Way to Go Zach

I was excited to see an Iowa boy win the Masters yesterday, but more impressed by some of the things he said after his round. Do I think that God influences sporting events so that Christians win? No. But it's great to see a guy like Zach Johnson use his talent to bring glory to his Creator. In the post-round interview, he was asked: "Did you use any routines or techniques to kind of calm and center yourself either when you went home at night this week or on the course in such a pressure situation?"

Zach replied: "You know, I have little things that I tell myself about my round, about my day. Really, nothing changes from week-to-week. It could be a Thursday at a random tournament, it could be a Sunday obviously at Augusta. I say the same things to myself, just how to approach each shot, how to approach each hole. Today, the only thing different was the fact that it was Easter. I felt like regardless of what happened today, my responsibility was to glorify God and hopefully He thinks I did."

No commentary needed on that. I hope Zach keeps winning tournaments and keeps using his platform as an opportunity to give all the credit to Jesus.

Super Bowl Faith

Lost amid the hoopla and the hype of two African-American coaches reaching the Super Bowl for the first time was this. Both Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy know what is truly important in life: following Jesus.

I found a link to a neat site where both coaches share about their faith. Tony Dungy, who lost his son recently said:

"If God had had a conversation with me, had said, 'I can help some people see. I can heal some people's relationships. I can save some people's lives. I can give some people eternal life--but I'll have to take your son to do it. You make the choice.' I know how I would have answered that. I would have said 'No, I'm sorry. As great as all that is, I don't want to do that.' And that's the awesome thing about God. He had that choice. And He said 'Yes, I'm gonna do it.' two thousand years ago with His Son Jesus on the cross. And because He said 'Yes', because He made the choice that I wouldn't make as a parent, that's paved the way for us to come back into relationship with Him.

BEARS LOSE.

Once again, it's tough to be Chicago sports fan. There will be no "Super Bowl Shuffle" this year. In the second half the Colts showed poise and determination while the Bears floundered about in the rain. Turnovers and no pass rush were the losing combination for Chicago.

As Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti wrote, "In the end, the difference between winning a championship and becoming one of those quickly forgotten runners-up was that the Bears tried to convince us they have a real quarterback when the smart people knew they do not."

A bit harsh, but hard to argue with after yesterday's loss.

BEARS WIN!!!

When it comes to pro sports, I'm a Chicago man through-and-through. That's meant lots of losing and some heartbreaking seasons in recent years. I even watched the Cubs lose game 7 of the NLCS (in person, at Wrigley field). So I was prepared for the inevitable Bears collapse today--not really letting myself get too excited by the fact that there was just one more hurdle to clear before the Super Bowl.

So it was a sweet thing to see the Bears win the NFC Championship game today. It might take a couple days to sink in. I can actually look forward to the game instead of the commercials now. Yes.