Saturday, July 7, 2007

In some bright news for all Sabers fans, the front office did not let Thomas Vanek slip off to Edmonton, they matched Edmonton's offer to Vanek making young Thomas a very rich man. Vanek will only make about 10 times his salary from the 2006-2007 season. Not a bad raise, huh? But Buffalo needed to keep him to ensure they could put some sort of team on the ice next season.

In other news Buffalo signed ex-Penguin goalie Jocelyn Thibault as Ryan Miller's back up next season. This is an up grade from Ty Conklin as Conklin was a free agent this off season any way.

The NY Rangers are in the Picture

This picture has to be a welcome site to all NY Ranger fans. Add these two guys to the team that barely lost to the Buffalo Sabers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and now the Rangers may be the team to beat.

I am guessing that someone in the front office in NY told them to go out and buy the best players they could.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Another Battle for the city of Buffalo



Well, I almost had to know it, but the Buffalo Sabers, after having the best record in the NHL this past season and making it to the Eastern Conference finals, have suffered two sever blows to their team.

As this article points out, co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere left Buffalo on the first day of free agencies for the NY Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers respectively.

Now anyone who follows sports knows that Buffalo is by no means a large market city, thus they do not have the money that the team from Philadelphia and New York have to spend on players.

Buffalo has always built a great farm system and developed players to play with a team mentality. Which by the way hockey is, a team sport.

I hope that the Sabers management have a way of trying to make up for these losses, if not I don't see the Sabers back in the playoff contending for the Eastern Conference Crown.

Good Call for a Local Arkansan


Today there is so much hype from the world of sports, mainly about the money the players make and the trouble they get themselves into.

I, for one, would like to see more positive stories about the players, but I guess the negative stories are the ones that sell.

Here is a great story about Derek Fisher formally of the Utah Jazz on his decision not to come back to basketball, but rather stay with his sick daughter.

Derek played at a small college here in central Arkansas, University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and helped them win championships. He is a team player and great person. I wish there was more players in ALL sports out there like him.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Thoughts on Ten ways to fix the NHL

A response to Ten ways to fix the NHL

I found this article through my daily RSS feeds from Fox Sports.com.

I really enjoy hockey, but I do believe that there are some things that can be done to make the game more appealing to non-hockey people.

Two areas from the story that I totally agree with are getting the game back on ESPN or ESPN2 as well as marketing the players.

Chime in with your comments.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Your highlight

What is the highlight of your day? This was a question posed to me by my wife yesterday.

It took me a second to think about it, but then I said, the early mornings when I am up with a cup of coffee and no one else is awake yet.

She went on to tell me about the many points of her day that are highlights; picking up our baby from the babysitter's, turning off work and turning on time for our children, and getting our children in bed to spend time with me.

At this point I felt very selfish. My favorite time of the day was by myself, how selfish is that?

This morning I was reminded of just how many more highlights to my day I really have.

Getting our baby out of her crib when she wakes up in the morning. Sharing my cereal with our baby. Hugging each one of our children to let them know I love them and care about them.

There are many days when I get into a rut and feel sorry for myself and all the adversity I have faced in my life. But while I have faced all that adversity I have made it through it and Thank God, because He has made me a better person for it.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Legends of the game

I ran into this interesting article that talks about Roger Clemens' recent contract signing and the antics of Brett Farve concerning his team not signing Randy Moss. The article is titled Clemens Farve -- Puppet Masters, written by Brad Locke.
clipped from www.onenewsnow.com
To recap: Clemens, performing his annual rite of spring, took his sweet time in signing with a team that was willing to grossly overpay him. This year, the Yankees were the drooling idiots, giving the Racket -- I mean, Rocket -- a one-year deal for $28,000,022 (the last two digits match his uniform number; nice bit of vanity there). That's more than $1 million per start; oh yes, he'll be ready to go sometime next month, at his convenience.
As for Favre, he is continuing to wear out his welcome in Green Bay. His magic is long gone, never to return, and all he can do is fuss about not getting Randy Moss on his team. He may never retire. He reluctantly agreed to bless the Packers with his presence at an upcoming mini-camp.
They expect a free pass because of their seniority and Hall of Fame credentials.
It's an easy notion to buy into, that of self-indulgence being justified by one's years of sacrifice or service.
blog it

Friday, May 18, 2007

Family Discussions

I know, as a father of 6, that starting discussions on important issues can be difficult.
Here are some key things that I found that may help when having discussions with your children.
As always, I am not "preaching", I am trying to help not only someone who reads this, but myself as well.


