“Some say he is dead….some say he never will be.”
This is the tag line from my favorite movie of all time.
I took my son and his friend to see a movie tonight. Not my favorite movie, though. They saw “Twilight”, which is supposed to be a pretty good flick, or so they say. I didn’t go with them but rather went to Barnes and Noble, looked at the “books for sale” in the History section, and drank an overpriced cup of Starbucks Coffee. While perusing such sultry and seductive books as “The Federalist Papers” and “Lee’s Gettysburg” (as I’ve written before, I’m just a history-teacher-geek wannabe), I received a phone picture from our friend Gina.
Gina and her family are in Lexington, Kentucky, visiting our friend Bobby, who is in the hospital due to emergency surgery. In fact, my wife Julie and our daughter Marissa are there as well. They are also spending some time with Bobby’s wife and two daughters. Bobby is a first year seminary student at Asbury Theological Seminary just outside Lexington.
When Bobby went there, I told him that a guy I used to be good friends with was in the Ph.D. program at Asbury, and he should look him up. For whatever reason, that never happened.
Well, today, as Julie and Gina were driving to Phoebe’s house, they saw this friend, Dan Dunn, and his wife Nancy, walking along a street. Julie made Gina stop the car, and she then did what she does best. She began to talk to Dan and Nancy.
The picture I received was of Dan, Nancy and Julie.
Julie said, “This must be God. What else could it be?”
And you know, I think she’s right. What else could it be? After all, some may say that Jesus is dead, but we say He never will be.
Which brings me to the tagline of my favorite movie.
It was on television tonight. Filmed in Utah, so that there would be a majestic backdrop of scenery, the movie is about one man’s struggles with mountains, surroundings, natives and himself. Lead actor Robert Redford only had 30 lines in the movie, yet 36 years after it’s release it is still one of the most watched films when on television. “Jeremiah Johnson” just does something to me when I watch it. Maybe it’s Will Geer asking Redford if he’d ever skinned a “Griz”. Maybe it’s like watching the struggle of humanity. Or maybe it just reminds me of this year’s version of the Auburn Tigers.
Tomorrow is the Iron Bowl. Watching Jeremiah Johnson fight and struggle with every “sitzen liben” (that’s “life situation” for those who never took a church history class under Dr. Bill Mallory) he is faced with is the persona of the 2008 Auburn Tiger Football Team. Speaking to the 1989 Auburn Tiger team after the Alabama game, Head Coach Pat Dye said, “Men, I’ve watched you wrestle with them angels all year.” And maybe that’s what this year’s team has been doing….wrestling with them angels.
Auburn has a huge mountain to climb. They are facing the #1 team in the nation. Some say Tommy Tuberville is gone after this game. Some say he is dead. And some say he never will be.
If Auburn can find a way to wrestle them angels….to conquer the mountain before them…. they might just be able to look back on this season and hear the words of Bear Claw Chris Lapp (Will Geer). Bear Claw asked Jeremiah Johnson at the end of the movie, “You’ve come far, Pilgrim. Were it worth the trouble?” To which Johnson replied, “Ah, what trouble”.
The final scene is an encounter with Paints His Shirt Red, Johnson's avowed enemy since mid-film and the presumptive force behind many attacks made on Johnson. Several hundred yards apart, Johnson reaches for his rifle for what he thinks will be a final duel. Paints His Shirt Red raises his arm, open-palmed, in a gesture of peace. Johnson returns the gesture….raising one hand with his five fingers outstretched….and the other with three fingers around his gun, and two fingers outstretched. This closes the film.
Seven fingers held high. Like Tuberville tomorrow?
"Some say he’s dead. Some say he never will be."
War Eagle
WJLaneSR
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
We’re not cooking tomorrow. We’re not cleaning house tomorrow. We’re not travelling to a relative’s house tomorrow. And we’re not carrying a bean/broccoli/spinach/asparagus/chicken/cheese/crackers on top casserole to anybody’s house. Not because we don’t believe in Thanksgiving, or want to be grumpy or hermitish. Rather, we are in Asheville, NC, at the Renaissance Hotel. My wife, three daughters, son, mother and father are all with me. We arrived this afternoon and are staying until Friday. We’re going to eat the Thanksgiving buffet at the hotel. At $22 per person, I think I will actually save money over buying two grocery carts of Lord-Knows-What at Publix to prepare the sacred gobbler and trimmings. Never done this kind of thing before, and may not do it again. But this year, we just wanted to rest and let someone else do all the work. Oh, and count our blessings.
