8/19/2006

Seahawk 2006 team preview - wideouts

This years wide receivers are hard to figure out. There is potential for them to be very good. There is also the potential for them to be a great weakness. There were lots of injuries last year and the glue that held them together (besides Hasselbeck) was Jurevicius who is now gone to Cleveland. This years two starters are the same as last years.

WR1- Darrell Jackson 6'0" #200
D-Jack was hurt last year only starting 6 games. He had offseason knee surgery and won't play in pre-season until late August. When he's healthy he's very good. He runs well after the catch and is able to get good separation. He lacks the speed to make him a deep threat or the size to make him a good target over the middle.
WR2- Bobby Engram 5'10" #188
Engram is the small posession receiver that teams like to have. He's tough and will go over the middle. Last year he was hurt (broken ribs) during the Redskins loss in game 4. He finished the game and then was in and out of the line-up the rest of the year. Very dependable but starting to get a little old.
WR3- Nate Burleson 6'0" #192
Burleson was a free agent acquision after the loss of Jurevicius. I loved Jurevicius and only hope that Burleson can provide the leadership and example the Joe provided last year when the receiver corps was depleted by injury. Burleson is supposed to be the speed guy that stretches the defense. He was injured last season but put up good numbers prior to the injury for the Vikings. He's a hometown boy and a graduate of O'Dea High School.
Backups-
Peter Warrick 5'11" #195 - starting his second year with the Hawks. Heisman Trophy winner with Florida State six years ago. Has all the tools to be an NFL great. But hasn't done it on the field yet. Will he finally break out with the Hawks.....? I sure hope so!
D.J.Hackett 6'2" #199 - Had some nice catches last year. Has filled the role of the "speed" receiver, but only gets maybe 1-2 catches a game. The D doesn't stand for dependable. Has an injured hamstring and isn't traveling with the team to Indy for the pre-season game.
Taco Wallace 6'1" #190 - I included him here because he has a cool name. Not someone to be excited about on the field however. Probably will be covering kickoffs and punts.

Tight End- Jeramy Stevens 6'7" #260
Stevens was much improved last year and turned in to someone for defenses to plan against. Big target over the middle with dependable hands (except in the Superbowl) he seems to be injury prone and is now out 6 weeks with a torn cartlidge in his knee. Had a history of personal problems in college (Washington). Another hometowner (Tacoma).

Iutla Mili 6'4" #260
hurt last year but a dependable receiver and a better blocker than Stevens.

Will Heller 6'6" #265
brought in from Tampa to be a third string player. Not much excitement out of him in Tampa his first 4 seasons.

It's a good thing that our running game dominates. That makes our receivers better than they really are. If they play up to their potential, escpecially Warrick and Jackson, and avoid injuries they could be a big surprise to the rest of the NFL.

overall B-

8/17/2006

Way to go France!!??


Those French!!!

If France was a football player they'd be the 2nd string punter.

(I know who that is in the photo, it's just the closest I could get to a chicken all talk and no action Frenchman)

Lower Than Whale Dung

This guy has the same job that I had in the Navy. Looks like he hates his country though. What should they do with him? I can think of a few things I'd like to do. I don't want to have to go to confession however.

Respond or Not II

Well, I have lost the pamphlet so perhaps my course of action has been decided for me. It's just as well, I've had discussions with fundamentalist Christians before and they just aren't very reasonable. Their knowledge of Scripture and Christian history is also very limited. To paint them with a wide brush, they proclaim that Scripture is literal and the truths of Scripture are plainly evident for a person who reads it with a sincere desire to understand the truth. The problem is, they don't adhere to their own belief when it contradicts their tradition. As I said however, I'm generalizing and lumping a group of people together and all are not exactly the same. There are exceptions to the generalized observations that follow but, they are just exceptions and not the rule. One of the differences between Catholic Christians and Fundamentalist Christians is in how they view eachother.

Fundamentalists view the Catholic Church as a non Christian cult that practices necromancy, sorcery, and the worship of false gods. Catholics are not Christian and are therefore condemned to hell. They are in need of salvation and are targeted for conversion. The Catholic Church is an enemy of the Gospel because of her perversion of the Gospel message. The reluctance or failure of Catholics to leave the Church after a fundamentalist presents the Gospel to them is only evidence of the power of the Catholic cult. When that rare Catholic is found who can explain Catholic teaching with logic and reason while using Scripture, it only reinforces how powerful and twisted the Church is and how much control she has over her members. These are all things I have experienced first hand in discussions with fundamentalists.

