and watch the SEC showdown on ESPN. 2. LSU (3-0, 2) – We now know the difference between LSU and Louisville: defense. LSU shutout Middle Tennessee St. while the offense rolled. Louisville gave up 42 points while the offense rolled. 3. Oklahoma (3-0, 3) – Oklahoma has been flat out dominant so far, but against sub par competition (the Miami defense might be good, but when the offense can’t get a first down, you get tired fast). This week could be a spot of minor trouble (ask BYU about Tulsa). 4. Florida (3-0, 6) – After destroying Tennessee, it is valid to ask the question: Is Tennessee being overvalued since the defense has looked awful, or another question: Is Florida-Cal going to be the title game? 5. Penn St. (3-0, 7) – Penn St. slept through last week’s game against Buffalo. They won’t be able to do that this week with a revitalized Michigan on deck. (you know the drill...take all you want, just give us a link. preferably hot!)

Small, Medium, or Large?

Call it age. There are some things that just seem to tick me off. Things like a restaurant selling a Caesar Salad with iceberg lettuce instead of romaine. Low fat donuts are another. Does anyone eat those things? I mean, if you are going to kill yourself with a donut, why not go for the gusto and get the real thing? A few years back a friend and I had an obsession for apple fritters. They cost about a buck and I think they weighed about 2 pounds each. I cannot imagine a low calorie apple fritter. What’s the point? Anyways, yesterday I went into Coffee Bean & Tea to get an Iced Latte. I was not real thirsty and only had a short time to devote to enjoying my drink so I ordered a small. Well guess what, they don’t have small. Only regular and large. What’s up with that? By definition wasn’t the regular small? I am not sure you have noticed, but somewhere the Madison Avenue types have decided that it is not profitable to sell drinks in small, medium, and large sizes. I went into a Burger King Drive-thru one day and ordered a medium Coke. The girl said they only had Regular, Large, and Extra Large. When did medium become extinct? I wasn't even aware it was on the endangered species list! And when did the smallest size change to a regular? Can you imagine the havoc if we were to apply this type of thinking to the rest of our daily lives? I am sorry sir, we have no small cars for sale, only regular cars. Are small cars irregular? Or I go into Target to buy a medium T-shirt and find out I now wear a large, but I'm the same size I used to be. What about the guy who used to buy extra large. Does he now have to buy humongous? What about asking for a small piece of cake at a party? Do you not get any because the hostess is only serving regular size slices? Some days it just seems as if there are a bunch of smarty pants people somewhere trying to think up ways to confuse a lot of us regular folks who are just trying to make it through the day. When I order a medium soda, I want the one in the middle. And when I order small, I want the smallest one you have. I don’t care what you call them. It is not rocket science.

The Mission Top Five

Okay, so last week we missed getting our rankings up, but this week we are back on schedule. So here is what you missed. LSU looks awesome. They won big and totally trashed Va. Tech last week. Auburn will lose more than they win if they have to score more than 20 points to win. Their offense is just that...offensive. Wisconsin does not belong in the Mission Top Five, but what can I say, I am contractually bound to keep them there, even if the owner of Shadow Sports has a screw loose. Sorry Gordon, maybe next week Oregon makes the grade. So here you go, this weeks rankings and my picks for the week. SC kills Nebraska and either Michigan or Notre Dame will finally win a game. Rankings (W-L, Last Week in Parenthesis) 1. USC (1-0, 1) – To avoid dropping to number three, the Trojans need an impressive win in their national showcase game after LSU and Oklahoma sparkled in theirs. This week: at 19 Nebraska (2-0) 2. LSU (2-0, 2) – The LSU offense was a revelation in the demolition of Virginia Tech. Even if there is a letdown, the defense will keep LSU unbeaten for now, despite the presence of an offensively potent Middle Tennessee team (ask Louisville about that). This week: Middle Tennessee St. (0-2) 3. Oklahoma (2-0, 4) – The toughest early season test has been passed with flying colors. Now they just need to beat Texas and avoid some of the defensive letdowns of years past and the national title game, or at least an undefeated season is in sight. This week: Utah St. (0-2) 4. Louisville (2-0, 3) – Just a thought, if my offense rolled up 58 points and over 700 yards of offense, I would have won in a blowout and my second and third teamers would have given up 28 of those 42 points. That Middle Tennessee scored on their first five drives should really worry Louisville fans with Kentucky and the SEC’s best offense this week. The only silver lining: The Kentucky defense is somehow even worse meaning Louisville should win, even if it’s by whoever has the ball last conditions. This week: at Kentucky (2-0) 5. Wisconsin (2-0, 5) – The Badgers were lucky to get out of Las Vegas in one piece. Fortunately for them, there are a few weeks before the next legitimate test. That comes October 13 at Penn St. This week: The Citadel (1-AA) (take all you want, just give us credit)

