sports misc.

I got a little behind this week, so I'm trying to get caught up some. First of all, the rest of the story about Texans runningback Ahman Green agreeing to make a down payment on a house for a single parent in return for the #30 jersey from teammate Jason Simmons. Green and Texans owner Bob McNair both paid half of a $50,000 down payment on a house for a single mom in Houston with an autistic son. Green and Simmons delivered the check to the mom at her work. I don't know who was touched more by it, the mom or the football players. Maybe this might start a new trend for uniform number exchanges. Here's the article: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2946702.

Here's an article about Sheila Taormina, a Christian, who has competed in the last three Olympics--the first swimming and the last two in triathlon. Now she's trying to make the 2008 Olympic team in modern pentathlon. Here's the article: http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=ApMojGTas0tlCS723.B9cI9.T4h4?slug=ap-panams-versatileolympian&prov=ap&type=lgns.

Next, an article about the Family Christian Day that the St. Louis Cardinals held earlier this season. Some of their players that were involved were Braden Looper, So Taguchi, Adam Wainwright, and Albert Pujols. Other Major League teams and many Minor League teams also are involved with this. Here's the article: http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=5632.

Here's a link to Cardinals pitcher Mike Maroth's (a Christian) blog, where he recently added a new post: http://www.marothbaseball.com/blog.asp.

Also, three articles on the recent death of Minor League 1st basecoach Mike Coolbaugh of the Tulsa Drillers (Rockies Double-A). He left behind a wife, two kids, and another kid on the way. Here's the first article: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-coachkilled.

The second article about Coolbaugh tells about his pro baseball playing career that he spent mostly in the Minors and ended last year. He did play in the Majors with the Brewers in 2001 and the Cardinals in 2002. Here's the article: http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070722&content_id=278523&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp.

The last article about Coolbaugh tells about the reaction to his death by base coaches around the Majors: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070723&content_id=2104641&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Here's an article about Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden, a Christian, and the fact that he has no plans for retiring any time soon, even at age 77. His goal is to stay ahead of Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno as the all-time leader in college football wins. Here's the article: http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10266521.

Next, an article on Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester's (a Christian) triumphant return to the Majors on Monday after undergoing treatment for cancer last fall. He was able to get a win against the Indians. Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070723&content_id=2104804&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Lastly, an article about the different things that many NASCAR drivers have been involved with in Indianapolis this week to help the community. The race is in Indianapolis this weekend, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (I'll always still call it the the Brickyard 400 anyways!). The drivers involved were Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, and Tony Stewart. Here's the article (also has a video clip of the TV news segment): http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6845962&Call=Email&Format=HTML.