Have you been Erocked today?
Here are a few pictures from the Gamecocks 4th win in a row over Clemson. After the game, we went onto the field where I got some great shots. Including my friend getting a picture of me congratulating Steve Spurrier.
Me (In the Camo) congratulating Steve Spurrier on the win!
Today I have a guest youth ministry blog post at Carl Jones Blog :”If I Were Starting Over in Youth Ministry…” So today’s blog will be a Gamecock blog post.
Last night the Gamecocks finished a great season, but as runners up in the Baseball College World Series to Arizona. It was a heck of a run by this young talented team led by some great upperclass leadership. Many thought after their rough SEC start that they had no chance and that the run of CWS was over as we reloaded with younger talent. But surprisingly, this young group pushed ahead and won the SEC East and almost had the SEC title, but just came up short to LSU.
This year I had the chance to go to eleven regular season games and to one CWS regional game. To see the improvements over the year was amazing. Coach Ray Tanner did a great job of pushing these guys beyond their potential. I don’t want to say they came up short the last two games. They just got beat by the best team in College Baseball and it was a fun run. Back-to-Back National Championships the past two years and then reloading with a great group of freshman and being the runners-up is not a bad thing. I look toward next year, see who we are losing in Michael Roth, Matt Price, and Adam Matthews, but also see the great talent that got great experience and a top recruiting class. I think the next few years we will be back in Omaha and win at least one or two more.
Today I’m having the feeling I did growing up after the MLB World Series was over. I miss baseball! Over the past decade I’ve fallen in love with baseball all over again with college baseball after losing it to the steroid era of baseball in the Major Leagues. College baseball is pure and fun to watch. I love watching the teams dog pile after winning. I love the antics of the bench and bullpen. I love how the college players aren’t about the greed and fame, they are out there for the love of the game. So the countdown to college football in August and college baseball in February has begun!
Posted by Instagrate to WordPress
Posted by Instagrate to WordPress
Yesterday I started a new tradition with my two year old daughter with a daddy/daughter date. I decided to do this because I’m going out of town this weekend to Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Louisville, KY and will be gone for 5 days. Last week I talked with my good friend at Simply Youth Matty McCage and asked what he did for his kids since for the past couple weeks he has been out of town almost every weekend for a youth ministry conference. He told me he always took the kids out before he left for the weekend.
So yesterday I decided since my daughter is getting older and noticing more when I’m not around that I would take some time with her. Last Friday night I took her to the Gamecocks baseball game and she had a blast. So after I finished my meetings yesterday and taking care of things in the office I left early to pick her up early from preschool. I picked her up and told her we were going to the baseball game and she got really excited. And to make things even better for her we went to the park and ride so she could ride on a bus to the game. Two things here. First I knew it would be a lot easier, cheaper, and safer than parking and walking to the game. Second she loves to ride on buses so I knew that would make her day.
When we arrived to the stadium we didn’t have tickets, so we walked up to the ticket window. As we were approaching an officer stopped us and gave us two tickets behind home plate. He told us that a gentleman gave him the tickets and told him to give it to a father and child. So we walked in and she started to have a good time by running around. I then took her to get ice cream before sitting down in our seats. When we sat down, we met the ticket holders who gave the office the tickets. They were very nice and glad that they could help us out. Let me say that I had a blast watching my daughter dance to the batter intro music and asking questions in her two year old mind about what was going on in the game.
It was an amazing afternoon with my daughter, plus the Gamecocks won 2-1! And I know that from now on that before I go away for the weekend or week for a retreat or conference that I will make special arrangements to hang out with my daughter before I go to remind her how important she is to me and that I will miss her while I’m gone.
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