Kay Campbell wrote an interesting article on www.al.com this week asking the question of DOES GOD CARE ABOUT WHO WINS SPORTING EVENTS? The pollsters at the Public Religion Research Institute’s recent telephone poll of 1,033 adults uncovered that 27 percent of those asked believe that God plays a role in determining which team will win a sporting event.
Now a lot of fans would probably admit to actually praying for their favorite team to get a touchdown or at least a first down in a crucial situation, but, as a Christian, I don’t think that God cares who wins.
I do think that he is interested in how we treat each other a whole lot more than who has the most points at the end of the day.
Furthermore, 53 percent of Americans believe God rewards athletes who have faith with health and success. I would agree that God has blessed athletes like a Tim Tebow because they have honored him in their private and public life, but I don’t believe that he favors the team that has the most Christians on the team.
Sports are a big part of our lives, but in the end it is still entertainment. I am fine with disagreement on the issue, but I believe the God of the universe is still a lot of more interested in us sharing our resources with those in need than us wearing out our knees on fourth-and-1 with the game on the line. What do you think?
ALABAMA: Alabama officials have announced that the Tide’s annual A-Day spring scrimmage is set for April 20 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. ESPN2 will carry the live broadcast, which will kick off at 2 p.m. CDT. Admission is free. Also announced was the Crimson Tide’s Homecoming date set for Oct. 5 against Georgia State. Per www.al.com, the Crimson Tide leads the nation in spring game attendance over the last six years with a total of 516,536 fans and an average of 86,089 during that period. The largest A-Day crowd in school history came in 2011 (92,310). During Nick Saban’s first year in 2007, the stadium was at full capacity prior to expansion (92,138).
Several other SEC schools have announced their spring game dates, including Florida and Georgia on April 6, Kentucky and Texas A&M on April 13 and Arkansas and Tennessee on April 20.
ARKANSAS: In an interview with the Sporting News, three ex-Arkansas coaches — interim coach John L. Smith, defensive coordinator Paul Haynes and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino — essentially agreed with quarterback Tyler Wilson’s earlier evaluation this week that the Hog football team gave up during the season. No one from Arkansas commented in the story. Conversely, the team seemed to get a spark when Wilson returned from his concussion.
AUBURN: Per the Montgomery Advertiser, running back Mike Blakely is no longer with the Auburn football team or enrolled at the school, an athletic department official confirmed Wednesday evening. Blakely, a redshirt freshman, had 33 carries for 153 yards this season. He led the Tigers with 11 carries for 42 yards against Mississippi State and with 38 yards on seven carries against Arkansas, but he had trouble hanging onto the ball.
Blakely’s departure coupled with the graduation of Onterio McCalebb leaves just Tre Mason and Corey Grant in the backfield for now. Mason ran for 1,002 yards and scored eight touchdowns, while Grant had just nine carries for 29 yards in limited action last season.
MISSOURI: Missouri and Arkansas State have agreed to a home-and-home series to begin in 2013, the schools announced on Wednesday. The Red Wolves will travel to Columbia on Sept. 28 for the first game in the series, while the Tigers will head to Jonesboro in 2015. The two previous Arkansas State coaches were Hugh Freeze and Gus Malzahn. In the other 2013 non-conference games, Missouri will play Toledo and Arkansas State at home and on the road at Indiana.
TENNESSEE: Despite reports to the contrary, former Vol coach Derek Dooley is not officially going to the Dallas Cowboys as receiver coach. It was just last Saturday when reports claimed the dismissed Tennessee head coach had already been hired to join coach Jason Garrett’s staff. Garrett and Dooley coached alongside each other on Nick Saban’s Miami Dolphins staff.
VANDERBILT: The story about coach James Franklin referring to Nick Saban as “Nicky Satan”, while speaking to a high school in Georgia is much ado about nothing. Franklin was quoted as saying, “There’s this guy down at Alabama, his name is Nicky Satan. You guys have probably heard of him before,” Franklin told people at a banquet. “I’m going to outwork him. I’m going to outwork him and that’s our plan every single day.” Franklin later apologized to Saban. This is a non-story. Coaches do this all the time in different settings. The difference now is their comments are caught on cell phones and transferred to the Internet, which makes it great talk radio fodder.
Vanderbilt opened the 2012 college football season against South Carolina on ESPN’s Thursday night football. Now according to www.nashvillecitypaper.com, it appears that ESPN, the SEC and the Nashville Sports Council are aligning to make it happen again. The Commodores season opener against conference opponent Ole Miss is expected to move from Saturday, Aug. 31, at Vanderbilt Stadium to Thursday, Aug. 29, for a prime-time ESPN broadcast.
ACC: Could the ACC have its best two opening weekends in years. Per espn.com, here is the schedule, with the final 2012 AP rankings: Aug. 31-Virginia Tech vs. Alabama (Georgia Dome), Georgia at Clemson and North Carolina at South Carolina. Then on Sept. 7, Florida travels to Miami and Oregon goes to Virginia.
The bigger question is how many of the games could the ACC win?
DUKE: According to www.espn.com, receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Matt Lubick has taken a similar job at Oregon, leaving the Blue Devils after three seasons and most notably, a historic 2012 campaign for the passing game. Recruiting efforts can really suffer when assistant leave so close to National Signing Day.
VIRGINIA: In a similar story, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor is leaving to join Chip Kelly’s staff with the Philadelphia Eagles. Lazor, a former Cornell quarterback, spent three seasons at Virginia, where he inherited a team that had finished last in the ACC in total offense the year before he arrived. In his first season with the Cavaliers, Virginia improved to third in offense in the conference. The team also improved from No. 105 in passing to No. 25.