While watching the Titans play the Texans at home on Monday Night Football, ESPN played one of their SportCenter commercials a couple of times and while it made me laugh (as they usually do, especially the Steve Erwin one with the Florida Gators mascot (Google it)), it also made me think about the ways we try to take shortcuts to God.

I am not going to start saying that ESPN is attempting to subtly teach Christian doctrine to the masses of people who watch it, all I am saying was that in my point of view (read “over analyzing”) I was able to glean a deeper truth from a simple funny commercial promoting SportCenter. The commercial begins with an ESPN anchor standing waiting for an elevator. The elevator dings and the doors open to reveal the New Jersey Devils mascot in the elevator. The anchor steps inside the elevator and asks, “Going up?” To which the “devil” slowly shakes his head. Right before the elevator door closes the anchor rushes out saying that he will wait for the next one.

One of the reasons that this commercial is so funny is that we have all been that person waiting for an elevator. We are tired of waiting and we want to start moving. In my job as security at a hotel I cannot count the number of times that I will be in an elevator going up and a guest will stop at a floor to get off and another guest will get on and push the lobby button, not realizing that he will be going in the wrong direction. Whether through not wanting to seem like they made a mistake or if they are just tired of standing and want to get moving, when informed that they are going up instead of down, most people will stay on the elevator and say something to the effect that they will just go for a ride.

To take that back to the commercial it is easy to see the correlation of someone wanting to “go up” and then the devil arrives with a chance to get moving. Too often we get it in our heads that we will just travel down (the wrong way on the path) because then when the other person (this can be anyone who entices you to start down a wrong path, up to and including the devil himself) gets to their destination then I can take control of the elevator and I won’t have to wait for the one that I was supposed to get on(the up elevator), with the people who I was supposed to ride with (people who are also going up and will bring me with them). The scenario works fine in a hotel elevator but that is not how it works in the spiritual realm. As the elevator takes us deeper, the more likely it is that when that person or force who was taking you down with him gets off, they are taking you along. At first what seems like a shortcut has led to you further away from the place you were supposed to be than ever before.

That is when the blame and justification sets in.

• It is not my fault that the other elevator didn’t get there first it should have been faster.
• There should have been a sign before I got on telling me that this would happen.
• If people were meant to get on the up elevator then there shouldn’t be a down elevator.

Or as a spiritual translator would say:

• It’s not my fault I went down the devil’s path it was easier and faster.
• God should have protected me from going down the wrong path.
• Or, if God was real and was all-powerful, then there shouldn’t be a wrong path.

One of the pastors that I listen to on my podcast regimen said one day that he was tired of hearing people say that they are not going to be a follower of Christ because, if God truly loved the world they why would he let so many bad things happen. “The miserable conditions that you see out in the world today have resulted from mans rebellion against God and the laws of God.” He adds that the ultimate slap-in-the-face comes from the fact that, “Then man has the audacity to blame God for it.”

So what should we do if the ties of this world start pulling at us to take a shortcut? Do what Jesus did. The following example is a summary of a part of a sermon from Pastor Chuck Smith. Jesus came to take back the world from Satan and to make redemption possible. After being baptized by John, Jesus went out into the wilderness and fasted before beginning his ministry. During His time there Satan tempted Jesus three times. The point that I am trying to face stems from the third point. Satan tells Jesus that if He would only bow down to him, that he would give him “all of the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.” Satan is no dummy. He knows what Jesus came to Earth to do and what it will end up costing Him and so he just offers it to him before Jesus really gets started without all of the pain and suffering that Jesus will end up going through. Satan is offering Jesus a shortcut. He is saying, “Look, we both know what this redemption thing is going to take and it is only three years away. So here is what I’ll do. I will give you everything for which you came and all you have to do is just bow down to me. No cross. No betrayal. No mess. Just take this shortcut and everything will be fine.”

It comes down to a decision to be obedient to God or to be disobedient. That is a choice that everyone will make a million times in their lifetimes and the overall result (your eternal reward or punishment) is not based on the amount of times that you made one decision over another but who you decide to place your trust/faith/hope/love. The direction of your elevator is based solely on who you are allowing to push your elevator’s buttons.

Im a bum, really. I wake up every morning when my eyes open, I go downstairs to make some coffee and watch my first 3 hours of Sportscenter. As Im doing that I usually download some music, try and beat my high score in brickbreaker, send out some emails and texts to touch base with my accomplices for the day and maybe doze off for a 45 minute power nap. Then Ill usually take a shower; shampoo and condition every other day, the downside to having a great head of hair. Ill meet up with a friend for lunch, fuck around for a few more hours, possibly have sex and watch more TV. Rinse and repeat. This was a fun life to lead back in the Summer months but now I find myself getting stoked for Monday only because of MNF and Gossip Girl- no homo.

