David Whiting Live

Joel Northrup Quit

I've been admiring Joel Northrup from a distance.  Have you heard about him?

Joel withdrew from Iowa's high school state wrestling tournament rather than compete against a female. Joel is 16 years old.  He is a sophomore and wrestles for Linn-Mar High. He said that his beliefs forbid him from touching females in a "familiar way."  He defaulted and said, "wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times."

Way to go, Joel! I don't know you, but I'm praying God's blessing on your unpopular decision!

What Are We Teaching Our Children?

Daniel Longo was cut from a hockey team he was trying out for (part of The Greater Toronto Hockey League). 70 players tried out; 17 made the team. So - how did his dad respond? He filed a lawsuit against some individuals involved in The Greater Toronto Hockey League for $25,000.

Some quotes in the lawsuit:

• "Their direct actions have caused irreparable psychological damage to Daniel Longo's self esteem as an impressionable teenager and demoralized Daniel as an athlete."
• "The conduct by all defendants destroyed the dignity of my son, whom in good conscience gave his team nothing but his best efforts."
• "Moreover, this misguided group of defendants demoralized my wife and I, whom had gone well beyond the call of duty as parents in support of the Toronto Avalanche hockey team for two seasons."

Just thinking... What is Daniel Longo's dad teaching him? I don't know whether to laugh or fear for Daniel's future.

I wonder - although an extreme example - isn't it similar to what happens in homes all the time (to a lesser degree)? I think life-training commonly occurs when parents blame losing a sporting event on referees/umpires. In twenty years of considering the impact of parents teaching their children blame-shifting "skills" - I can't ever remember anyone blaming a victory on officials, only losses. If an obvious call caused their team TO WIN instead of lose, the common response is, "That was a bad call, but there were bad calls both ways."  But if a bad call was made  against their team, "The officials lost that game for us."

Just thinking... what are we teaching our children?

A "Sports Illustrated" Article Worth Reading!!

I came home last night and found my "Sports Illustrated" magazine in the mail.  And it was Tim Tebow on the cover.  Here is a picture of it:

In the last 24 hours, I've seen three GREAT articles about Tim Tebow:

• If you have a child that enjoys sports - buy the Sports Illustrated magazine and have them read the article!  Or you can read it online at HERE (just click on the word "here").  
• A friend sent me another online article about Tim today from Yahoo Sports.  You can read that one HERE.  That is another GREAT article. This second article talks about his choices on his sexuality and virginity. 
• This morning, I read an short article about Tim Tebow in USA TODAY.  You can read that article HERE. 

That is A LOT of positive press in 24 hours.  The USA Today article talks about how he had "John 3:16" written under his eyes during last year's national championship game (he has Philippians 4:13 in the picture above).  Google later announced that during the college football championship game - "John 3:16" was "googled" 94 MILLION times! That is amazing. And it isn't people who grew up in church that would Google John 3:16.  It would most likely be people who aren't very familiar with that verse (whether newer to faith or unbelievers).  I think that is amazing!!  In fact, he claims that Google statistic is what made him realize what a huge platform he has in college football and it made him want to play his final year - rather than jump to the NFL.

I know that no one is perfect and when we put our spiritual heroes on pedestals, we are only setting them up to fall down. BUT - I am SO thankful for the priorities of Tim Tebow's life and his openness with his faith and with his evangelism!  The former is pretty common; the later is not.

It's Time for the Sports Illustrated SWIMSUIT Issue!!!

Every February, Sports Illustrated publishes its swimsuit edition. I don't know what women in swimsuits have to do with sports - other than the assumption that fanatic sports fans are also lusting perverts. 

I also can't understand how in our day of fights against racism and sexism - that this type of issue continues to be published, promoted, and purchased (it seems like blatant sexism to me), but that is a side-issue.

One of the things I appreciate about Sports Illustrated is that after years of angry letters from fans of legitimate sports and thousands of canceled subscriptions - several years ago they began offering an alternative.  If you have a Sports Illustrated subscription and call 1-866-228-1175, you can request NOT to receive that week's issue. And you will have your subscription extended by one issue.

I've received Sports Illustrated for a few years by trading in some reward miles (from a seldom used credit card) and once you call - it stays on their records year to year.

If you call - be sure to thank SI for giving families this option!