MLB, NFL, and basektball

First of all, a couple of articles about Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday, a Christian, and his MVP-like season. The first article is about his teammates campaigning for him for the MVP Award: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070917&content_id=2213555&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

The other article about Holliday is about him winning the NL Player of the Week Award for the week ending September 16th: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070917&content_id=2213899&vkey=news_col&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Next, a good Christian article about Christian athletes and coaches to look up to with all of the trouble that some athletes, coaches, and others in sports have been getting into lately. The Christians included in the article are Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook, Magic center Dwight Howard, North Carolina women's basketball head coach Sylvia Hatchell, Colts head coach Tony Dungy, and PGA golfer Zach Johnson. Here's the article: http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=5665.

Here's a couple of articles about Lions quarterback Jon Kitna, a Christian, and his miraculous return from a concussion during the Lions/Vikings game last Sunday. He suffered a concussion during the 2nd quarter of the game and returned in the 4th quarter to lead the Lions to an overtime victory. All of his concussion symptoms had disappeared and he checked out with the doctors and convinced them and the coaches that he was fine to return. Here's a quote from Kitna about it:

"It was a miracle," Kitna said Monday. ...

"I've never felt anything like that, and for it to clear up and go right back to as normal as I can be, is nothing short of a miracle," Kitna said. "I just definitely feel the hand of God. That's all it was. You can't explain it.

"I have no headaches, no symptoms, no lingering effects. But that was the worst my head has ever felt, and the worse my memory was in the second quarter. Yet, after halftime there was nothing."

Here's that article, including a video of the post-game press conference: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3024381 (originally found at: http://www.timellsworth.com/).

The other article about Kitna is about what he did to bring the Lions back after his return from the concussion and how he inspired both his teammates and the fans: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070917/SPT02/709170357/1066/.

Also, an interesting note about Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis, who is Jewish, starting the Cubs game this afternoon with Yom Kippur starting at sundown today. He was happy that it was an afternoon game and that he would be done pitching by sundown. But what I thought was interesting was what he had to say about religion, family, and baseball:

"I look at it that religion is an important part of my life, but so is family and baseball," Marquis said. "To me, family takes precedent over all aspects of my life. Baseball and religion fall into place, and I try not to make one more important than the other."

Now, I know that this is the opinion of only one Jewish person, but what he said is completely counter to the order that most Christians put their faith, family, and sports in. Most Christians would say God, family, and then sports. I just thought that his quote was very interesting. Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070917&content_id=2213853&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Here's a happy article about Braves pitcher Peter Moylan being reunited with his wife and daughters for the first time since he left his home in Australia for spring training last spring. His wife gave birth to their second daughter in July, but Moylan decided to stay with the team because of all of the time it would take to get home to Australia and back. So last Monday night he got to meet his daughter for the first time. He also got to see his 6-year-old daughter too. Just a side note: Could you imagine travelling by yourself from Australia to Atlanta with a 6-year-old and 2-month-old?! Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070917&content_id=2213915&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Next, an article about the "Further Adventures of Tyler Zeller". Zeller, a Christian, is a 7'0" senior basketball player at Washington High School in Washington, Indiana, and the younger brother of Notre Dame basketball player Luke Zeller, also a Christian. He's one of the best high school basketball players in the country this year and is being recruited by his top four schools IU, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Purdue. Here's an article about his official visit to North Carolina last weekend on his first official visit of the four schools. UNC conveniently had fellow Hoosier natives and former UNC players Sean May and Eric Montross there to meet him, among other current and former players. Here's the article: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/SPORTS0203/709180376/1057/SPORTS02.

Lastly, a Q & A article with former Knicks forward Allan Houston, a Christian. Houston is trying to make a comeback to the NBA after being retired the last two years. Here's a quote from him about his playing days with the Knicks:

Question: The Knicks had a long and storied history before you got there. Now you hold some of the team records and are mentioned in the same breath as Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and other greats. What is that like?

Houston: I get chills when I think about what that means. I really do. When people come up and say that to me, that they mention me in the same sentence with those guys and the history of the Knicks, it just means a lot. All I ever wanted to do was just get better every year I played. I had no goals in terms of going down in history. Every year I played I just wanted to continue to get better. To know that you are even part of history like that, I don't take it for granted. I look at it as a special, special thing and I thank God for it. It was a blessing to be a part of it every single day. I look at who I got to play with, and even lasting in New York that long was a miracle! (laughs)

Here's the article: http://www.nba.com/knicks/news/houston_070918_interview.html?rss=true.