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General Category >> General Board >> I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
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Message started by nomistakejake on 08/04/07 at 11:30am

Title: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by nomistakejake on 08/04/07 at 11:30am

“Sports does not build character. It reveals it.”
Heywood Broun – Sports Journalist

How true this statement has become. It is true for the players of the games, the fans of the games, and most certainly, the men and women that serve in the roles as coaches of the games. In many ways, sports serves as our moral compass, a measuring stick of what is and is not acceptable not only within the context of the competition itself, but also on the sidelines, in the stands, and in the community as whole. Which direction is our compass pointing? Or is our compass simply spinning in circles because we are so polarized in our opinions, interests, wants and needs?

In my church this past Sunday, an Evangelist by the name of David Nasser spoke from the pulpit. David is a member of our church and a resident of Hoover. David also travels across our country in his service of God. At one point in the sermon, David talked about his recognition as a “Hoover resident” in many of his travels.

“Hoover. I know Hoover.” is often the response of many that Nasser meets. “ It's that place in Alabama where, if your a star football player, you can get away with anything. Hoover. Two-a-Days. I know Hoover. That's the place where football is your God. I know Hoover.”

These were painful words to hear. However, these were words that our congregation needed to hear. Our beliefs, our religion, our concept of God, our morals, our ethics, and our standards of what is acceptable or unacceptable many times gets left laying in the church pews on the way to Cracker Barrel for Sunday dinner. We leave them there because it is much simpler to just “go along operating in the gray areas” of life than it is to take a stand on issues that are more black and white than gray.

What does sports reveal about our character in this community? What has it reveal about the character of our players, the coaches and the fans? Has our need to have winning sports programs revealed the character within us to simply “operate in the gray areas” rather than take a stand on what is right or wrong? Do really want sports programs that give us the highest and finest qualities in coaches, players, and fans or is this simply “lip service” to make us feel better about ourselves? If we had coaches in our programs that gave us the “revealed character” of the highest quality and at the greatest level, yet not win enough games to satisfy our needs, then how fast would we find a way to get rid of them?

I'm reminded of a story I read not long ago. At the end of a practice during two a days, a head football coach was approached by a parent of one of his players. The parent asked the head coach, “So Coach, how are they looking? How do you think they'll turn out?"

The head coach responded “It is way too soon to tell. I'll know in about 15 or 20 years when I see what kind of men they have become, what they have done to contribute to our community, and what they've done to make the world a better place. It will be then that I will know how they tuned out and whether my God has completed his work in me.”

The parent walked away in complete bewilderment. This was a parent with a short term focus on wins and losses and coach with long term goal of revealing character.

I'm searching my soul. How about you?

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by billybob555 on 08/04/07 at 11:38am

Enjoyed reading your post.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by Lament on 08/04/07 at 11:40am

nomistakejake wrote:

“Hoover. I know Hoover.” is often the response of many that Nasser meets. “ It's that place in Alabama where, if your a star football player, you can get away with anything. Hoover. Two-a-Days. I know Hoover. That's the place where football is your God. I know Hoover.”

You should hear my friends in California joke about the state in general. We're a laughing stock of the United States in some place.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by HooverHooch on 08/04/07 at 11:46am

Lament wrote:

[quote author=nomistakejake link=1186245004/0#0 date=1186245004]
“Hoover. I know Hoover.” is often the response of many that Nasser meets. “ It's that place in Alabama where, if your a star football player, you can get away with anything. Hoover. Two-a-Days. I know Hoover. That's the place where football is your God. I know Hoover.”

You should hear my friends in California joke about the state in general. We're a laughing stock of the United States in some place.[/quote]

Alabama is a joke everywhere but Mississippi. That was well before Two A Days, though, so its nothing new.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by JBH on 08/04/07 at 4:03pm

We don't have to keep handing them punch lines.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by HooverHooch on 08/04/07 at 4:25pm

JBH wrote:

We don't have to keep handing them punch lines.

