MLB, basketball, and football

Hi. I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas! I just have a few articles to post today. The first article is hopefully the last article that I'll post on the topic of the MLB drug report. It's a Christian article about the Christians named in the report, from the viewpoint of former Cardinals pitcher Rick Horton, who is currently the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) director for the St. Louis area. Here's the article: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4970635988821363616.

Here's just an inspiring story of Drexel basketball player Nicole Hester, who is returning to play this season after missing last season while undergoing treatment for cancer: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=3147753.

Next, a quote about Christmas from the end of Colts head coach Tony Dungy's (a Christian) pre-Christmas blog post:

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and gets to experience what Christmas is really all about--God expressing His love to us through His son Jesus Christ.

Here's the post: http://www.mycolts.net/tonydungy/blogentry/907a8703-9c4d-4297-8539-45185fe81b88.

Here's another inspiring story, this one about Hawaii football graduate assistant Brian Kajiyama. He helps coach the defense by breaking down the opposing teams' offense even though he's confined to a wheelchair and can't speak because of cerebral palsy. In order to communicate he types words into a computer and a computer voice speaks for him. The team, who went undefeated and is playing Georgia in the BCS Sugar Bowl on January 1st, says that he's an important part of the team and their success this year. He's making his first road trip with the team to the Sugar Bowl, as he didn't travel during the season. Here's a quote from him:

Kajiyama's interest in football came early from watching Hawaii play at Aloha Stadium with his father every Saturday night. Despite being in a wheelchair, Kajiyama believed he could one day play for Hawaii.

"Back then, I thought I'd become a star athlete," Kajiyama said. "But as I grew and matured, I realized that God's plan didn't have me being that athlete. ... I began to focus on academics since that was one area where physical ability didn't matter."

Here's the article: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=AmlB.TxSLbgb61OD3FlsVn1.T4h4?slug=ap-t25-sugarbowl-kajiyama&prov=ap&type=lgns.

Also, an article about the charity involvement of Rockies owners, brothers Dick and Charlie Monfort, and the Rockies. They are especially involved with Children's Hospital in Denver, among other things. Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071224&content_id=2336352&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Here's an article about Arizona State tailback Keegan Herring, who lost his father, sister, best friend, and aunt in four months last spring. Then he lost the starting tailback job in training camp last summer, but got it back after the starter went down to injury. He's been an inspiration to those around him though, because he's kept smiling through it all. Here's a quote from him about it:

"I don't consider myself as a role model," he said. "I consider myself as a normal person that's got a little extra to him. God put me through a test. And I think I went through the test pretty well."

Here's the article: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=An5t7EbrXlKIMZOc7g_1YXF.T4h4?slug=ap-t25-arizonast-herring&prov=ap&type=lgns.

Lastly, an article about the Colts, including owner Jim Irsay and punter Hunter Smith (a Christian), going Christmas caroling at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, which they do annually. Here's the article: http://www.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=article7&news_id=53d2d2ad-d062-4453-b843-bf1cfe1c3009.

MLB Playoffs, NFL, and soccer

Hello! Most of these articles are about the Rockies in the Red Sox in the playoffs. The first article is about Rockies pitcher Jeremy Affeldt, a Christian, from the Kansas City Star, which is where he played with the Royals before being traded during last season. The article is about his former teammates with the Royals, including fellow Christians Mike Sweeney, John Buck, and former Royal and current Rockie teammate Mark Redman, and about how the Rockies are different from the Royals. Here's the article: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/royals/story/320544.html (originally found at: http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071018&content_id=2271077&vkey=mlbpa_news&fext=.jsp).

Here's an article about Bengals linebacker Anthony Schlegel, a Christian, and how he's fitting in with the Bengals after being released by the Jets in September. The Bengals then picked him up after that, and then the Bengals played against the Jets last Sunday. Here's a quote from him about switching teams and his family:

Lots of things have changed for the player. He and his wife Stephanie have a 15-month old son, Hunter (aptly named for Schlegel's favorite hobby). Stephanie is expecting their daughter in December. Her name will be Faith.

"After being released from the Jets we put all our faith in God. We knew he was going to take care of it," Schlegel said.

Schlegel knew he was going to be cut by the Jets because of limited preseason reps.

Here's the article: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071020/SPT02/710200426/1066/SPT030101.

Next, an article about Colts quarterback Peyton Manning supporting his good friend and former fellow Tennessee quarterback, Rockies 1st baseman Todd Helton (a Christian), in the World Series: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071020&content_id=2273716&vkey=ps2007news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Here's an article about Dodgers special assistant to general manager and former Red Sox 3rd baseman Bill Mueller, a Christian, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway park before the ALCS Game 6: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071020&content_id=2273633&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos&partnered=rss_bos.

Also, an artilce about Red Sox DH/1st baseman David Ortiz and the charity work that he's done in recent years: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-alcs20oct20,1,1786600.story?track=rss (originally found at: http://apps.facebook.com/sportsuperfan/teams/news/110).

Here's an article about Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook, a Christian, who overcame blood clots in his lungs that almost killed him to come back and pitch for the Rockies. He is also friends with former Rockies minor league pitching coach Bo McLaughlin, who also almost died while pitching for the A's when he was hit in the head by a batted ball. Here's the article: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/mlb/article/0,2777,DRMN_23924_5727375,00.html (originally found at: http://apps.facebook.com/sportsuperfan/teams/news/97). Just a note: Here's a link to a great press conference with Cook yesterday before his start in Game 4 of the World Series tonight (more later): http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071027&content_id=2284631&vkey=news_col&fext=.jsp&c_id=col.

Here's an artilce about Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, a Christian, and his start in the ALCS Game 6. The game potentially could have been Schilling's final start at Fenway Park, as the Red Sox could have lost Game 7 (but they didn't) and Schilling could be a free agent after the season. Here's a couple of quotes from him about that:

"God gave me a chance to play professional baseball, which is a gift beyond anything you'd ever dream of," Schilling said. "But to play in this stadium in front of these people, you know, I would argue that you'll never hear home-field advantaged being pooh-poohed again in this city." ...

"How incredibly blessed I am," Schilling said. "I mean, those are the moments you don't ever forget."

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071021&content_id=2274114&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos.

Lastly, an article about an outreach that Athletes an Action at Arizona State did with an Iranian-American soccer tournament in California: http://www.aia.com/about/newsletter/october07/feature.aspx.