With the below "clipped" comments, here are some questions that may help you engage your family and crack open the door to discernment:

  • What is it about this form of entertainment that attracts you? Why do you like this particular style/genre/show more than others?
  • Why do you listen or watch? (If it’s simply because friends do, ask, “Why do your friends listen to or watch it?”)
  • How does this form of entertainment make you feel?
  • Do the themes reflect reality? Do they reflect truth? If they reflect reality do they also gloss over evil?
  • How do the messages conveyed compare with the values you’ve been taught here at home, or in church?
  • Do you think these messages have any effect on how close you feel to your family, friends or God? Why or why not?
  • Would you feel comfortable if Jesus sat here listening to or watching this with you? (See Matt. 28:20) Do you think He’d care? What do you think He’d say about this particular entertainment title?
  • Does this entertainment have an opinion of God? What is it?
  • What would happen if you imitated the lifestyles and choices of the characters in these songs or this program?
  • Is there inappropriate entertainment? Where would you draw the line? Where does scripture draw the line? Are they the same?
  • How does it make you feel to know that, by purchasing a CD, going to a movie or watching a TV show, etc., you are supporting the morals and ideas that it’s promoting?
  • What are the major, minor and subtle messages being conveyed through this entertainment? Do you agree or disagree with them?
  • Do you think some people might take the messages literally? What could that lead to?

Be a good listener.
listening is not the same as agreeing. It is a demonstration of respect for another person’s feelings and ideas, not an endorsement of them.
Carry on a conversation, not an argument.
James 1:19 states, “quick to hear and slow to speak,” we need to set the example.
Don’t resort to sarcasm.
we tend to reap what we sow. When sarcasm comes back at us from our teens, we probably accuse them of being disrespectful.
Don’t use silence as a weapon.
the absence of a positive message can sometimes be as damaging as the presence of a negative one.
Refuse to be patronizing.
Deal constructively with anger.
Anger can be verbally expressed with respect when it’s aimed at specific behavior or the issue in question. “We need to honor God in our home” will get you further than “Are you blind?
Choose battles carefully.
As your child moves through and out of the teen years, “rules” should be slowly giving way to “advice.”
blog it

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

What's Up with The Ford Motor Company?

I subscribe to American Family Association's Action Alert Email. They have been keeping me updated on Ford Motor Company's pro-homosexual sponsorship on network television. In a 12-week monitoring project by American Family Association, Ford Motor Company was the top pro-homosexual sponsor on network television. If you would like to see the criteria used during this project click here.

To me it is disturbing when this type of lifestyle is forced on the American Public by always having a homosexual character in every television show and movie.

Neither I nor my family agree with this lifestyle and we do not want this lifestyle shown to our children.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Sports Talk Radio

I enjoy sport talk radio just as much as the next. My favorite lately has been Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio.

It is one thing to talk sports, but it completely another to bash sports figures just for ratings.

I found this article from Brad Locke of OneNewsNow.comwhere Brad talks about how destructive some of this talk can be.

Setting a Family Standard for Entertainment

Continuing with my recent posts concerning media and the home,
Here are some more pieces from an article from Plugged In Online that speak about setting family standards concerning media.
clipped from
Why not sit down with each of your children and engage them in discussions about their favorite media? Don't just ask the above questions, but go a step further and find out why. If you're doing this for the first time—especially with older children—refrain from jumping in and playing judge and jury. Listen, listen and listen some more. There will be a time to offer your views, but not during this exploratory stage.
Once you've prayerfully settled on an appropriate balance between shielding your teens from mainstream entertainment and discussing it with them, articulate that decision in writing. Develop the equivalent of a "family constitution" as it relates to entertainment habits in your home.
 blog it

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Healthy Entertainment

Following up on my last post, here are some keys for keeping your family's entertainment healthy.