We have a lot to be thankful for. First of all, it is my mother’s birthday tomorrow. She has had a very rough year physically, having been in the hospital several times with a major kidney stone issue. Thankfully, the stone has been rolled away (o.k., blasted and lasered away, but it sounds more miraculous to use a Gospel analogy). So while we are eating Thomas Jefferson’s nomination for the national bird, singing “Eat, we thankful people eat….fill our stomachs with harvest cornbread”, we will also sing “Happy Birthday, Mawmaw.”
I am also thankful for our children. Hannah, our oldest, is in the Ph.D. program at the Medical University of South Carolina….studying to be a Pharmacologist. Last week she presented a poster (which I am told is a major big deal) at a Cancer Conference in Washington D.C. Marissa, our second, is a junior at the College of Charleston in Elementary Education. She took her Praxis test a couple of weeks ago and passed with flying colors. This is a test she has to pass in South Carolina in order to teach, and by passing it now, she qualifies for additional financial aid! Yahoo!!! Ansley, our third, will graduate from High School in January. This is one semester early. She was in the High School Drama Department’s production of “Dearly Departed” last week. She was soooo funny, playing a pregnant mother expecting her eighth child. She was really good! Will, our fourth and final, is twelve years old and in the sixth grade. He is very smart (and knows it, which is a bad combination!), and is a giant among boys. I am almost six feet tall, and he is almost as tall as me. He is in Boy Scouts, active in church, and plays the drums in the middle school band. His first Christmas parade as a member of the band is in one week.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t say how thankful I am of my wife. Julie has been my partner in this romantic comedy we call marriage for 28 years now. She celebrated her 50th birthday in October (I married a MUCH older woman…I don’t turn 50 until January!) She is the children’s coordinator at our church, and works at it non-stop. In fact, she is sitting on the hotel bed right now working on some “stuff”. Kid-Link, which she oversees, is a ministry to Kindergarten through fifth graders. On any given Sunday evening, she has between 40 and 60 kids. And in the midst of this, she still helps with homework, does most of the housework (hey…..I do SOME), cooks, counsels our older children, and looks after me.
I could mention so many other things I am thankful for, but I will end with this. I am also thankful that this football season is about over. I have no idea what will happen in the Iron Bowl on Saturday, but this I know. I will be a Tiger before kickoff, a Tiger during the game, and a Tiger after the final whistle blows. And when that whistle blows, I will be thankful that I can say, “Only 9 months until football season!”
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
WJLaneSR
We have a lot to be thankful for. First of all, it is my mother’s birthday tomorrow. She has had a very rough year physically, having been in the hospital several times with a major kidney stone issue. Thankfully, the stone has been rolled away (o.k., blasted and lasered away, but it sounds more miraculous to use a Gospel analogy). So while we are eating Thomas Jefferson’s nomination for the national bird, singing “Eat, we thankful people eat….fill our stomachs with harvest cornbread”, we will also sing “Happy Birthday, Mawmaw.”
I am also thankful for our children. Hannah, our oldest, is in the Ph.D. program at the Medical University of South Carolina….studying to be a Pharmacologist. Last week she presented a poster (which I am told is a major big deal) at a Cancer Conference in Washington D.C. Marissa, our second, is a junior at the College of Charleston in Elementary Education. She took her Praxis test a couple of weeks ago and passed with flying colors. This is a test she has to pass in South Carolina in order to teach, and by passing it now, she qualifies for additional financial aid! Yahoo!!! Ansley, our third, will graduate from High School in January. This is one semester early. She was in the High School Drama Department’s production of “Dearly Departed” last week. She was soooo funny, playing a pregnant mother expecting her eighth child. She was really good! Will, our fourth and final, is twelve years old and in the sixth grade. He is very smart (and knows it, which is a bad combination!), and is a giant among boys. I am almost six feet tall, and he is almost as tall as me. He is in Boy Scouts, active in church, and plays the drums in the middle school band. His first Christmas parade as a member of the band is in one week.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t say how thankful I am of my wife. Julie has been my partner in this romantic comedy we call marriage for 28 years now. She celebrated her 50th birthday in October (I married a MUCH older woman…I don’t turn 50 until January!) She is the children’s coordinator at our church, and works at it non-stop. In fact, she is sitting on the hotel bed right now working on some “stuff”. Kid-Link, which she oversees, is a ministry to Kindergarten through fifth graders. On any given Sunday evening, she has between 40 and 60 kids. And in the midst of this, she still helps with homework, does most of the housework (hey…..I do SOME), cooks, counsels our older children, and looks after me.
I could mention so many other things I am thankful for, but I will end with this. I am also thankful that this football season is about over. I have no idea what will happen in the Iron Bowl on Saturday, but this I know. I will be a Tiger before kickoff, a Tiger during the game, and a Tiger after the final whistle blows. And when that whistle blows, I will be thankful that I can say, “Only 9 months until football season!”
