Tag: Kansas Jayhawks

I Love the Kansas Jayhawks, but…

by Dan, posted in Sports

I LOVE the Kansas Jayhawks. It is a great program. I know a lot of people don’t like their fans. I hope I’m not one of THOSE fans, but I love the Kansas Jayhawks.

However, I have a request of the selection committee (even though I know this will go unheeded): Please do NOT seed KU #1 in any bracket. They don’t deserve it. They have come this far because of a great coach who can pull out miraculous things from a team that just isn’t built for a championship run this year.

KU with a #1 seed is a death wish this year. They can’t handle that number. (The exception being 2008 when everyone thought they didn’t deserve it.) The reason is this: they get lazy.

In 2008, KU crushed North Carolina in the Final Four. The next year, North Carolina cruised EASILY to a national championship. Why? All their players came back for one purpose: to win the national championship. The loss to Kansas had motivated them. Every round of the tournament they CRUSHED their opponents.

Last year when KU was “supposed” to win it all, they collapsed. They got cocky with their number one seed. They felt they deserved it. They tanked early in the tournament. And what did the juniors who were leaders do? They bolted to the NBA.

I say put KU at a 2 seed. Make them mad. Disrespect them. THAT way they will NOT be comfortable and play with heart and passion and at least get to the second weekend of the tournament this year.

So, please, PLEASE do not give my Jayhawks a One Seed.

Thank you.

Does It Get Old?

by Dan, posted in Common English Bible, Spiritual Formation, Spiritual hunger

I love sports, and I LOVE the Kansas Jayhawks in basketball. On my bucket list is going to a game at Allen Fieldhouse once before I die. Just once. I was in there one time years ago. Roy Williams was in his first season. They had won the national championship the year before. A friend and I walked into the fieldhouse for a practice. We were promptly chased out. Didn’t matter. We looked at each other and said, “Was that cool or what?”

But a game… I would LOVE to get to a game.

Duke is another school passionate about the game. I’ve always equated Duke with crazy fans. This article seems to indicate it is just not the same anymore. Students aren’t filling up the student section any more. Top ten program. Fans aren’t coming. The author of the article speculates it’s because things get old. Chants are the same. Songs are the same. (Even winning is the same.) So… are fans bored?

The article sparked another thought in me: Do we get bored of the Kingdom of God?

Do we reach a point where we think: “Same songs. Same Bible. Same church (or series of churches).”

So… we… yaaaaawwwwwnnnn.

Does the Kingdom get old? If it does… why? And if it does… do we change up the routine? Or… hold on now, this may shock you… is it US?

Nawww… couldn’t be us. It MUST be the worship team… or the pastor… or the Bible… or…

You know what? For some reason, if we’re “bored”, or things so to have slipped into a rut, and we keep on looking… and searching… and not finding any solutions with outward stimulus… the answer just may be us.

WE may need to get right back into that Word… right back into that worship service… right back on our knees… and stay at it until we understand what may be wrong inside… not outside.

Just. A. Thought.

12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; 
      reap faithful love; 
   break up your unplanted ground, 
      for it is time to seek the LORD, 
      that he may come 
      and rain righteousness upon you. (Hos. 10:12, CEB)

 

Healthcare Reform, the Kansas Jayhawks, and the Apocalypse

by Dan, posted in Culture, healthcare reform

All was not lost on the weekend. Joe Mauer signed a long-term deal with the Twins. We’re pretty happy about that.

That came hours before the final vote on healthcare “reform,” so it helped soften that blow.

Couple that with the crushing defeat of the Kansas Jayhawks  in the NCAA tournament, and, well, it’s a wonder the Apocalypse didn’t sweep us all away!

So, we have this new healthcare bill. It does not signal the end of democracy as we know it. Some would disagree. As I have said before, and will continue to say, this was a bad bill. It does not come out of a belief that our healthcare system is fine. It’s not. It’s horribly broken.

This doesn’t fix anything. But, that’s the way it goes.

What is missing from politics is reasoned discussion. My friend, Lance, and I can sit for hours in a coffee shop and discuss this issue and walk away friends. We will not agree fully on this subject, but we can have a civil discussion on it. I deeply admire his passion and respect his views.

But beyond two guys in a coffee shop, we can’t seem to have any civil debate anymore in this country and that is a crying shame.

One thing I know: It does not matter what type of government I live under. My allegiance is far past whatever human government I live under. I love my country. Yet, the sea change we are experiencing does not change me. I am so thankful for the Kingdom and the King I serve. It keeps me in a true state of content.

That’s good news when I consider the Jayhawks are sitting home and I have no compelling interest to watch the NCAA tournament anymore.