Doug Van Pelt

Bull's Eye!

Allow me a moment here...

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
Man, oh man, it feels so good to watch your college team win it all -- and in such an exciting fashion! Whew! Texas beat USC 41-38 at the Rose Bowl last night. Wow. I live pretty close to downtown Austin (comparitively speaking), and I contemplated driving the 30 minutes from my driveway to the UT campus area last night after midnight. I'm sure the reveling went on for hours. The giant UT tower will be lit up in all orange, along with the lights in the building arranged so that they spell out a giant "1" on all four sides. I plan on taking my family out to eat tonight for a double celebration and show my kids the tower lit up that way.

I could not have asked for a better game. I remember praying late in the fourth quarter "Thank You, Lord, for the joy that this game has brought." Even if Texas had lost (and it came down to a 4th and 5 with less than a minute to go), it was a delight to watch. I was surprised (and slightly dismayed) at what some of the commentators said about Reggie Bush after the game, however. As much as I'm glad Texas won, I don't agree that "Reggie Bush wasn't much of a factor." I think he played like Superman out there. The commentators weren't downplaying his role when he flew through the air for more than five horizontal yards into the pylon in the corner of the endzone on that great touchdown he scored. No sir, he was having a standout game up to that point. It's sad that any one player gets slighted like that; but hey, he's got a Heisman trophy. Reggie Bush, LenDale White or Matt Leinart could easily have been game MVPs, as they all played great.

The game opened up with two Hollywood actors introducing the match-up: Matthew McConaughey (promoting the Longhorns) and Will Farrell (promoting the Trojans). It was so funny to hear Farrell's comments. At one point he was holding a Heisman up to his ear, "I'm sorry, I can't hear you. I have a Heisman in my ear." Then McConaughey made another case for the Longhorns and it flipped to Farrell again, this time sporting a Heisman in both ears. Just hilarious. I was impressed with the things Vince Young said after the game. It was a great thing to witness USC players helping UT players up off the field in the middle of the game, and vice-versa. There's a sportsmanship on display that's contagious. It's funny, because there's also a lot of "trash talking" going on, too. These kind of actions, though, prove that sport is alive and well (and not lost in anger, rivalry, and showmanship). It was cool to hear that both Leinart and Bush went into the Horns' dressing room to shake hands and congratulate the team. It was also cool that Trojan coach Pete Carroll waited on the field for Mack Brown to celebrate a little and soak in his victory and hug those around him before they shook hands at midfield. That was classy all the way around. Leinart did say some things in an on-field postgame interview that were kind of less than sportsman, like, "I still think we're the better team," but hey, that was right after losing the national championship. Emotions just might get in the way at a time like that (duh). What a game.

As a family, we'll also celebrate closing on the land that we'll be moving the office to. That's right, HM Magazine is moving its digs from Pflugerville to the much easier-to-spell Thrall, Texas. Whew!

Does God care who won the game last night? How about any game? I don't think God preditermines or "cares" who wins a game. I bet He enjoys watching the human competition take place, though. That's a lot of fun. Most people know that. I doubt very few people actually pray what they're wishing: "Lord, help me win this game." Paul understood competition. In 1 Corinthians 9, he mentions: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." It takes hard work and training to win the big competitions. It's a good thing, but it's not easy.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at January 5, 2006 09:00 AM