I don't mean this to say that I have it all figured out, because I do not by a long shot. I am learning as I go and sharing what I learn.
clipped from
1) Even good kids need coaching.
good kids from solid Christian homes
will be tempted to entertain themselves with movies, TV and music that are little more than media junk food.
2) Avoid a hit-list mentality.
engage teens in dialogue about content and messages framed in biblical standards in terms they understand.
3) Maintain a healthy relationship.
close day-to-day relationship is vital to our effectiveness as counselors.
4) Adapt diets to individuals.
what might be acceptable for a teen may not be suitable for an 8-year-old sibling
5) Help children “dine out” wisely.
what about when they’re at a friend’s house? What happens when they go away to college?
6) Accept your own limitations.
we can’t indefinitely control the media diets of the young people we love.
 blog it

My How Entertainment Has Changed

I can still remember that day, Thanksgiving Days, 1976 and my Mom took us to see Star Wars. WOW!!!! We were so excited. It was such a great movie.

Can remember the movies you saw when you were a kid? Have you noticed how movies have changed since you were a kid.

I remember the Friday the 13th movies and how by the third in the series they were almost laughable.

The violent movies of today are so bad I will not go see them, not to mention letting my children see them.

What about sex in movies? I still remember Porky's and the little bit of skin you saw in it. That is nothing to today's movies.

How come in today's movies there always has to be a homosexual? Are the movie people trying to please everyone?

I ran across this story on an email I get from Plugged In Online. It talks about how entertainment has changed over the years. Here are some pieces from it.

clipped from
The entertainment media’s preoccupation with sex, violence and profanity would have been unthinkable in the minds of their early pioneers. Even if computer generated graphics, advanced special effects and digitized audio had been available back then to carry the messages so explicitly, public sentiment would not have embraced music that glamorizes rape, murder and drugs, or much of what shows at the local movie theater.
In 1967, when The Rolling Stones performed The Ed Sullivan Show, they were asked to change the lyrics of their hit, “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to a much tamer “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.” While they resented the change, they performed it as Sullivan requested. Why? Because society viewed songs about casual sex as—dare we say it?—wrong. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. Casual sex is not just accepted; in many cases it’s expected.

What is this blog about anyway ...

Well, when I started this blog my idea was that I could just type what was going on in my head that day, whether it be about sports, my children or life in general.

I also planned on writing a little something in here everyday. That has not been possible as with my job and family of six children my life stays quite busy.

In a few weeks I will be starting back to college again, this time for my Masters degree. I feel like I have finally figured out what I am suppose to be doing for a living, an elementary school teacher.

It is amazing to me how much energy I have and the excitement when I go and visit the classes of children when I teach Junior Achievement. I have felt the same way about the children on my Upward Basketball teams. I want to make a difference with my life and I feel like this is it, teaching elementary school children.

So, with going back to college my posts to this blog may even further apart than they already are.

I have many ideas of things I would like to comment on and share, I will try to get to them.

Today we ran into a very dear friend and his family at Lowe's, Lee Brown. I have not seen or spoken with Lee and Sherri in probably 2 years. I have let the busyness of life keep me from visiting with friends and family. I need to make a point of getting up to visit with Lee and Sherri very soon.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

A Preview of Sabers versus Senators

In this article from Scott Burnside writing for ESPN.com, he previews the Buffalo/Ottawa Eastern Conference NHL Finals.

Burnside does a great job of breaking down the series as well five points in the series and a key matchup.

In another story Burnside talks about the younger players for Buffalo and asks if they are up for the challenge of the Senators and the conference finals.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Buffalo Bills "Other" RB from the NFL Draft

Here is a nice story about former Fresno State running back Dwayne Wright, a fourth round draft pick of the Bills, written by Chris Brown.

Chris Brown is the Lead Journalist for BuffaloBills.com.

Sabers move on to Eastern Conference Finals

After beating the NY Rangers in 6 hard fought games the Buffalo Sabers move onto face the Ottawa Senators for the Eastern Conference finals.

After a stalled offense for games two, three and most of four the Sabers offense came back solve the Rangers' defense. The key was the Sabers coach Lindy Ruff and his assistants Brian McCutcheon and James Patrick striving for solutions to beat the Rangers' defense.

The Sabers will have their hands full with the Senators in the finals. There are also many story lines and much bad blood between these teams.

First, you have the Sabers taking out the number 1 seed Senators in a five game second round series during the playoffs last season.

Second, the blindside check on Sabers' co-captain Chris Drury by Ottawa's Chris Neil that left Drury with a concussion and forced him to miss four games. The check turned into a bench clearing brawl.

So, you can see these two teams really do not like each other, as evidenced by another article about the hatred between these two clubs.