The only news that goes national from here is negative, feeding them punch lines. Nothing positive ever gets reported nationally. Between the dome, and even the Mercedes plant. Its one ongoing joke after another.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by justice07 on 08/04/07 at 4:30pm

Dear Soul Searcher - Your past is amazing and encouraging. It is important that Hoover realizes who God truly is, and most importantly we must serve as examples for the young people in Hoover.
Sure, the tv show may embarass some of you, but the subject of that show was not just Rush. There are many young men and women who work hard to be successful. I know plenty of Hoover students and athletes who possess and demonstrate their character. I am very proud of them. We all need to soul search and prioritize. Our children, all the Hoover children are important, and it is critical that we decide what we want them to learn and how we want them to grow, and most importantly, how we want them to live. This requires people of great character, and many of those are already working at Hoover High: Lesa Gibson, Rhona Aust, Brian Rosensteil, Forrest Quattlebaum, Jeff Nichols, Wanda Davis, Richard Sturgeon, Tiffany Lind, Allison Zellmer, and MANY more. These people do not work to be moral role models, they just are - they were raised to repsect themselves, their neighbors and their God. Support them, thank them, email them and praise their work and dedication, and most importantly, stand up and take action for what YOU want for YOUR children.

JBH wrote:

We don't have to keep handing them punch lines.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by ILuvHoova on 08/04/07 at 7:55pm

Thank you for sharing your words. The black and white of the world is where the rubber meets the road. The gray is for those who have no where to turn. I turn to God as my "magnetic north" and it is especially satisfying to see that so many here in this forum do, too.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by whomeever424 on 08/06/07 at 9:51am

JBH wrote:

We don't have to keep handing them punch lines.

Agreed. The comments I get about "Two a Days" in places like NYC are not anything but a joke.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by 5959 on 08/06/07 at 11:40am

I do business with people in the Northeast everyday. They watched Two A Days, but not because they admired the program. They were laughing at Hoover. At a coach that wasn't capable of communicating to his players without profanity. At a coach, who happens to be an English teacher saying "I ain't never heared of that before" when confronted with asparagus for the first time. Or a minister that led a prayer instructing the players to go out and kick butt.

I agreed with JBH and whomeever424, Hoover was a punchline.

If we want Alabama to be thought of differently, we have to quit satisfying the sterotype.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by aka_deplume on 08/06/07 at 11:59am

5959 wrote:

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by croggen on 08/06/07 at 12:14pm

aka_deplume wrote:

[quote author=5959 link=1186245004/0#9 date=1186418408]I do business with people in the Northeast everyday. They watched Two A Days, but not because they admired the program. They were laughing at Hoover. At a coach that wasn't capable of communicating to his players without profanity. At a coach, who happens to be an English teacher saying "I ain't never heared of that before" when confronted with asparagus for the first time. Or a minister that led a prayer instructing the players to go out and kick butt.

I agreed with JBH and whomeever424, Hoover was a punchline.

If we want Alabama to be thought of differently, we have to quit satisfying the sterotype.

You are both wrong. I watched the interview last week of Coach Propst and he said that Hoover is so respected in the Northeast that they would sell out Giants Stadium if they played there.

And as far as the asparagus comment, if you noticed they had English subtitles in place for that conversation, so they had the translation part in place.

/Please turn your sarcasm meter all the way up for my comments
//I almost fell off my chair when I saw subtitles for an English speaking person
///These are called "slashies" and can be used to explain your post or anything else on your mind
////This is overdoing slashies[/quote]

I am not sure if you noticed that in the championship game they did not sell out, even here in alabama and so close to home, what makes you think because RP said they would sell out, that they would.

I have more of a reason to believe someone that is doing business with the northeast on a daily basis, than an over inflated ego maniac like RP.

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by whomeever424 on 08/06/07 at 12:52pm

I am thinking !
;D ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: I'm Doing Some Soul Searching
Post by whomeever424 on 08/06/07 at 12:53pm

Yeah and about the selling out Giants stadium.......that statement deserves the sarcasm.
That has to be one of the dumber RP statements I have heard him make and I have heard him make a lot!!