Catholics view fundamentalists in a different light. As fundamentalism is a new tradition (only about 150-200 years old), that has no central authority, there is not one single view of them. As with all Christian churches that profess the Trinity and Baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, fundamentalists are considered to be part of the Catholic Church. Being imperfectly united with the Church, there are certain obstacles in their realationship with God and His grace. Just as there are obstacles for Catholics who are within the visible Church yet through ignorance or obstinance, deny thruths of the faith.

The irony I find here is in the dogmatic judgement of the two traditions. The Church is accused of being controlling and rigid, supposedly denying the necessity of having a personal relationship with Jesus while teaching a salvation by works theology. Yet this controlling and rigid Church recognizes the Christianity and membership of the fundamentalists in the Body of Christ while the opposite doesn't hold true.

An example of how fundamentalists aren't faithful to their own theological beliefs and Scriptural exegesis is in their view of creation as compared to their view of communion. Remember that fundamentalists profess that Scripture is to be interpreted literally.

Fundamentalists hold that God created everything in six literal 24 hour days with one 24 hour day of rest around 6,000 years ago, give or take a thousand years or so. This view is maintained in the face of enormous scientific (anthropological, archeological, astrological, and geological) evidence that points to a different time frame. Fundamentalists arrive at this belief because they interpret the creation story in Genesis very literally. The literal interpretation of Scripture trumps all physical evidence.

Fundamentalists hold that the bread and wine used in communion, or the celebration of the Lords Supper, are just bread and wine and are only symbols of Jesus' Body and Blood. (NOTE: they don't use wine because in their tradition consuming alcohol is a sin. Therefore, even though Scripture refers to wine being consumed by Jesus at the last supper, it was really just non alcoholic grape juice despite what is literally written). They hold this symbolic belief despite the very literal words ("...this is my body...") of Jesus regarding the bread and wine used at the passover meal that was the Last Supper. And despite the very literal words of Jesus during the Bread of Life discourse (John 6). Their justification for not following the literal words of Scripture? Because the enormous physical (scientific) evidence that the bread and wine continue to have the appearance of bread and wine. What happened to the literal interpretion of Scripture?

I've had this discussion with fundamentalist friends. They get very agitated and do everything possible to keep from having to justify their position. They try to change the subject to something they have a couple of memorized "proof texts" for, like... how us Catholics worship Mary, or how we are wrong to believe in justification by "works" and not faith. When you explain the actual teaching of those things they believe you are trying to trick them and that you aren't telling the truth about what the Church teaches. They don't acknowledge that they must have been misinformed about what the Catholic Church professes.

8/16/2006

Seahawk 2006 team preview

UNFINISHED BUSINESS


I'm starting a series on the Seahawks getting ready for the 2006 campaign. I went to the first pre-season game against the Redskins and I wasn't impressed by what I saw. It's only pre-season but... when your #1 draft pick can't cover 2nd and 3rd string receivers with 2nd and 3rd string quarterbacks throwing to them, you may have problems.

I'll focus on different positions each post. This post will focus on the offensive line.

2005 saw the Hawks with the best offensive line in football with three members being selected to the pro-bowl. One of those guys (Steve Hutchinson) went to the Vikings in the offseason, other than that our line should be a bright spot again this season. Here are this seasons starters.

Left Tackle - Walter Jones -
Six time pro-bowler and regarded as the best left tackle in football. For the second straight year Jones has been in training camp since the first day. Expected to have another standout year. Measures out at 6'5" #315
Back-up (Tom Ashworth) acquired from New England as an unrestricted free agent in '06. Ashworth is a four year veteran and would probably start on half of the NFL teams. Measures out at 6'6" #305.

Left Guard - Floyd Womack -
Five year NFL veteran and has been in and out of the starting line-up over his career. He replaces all pro Steve Hutchinson. This will be a downgrade over last year but, Womack has much experience with this line and the scheme. Nicknamed "Pork Chop" he measures out at 6'4" and weighs #330. back-up (Tom Ashworth again) (third string William Henry) Henry is a free agent acquisition with one year experience. He has started in no games and also has experience at center. Measures out at 6'4" #295.