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
WJLaneSR
Friday, November 21, 2008
Super Moose
I can still remember the first Iron Bowl I ever went to. The year was 1971. The undefeated Auburn Tigers and the Undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide would meet each other on the green rug of Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the watchful eye of Vulcan staring down at them. It was supposed to be a nationally televised showdown (before the days of ESPN1, 2, U, Classic, U2, etc...where EVERY school is on TV every week) between Auburn's great passing attack, led by quarterback Pat Sullivan, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy, verses the rushing wishbone attack of Alabama, led by first team all-american running back Johnny Musso.
The running game ruled the day. Alabama ran all over Auburn, humiliating them on national TV. Keith Jackson called Johnny Musso the “Super Moose”, and on that day he looked every bit super.
We've heard a lot about Moose, Mooses, Moosi, Moosers.....whatever the plural of “Moose” is....lately. Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin made the headlines because she hunted Moose. In fact, during one interview, she told how you kill a big bull moose. She said that you have to look at him right in his chest....right between the shoulders. She went on to say, “and don't blink. Look right into his chest, because that part doesn't really move. And if you squeeze the trigger, and hit him there, you'll bring him down every time.
One of my favorite cartoon characters when I was growing up was a Moose. His name was Bullwinkle. You might remember his flying squirrel sidekick Rocky. Bullwinkle was a goofy sort of Moose. Rocky always kept him out of trouble. I miss those early Saturday mornings with a big bowl of Frosted Flakes watching the Roadrunner and Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd and Rocky and Bullwinkle the moose.
They say that Alabama's current running back Glenn Coffee reminds the Tide faithful of the Super Moose. The way he breaks through holes and scratches for every yard brings back memories of 1971, according to followers of the Capstone. In fact, some call him “the NEW Super Moose”.
As this year's Iron Bowl approaches, my suggestion to Auburn Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads is this: follow Sarah Palin's advice. Tell the linebackers to look straight at his chest. His neck and arms and legs and head and hips may twist and move...but the numbers on his jersey right in the middle of his chest will not. Tell the linebackers to focus on them. Don't blink. And if they will hit him there, right in the chest...right between the shoulders....they will bring him down every time. It's how you bring down a big bull moose.
War Eagle
WJLaneSR
The running game ruled the day. Alabama ran all over Auburn, humiliating them on national TV. Keith Jackson called Johnny Musso the “Super Moose”, and on that day he looked every bit super.
We've heard a lot about Moose, Mooses, Moosi, Moosers.....whatever the plural of “Moose” is....lately. Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin made the headlines because she hunted Moose. In fact, during one interview, she told how you kill a big bull moose. She said that you have to look at him right in his chest....right between the shoulders. She went on to say, “and don't blink. Look right into his chest, because that part doesn't really move. And if you squeeze the trigger, and hit him there, you'll bring him down every time.
One of my favorite cartoon characters when I was growing up was a Moose. His name was Bullwinkle. You might remember his flying squirrel sidekick Rocky. Bullwinkle was a goofy sort of Moose. Rocky always kept him out of trouble. I miss those early Saturday mornings with a big bowl of Frosted Flakes watching the Roadrunner and Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd and Rocky and Bullwinkle the moose.
They say that Alabama's current running back Glenn Coffee reminds the Tide faithful of the Super Moose. The way he breaks through holes and scratches for every yard brings back memories of 1971, according to followers of the Capstone. In fact, some call him “the NEW Super Moose”.
As this year's Iron Bowl approaches, my suggestion to Auburn Defensive Coordinator Paul Rhoads is this: follow Sarah Palin's advice. Tell the linebackers to look straight at his chest. His neck and arms and legs and head and hips may twist and move...but the numbers on his jersey right in the middle of his chest will not. Tell the linebackers to focus on them. Don't blink. And if they will hit him there, right in the chest...right between the shoulders....they will bring him down every time. It's how you bring down a big bull moose.
War Eagle
WJLaneSR
Thursday, November 20, 2008
It Matters
To my Bulldog friends, congratulations. You get to bark for another year and I have to listen to it. And so it goes in football rivalries. I can't wait until Christmas when my UGA sister-in-law rubs dog-salt into my wounds. And now, moving on.....
A few months ago, a friend of mine recommended, and sent to me for my reading pleasure, a couple of books. One of the books was about LSU football and Tiger Stadium. The other was a book by Tom Osborne. You might remember him from the days when he was the head football coach of the Big Red Machine…the Nebraska Cornhuskers. More recently he has been working with another Big Machine that seems to be mired in Red Tape….called the U.S. House of Representatives.
In any event, the book Coach Osborne wrote and was recommended to me was:
The other chapters deal with Faith, Honesty, Loyalty, Goals, Paying a Price, Unity and Teamwork. Quite frankly, when I read the book, I became inspired. Coach Osborne’s words almost had me ready to run through a tunnel with teamates clad in red.
