“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?

Quote from nomistakejake on 08/04/07 at 11:30am:

 
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.

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

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.
 
Quote from JBH on 08/04/07 at 4:03pm:

Quote from JBH on 08/04/07 at 4:03pm:

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

Quote from 5959 on 08/06/07 at 11:40am:

 
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

I am thinking !