So as we get ready for this series here is an opinion article that speaks of the coaching job Lindy Ruff has done since being in Buffalo.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Buffalo Bills Make Their Picks

This past weekend the Buffalo Bills select players they needed to fill holes on their roster.

The two most pressing needs were at running back and middle linebacker. They were able to solve those needs with their first two picks in the draft. First, they chose former California running back Marshawn Lynch. Next the traded up and selected former Penn State middle linebacker Paul Posluszny.

The rest of the draft picks went like this:


On May 3rd the Bills announce the undrafted free agents they had signed. For more information on them click here.

And the Bills continue to add more players as the announce the signing of running back, Josh Scobey a free agent from Seattle and defensive tackle, Manny Wright off waivers from Miami.

When preseason starts it should be interesting to see how the 2007 version of Bills shake out.

Stay Tuned ...

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Sabers are Marching through the Playoffs

Eastern Conference, Round 1


The Sabers, the number one seed took care of the Islanders in 5 games and now move on to round two to face the Rangers.

Stories from the round one series:

Now the Sabers move on to face the Rangers who swept their first round series with the Thrashers. The Rangers come into this series confident and ready, as proven by comments made before Game 1 by Ranger Sean Avery.

Even after all the talk the Sabers came out ready and took game one by the score of 5 - 2.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Another "Good" Guy Calls it a Career

The former #1 overall NFL draft pick out of Washington State, Drew Bledsoe, has decided to retire from playing football.
The first thing ALL sports writers want to do when a guy retires is compare his career to that of others to see if he is worthy of the sport's Hall of Fame.
In my mind I believe Drew was more concerned about how he could use his status as a star NFL quarterback to help others.
Through the Drew Bledsoe Foundation, Drew tries improve the lives of children.
Sports will argue for days whether he belongs in the NFL Hall of Fame, but for me he belongs in the Character Hall of Fame as someone I would like my boys to look up to.
It is very few times we hear about the lives of guys like Drew Bledsoe and the good things they are doing. Too much is talked about the lives of others who are consistently breaking the law and/or doing other things to bring a negative look upon them and the sports world.
To see what Drew is about I invite you to view his personal website and a web site where he was elected to the Humanitarian Hall of Fame.
So when we hear about those sports stars out there not doing the right thing, lets remember there are guys out there like Drew Bledsoe doing the right thing.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Sabers Clinch Home Ice Through Playoffs

The Sabers are the kings of the ice.

Yes, the same team that started the season with a franchise-record 12 game winning streak, including an new NHL record 8 consecutive road wins to start a season.

The Sabers, and I will bet that the average hockey fan can not name a star player from their team, because they are a TEAM.

Three Buffalo Sabres were voted by fans to be starters at the 2007 NHL All-Star Game in Dallas: goalie Ryan Miller, forward Daniel Briere, and defenseman Brian Campbell. Briere won the All-Star MVP Award, tallying 1 goal and 4 assists. Lindy Ruff was the head coach for the Eastern Conference, who lost the game 12-9.

And of all team who do the Sabers get in the first round, The New York Islanders, coached by none other than Ted Nolan. Yes the same Ted Nolan who once coached the Sabers to the playoffs following the 1994-1995 season.

I predict this series to be good, however the Sabers have too much speed and offense, not to mention great defense for the Islanders.

Winningest College Football Coach Dies

On April 4, 2007 we lost a true American.

Eddie Robinson a great football coach, a great teacher, a great person and a proud American.

While coach at Grambling State University he was not only a coach but a father figure to each of his players. Robinson said he tried to coach each player as if he wanted him to marry his daughter.

Robinson said he tried to teach his players about opportunity.

In an interview on ESPN Radio, Doug Williams, a former player and now coach at Grambling, said that after practices coach Robinson would talk to his players about life and teaching them how to succeed in life.

Famous Eddie Robinson quotes:
  • ON COACHING:
    • "Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you.''
    • "Coaching is a profession of love. You can't coach people unless you love them.''
  • ON SUCCESS:
    • "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential ... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.''
    • "People talk about the record I've compiled at Grambling, but the real record is the fact that for over 50 years I've had one job and one wife. I don't believe anybody can out-American me.''
    • "Everything I've done, I think I dreamed of it first.''
  • ON HIS PLAYERS:
    • "I've learned more about what they meant to me and what they meant to the game. I never won a game - they did. You learn from every player because they're not the same.''
    • "The football players are the most important people in the world to me. Without them, there would be no me.''
    • "I firmly believe that football players and coaches are entertainers.''
  • ON THE GRAMBLING BAND:
    • "There's more than football at Grambling. We have a great show band. You can be killing us on the field, but people aren't going to leave until after the half.''
  • ON HIS LEGENDARY STATUS:
    • "I can't even spell it. Whatever it means, I hope I didn't let anyone down. What I've done since 1941 has been more for them than for me.''

