Monday, September 14, 2020

Football Finally Kicks Off

Have a good weekend? Ours was okay. Saturday I drove Ceil down to Sam Flax on Northside Drive. From there we headed north to Collier, then Peachtree past White Columns, cutting through Montgomery Ferry past Ansley to visit Anna at High Country. Then lunch at Little Rey’s, then Costco.
 
Came home to watch the Tech game. The Jackets gained over 450 or so yards but only managed to score 16 points. The freshman kicker could’ve added two field goals and a PAT, and the offense squandered at least two touchdowns, so the score could’ve been 37-13. Not a bad debut for freshman QB Jeff Sims.

Ceil grilled a steak for supper. Baked potato and grilled Brussel sprouts. Watched Clemson/Wake Forest. Poor QB Trevor Lawrence is so hyped than if he throws an incompletion, people are disappointed. He does play at a higher level than everyone else. The Heisman is his to lose. 
 
Sunday School. PB&J for breakfast and cheese quesadillas for lunch. Laundry and dishes. Back was hurting so I tried to take it easy for the first time in several weeks.
 
The overall death rate for 2020 is right in line with previous years. The US death rate has grown slightly every year since 2007. Before that it decreased slightly every year from a high in 1988 (8.952 deaths per 1000 people) which is higher that this year’s 8.880. The US growth rate has been positive for the same amount of time (12 years). People are dying, but babies are being born to replace them. Probably fewer car accidents this year, and many of the people who died from covid would’ve died from something else, according to the CDC.
 
 
Saw reports that several of the wildfires in Oregon were deliberately set, perhaps by a terrorist group. In Sunday School someone had talked to a missionary in California, who said droves of people there were accepting Christ.

Saturday morning Freddie Freeman flew home to spend two hours with his family, watching his young son’s first t-ball practice. Then he flew back to Washington to play in his game.
 
Falcons came back at the end to make the score respectable. My man Younghoe Koo booted at least four field goals, and had another successful onside kick.

I didn’t get all caught up in the whole NFL thing, but did watch some of the Saints/Bucs to see Tom Brady. I think Tom Brady threw as many interceptions as touchdowns. Over on the Saints sideline, Saints backup QB Jamies Winston, who threw 50 interceptions last year, said “I could’ve done that.” One of Brady’s INTs was obviously the receiver’s fault.
 
Also a little of the Bengals/Chargers. Joe Burrow drove Cincinnati down to at least tie the game, then the receiver pushed off, making the game-tying field goal distance longer. The kicker missed. I’ve had my number nine Carson Palmer Bengals jersey so long that now its back in style for Joe Burrow. What a gooberhead.

Rookie running back DeAndre Swift had a good first game for the Lions, but dropped a potential game-winning TD pass from Matthew Stafford.  Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship converted 4-of-5 kicks (2-of-2 on extra points, 2-of-3 on field goals) in his Colts debut.     
 
Watching the game Saturday night made me wonder: who are the greatest athletes in Wake Forest history?
 
Arnold Palmer
Tim Duncan
Len Chappell
Brian Piccolo
Chris Paul
Bill George
Norm Snead
Mugsey Bouges
Bill Armstrong
Billy Ray Barnes
 
Several well-known golfers include Arnold Palmer, Lanny Wadkins, Jay Haas, Billy Andrade, Bill Haas, Curtis Strange, Scott Hoch, and Webb Simpson. Wake Forest has retired the numbers of eleven basketball players, including the four listed above.
 
Not much research went into this Bleacher Report article, with Riley Skinner ranked ahead of players who made the ACC 50th year team.
 
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/502698-top-5-wake-forest-football-players-of-all-time 

Sunday night: pork chops, mashed potatoes, and kale salad. 

HARMON KILLEBREW [SABR Bio] is the only member of the 500 HR club to hit a grand slam as a teenager - 573 career HR. 1st GS (at age 19) 21-Jun-1956 off Billy Hoeft. Killebrew is the only American League batter to lead his league in home runs before and after his team moved to a new city. Led AL in HR for Washington in 1959 w/42. Led AL in HR for MIN in 1962, 63, 64, 67 & 69. He once had five multiple-home run games in a single calendar month - 2 HR games in May-01, -02, -09, -12 & -17-1959 (2). Hit solo HR on May-05, -20, -27, -29 & -30 as well.
 
Good basic theology from Denison today: God is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful. Natural disasters are a consequence of the Fall: when humans sinned, all of creation was affected as well (Romans 8:22; Genesis 3:17–19). Prior to Genesis 3, there were no wildfires, hurricanes, or viruses. Innocent suffering is the consequence of misused freedom (cf. James 1:13–15). If someone misuses their free will to get drunk and wrecks their car, this is not God's fault. It is not even God's fault if this person wrecks your car. Our all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God sometimes intervenes to prevent the consequences of the Fall and misused free will. Jesus calmed the stormy Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35–41); the Lord protected Peter from King Herod's plan to execute him (Acts 12:1–11).
 
The very fact that God is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful assures us that he redeems our suffering for greater good (cf. Romans 8:28). Because he is omniscient, he knows our pain (cf. Hebrews 4:13; 1 John 3:20). Because he is all-loving, he wants only what is best for us (1 John 4:8). Because he is omnipotent, he can redeem anything for a greater purpose (cf. Matthew 19:26).
 
We may not understand such redemption, we can believe what we cannot yet see (1 Corinthians 13:12). In the meantime, "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).
 
On a practical level, we must not reject the love and power of God when we need them most. It is when we do not understand our suffering that we especially need to trust the God who sees what we cannot (Proverbs 15:3) and who loves us with unconditional grace (Titus 2:11). When our pain is greatest that we most need our Great Physician (cf. John 5:1–9). When life is most painful that God's people should be most on our knees.
 
Lauren Daigle's "You Say," released more than two years ago, has now become the only song ever to spend one hundred weeks or more at the top of any of the Billboard hot songs charts. Here is the chorus that has touched so many hearts: 
     You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing 
      You say I am strong when I think I am weak
      And you say I am held when I am falling short
      When I don't belong, oh, you say I am yours.
Our Father is offering you the same assurance right now.

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