sports misc.

First of all, a kind of ironic story about Kings forward Ron Artest. Earlier this week he was suspended by the NBA for offcourt legal troubles. When the media finally tracked him down for a comment about it, he was on a goodwill mission helping to feed kids in slums in Kenya. Go figure. Anyways, here's the article: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2937882.

On to some better news, here's another article about Reds outfielder Josh Hamilton (a Christian) story. I just can't read his story enough times though. Here's a quote from him:

In his first full Major League season with the Cincinnati Reds, Josh Hamilton has been on the disabled list twice and played for a team buried in last place.

And he couldn't be happier about it.

"It's been a miracle, to go from where I came from to where I am now," he said. "I lost everything -- family, health, wealth."

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070716&content_id=2089494&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp.

Next, an intertesting articles about the family troubles that some NFL coaches have had in the last year, in part because they spend so much time working: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-coachesfamilies071607&prov=yhoo&type=lgns.

Here's an article about a baseball clinic for kids put on by the Red Sox and players Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070716&content_id=2089856&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos&partnered=rss_bos.

Also, I came upon the website for Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel, a Christian: http://coachtressel.com/.

Lastly, a few weeks ago I e-mailed each MLB team's website asking for a list of the songs that their batters and pitchers have played at their home field when they come up to bat or in to pitch. The reason that I wanted to know was to see if any Christian players have Christian songs played. I only got e-mails back from 13 out of 30 teams, and only 7 of them had lists. Of those 7 teams, only 3 teams and a total of 6 players have Christian songs played. Here's those players and their songs:

Royals: (http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/kc/fan_forum/atbat.jsp)
Mike Sweeney: "The Slam" by Toby Mac & "Rise Up" & "Communion" by Third Day
Fernando Cortez: "Consuming Fire" & "Tunnel" by Third Day
Reggie Sanders: "Looking For You" by Kirk Franklin
David Riske: "Stomp (Remix)" by Kirk Franklin

Brewers: (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=605607)
GABE GROSS, Outfielder

Song: "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe

Behind the music: Friend and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher John Wasdin introduced the song to him while they played together on the AAA team in Syracuse in 2003. "I loved it the first time I heard it. . . . It brings me back to the things that are important in this world for me. . . . It gets me in the right frame of mind."

Favorite part: "Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel?/Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you, be still?/Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?/Will I sing Hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?"

When it comes on in the car: "I usually stop whatever else I'm doing. If I'm on the phone, I'll hang up."

Superstitions attached: "I'm probably the least superstitious guy here."

Rockies: (e-mail attachment)
Jeremy Affeldt: Fireproof by Pillar

Other teams song webpages:
Dodgers: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/fan_forum/songs.jsp
Giants: http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/ballpark/entertainment.jsp.