These are the lessons that a game such as football are supposed to teach. Lessons of life. Lessons of character. Lessons of faith, and goal setting and honesty and teamwork. The lessons that any good or great coach should aspire to impart to the team they have stewardship of.
And then I read today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Three Gwinnett County football players on the Meadowcreek High School team, including the starting quarterback and two starting receivers, kids 17 and 18 years of age, were arrested and charged with two separate armed robberies. I could hardly believe it! Were these kids learning any lessons at all other than how to throw and catch an oblong ball?
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Just look around the SEC. Since Florida won the national championship in January, 2007, there have been 9 football players arrested for various crimes. Since Nick Saban arrived at Alabama, there have been 10 football players arrested. Six University of Georgia football players have been arrested since January.
And the NFL? As of last week, there have been 35 NFL football players arrested since December 2007 for crimes ranging from possession of concealed firearms while resisting arrest to burglary and assault.
I have a 12 year old son. He wants to emulate his favorite players. They are his role model. He pretends he is wearing their number when he and the other neighborhood boys are in our front yard playing their version of Red Fox Farms Super Bowl.
Does the character of their role models mean anything to them? You bet it does. Because they are saying, “I want to be like……I want to be……” I wonder who the boys in Gwinnett County were trying to be like.
Oh, and lest I forget…..arrests at Auburn under Tommy Tuberville? There hasn’t been one since February 2006, which was for underage drinking. And the punishment Tuberville gave that player was a 4 game suspension. As I write this I am knocking on wood because I know there could be arrests today.
Character matters. As Coach Osborne put it, it’s the first and most important lesson of football, work and life.
WJLaneSR
A few months ago, a friend of mine recommended, and sent to me for my reading pleasure, a couple of books. One of the books was about LSU football and Tiger Stadium. The other was a book by Tom Osborne. You might remember him from the days when he was the head football coach of the Big Red Machine…the Nebraska Cornhuskers. More recently he has been working with another Big Machine that seems to be mired in Red Tape….called the U.S. House of Representatives.
In any event, the book Coach Osborne wrote and was recommended to me was:
Faith In the Game: Lessons on Football, Work and LifeThe first chapter of the book is really the theme of the book. The chapter is entitled, “Character”. He writes that a person’s character is best defined by their private behavior. That is, what a person does or doesn’t do when they think no one else is looking. Osborne quotes former UCLA head basketball coach John Wooden: “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are; your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
The other chapters deal with Faith, Honesty, Loyalty, Goals, Paying a Price, Unity and Teamwork. Quite frankly, when I read the book, I became inspired. Coach Osborne’s words almost had me ready to run through a tunnel with teamates clad in red.
These are the lessons that a game such as football are supposed to teach. Lessons of life. Lessons of character. Lessons of faith, and goal setting and honesty and teamwork. The lessons that any good or great coach should aspire to impart to the team they have stewardship of.
And then I read today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Three Gwinnett County football players on the Meadowcreek High School team, including the starting quarterback and two starting receivers, kids 17 and 18 years of age, were arrested and charged with two separate armed robberies. I could hardly believe it! Were these kids learning any lessons at all other than how to throw and catch an oblong ball?
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Just look around the SEC. Since Florida won the national championship in January, 2007, there have been 9 football players arrested for various crimes. Since Nick Saban arrived at Alabama, there have been 10 football players arrested. Six University of Georgia football players have been arrested since January.
And the NFL? As of last week, there have been 35 NFL football players arrested since December 2007 for crimes ranging from possession of concealed firearms while resisting arrest to burglary and assault.
I have a 12 year old son. He wants to emulate his favorite players. They are his role model. He pretends he is wearing their number when he and the other neighborhood boys are in our front yard playing their version of Red Fox Farms Super Bowl.
Does the character of their role models mean anything to them? You bet it does. Because they are saying, “I want to be like……I want to be……” I wonder who the boys in Gwinnett County were trying to be like.
Oh, and lest I forget…..arrests at Auburn under Tommy Tuberville? There hasn’t been one since February 2006, which was for underage drinking. And the punishment Tuberville gave that player was a 4 game suspension. As I write this I am knocking on wood because I know there could be arrests today.
Character matters. As Coach Osborne put it, it’s the first and most important lesson of football, work and life.
WJLaneSR
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Water
The past two years, the southeastern United States has been under a severe drought. In fact, water has been in such low supply that the governors of the states of Alabama, Georgia and Florida have met on more than one occasion to discuss the flow of the Chattahoochee River and the river it dumps into, the Apalachicola. The Chattahoochee is a river I am very familiar with, as I grew up only short walk from its muddy banks.