Center - Robbie Tobeck -
A 14 year NFL veteran and the reserve pro-bowler for the NFC in last years pro-bowl. Robbie is rock solid, and is probably starting to be "long in the tooth" but for a center, wisdom and experience are more important than youth. Measures out at 6'4" #297
back-up (Chris Spencer) the number one draft pick from last years draft. Has all the physical tools for the job but probably needs a little more time before he's ready to make all the offensive line calls. Measures out at 6'3" #309

Right Guard - Chris Gray
Another 14 year veteran, Gray is probably in the last year of starting every game. Has been a solid performer for the Seahawks. Measures out at 6'3" #308
back-up (Tom Ashworth) again...

Right Tackle - Sean Locklear
Third year player from the '04 draft. Sean is emerging as one of the NFL's best right tackles. Unfairly Sean will forever be remembered for the Superbowl holding call that resulted in the Jeramy Stevens reception on the one yard line being called back. The Hawks were down by four points at this stage of the game and were on a good drive. The sad thing is that the player he held was shown to have been offsides at the snap because he started his rush a little early. Sean got called for holding because the blitzing Pittsburgh player had a head start. ANOTHER BAD CALL BY THE REFS. This one, I think, cost us the game. Measures out at 6'4" #301
back-up (Tom Ashworth) again...

There are some 3rd and 4th stringers I didn't profile.

Overall grade A-
Even with the departure of Hutchinson the line should be great. They have at least three years experience working together across the board. Look for some huge holes getting ripped in defensive lines and look for Matt having lots of time to throw the ball. One of last years highlights was the blocking ability of the tight ends. The did great at sealing off the ends on many of Sean's big runs. I will profile the tight ends with the receivers.

8/14/2006

Respond or Not?

I took three hours off from work on Sunday so that I could go to 11:00 Mass. I was scheduled to be the MC (master of ceremonies) so I needed to be there by 10:30. The MC acts as the primary assistant to the Priest when there is no Deacon present. As MC, I ensure that the other altar servers (boys between the ages of 9-18) do their assignments properly. I set the Altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist (communion) and clean it after the consecration. This Sunday we had a wonderful visiting Priest who is a missionary in Tanzania.

After Mass I returned to my car so that I could get back to work. My car had a flyer under the windshield. The flyer was about being "born again". The gist of it was that to be born again you had to "accept Jesus in your heart as your personal Lord and Savior". I agree with this, but what it means, and what it means to the writer of this pamphlet is not exactly the same. There were several Bible verses that, I guess, were supposed to prove the theology of what the pamphlet proposed. The short story is that Catholics aren't saved but if we recite the sinners prayer that was provided in the pamphlet, we surely would be... forever!!

Now, I have some theological differences with all Christians who aren't Catholic. I have more theological commonness than differences with them however. I have no problem discussing these differences with them. And I enjoy discussing our commonality even more. They are often surprised at how much we agree on. I think this is because there are many untruths told to people about Catholic teaching due to ingnorance and sometimes, unfortunately, out of bigotry.

I would never go to some other Christian's church who follows a different tradition than me, and pamphlet their cars. Espescially while they were inside celebrating Jesus. I would never go to a synagogue during their service and pamphlet their cars explaining how they should embrace Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. I believe in evangelizing. But it needs to be in the proper time and place. It is imprudent, demeaning, cowardly, and ignorant to do what these pamphleteers did, IMHO.

I guess these guys (the pamphleteers) just have a corner on the truth. Must be nice to be infallible. Oh wait, no one's infallible... no wait... it's just that AntiChrist the Pope who isn't infallible, the pastor of the local church of the Gospel Truth founded in 1998 is infallible because he teaches that the Whore of Babylon is the Catholic Church and that the bread and grape juice at communion are just symbols of the body and blood of Christ, (uuuhhhhhh [BIG BREATH]) and that the world was created in six 24 hour days with a day of rest just like it says in Genesis because the Bible is literally true. Ummmmm.... why isn't the bread and wine at communion really the body and blood of Christ if the Bible is literally true??? Hold it... why did God wait until 1998 to get the word out infallibly..?

So... Do I write to the P.O. box that was on the pamphlet? Is it worth it? Where would I begin?