My quarter life crisis has turned into me burning my savings account on fire, gaining 20 pounds and well… grooming a great head of hair. Ive allowed myself to believe Im going to be an Actor/Writer only because Im too lazy to get a job. Well maybe its not laziness, I can wake up tomorrow and be motivated but a job would be the furthest thing from my mind. The only thing that appeals to me would be to do what I do now but get paid for it. I would like to obtain a 3 series, nothing too extravagant, within the next 6 months. But I have no desire to make payments because that would require a commitment to a source of income other than my own hustle and unless I’m getting residuals from a Colgate commercial, I don’t think I’m ready. It is my goal to never wake up to an alarm clock again unless for something important like a wedding or like if I went to bed and I was dying for a Sausage McMuffin and a hash brown- Id set my alarm so I could make it to Mcds in time. Ari Gold said it best, “Making something out of yourself is fucking hard”. I’m a funny guy, I think maybe if cameras were to follow me around and someone would edit a full day down to a 30 minute episode minus commercials, people would laugh. Matter of fact, I know they would. My friends and I are groomed for a reality show or a written show based on our lives. When I speak of my pilot, that’s what its about. Sounds cliche but very, very hysterical. The situations we get ourselves into really are outrageously funny and I really believe if we sat down in front of the right people we can make it happen and it would be epic. The odds of that coming together are stacked against us but knowing the way we work, I truly believe that one day soon we will get our chance. With that said, its not really something you can tell your Dad when he asks what your doing with your life. “Yeah Dad, picture Curb your Enthusiasm meets Seinfeld meets a guy version of Sex and the City. Now take all that- add some Jack Daniels and more sex, more drugs and healthy mix of quality music and thats what we’re creating.  But don’t be worried, its brilliant and one day we will all be eating off of it” I should be pounding away at that but instead I just ate a few vicodins, turned on The NOTORIOUS BIG’s Life After Death and now Im blogging while my left hand is asleep.

I love this time of year- NFL is in full swing, my New York Yankees are back where they belong , it rained in L.A yesterday and I tried on a turtleneck. This is the time of year to shed your summertime swagger and find yourself a girl that you’re willing to wake up next to, often. I found mine, I mentioned her a while back- Brazilian/Italian. Shes dope, really. I love hanging out with her, shes a lot like me in that she doesn’t always need to be out and about. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out but it gets old after a while and with the Summer that I had- I’m over it. I use these lyrics a lot but I love the girl it describes “Pretty, witty, girly, whirly. One who likes to party but come home early”. That is my ideal, I love a girl that loves to be a girl, one that can allow me to be a gentleman and open a door for her but at the same time not take it for granted. A girl that I can be myself around and not worry about her thinking I’m crazy. My perfect girl rolls out of bed and looks gorgeous- meaning I like her as she is not with an hour in the bathroom. Natural beauty gets me every time. Aside from her looks, I usually fall face first for girls that can make me laugh. Not like politely laughing but a girl that is actually funny and that shares the same sense of humor as me. Call me a narcissist but I also love a girl that loves me. There is nothing better than being all about someone that reciprocates that same feeling back to you, I love that.

My girl now meets all of those things. She can just chill at the house and watch some TV or put on a dress and be an absolute knockout with minimal effort. She’s fun and I don’t know if I’m coming off a series of lame girls but I’m really giving this one power rankings. We actually went to sleep the other night around 3am, ended up talking and messing around for a few hours, decided at 5am that we should play the Wii. Split a bottle of wine and played Wii tennis until 7am. I’m dating a girl that got out of bed with me after we had sex to play a video game and drink a bottle of wine only to come back to bed 2 hours later to sleep for another 6, that’s hot. Now if I can convince her that she should stay in the states with me to play Nintendo and chase a dream instead of following through with her plans to take over her family business back in Brazil this December, Ill be set until Rehab opens again next Spring.

One Hundred

PS- If any of you readers out there know Larry David, put the two of us in contact. My best friend is a clone of him 30 years younger, no joke. The next chapter in American comedies needs to be written and we are the revolution. DO IT!

This is the fifth entry in a series that will review every track on Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 album.

“And if you listen hard enough I say some things”

As I begin this fifth entry about Jay-Z’s collaboration effort with Young Jeezy entitled Real As It Gets, I can’t help but feel like the album is losing steam. I could definitely be wrong because I don’t listen to the radio that often and I don’t watch 106 & Park because it comes on during the 5pm broadcast of Sportscenter. According to BallerStatus.com, he has surpassed the 900,000 albums sold mark which is a monumental accomplishment in today’s music market, let alone hip hop. He has gone nearly platinum in less than four weeks.

The song Real As It Gets is another good solid effort. This was a particular point in the album where I felt like they were going for the status quo as opposed reaching for something unique. The beat reminds me of Maybach Music. It’s that “New South” sound that aims for a grand, epic sounding record in the same vein as producers like DJ Toomp and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. The record was done by The Inkredibles, are a production duo from Richmond, Virginia, who have had a taste of almost every new artist from the South in the last 2 years plus credits for Fat Joe, Mary J. Blige, Lloyd, Akon, Trey Songz and everyone else in between.