The last two years, the muddy banks of the Chattahoochee have been more like baked red brick, however.
The strain on water has put many areas in the Southeast on water usage restriction. Such activities as watering one’s lawn has been, in some neighborhoods and cities, regulated or even outlawed. Even some golf courses have been required to cut back on the water they use in their irrigation system.
Frankly, I like irrigation systems on the golf course. Or rather, my Maxfli Blue Dots seem to love them, for they have an uncanny way of finding themselves sitting on top of a sprinkler head. On my last links expedition (for me it is never just a “round of golf”, but rather it is an expedition because I visit those areas of golf courses that the really good golfers never get to see), I teed off on a par 3, 150 yards uphill. Slight breeze in my face, just an easy 6-iron. And of course, my typical fade to the right put my ball between the green and a large kidney-shaped bunker. As I approached my ball sitting just beyond the skirt of the green, and leaning against the fixed spray head of an underground sprinkler, I knew I could take a drop. You guessed it. It started shooting a spray of water as soon as I leaned down to move my ball. I was soaked. Totally.
It reminded me of November, 1986.
Georgia was a three touchdown underdog to the #10 Auburn Tigers. Auburn was two wins away from clinching the Southeastern Conference Title. Georgia, playing with a backup quarterback, beat Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium 20-16. The Georgia fans, so thrilled with their upset victory over Auburn, stormed the field. Some say it was a timer. Some say it was a solenoid switch. Some say an Assistant Athletic Director switched on the switch. But whatever happened to turn it on, the irrigation system on the north-west corner of the stadium, where the red-clad bulldogs were celebrating both in the stands and on the filed, was turned on. Like a fire hose.
For all of posterity, that game now had a name. The Hose Bowl. I think of it every time I hit a golf ball and it lands on or around a sprinkler head.
And I realized something else that day, back in 1986. Nothing stinks like a wet dog.
War Eagle!
Jeff Lane
The last two years, the muddy banks of the Chattahoochee have been more like baked red brick, however.
The strain on water has put many areas in the Southeast on water usage restriction. Such activities as watering one’s lawn has been, in some neighborhoods and cities, regulated or even outlawed. Even some golf courses have been required to cut back on the water they use in their irrigation system.
Frankly, I like irrigation systems on the golf course. Or rather, my Maxfli Blue Dots seem to love them, for they have an uncanny way of finding themselves sitting on top of a sprinkler head. On my last links expedition (for me it is never just a “round of golf”, but rather it is an expedition because I visit those areas of golf courses that the really good golfers never get to see), I teed off on a par 3, 150 yards uphill. Slight breeze in my face, just an easy 6-iron. And of course, my typical fade to the right put my ball between the green and a large kidney-shaped bunker. As I approached my ball sitting just beyond the skirt of the green, and leaning against the fixed spray head of an underground sprinkler, I knew I could take a drop. You guessed it. It started shooting a spray of water as soon as I leaned down to move my ball. I was soaked. Totally.
It reminded me of November, 1986.
Georgia was a three touchdown underdog to the #10 Auburn Tigers. Auburn was two wins away from clinching the Southeastern Conference Title. Georgia, playing with a backup quarterback, beat Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium 20-16. The Georgia fans, so thrilled with their upset victory over Auburn, stormed the field. Some say it was a timer. Some say it was a solenoid switch. Some say an Assistant Athletic Director switched on the switch. But whatever happened to turn it on, the irrigation system on the north-west corner of the stadium, where the red-clad bulldogs were celebrating both in the stands and on the filed, was turned on. Like a fire hose.
For all of posterity, that game now had a name. The Hose Bowl. I think of it every time I hit a golf ball and it lands on or around a sprinkler head.
And I realized something else that day, back in 1986. Nothing stinks like a wet dog.
War Eagle!
Jeff Lane
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Joe Cribbs
It was 30 years ago this week. The 8th ranked Georgia Bulldogs, under the guidance of legendary coach Vince Dooley, came into the Auburn game not only highly ranked, but picked to win easily. Auburn, a pre-season top ten pick, had struggled in virtually every southeastern conference game it had played. Underperformance seemed to be the hallmark of this Tiger team. Trying to get his team excited, Coach Doug Barfield put the Tigers on the field wearing orange jerseys that day.
A young running back from Sulligent, Alabama literally stole the day from the Bulldogs. Young Joe Cribbs rushed for 250 yards that day, and Auburn tied the highly ranked Bulldogs 22-22. Cribbs would finish the season as a first team all-SEC running back with 1205 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns.
Joe Cribbs went on to play running back for the Buffalo Bills, earning the title of Rookie of the Year as well as being named to the Pro Bowl. But his God-given athletic abilities aren’t where Cribbs gives credit first.
