Mark and Seda's First Baseball Game

The Swiss sport of Hornussen

Another bizarre sport, from the fields of Switzerland...

UFC 152

I was introduced to the world of Mixed Martial Arts the other night when I was invited over to a friend's house to watch UFC 152. I have briefly seen people on TV fighting in this style, but I really had never watched anything start to finish, so I wasn't sure what it was going to be like.

The first full fight that I watched was actually pretty gory. One of the fighters got struck on the forehead and had blood all over his face. As the fight wore on, the blood was all over his chest, his head, his shorts, the other fighter's face, body, and shorts, as well as in various places on the mat. For as many 'fight' scenes that I have seen in movies over the years, they all pale in comparison to seeing someone get their head split open in a real fight. (It also exposes the ridiculous performances in the WWE as complete fakes.) In the second fight, one fighter was completely knocked out cold. After you see someone's legs buckle underneath them from losing consciousness, you really can not un-see it.

By the time the main event started, I was getting the picture that most of the participants go into the matches trying not only to hurt the other person as much as possible, but also to literally try and break limbs. It seemed that most of the wrestlers would take any opportunity to do that.

The last fight featured the reigning champ, Jon 'Bones' Jones and the challenger, Vitor Belfort. While Belfort held his own for a few rounds (and nearly broke Jones' arm at one point), Jones prevailed by twisting Belfort's arm backwards into such a shape that Vitor could not do anything except plead for mercy by tapping out. Jones had repeatedly hit Belfort in the face with his elbows causing an immense amount of damage and bleeding to Vitor's face.

After all was said and done, it was one o'clock in the morning, and I was pretty tired. But I woke up the next day thinking about what I had seen. There was no question that I felt very uncomfortable with the level of violence in the fights. (...Making me wonder about what exactly I have been de-sensitized to when seeing violence in movies.) During the program, I was trying to evaluate what I was supposed to be thinking and feeling as a Christian, and I never did feel good about it. It was disturbing to watch two human beings trying to debase and damage each other in order to make one submit to the other out of force.

My initial gut reaction was that there was nothing about this that could glorify God or enhance the human experience outside of general competition. About the time that I thought that, I saw that Jones had Philippians 4:13 tattooed on his right pectoral muscle (I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength). Before entering the ring, he bowed down and prayed. The announcer said that he was the son of a preacher. I wondered, "how is he going to treat his opponent? Will he treat them with the same lack of dignity that the other fighters had shown, or somehow, in Christ, will he be able to fight while giving dignity to Belfort?"

I realize that this is my own private interpretation, but I thought that while they fought somewhat evenly at first, Jones essentially mauled Belfort. He continued to elbow him in the face so many times that blood was freely flowing all over. Even though there is no need to feel sorry for Vitor (he freely signed up for this), it was easy to see that he was dejected, damaged, and debased as a result of his fight with Jones. As a Christian, I thought, is this the way we are supposed to treat others? Could I ever see Jesus in a situation where he would treat someone like this? Part of my disappointment was watching Jon Jones' father jumping up and down with excitement at his son's victory. It disturbed me to see a pastor so excited at the debasement of another human being.

I am sure that someone will say that the Scriptures tell us that in all we do, we should do everything to the glory of God... and maybe that is what Jones attempts to do with his tattoo and by praying before entering the ring. I guess that despite that, it would take a lot to convince me that God's glory can be reflected while damaging, debasing, and discouraging another human being.

Fantastic Baseball play

I love this...

@ Yahoo! Video

Ohio State wins the NIT

Well, it is not the NCAA Basketball Championship, but the OSU Buckeyes finally won one of the 4 championships that they have been in during the last two years of men's basketball and football. OSU beat UMass last night to win the National Invitation Tournament (sometimes joked at as the Not Invited to the Tourney Tournament). The Buckeyes sailed through their five games (despite being down to UMass in the first half). The ease with which the Bucks made it through the NIT shows that they really should have been in the Big Dance, but as they say, you play the cards that you are dealt. Here is a short video.

