Friday, November 14, 2003

10:30 PM Props also to the Bradshaw Bruins of Florence, Alabama, who defeated perennial 6A powerhouse Hoover tonight in the first round of a season-opening tournament in Huntsville. Congrats to Megan Pritchard who scored six points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. I know all this because my brother Andy (Megan’s father) called to tell me about the game. I hope we can get to Alabama to see Megan play in person during her senior year at Bradshaw. 10:18 PM Great girls basketball game this afternoon between OPCA and St. Paul of Austin. The St. Paul girls had obviously played together a lot, and it showed in the early going as they blew past the stunned OPCA girls. They were quicker to the loose balls, forced turnovers, and constantly drove to the basket. By the second quarter, it was 10-1 in favor of St. Paul. A rout seemed imminent. Then OPCA scored its first basket and the game began to turn around. At halftime it was St. Paul 15, OPCA 5. At the end of the the third quarter, the score was 15-11. Twice OPCA pulled to within two points, both both times the St. Paul girls responded with a quick bucket. Final score: St. Paul 19, OPCA 16. In an odd quirk of scheduling, there were three teams from three different St. Paul Lutheran Churches in our bracket, so whether we won or lost to St. Paul, we were guaranteed to play St. Paul in the next round. So tomorrow at 2 PM, we play St. Paul (not sure which one). The girls really grew up during the game—and once the shock of real competition wore off, they played with gusto. I think they will eventually figure out that it’s okay to take the ball inside once in a while, but they were bombing away from long range and some of them were falling in. We’ve got some big girls who don’t mind mixing it up, and there’s a nifty ball handler (not sure of her name) at point guard. Seen in the crowd: Bruce and Mary Fields, Megan Hammond, Brenda, David Agosto, John Chledowski, Nancy Kamm, and Victor who graduated from OPCA and now attends Walther Lutheran. 12:40 PM Useful Quote # 5: “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” C.S. Lewis 12:39 PM Useful Quote # 4: “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word darkness on the walls of his cell.” C.S. Lewis 8:13 AM Is the Lord’s Prayer a useful evangelistic tool? Cory Kloth thinks so. Makes sense to me. 7:42 AM From my lovely and observant wife comes the following e-mail message: “Okay, I’ve been checking your pastor ray page and there is nothing on it about the energetic OPCA girls basketball team that invaded our house last night! We should get some billing! :)” Good point. So let me mention (in case I haven’t already) that the OPCA girls basketball team — led by their beloved coach, the intrepid Kris Sagan — had a spaghetti supper at our house last night. This was the “kick-off banquet,” so to speak, in preparation for their first game tonight at the Walther Lutheran tournament in Melrose Park. I believe they are playing St. Paul of Austin in their first game. I’m picking OPCA to win the tournament. That’s an easy pick for lots of reasons, including the fact that I know nothing about any of the other teams. Plus there were some girls around the table last night who looked like they could pound the boards and clear out the lane with no problems whatsoever. They played the OPCA boys team yesterday and lost by only two points. 7:30 AM Useful quote # 3: “How many legs does a dog have if you count his tail as a leg? Four. You can call a tail a leg if you want to, but that doesn’t make it a leg.” Abraham Lincoln 7:28 AM Useful quote # 2: “The essence of good taste is never to be offended by bad taste.” Hugh Hewitt 7:27 AM Useful quote # 1: “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Dorothy Barnard 7:23 AM Doing a radio interview with Kevin McCullough on WMCA in New York City at 1:20 PM today.