“I grew up in the Baptist church in Sulligent. I was a church member as long as I can remember.” Cribbs goes on to say that he credits his mother, grandmother and several aunts and church members for laying his foundation that would be critical in how he responded to the fame of football, and the responsibilities of being a husband and father. He puts it this way, “I have maintained my relationship with God that was established when I was a youth. My faith has enabled me to do some great things athletically. I have always felt God gave me some special talents. I was always small, but it seemed the more I gave Him all the glory on the football field, the more successful I was on it.”
Joe Cribbs has never lost sight of the responsibility that came with fame. “I am so conscious of being a role model. I would not allow myself to be in a situation that would reflect negatively on God, on my family, on my teammates or on me.”
Cribbs left football in 1989. He began to focus on helping his wife Vanessa raise their three children. In 2005, he established the Joe Cribbs Youth Foundation. As the Founder and Executive Director of this outreach ministry designed to assist at-risk youth in poverty stricken rural Alabama, he sees his new role as the latest opportunity Christ has presented to him to Glorify God.
Two of his closest friends also have foundations and ministries. This past May they had a joint golf tournament in Columbus, Georgia to raise money for their respective ministries. Those two friends are David Pollack, former University of Georgia standout (The David Pollack Ministries), and Jeremiah Castille, former University of Alabama and NFL standout (The Jeremiah Castille Ministries).
The Auburn faithful will remember with fondness the outstanding day Joe Cribbs had against Georgia on November 18, 1978. But really….it is what he has done AFTER football that we should remember.
War Eagle
WJLaneSR
A young running back from Sulligent, Alabama literally stole the day from the Bulldogs. Young Joe Cribbs rushed for 250 yards that day, and Auburn tied the highly ranked Bulldogs 22-22. Cribbs would finish the season as a first team all-SEC running back with 1205 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns.
Joe Cribbs went on to play running back for the Buffalo Bills, earning the title of Rookie of the Year as well as being named to the Pro Bowl. But his God-given athletic abilities aren’t where Cribbs gives credit first.
“I grew up in the Baptist church in Sulligent. I was a church member as long as I can remember.” Cribbs goes on to say that he credits his mother, grandmother and several aunts and church members for laying his foundation that would be critical in how he responded to the fame of football, and the responsibilities of being a husband and father. He puts it this way, “I have maintained my relationship with God that was established when I was a youth. My faith has enabled me to do some great things athletically. I have always felt God gave me some special talents. I was always small, but it seemed the more I gave Him all the glory on the football field, the more successful I was on it.”
Joe Cribbs has never lost sight of the responsibility that came with fame. “I am so conscious of being a role model. I would not allow myself to be in a situation that would reflect negatively on God, on my family, on my teammates or on me.”
Cribbs left football in 1989. He began to focus on helping his wife Vanessa raise their three children. In 2005, he established the Joe Cribbs Youth Foundation. As the Founder and Executive Director of this outreach ministry designed to assist at-risk youth in poverty stricken rural Alabama, he sees his new role as the latest opportunity Christ has presented to him to Glorify God.
Two of his closest friends also have foundations and ministries. This past May they had a joint golf tournament in Columbus, Georgia to raise money for their respective ministries. Those two friends are David Pollack, former University of Georgia standout (The David Pollack Ministries), and Jeremiah Castille, former University of Alabama and NFL standout (The Jeremiah Castille Ministries).
The Auburn faithful will remember with fondness the outstanding day Joe Cribbs had against Georgia on November 18, 1978. But really….it is what he has done AFTER football that we should remember.
War Eagle
WJLaneSR
Friday, November 7, 2008
Just Rambling
It was the fall of 1974. And although I was not the superstitious sort, I still found myself adopting the superstitions of my teammates. In fact, when I hear the song today, it immediately takes me back to our team.
We were 12-1. Playing for right to forever be called “state champions”. Because of our record, and the fact that we were the #1 seed in the state playoffs, we had won the right to play the championship game at home. Home for us was historic Jennings Field in Lanett, Alabama.
The school we would play came from Selma. They too were 12-1. The Meadowview Trojans featured a running back that was being highly recruited. We had no one being highly recruited. But we had a coach who drilled us as much off the field in the “skull room” about the Trojans, as he did on the practice field. We felt like we knew them as well as we knew ourselves. And we listened the song before the game. Surely that was enough.
I don’t really know why we adopted this song as our theme. Nor do I know why we felt like we had to hear it before leaving the locker room….as though it were some kind of hex we would put on the opposition if we listened or ourselves if we didn’t. But for us, the song really summed up our team. We had some very good athletes, but we had no outstanding athletes. We were just a bunch of rambling men.