Six Years Later

In the life of everyone, there are always days they remember. A lot of times, these are days of celebration. Things like birthdays, weddings, first kisses, that kind of stuff. Then there are the tragedies. Accidents, deaths, funerals, and in some cases, national events. The Challenger. Katrina. Pearl Harbor. JFK. For most people under 25, one day they will remember will be September 11, 2001. The day Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda participated in an unprovoked attack on the United States by hijacking 4 planes, flying two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and attempting to fly the other into the White House before it crashed in Pennsylvania. With no worry about how many innocent people might die, (because they redefined the term "innocent people" so that there were none) twenty people began their day with the express purpose of killing Americans. As many as possible. It was not long after that date that we attacked Afghanistan. This is where bin Laden hung out, where Al Qaeda trained and where the Taliban held court. Soon we were seeing pictures of our victorious forces in battle across the country. Newspapers across the globe said that we were all Americans. Even the French! The world that had watched the Taliban take over Afghanistan and give bin Laden sanctuary was rooting for us. Cheering for us. Supporting us. We had been attacked, the world was united in our right to seek out and punish those involved, and we had the goodwill of most of the peoples of the world. But we have not finished the job. Somewhere along the way we lost sight of who attacked us. On September 11, 2001, we were attacked by al Qaeda and Taliban supported Osama bin Laden, at the time living in Afghanistan. Here it is 6 years later to the day and by all accounts the Taliban has reestablished itself, bin Laden is still alive and sending videos to the US. Al Qaeda is alive and well, and the people of the rural areas of Afghanistan are raking in the dough of the largest opium crop in years. Opium that will be sold as heroin to finance worldwide terrorist activities. President Bush, you blew it! Somehow you took near total support of the American people and the world community that we had when we attacked Afghanistan and blew it. To make matters worse, you did not finish the job in that country. You sent American troops into Afghanistan to rid the country of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Other governments now understand that to get something done in that area, one must deal with the Taliban, as was evident in the release of the South Korean missionaries. How is this possible? Didn't we destroy them? Despite the election of President Hamid Karzai, even your biggest supporters would have to admit something has gone wrong. Houston, we have a problem! I know we are a little busy in Iraq. A country that was already hemmed in by US and Allied firepower long before September 11, 2001. But the country from where the attacks were launched and the government and leaders that supported those attacks are in the process of a remarkable rebirth. Maybe after the "surge" we could return to finish the job in Afghanistan. I will always remember September 11, 2001. I was in my car early in the morning driving on the freeway with my wife. I supported our response in Afghanistan. But like Vietnam, Korea, and the first Gulf War, we did not finish the job. I hope the next time we are attacked or choose to go to war, our civilian military leaders remember September 11. And finish the job.

Back to School

It is the day after Labor Day and for many parents, that means anxiety, joy, confusion, or some mixture of all of that. With school starting, or having already started, many parents are sending their kids off for the first time, and they are scared. Both the parents and the kids. For the veterans, the first day of school brings a sense of relief in that you will not have to worry all day about what your kids are doing...hopefully. And in all of this, there is bound to be some confusion. So for all of you parents, just imagine yourself at one of these beautiful places and enjoy the moment, you've earned it.