giving back and football

Hi. I hope that everyone had a merry Christmas!

The first article is one by LaTroy Hawkins, now with the Rockies, about he and other MLB players continuing to give back to the Gulf Coast area still recovering from Katrina: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061222&content_id=1766586&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp.

Also, a fun article about the Colts and their roommates when they stay in hotels. It's about guys who complain about their roommates loud snoring, some so much that they ditched their roommates. Other roommates are always "friendly" arguing about things. Here's a couple of other things that I thought were neat though. The first is about the Colts two Christian Pro Bowl offensive lineman, Jeff Saturday and Tarik Glenn:

...Pro Bowl offensive linemen Jeff Saturday and Tarik Glenn are neighbors and best friends. They ride to work together. They sit next to one another on team flights. They room together, and don't even argue over the television remote.

And...

Safety Matt Giordano exercises it [the opportunity to not have a roommate]. He likes his pregame quiet time. He reads the Bible and meditates.

Here's the article: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061222/SPORTS03/612220425/1100/SPORTS03.

Lastly, an article about Georgia football player Quentin Moses. He could have gone pro after his junior year, but decided to come back for his senior year instead. Even though he had a worse season this year, he said he was glad he came back and graduated. He was also giving the same advise to some of his teammates. I always admire college athletes who stay in school instead of going pro early. Here's the article: http://www.ajc.com/uga/content/sports/uga/stories/2006/12/22/1223gafoot.html.

Now, I'm going to start with some articles that I had saved before I started this blog. I'm going to work back from the most recent to the oldest. First of all, an article about the Colts sponsoring a Christmas party/shopping spree for needy kids earlier this month. The players involved were Jason David, Ryan Diem, Dwight Freeney, and Ben Utecht. Here's the article: http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=4372.

Next, a story about Red Sox 22-year-old rookie pitcher Jon Lester, who began undergoing treatment for cancer in August. He was declared cancer free earlier this month and should be ready to go by spring training. It's an amazing story, and I'll post another earlier article later when I come across it. Here's the article about Lester and the Red Sox learning that he's cancer free: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061205&content_id=1751228&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos.

Also, an article about a family crisis for the Patriots Daniel Graham. His brother needed a kidney transplant, and Graham was willing to give up his career to donate his kidney. However, his mother was a better match and she donated her kidney instead. His willingness to go it gained respect from his teammates. Here's the article: http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2006/12/06/patriots_graham_solves_family_crisis/.

Lastly, an inspiring article about a legless teenager who doesn't let his physical limitations stop him from doing things. He visited and inspired the Browns before a game earlier this month. Here's the article: http://www.boston.com/sports/football/articles/2006/12/06/browns_inspired_by_legless_teen/.