“Ramblin’ Man” was released by the Allman Brothers Band on their “Brothers and Sisters” album in late 1973. It was based on a 1951 Hank Williams song by the same name. The song never reached number #1. It rose all the way to #2, but “Half-Breed” by Sonny and Cher kept it from being number 1. Today, “Ramblin’ Man” is still played on oldies stations. “Half-Breed” rarely is.
We should have known that choosing a song which would reach its pinnacle at #2 might be giving foreshadow. But we didn’t. Meadowview beat us in that game, and we, like the song, finished the season #2.
Why do I take you down that memory path? Because today I am a post-election Ramblin’ Man. Or at least my blog is.
Several people have emailed me wanting to know if I am going to blog about the election, etc. I will Ramble over a few points, but basically leave it alone. If you voted for Obama, you are very happy. If you voted for McCain, you are not. Yet, we are all still Americans (o.k., with the exception of one of my brother-in-laws and a couple of my sister-in-laws who are still citizens of the U.K.). So here’s my rambling:
First of all, congratulations Mr. Obama. You are our next president. As such I will respect the office you hold, and understand that your winning was historic.
Secondly, though it is really no one’s business….I have been asked and so I will tell you: I voted for John McCain. So you’ll have to pardon me if I don’t fully understand the new word I have come up with. And by the way, I plan to patent the word, as I can find nowhere online or otherwise this word.
Third: the word is “Oprahbamics”. I am not quite sure how to define my new word, but it is what I saw on T.V. coming from Chicago on Tuesday night. Though we were told they were celebrating an election victory, I think it was more than that. It was Oprahbamics. And yes, the word is a synthesis of Oprah and Obama. Mix the two together and you have Oprahbamics.
Fourth and finally from my ramblings. We have a new president-elect. And though he isn’t who I voted for, he is my president-elect as well. So in the spirit of reaching across the aisle, those of you who, like me, didn’t vote for the president-elect, have an obligation. We have an obligation to show the new president the same level and the same kind of respect and loyalty, that those who voted for Mr. Obama have shown our current president these last couple of years.
Just Ramblin’
WJLaneSR
We were 12-1. Playing for right to forever be called “state champions”. Because of our record, and the fact that we were the #1 seed in the state playoffs, we had won the right to play the championship game at home. Home for us was historic Jennings Field in Lanett, Alabama.
The school we would play came from Selma. They too were 12-1. The Meadowview Trojans featured a running back that was being highly recruited. We had no one being highly recruited. But we had a coach who drilled us as much off the field in the “skull room” about the Trojans, as he did on the practice field. We felt like we knew them as well as we knew ourselves. And we listened the song before the game. Surely that was enough.
I don’t really know why we adopted this song as our theme. Nor do I know why we felt like we had to hear it before leaving the locker room….as though it were some kind of hex we would put on the opposition if we listened or ourselves if we didn’t. But for us, the song really summed up our team. We had some very good athletes, but we had no outstanding athletes. We were just a bunch of rambling men.
“Ramblin’ Man” was released by the Allman Brothers Band on their “Brothers and Sisters” album in late 1973. It was based on a 1951 Hank Williams song by the same name. The song never reached number #1. It rose all the way to #2, but “Half-Breed” by Sonny and Cher kept it from being number 1. Today, “Ramblin’ Man” is still played on oldies stations. “Half-Breed” rarely is.
We should have known that choosing a song which would reach its pinnacle at #2 might be giving foreshadow. But we didn’t. Meadowview beat us in that game, and we, like the song, finished the season #2.
Why do I take you down that memory path? Because today I am a post-election Ramblin’ Man. Or at least my blog is.
Several people have emailed me wanting to know if I am going to blog about the election, etc. I will Ramble over a few points, but basically leave it alone. If you voted for Obama, you are very happy. If you voted for McCain, you are not. Yet, we are all still Americans (o.k., with the exception of one of my brother-in-laws and a couple of my sister-in-laws who are still citizens of the U.K.). So here’s my rambling:
First of all, congratulations Mr. Obama. You are our next president. As such I will respect the office you hold, and understand that your winning was historic.
Secondly, though it is really no one’s business….I have been asked and so I will tell you: I voted for John McCain. So you’ll have to pardon me if I don’t fully understand the new word I have come up with. And by the way, I plan to patent the word, as I can find nowhere online or otherwise this word.
Third: the word is “Oprahbamics”. I am not quite sure how to define my new word, but it is what I saw on T.V. coming from Chicago on Tuesday night. Though we were told they were celebrating an election victory, I think it was more than that. It was Oprahbamics. And yes, the word is a synthesis of Oprah and Obama. Mix the two together and you have Oprahbamics.
Fourth and finally from my ramblings. We have a new president-elect. And though he isn’t who I voted for, he is my president-elect as well. So in the spirit of reaching across the aisle, those of you who, like me, didn’t vote for the president-elect, have an obligation. We have an obligation to show the new president the same level and the same kind of respect and loyalty, that those who voted for Mr. Obama have shown our current president these last couple of years.