OSU 14, Michigan 3

It is always good to end the regular season with a win against Michigan... I can remember having a broken heart throughout the 90's when we consistently got our head handed to us by some Michigan running back... nice to be on the other side of that... here is a decent video of it, although I can not stand Aerosmith... defense ruled on both sides (23 punts between the two teams)... you have to love the Vernon Gholston hit on Chad Henne...

No fair weather fans here...

Well, the Tribe is on the verge of winning (or losing) the American League crown... let's hope that the win comes tomorrow on the arm of Westbrook... thought that Carmona would take care of business, but there are no guarantees... and no, the sling is not from practicing my slider... yes I DID bring my Tribe jersey to Cambodia...

of the Unbelievable and Perspective

I will admit it, last night I went to bed. I gave up on the Buckeyes. They were down by 20 before half, and 17 at the break... I thought they had no chance of coming back... so I went home and went to bed... and they won. Here is a link for a video that may be available for a few days... Ron Lewis is amazing... big shot after big shot fell for him and Michael Connelly (not my favorite contemporary novelist Michael Connelly), and they won. Absolutely unbelievable. Greg Oden was essentially a non factor. I was amazed he was even able to block the last shot of the game... when he had three fouls in the first half, I didn't think he would even be playing at the end of the game, but he did and came up big 'when it counted'...

All that being said... how much does it really matter? It is easy for me to be detached about basketball because it is not something I am really passionate about. If it was the football team, I would be ecstatic, but... anyway, the reason I bring it up is because I need a change of heart. I need to be more satisfied and charged up by the Lord than I am by a basketball game... it all has it's place, and I am not condemning having a good time and cheering on a team... I am all for that, but I need to keep in mind that God is my ultimate satisfaction, desire and pleasure... not a sports victory... I hope that I can watch their next game, but I do hope more than that I look more and more like Christ, and not so much like a Buckeye 'when it counts'.

Not much to say...

I am not sure that I know the origin of the phrase, "they just got their head handed to them". However, I know it when I see it. Last night, Ohio State got their head handed to them by Florida. As with many Buckeye fans, this morning I woke with a variety of questions in my mind... "Did Tressel's game plan so revolve around Ted Ginn that when he went down, there was no Plan B?"; "Antonio Pittman was working, why did we not run the ball?"; "Could that much rust have accumulated?"; "Where was the O-line?"; "Where was the D-line?"; "What in the world happened to Troy Smith?". Ultimately, you give credit to Florida and you move on, but it sure was unfortunate to see such a fun and exciting season end like that. But I have never seen a Tressel team so unprepared. Earl Bruce, yes. John Cooper, most definitely. Tressel? That was the biggest egg he has laid since coming to Columbus. To end a season like that is almost unexcusable. Even though there are a variety of things that really frustrated me about this game (the biggest thing obviously being the loss itself), one of the most frustrating to me is the fact that that for all time this Ohio State team will be listed in the 'Pretender' column next to all of the other D-I teams instead of the only 'Contender' when they had so much potential for winning it all... it truly was a sad day to be a Buckeye fan. Nevertheless, it is over... we all still know that we bleed Sacrlet and Grey, and that if it comes down to it, we want Tressel over anyone else on the sideline, and next fall, we will be aching for those heroic plays by Troy... All I can say for myself is that I still wore my Ohio State shirt to bed last night.

A Heisman Moment

I got to see this great Troy Smith to Brian Robiskie pass... it was fun to see this again online... this was definitely one of Troy Smith's "Heisman Moments" from this year... check it out...

Let the craziness begin...

Well the Buckeyes now know who they are going to face in the National Championship game... the Florida Gators... how good are the Gators? I'm not sure anyone in Ohio can give a good answer. Apparently they have some speed and talent at QB, but not much of a running game... we'll see how the Bucks prepare for them... there is a lot between now and then... the Heisman award will be given out, potentially a few other pieces of hardware to other players, Ohio State has finals coming up, they will only be practicing against themselves for nearly two months... a lot of things for the avid Buckeye fan to chew on... Go Bucks!