Eddie Robinson was a great person and great American. I would hope that every generation learns about Eddie Robinson.

Find more information about Eddie Robinson's life and death at the following links:

Sunday, March 18, 2007

A Great Family Movie

We had family movie tonight and my wife had rented "Facing The Giants".
We had all heard a lot about it, but none of us have seen it yet.
Well, I can tell you that we all found it to be a fantastic movie. Even the girls, who really don't care for football really enjoyed it.
We would like to encourage everyone to rent it and see it.
The movie's web site can be reached by clicking here.
If you do not believ our review of the movie, here are some other reviews from Christianity Today, Plugged In Online and even IMDb, The Internet Movie Database.
There are many giants we face in life, not just those on the football field.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Peace of Mind?

On March 9th lead singer of the group Boston, Brian Delp, was found dead. The cause of his death, suicide.
In an article on the web site EarthTimes.org, it states that Brian was lonely.
Now a person would how in the world could a famous singer of famous band be lonely. That is the million dollar question.
You can also read more on this story from The ShowBuzz.

Forgiveness

Can we truly forgive others when they have done wrong to us?
God gives us an example of forgiveness as He forgives us of our sin; sin from our past, sin in our future and current sin. He forgives us instead of condemning us. God chooses tenderness instead of condemning just as we should. God shows this all to well in the parable of the prodical son.
In the parable the father rushes to meet the son as the son has returned home after squandering his inheritance from his father.
So I ask again, can we truly forgive others when we are done wrong?
An even bigger question is can we forgive ourselves? This is an area were I really struggle and hope to get better. If God can forgive us we should be able to forgive ourselves.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Reconciliation

Continuing with things I have read from the book "The Wisdom of Tenderness", an effect of understanding God as the heart of tenderness is reconciliation.
In this sense I am referring to reconciliation as in making peace within ourselves, where we have not been able to find peace before.
I feel like this is where I am, trying to achieve that inner peace and being at peace with who and am and who God has made me to be.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Love and Like

I am currently reading the book "The Wisdom of Tenderness" written by Brennan Manning. Although I am just in the first chapter I have already read things that I have never known.
Any Christian should know that God loves each and every one of us, it is part of His nature. But another question to ask is; Does God Like Me?
We find in our own families that we can love family members, but at times we may not like them all that much.
Does God like us? This question can only be answered through a deep relationship with God.
There have been many times in my own life that I have not liked myself at all, and there is no way that I felt like God could like me not to mention love me.
I am beginning a journey to understand that God loves me just as I am, even with all my faults. He loves me unconditionally, just as I love my own children. His love for me is so much more than the love that I have for my own children.
In the coming days, weeks and months I will continue to reveal what God is teaching me along this journey.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Final Upward Basketball Games

Last night was the last game for the Comets, our 5th/6th grade girls team. They have been such a sweet group of girls, any of which a person would enjoy having for a daughter.
The girls lost the game, but to me that didn't matter. As usual they played their hearts out and hopefully had fun.
Rachel failed to get a basket, but it wasn't because she didn't try. She played as tough as all the other girls while being half the height, most of the time.
I would say our Most Improved Player would have to have been Alexis as she went from never playing basketball to being a vital part of the team.
Our leader, Emily, again this season, was great as she always is. She plays so hard and has such a desire to win.
After the game we had a pizza party at a local Pizza place and the girls presented Chuck and I with Thank you cards.
I will really miss not coaching this team.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Last Weekend of Upward Basketball

It is Sunday night and there is only one more weekend of Upward Basketball games to go. It probably sounds like this has been something bad, but it has not, I really enjoy the Upward Basketball season. It is just physically demanding coaching 3 teams, officiating 2-3 games and making sure there are officials for all the other games every weekend.
The web site Conway Upward has made it so easy for people to sign up for games and also easy to see what games need officials.
I am very thankful that I have been so involved in the program this season and I hope to be more involved each season going forward.