Lyrically the song finds Jeezy saying more with less when usually he’s saying less with less. I like the line that says, “You know I keep that 47, Uday Hussein,” which is a reference to Uday Hussein, son of Saddam, who had a youtube video of himself shooting off an AK-47 assault rifle.

Lyrically the song finds Jay-Z letting Jeezy shine (he’s been known for doing this since Renegade on Blueprint 1 with Eminem) but still tossing out effortless gems like, “Set sail, I used to duck shots but now I eat quail.” Go ahead and marinate on that one for a minute.

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Home

“Yeah, now I feel it, Weezy the realest
I wear a lot of Bathing Ape cuzz I be wit gorillas
He what they talkin bout topic of the conversation
product of determination
stop playin you are not up in my situation
I get money like a caucasian” Yaaae We Boyz Ant
dis videos kinda bangin btw no homo

Most of us get all of our sports news from either SportsCenter or Yahoo or the like. The main problem with these sources is that they present each topic as if it is indisputable fact and that it can not be challenged. However, most of the time these places are not completely brushed up on the sports they are recording. They don’t know the names, they aren’t sure about the rules and they are not even 100% on how the game even went. The thing about this type of reporting is that it leads to uneducated sports fans. Most people have no idea what is even going on and they may not even be able to tell you why they believe the things that they so loudly cheer for or against. This being said, I am going to attempt to step in and straighten some of the mess out. I want to point out how irrational people can be when it comes to sports and I really want to challenge you to make your own ideas and not blindly follow the sports media.

Para os fãs da ESPN Brasil e do Sportcenter, o noticiário ganhará uma segunda edição diária, ao vivo, a partir do meio dia. Com isso o Bate Bola fica com apenas uma hora, a partir das 13:oo horas.

UAHUAHUAHAU Antero e Amigão sempre proporcionando boas risadas ! UAHUAHUAHAU

Montana State’s Will Bynum had one of the nastiest dunks I’ve seen this year.  It came on a fast break over Weber State’s Daviin Davis.  This dunk is SICK!  It reminds me of Jeff Teague’s dunks.  It made SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the day.  And to top it off, Montana State upset Weber State 70-61 in the Big Sky conference tournament.  Check it out below.

Com um roteiro do apresentador Serginho Groisman e do escritor Marcelo Rubens Paiva, o Sport Clube Corinthians Paulista, deu ontem (25/09) o primeiro passo do longa sobra a história que contará à queda para a Serie B e a ascensão a Seria A do Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol. Porém, o enfoque do filme será na torcida, na qual poderá enviar suas histórias de algum jogo de que foi, assistiu ou simplesmente uma história que envolva o Corinthians pelo site www.filmefiel.com.br. As histórias consideradas mais engraçadas, envolventes e inusitadas, farão parte do longa, através de depoimentos dos próprios torcedores. Fiel – O Filme, tem data de estréia de lançamento apenas para fevereiro ou março do ano que vem, mas você já pode ir deixando as suas histórias desde já.
Abaixo você encontra o link com o vídeo da matéria que saiu sobre o filme no SportCenter, programa do canal fechado ESPN Brasil. Vale a pena conferir a matéria!
CLIQUE AQUI!

Ayer, mientras hacia saping por los canales del cable, llegue a espn, en donde estaba sportcenter, mostrando el top ten de los juegos olimpicos. Llegue al numero dos, que era yelena ishinbayeva, y el numero uno, sorpresivamente, era el gol de di-maria, que le daba la medalla de oro al football argentino en las olimpiadas.

Por favor, señores de espn, si van a tener puros argentinos, por lo menos, no sean tan cara de rajas de ponerlos a todos haciendo el ranking, porque salio el numero uno, y todos los locutores tenian acento argentino.

Por favor, si es espn latinoamerica, que sea tal cual, o cambienle el nombre a espn argentina.

It must be killing ESPN to call Pacman “Adam Jones” now. Stuart Scott sounds like he’s sucking a lemon every time he says “Adam” and then “Jones” and fails to work a “Pacman” into that sandwich. That is stupid ridiculous.

This last February our students raised over $2000 for world hunger through World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. We have worked with World Vision for about 5 years now not only raising funds, but also educating our students about issues outside of their own backyard. It is always a very eye-opening event.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all that gear the gets made for the losing team of a championship? This morning while watching ESPN’s Sportscenter, I saw a piece on what happens to all of that licensed gear that is prepared for the team that DOESN’T win the Super Bowl. For the last 6 years, the NFL has donated all of the prepared gear to World Vision to be distributed to kids in 3rd world countries. Apparently, other leagues and the NCAA are following the NFL’s lead. Later this year, NCAA championship gear featuring the Memphis Tigers will make its way to Romania and other impoverished areas.

Updated – Watch Video here…