Fall

What is it about Fall that is always so magical? Its the start of the school year. The trees, plants and grass begins to die. The hours of sunlight are less and less. It gets colder and colder; yet there is something special about this season. Everyone seems to enjoy it. Fall always seems to bring this sense of a new beginning with it. Maybe its the fact that the season coincides with the start of the school year, but for some reason there is a feeling that when Fall comes a new chance a new happening is beginning.


I personally love the Fall because of two things: football season and the cold weather. Most people hate the cold weather part but I love it. But as much as I love Fall there are also reasons why I hate it. There is less daylight, school begins and everything dies (though on a side note the leaves changing colors is beautiful and breathtaking).


But I find myself telling people that Fall is probably my favorite season of the year. Due to the two pros on my list outweigh my three cons. This could be true because for me football season equals about four or five pros on a list. But there is something still more to the this season. A hint of magic in the air, a chance for a fresh start. Maybe its because I have been in school the last 20 years of my life that I instantly associate Fall with the chance of a fresh start. But I think its more because others, who have not been in school for a significant period of time see this as a chance as a new start.

I feel that we love Fall because it illustrates for us a principle: people can only live, once they have died. This is what we get out of the colors of Fall as trees die and we marvel at the beauty, we know for a fact that the leaves will come back again in a few months. So it is the same for us. As we die to things from out past, from bad habits, from poor choices, and bad relationships, we get a chance to start over again. We have a chance at new life. So this Fall as you drink your warm apple cinder, as you wear your hoodie for the first time, and as you watch the days grow shorter and the leaves Fall, may you stop and ask yourself: What is it that you need to die to this year? And as you get your answer, have hope, because new life is right around the corner.

Remember When...Blockbuster

In the last month two times I have seen a Blockbuster video store that is still in operation. Seeing this store has amazed me more than any of the Seven Wonders of the World. I had no idea that Blockbusters still existed, much less any video store. The Internet, Netflix and Redbox have taken over the home video market. If we do not see a movie in theaters we either have it mailed to us, instantly download it (both legally and illegally) or get it out of a glorified vending machine. (I am not a prognosticator but I will say that I do not see Redbox lasting much longer either). Physically going to a video store and scouring the shelves for a video has become a lost art. It has become too much work. Now we do not have to get off of our couch to even get the movie on the screen if we have Netflix instant downloading. We can just push a button on our remote and the movie starts. This new wave of technology has caused me to envision this in the future.

My grandchild: Ugh...the download froze. Now I have to start all over again in order to watch the movie. Its going to take another minute.

Me: Well back in my day. We had to walk 5 miles in the snow and up a hill in order to rent a movie.

2011 NFL Predictions

AFC East
New England 13-3
New York 11-5 (wild card)
Miami 7-9
Buffalo 4-12

AFC North
Baltimore 12-4
Pittsburgh 11-5 (wild card)
Cleveland 7-9
Cincinnati 3-13

AFC South
Indianapolis 11-5
Houston 9-7
Jacksonville 7-9
Tennessee 5-11

AFC West
San Diego 10-6
Kansas City 8-8
Oakland 7-9
Denver 4-12

NFC East
Philadelphia 11-5
Dallas 10-6 (wild card)
New York 10-6
Washington 5-11

NFC North
Green Bay 11-5
Detroit 8-8
Chicago 7-9
Minnesota 6-10

NFC South
New Orleans 11-5
Atlanta 11-5 (wild card)
Tampa Bay 8-8
Carolina 2-14

NFC West
St. Louis 8-8
Arizona 7-9
San Francisco 6-10
Seattle 6-10

Playoff Results:
Wild-Card Round
(5) Jets over (4) Chargers
(3) Colts over (6) Steelers
(3) Eagles over (6) Cowboys
(5) Falcons over (4) Rams

Divisional Round
(1) Patriots over (5) Jets
(2) Ravens over (3) Colts
(3) Eagles over (2) Saints
(1) Packers over (5) Falcons

Conference Championships
(2) Ravens over (1) Patriots
(1) Packers over (3) Eagles

Super Bowl XLVI
Packers over Ravens

I'm Getting Old

So this week classes start back up at AU. Its a weird time because here at the Seminary the scheduling is a little bit different and we do not start our fall classes until the beginning of October. Since the new school year is beginning I am required to go to intramural sports training for the Rec Center on campus. At training today, the returning officials got to meet the new officials for the year. They were all freshmen of course. Meeting these new officials, I came to the realization that I am six years their senior. This realization gave me conflicting feelings. On what side, I felt good. I am accomplished, mature and wise in my old age. On the other side, I felt sad. I am getting older, slower and less cool. It also made me realize that this is truly my last year of a college type experience. Once June comes around I will have to be an official adult and make real adult decisions while trying to manage a career. I have run out of ideas to delay this from happening. Man, I feel old. Where has my life gone? God, could you please just slow down time a little bit?

