MLB, NFL, and NBA

First of all, an article about the Rockies wanting to get into the post-season, which they did, for long-time Rockie Todd Helton, a Christian, who had never been in the post-season before. Here's a long quote about it from teammate Matt Holliday, also a Christian:

"When you have a player who has meant as much to a franchise as Todd has to the Rockies, and you realize he has never had a chance to be in a playoff, it makes what we are going through mean that much more to me," left fielder Matt Holliday said. "Most of us have been around three, four years, and we think about the struggles we've been through. Todd's been playing 10 years, waiting for this."

Helton has meant a lot to the Rockies, and it extends past his on-field accomplishments, which include a batting title in 2000, five All-Star selections and three Gold Gloves.

"Todd is the guy who used to call me in the minor leagues, back when I was in the lower levels, when most people thought I was a crappy player, and he'd tell me how good I was going to be," Holliday said. "He's the guy who would talk about some day we'd be hitting third, fourth in the lineup. He would tell me when that happens we'd have a chance to win."

Looks like Helton might have been correct when he was offering encouragement to that teenage prospect who never hit more than 16 home runs or drove in more than 72 runs in a minor league season.

But here's Holliday, batting third for the Rockies, now battling to lead the league in average and RBI, with Helton batting fourth.

Here's the article: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/mlb/article/0,2777,DRMN_23924_5706395,00.html (originally found at: http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070927&content_id=2233929&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp).

Here's an article about A's outfielder Nick Swisher and the work that he does in the community for kids and charity, among other things: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/28/SPOHSFB34.DTL (originally found at: http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070928&content_id=2236694&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp).

Next, a good article about the problem in the NFL with players who are bad people getting all of the publicity instead of the players who are good people and deserve it. A couple of the bad players named in the article are the Titans Pacman Jones and the Chiefs Larry Johnson. Here's the article: http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=279099.

Here's a heart-warming story about Braves catcher Brayan Pena and infielder Yunel Escobar both starting in the Braves game against the Astros last Saturday. Pena and Escobar grew up playing baseball together in Cuba and then defected to the U.S. separately during the last 5 or so years. It had been their dream since playing together in Cuba to one day start together in the Majors, and last Saturday their dream was fulfilled. Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070929&content_id=2239620&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Also, a good article about new Pacers coach Jim O'Brien and his wife Sharon and how their life was changed forever over twenty years ago when she gave birth to a daughter with Down syndrome. Here's a quote from Sharon O'Brien about their daughter Caitlyn:

"As a parent, and I think Jim would agree, it has been the greatest blessing that we have been given," Sharon said. "Having a child with special needs changes your whole outlook on life and makes you more aware of other people's vulnerabilities. I think it forces you to have a different perspective and count your blessings in a different way.

"Our whole family, (sister) Shannon and (brother) Jack included, would say the same thing. Caitlyn has been such a great blessing to our family."

Here's the article: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070930/SPORTS04/709300371/1062/SPORTS04.

Here's an article about the Tigers deciding not to bring back 1st baseman Sean Casey, a Christian, next season. Here's a quote from Casey about it:

"I told them this is the greatest year and a half of my career," said Casey, who was acquired at last season's trade deadline and re-signed to a one-year contract last November. "I appreciate that they brought me in to say that to me, man to man. I've got nothing but great memories here, and I'm grateful for that. I told them, 'Thanks for getting me over here.' "

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070930&content_id=2241076&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det.

Lastly, last night after Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez hit a walk-off homer to win the game over the Angels in the bottom of the ninth, he was interviewed on the field on TV. Now, the fact that Manny actually talked with the media was something, because he NEVER does that. But even more surprising to me, in a good way, was what he said at the beginning of the interview:

"I want to thank God for the talent He gave me."

Now, I don't know what his beliefs are or anything, but I still thought that it was neat.