sports misc.

First of all, an article about the North Carolina-Pembroke head football coach Pete Shinnick, and his emphasis on family. He and his other coaches have their kids with them in their football offices, and he also makes sure that he and the coaches frequently have their evenings free to spend with their families. Here's the article: http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=269624 (originally found at: http://www.fca.org/).

Here's an article about Focus on the Family joining with the NFL to fight a pro-gambling bill in Congress: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20253076/ (originally found at: http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=5651).

Next, an article about Major League Lacrosse's Denver Outlaws Matt Hanna and what he does to help others, both with lacrosse and in the community as a whole: http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/news/index.html?article_id=780.

Here's an article about Bluffton University (a Christian college) baseball head coach James Grandey attending a Braves game, sitting in the owner's box at Turner Field. It was Grandey's first return to Atlanta after the Bluffton team's fatal bus crash there on the way to a tournament in Florida last March. Here's the article: http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10295438/rss.

Also, another article about Reds outfielder Josh Hamilton's (a Christian) return to the Reds lat Sunday after an injury. Here's another quote from him about the significance of his return being just in time for the Reds Faith Day on Sunday:

... He was just happy Sunday that he was able to return to Cincinnati in time for the Reds' Faith Day at Great American Ball Park where Hamilton and his wife, Katie, Reds video coordinator Johnny Narron and NFL Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz addressed the several thousand fans that stayed after the game with the Padres to listen to them speak and then a post-game concert by a Christian rock band [MercyMe].

"Compared to what I've been through in my life, it wasn't much," Hamilton said of the injuries. "It's all part of God's plan for me. He obviously had a plan for me to get out there and be able to talk today."

Here's the article: http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070814/SPT05/708140325/1035/SPT.

Here's a couple more articles about Colts head coach Tony Dungy, a Christian, being named by President Bush to the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AjUkZ3zHdwzVRsUvG0k9cJ1.T4h4?slug=ap-colts-dungy&prov=ap&type=lgns and http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6931632.

Next, a couple of articles about Braves manager Bobby Cox's record-breaking ejection last Tuesday. Cox argued a called third strike against Braves 3rd baseman Chipper Jones, after Jones argued the call. By arguing Cox was able to draw attention away from Jones and keep him in the game. That became huge when Jones later knocked in the winning run in the 9th inning. So no matter what anyone may think about Cox's huge number of ejections, he has a reason for it. Here's a quote about it from Braves outfielder Matt Diaz, a Christian:

... "He went out and had Chipper's back. That's why we love playing for him. I've never seen him get ejected just to get ejected. There's always a reason."

Here's that article: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2007/08/14/cox_0815.html.

Here's a quote from MLB umpire Dale Scott about Cox's ejections:

Cox's intentions weren't to spark his team. Instead, he was simply once again protecting one of his players -- something that has drawn respect from many of the umpires who have played a role in the setting of this record.

"One thing about Bobby is he protects his players," veteran umpire Dale Scott said after Cox was ejected on May 26. "He goes out there and makes sure his players don't get run. He does his job. It's not because umpires are looking to get him, it's because he steps up and gets his guys' backs. Some managers kind of let the guys go. He doesn't. I think that's why he has a lot of ejections. That's a good attribute for him."

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070814&content_id=2148876&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl.

Here's an article about IU football team's jersey patch and helmet decal to honor their late coach Terry Hoeppner, who died from complications from brain cancer in June: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/SPORTS0601/708150436/1069/SPORTS0601.

Also, an article about Heat rookie guard Daequan Cook surprised kids by helping to teach them swimming safety, along with a surprise visit from Dwayne Wade: http://www.nba.com/heat/news/cook_wade_lts.html?rss=true.

Lastly, I've been watching the Little League World Series a lot since it started yesterday afternoon. One of last night's games was between Lake Oswego, Oregon and Warner Robins, Georgia, and one of the players on the Oregon team is Mitch Lomax, son of former Cardinals quarterback Neil Lomax, a Christian. During last night's game, Neil Lomax was interviewed during the game on ESPN, and he was asked about all four of his kids. He replied with something like (sorry, I didn't remember the exact words) "God has really blessed us with four healthy kids." Also, Lomax's oldest son is a quarterback at Boise State, who is currently trying to win the starting job there. Here's the website for the Little League World Series: http://www.littleleague.org/worldseries_2007/index.html.