Just Ramblin’
WJLaneSR
Monday, November 3, 2008
On Voting
Just to be clear, the fact that the misinformed and biased pollsters voted Alabama #1 this week had nothing to do with the following blog article I wrote. Frankly, I could care less right now who the pollsters have as number one, and fully expect LSU to change things for the Tide next week.
BUT, this blog isn't about football.
My wife and I had the great privilege of visiting Philadelphia during the first week of October. We saw the liberty bell, independence hall, etc. And while all of these historical buildings, relics and monuments were very interesting (I am a history teacher wannabe I think), the most meaningful thing to me was remembering our country's forefathers and what it took to make this country what it is.
The United States of America was founded by men who were willing to risk it all. Men who had a deep and abiding faith in God. Men who didn’t so much care what the cost was to them personally, as long as it left an enduring promise and future for their children and their country. They pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to acquire independence from tyranny.
Many of these men lost their fortunes and their lives fighting for freedom. I believe they would be saddened today to know how much of the godly heritage they so valiantly fought for has been squandered away. Individual rights and freedoms legislated away by congress. Protection for the unborn ruled away by out-of-control judges. Special interest groups becoming more important to Presidents and Governors than average citizens. And the reason?
Apathy. Misinformation. Lack of education. No interest. Far too long we have been either apathetic, misinformed, uneducated to the facts, didn’t care about the issues or just to lazy and uninterested in political and public policy issues. Therefore, a significant number of people either just didn’t vote, or jumped on a bandwagon to vote without thinking through who they REALLY believed would be the right candidate.
In 1881, President James Garfield, who happened to also be a minister, warned that “if we went to sleep”, our government would become corrupt and tyrannical. He went on to say, “Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature”.
In a representative republic like ours, the power citizens hold is in their vote.
Tomorrow we vote.
The Bible says we can’t serve two masters. We either serve an ungodly worldly master, or we serve The Master. Consequently, before voting, before pulling that curtain closed behind you, before deciding who will get your vote on the ballot…..you must FIRST decide WHOM you serve. And then, what that Master (or master) wants you to do when you get in the booth.
It is the only way to preserve what is left of our precious heritage that our forefathers left us. It is the only way to participate in the destiny of our nation. As voting citizens, we are the caretakers of America for ourselves and for posterity. We have an obligation to our country. And as former President Garfield said later in the speech quoted above, “we have an obligation to God.” Our Founding Fathers would expect nothing less.
WJLaneSR
BUT, this blog isn't about football.
My wife and I had the great privilege of visiting Philadelphia during the first week of October. We saw the liberty bell, independence hall, etc. And while all of these historical buildings, relics and monuments were very interesting (I am a history teacher wannabe I think), the most meaningful thing to me was remembering our country's forefathers and what it took to make this country what it is.
The United States of America was founded by men who were willing to risk it all. Men who had a deep and abiding faith in God. Men who didn’t so much care what the cost was to them personally, as long as it left an enduring promise and future for their children and their country. They pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to acquire independence from tyranny.
Many of these men lost their fortunes and their lives fighting for freedom. I believe they would be saddened today to know how much of the godly heritage they so valiantly fought for has been squandered away. Individual rights and freedoms legislated away by congress. Protection for the unborn ruled away by out-of-control judges. Special interest groups becoming more important to Presidents and Governors than average citizens. And the reason?
Apathy. Misinformation. Lack of education. No interest. Far too long we have been either apathetic, misinformed, uneducated to the facts, didn’t care about the issues or just to lazy and uninterested in political and public policy issues. Therefore, a significant number of people either just didn’t vote, or jumped on a bandwagon to vote without thinking through who they REALLY believed would be the right candidate.
In 1881, President James Garfield, who happened to also be a minister, warned that “if we went to sleep”, our government would become corrupt and tyrannical. He went on to say, “Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature”.
In a representative republic like ours, the power citizens hold is in their vote.
Tomorrow we vote.
The Bible says we can’t serve two masters. We either serve an ungodly worldly master, or we serve The Master. Consequently, before voting, before pulling that curtain closed behind you, before deciding who will get your vote on the ballot…..you must FIRST decide WHOM you serve. And then, what that Master (or master) wants you to do when you get in the booth.
It is the only way to preserve what is left of our precious heritage that our forefathers left us. It is the only way to participate in the destiny of our nation. As voting citizens, we are the caretakers of America for ourselves and for posterity. We have an obligation to our country. And as former President Garfield said later in the speech quoted above, “we have an obligation to God.” Our Founding Fathers would expect nothing less.
WJLaneSR
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