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.

Remember When...Tecmo Super Bowl

My siblings and I didn't grow up with all the latest gadgets and toys, but we did have a Nintendo game console. My oldest brother was a video game fanatic always needing the latest system and the latest game. I was never a big gamer but there was one game that captured my heart on Nintendo and still has it to this day: Tecmo Super Bowl.

Tecmo Super Bowl was the NFL game for the 1991 season. The game had great colors and great music. Each game was played on the same field and each team had four running plays and four passing plays. And every defense played the 3-4 scheme. This game caused me to kick a lot of butt with the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. I cannot tell you how many times I had 60 to 70 yard runs with Otis Anderson of the Giants. One season I had 40 sacks by Lawrence Taylor, yes 40. He was so quick and easy to get around the offensive line. As Joe Montana, I threw countless full-field bombs to John Taylor and Jerry Rice for touchdowns. And it was always nice to kick a 60-yard field goal from time to time.

This game had character. When players would get injured they would show the paramedics come on to the field and carry the player off on a stretcher. Then would player would return it would show him leaving the hospital and the nurses and doctors standing outside waiting for him. Only offensive players could get hurt and each position had only backup, so you never had to worry about the backup getting hurt. If you won the division, conference, or Super Bowl it would show a still frame photo of your team celebrating.

Eventually are Nintendo would no longer work and with it was the lost the privilege of playing Tecmo Super Bowl. One day I discovered through my brother the ability to download it on my computer and I started playing it again. Unfortunately, my computer crashed two years ago and I haven't been able to find a way to re-download it.

Sure, I play the newest Madden from time to time. But its so complicated. You have so many plays, which you can audible out of all them, that its hard to choose some times what to run. Players get hurt all the time with various injuries and then their backups can get hurt too. You have instant replay challenges and you can play franchise mode, where you play season after season, re-signing and drafting players to create your own roster.

I know that the point and the future of video games is to become as realistic as possible. This does have some merits and can be cool at times. But give me simple, give me fun, give me something that is not real, because in the end I deal with reality way too much.

Storytelling

My favorite television show is Lost. I have seen each season countless times and will probably forever re-watch the show. I am currently re-watching the show from the very beginning to the very end, which will be my first time ever doing this. What I have found most fascinating is that as I re-watch each episode, I can remember the very place I watched the episode for the very first time. I can picture the room I am in and the people around me. I can remember the very feelings I had as I watched the show for the first time. I believe that this is so because of the power a story has in connecting with people's hearts.

Isn't this why Jesus used story? He told parables to teach people the principles of the kingdom of God. This is why a majority of the Bible is in narrative format. This is why movies, novels and comic books are so popular. This is why as people we constantly tell other people stories that happen in our lives. There is something about stories that speak to us as human beings.

Through stories we can mourn when the characters morn and we can rejoice when they rejoice. We can understand their actions and decisions. Most important, through stories we learn a little something about our self. Stories are a foundational element to communicating our lives with the people who surround us. So what is your story? And what are others learning from it?

Spam

So today I made a Spam and cheese sandwich for lunch. I know, I know, I will pause so you can go to the bathroom and throw up. Now that you are back I will admit that it had been a long time since I have had Spam. Growing up, we used to have it often for lunch and I always thought it was great. Today though after eating it I have come to the decision that I might not ever eat Spam again. It didn't make me sick to my something but even after cooking it something just did not sit right with me after the consumption. But here are some of my thoughts from the great lunch today...

The easy open can is a great idea and one that all canned goods should go to. It would eliminate can openers but tabbed lids are so much easier. Spam is really greasy. I sprayed cooking spray in the pan but halfway through cooking the Spam I realized that there was no need for that, Spam generates enough grease on its own. I wonder what are the real ingredients of Spam. I know I could look on the can but that would take away all the fun in guessing and the mystery of the composition. Whatever the ingredients are, it looks like Spam has a long shelf life. So long that I feel that nuclear bombs could destroy every living creature on planet and radioactively contaminate all of our canned goods BUT Spam. Shoot...does this mean Spam will be served at the Great Banquet with Jesus? There goes my vow.

The Twilight Zone

One of my favorite 4th of July activities is watching The Twilight Zone marathon on ScyFy. I love this show for two main reasons: the plot twists and its in black and white. I know in a day in age where we have HD and 3D televisions its hard to watch something in black and white, but the lack of color adds to the mystery of the show.

The main thing driving The Twilight Zone is the mysteriousness of the universe around us. The Twilight Zone was written during the 50's. At this time we still lacked knowledge about the Universe that surrounds us. We had yet to land on the moon or send someone into outer space. There were hardly any telescopes or satellites at the time and the telescopes we did have were not as high powered as the ones today.

So in this show aliens come from Mars. There are astronauts who come back from space having gone nuts because sending them into space is such a bad idea. What it boils down to is during the time period of the show the Universe is so mysterious because we knew very little about it. There was much to discover and The Twilight Zone does a great job at capturing this mystique. It makes the world an exciting place to live.

And what I find is that this world with less knowledge and a lot to discover is a more exciting world and one that I am sad I missed out on.