Winning

The American society is fascinated with winning. In fact to be the best at anything is probably the goal of most Americans. It is what drives us. We have to be the best at our job. We have to be the best in our class. We have to have the best house, car, family, etc. We even have to root for the best sports teams. Charlie Sheen, our great American idol, has even made the phrase, "Winning" popular lately. I don't know what it is but each of us has to be the best. It is funny really because logic says that if one person or group of people wins, then someone has to lose.

Yet grown men and women throw fits when they see their child lose or they lose in an intramural game. Games that don't even matter. You could even say that at the end of the day a result of a professional or collegiate game doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of life. But yet our competitive nature takes over and causes us to become angry, hostile people. Do not get me wrong, I am a competitive person and will do whatever it takes to win a game, but at the end of the day, when the game is over, there is nothing more I can do to change the outcome. I have learned to be satisfied with whatever the outcome. Sure winning is fun, but losing can be just as fun if you have the right attitude.

But most of us don't. We are blinded by our desire to be the best. We feel that our identities are linked to whether we have won or lost. So in the process of the game we lose ourselves and become solely focused on the outcome. We become people we are not, yelling and screaming foul at anything that does not go our way. In the end these are the people who have lost, even if the scoreboard reads differently. "Why?" you ask. Because they missed out on the journey, the thing which is to be most enjoyed. This is how I have learned to have fun losing. I no longer have to be the best, I just enjoy the chance to become it.

Remember When...Pay Phones

I had a horrible dream the other night...I was 13. Basketball practice had ended but my parents weren't there to pick me up. I had no change and had to do the worst of all sins: call my parents collect. Then the dream flashes to a school dance and it has ended. The same thing happens, my parents fail to show and once again being short some change I had to call them collect.

Then it happened, there was the sound of thunder and the ceiling ripped open and down came an angel. He had something in his hand that was radiating with glory: a cell phone. He handed it to me and I was saved. Not only did I have a device which allowed me to call my parents for free, but I could send text messages to friends and take pictures while downloading my favorite songs to be ringtones. How has mankind survived 7,000 years without such a tool?

Cell phones have caused almost all pay phones to get replaced. I think I saw one in the subway system of NYC a few years ago, but that's it. Pay phones cease to exist. Cell phones have made them obsolete. People younger than me have lost the experience of finding change to put in a phone to call home and the anxiousness of waiting a parent's response or anyone else when you had to call them collect.

The thing I miss most about calling collect or long distance is the weird payment plans. Ninety-nine cents for the first minute and ten cents a minute after. Or it would be some other weird connection fee, followed by a per minute rate. Maybe gas stations should restore this same principle: $3.75 for the first gallon $1 per gallon after....any seconds to this motion?

2011 Indianapolis Colts Regular Season Predictions

So my favorite football team with the greatest quarterback in the NFL (yes, I am not hiding my bias) reported to training camp today. Therefore, I have decided to predict the outcome of their regular season games. Now I want to clarify that it is still early in the whole free agent/trades/signing draft pick situation due to the lockout so this is just tentative. My predictions might change depending on who the Colts sign or who other teams sign. Also in this post I am making no postseason predictions. Those will come at a later time in August when I will make predictions for the whole NFL and who will win this year's Super Bowl. So here is my rundown of the Colts' regular season.

@Houston (L, 31-28) Same result as last year. People will start questioning the defense again.
Cleveland (W, 27-20) The young and talented Browns are not quite ready yet
Pittsburgh (W, 24-23) Only win this because they are home and in primetime
@Tampa Bay (W, 27-21) Remember the last time the Colts were in Tampa? The Monday Night Miracle
Kansas City (W, 20-14) Like the Browns they just are not ready to beat a team like the Colts
@Cincinnati (W, 30-10) This team is a mess...Need I say anymore?
@New Orleans (L, 28-20) No revenge for the Colts. The Superdome is a tough place to play.
@Tennessee (W, 19-14) Hasselbeck is not the solution for the Titans.
Atlanta (W, 24-16) Expect the Falcons to come back down after last season.
Jacksonville (W, 35-27) Its great beating this team
Carolina (W, 31-14) Jimmy Clausen, Cam Newton, it will not matter
@New England (L, 27-24) A December game in Foxboro will not be good
@Baltimore (L, 20-14) Two straight losses will cause a ton of questions
Tennessee (W, 31-20) A nice rebound win at home
Houston (W, 28-24) A revenge win in the division
@ Jacksonville (W, 17-10) This could be a loss depending on whether or not this is the typical Colts resting starters game at the end of the season...so we will see

So I will do the math for you. My initial prediction is 12-4 but I wouldn't be surprised if its 11-5.