Happy Fourth of July! NCAA sports misc.

Happy Fourth of July!

First, an article about the Camouflage Kids Program that buys tickets to send kids whose parents are away in the military to sporting events. The main supporters of the program are current and former coaches. This article is about IU men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson in particular, but other current and former NCAA men's basketball coaches involved are Jeff Bzdelik (Colorado), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Digger Phelps (former Notre Dame, now ESPN analyst), Skip Prosser (Wake Forest), Tom Crean (Marquette), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Homer Drew (Valparaiso--a Christian), Dane Fife (IPFW), Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan), Stan Joplin (Toledo), Matt Painter (Purdue), Jeff Reynolds (Air Force), Brad Stevens (Bulter) and Jerry Wainwright (DePaul) and also Mike Ditka (former Bears coach, now ESPN analyst). Here's the article: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/061407aab.html. Here's the Camouflage Kids website: http://www.camokids.org/.

Here's a great article about Cardinals pitcher Mike Maroth (a Christian) in the St. Louis newspaper after he was recently traded from the Tigers to the Cardinals. The writer of the article got several unsolicited e-mails from different sports writers and fans about the kind of person that Maroth is and what he had done in the Detroit community. The writer then quickly deduced that the Cardinals were getting much more than just a pitcher. Here's the article: http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/sports-bird-land/2007/06/the-difference-mike-maroth-can-make.

Next, an article about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (a Christian) and how he strives to be like his idol former Florida and NFL quarterback Danny Wuerffel (a Christian--see Desire Street Ministries [http://www.desirestreet.org/]) the person, not the quarterback: http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10238026/rss.

Here's a Christian article on Clemson basketball player Cliff Hammonds, who is playing on the Athletes In Action Jones Cup team in Taiwan with coach Mike Jarvis, formerly head men's basketball coach at George Washington and St. John's. Others on the team include West Virginia's Darris Nichols and Alex Ruoff, Michigan's Zack Gibson and Miami's Brian Asbury. Hammonds was asked about playing on the team by Clemson assistant coach Ron Bradley. Here's the article: http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=228388. (originally found at: http://www.aia.com/news.aspx?newsitem=230)

Also, a Q & A article with IU basketball player D.J. White. Here's a quote:

How are you preparing yourself to move on to the next level in basketball?

"I need to work on my body. When last year ended, I weighed 260 and I want to get to 245. Right now I am at 250 and my body has gotten stronger and I have been lifting three days a week. I need to work on foot speed and jumping ablility and just tighten up my overall skills. I have been blessed from the man above to have the skills that I possess right now and now I just have to work on them and get them better."

Here's the article: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/062707aac.html.

Lastly, an article about new New Mexico head men's basketball coach Steve Alford (a Christian) and his new start at New Mexico after leaving the same job at Iowa: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070701/SPORTS/707010395/1004/RSS02.

sports misc.

First of all, a Christian article about former George Washington and St. John's men's baseketball head coach Mike Jarvis coaching the Athletes In Action men's basketball team in the Jones Cup tournament in Taiwan for the second straight year: http://www.aia.com/news.aspx?newsitem=229.

Next, a Christian article about PGA golfer Lee Janzen and how his faith has gotten him through a rough part of his career: http://www.mlive.com/buickopen/index.ssf/2007/06/faith_sustains_janzen_through_1.html. (originally found at: http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=5622)

Here's an article about Mariners relief pitcher Mark Lowe (who I've never heard of before!) and his attempted comeback from rare kind of elbow surgery. He sounds like a guy to really root for. Here's a quote about him and his family:

Lowe's father is a church deacon and his mother is deeply religious as well. Lowe attended Sunday school regularly and remains an active churchgoer. His parents and girlfriend feel Lowe's faith gave him added patience to ignore the odds against him.

Here's the article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003767238_mari290.html. (originally found at: http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070629&content_id=2055993&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp)

Also, an article about Astros 2nd baseman Craig Biggio's 3,000 hit and what he's more importantly done in the Houston community throughout his career: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070629&content_id=2056571&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Lastly, a funny article about Georgia football head coach Mark Richt (a Christian) throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before a Braves home game last week: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/uga/stories/2007/06/29/0630richt.html.