Tony Dungy is known for a number of things, but losing isn’t really one of them. In fact, even in Tampa, he had only one losing season and a .500 season. But most people probably don’t realize that before the Bucs had their big turnaround (of course now they’ve done another ‘about face’ at 1-8), Dungy was winless for a while, and if memory serves me correctly, he was also 1-8.

So he knows what it is like to experience losing. The experience of losing qualifies him to be an affective mentor to other losers. In fact it has even led winless New Mexico head football coach Mike Locksley to seek Dungy out as a mentor. Allegedly there was some physical alteration with another assistant coach. New Mexico has had some violence issues, as you may remember, with New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert’s “rough play.”

Losing (game, jobs, family) stinks, but one thing it does is qualify us to minister to others who can’t say, “You don’t know what I’m going through.” Losing qualifies us to minister to other losers. And even when we can’t empathize perfectly, we can point them to a high priest who can (Hebrews 4:15).

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged here due to several reasons, one being that we were in West Virginia interviewing here for an assistant pastor position. I hope to be back up and running this week at full steam.

Today Jim Rome interviewed Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo, due to it being Veteran’s Day, and the fact that they just came off a win over Notre Dame. Obviously the latter assured him an interview with Rome. After hearing the interview, it would be hard to see how anybody couldn’t be a Navy fan.

The coach’s highest praise for his team came not from their stellar play, but their character. Apparently just before the interview, an underclassmen starter wanted to make sure that all of the senior back-up players (who would otherwise not be privy to some of the benefits of starters like hotel time) were able to taste such benefits before graduating. The coach mentioned that this kind of attitude and concomitant behavior-though he didn’t use that ‘c’ word exactly-routinely flowed from one teammate to another.

It reminded me of the attitude which Christ produces in the church, where through Him, we are to regard one another as more important than ourselves (Phil 2). Particularly those 2nd and 3rd string linemen those whose gifts may find them more behind the scenes than at the center of the play.

As an avid angler and lover of the sea, I’ve been stung by jellyfish on several different occasions. Never been a fan of them. One of the reasons I like sea turtles so much is that they eat these cnidocytes. On some occasions growing up in Tampa Bay, when I actually used live bait, they would get stuck in the cast net and sting me while trying to take out the bait fish. For one Japanese fishing boat, a number of large jellyfish did a lot more than sting them or make fishing hard. They ruined the day by sinking the boat. Check it out here. Crazy.

Well today I can proudly wear my Bucs shirt to the gym. They finally got off the snide, ending their 11 game losing streak, by beating their former hated rivals the Green Bay Packers. Literally when Tampa used to win a game against any team, people would drive down the street, honking their horns, yelling, “Green Bay stinks (although they wouldn’t use that word)!” So obviously it was nice to beat the Packers, who haven’t won in Tampa in a number of years. Not only that, but they did it wearing their ugly throwback creamsicle orange/white/red uniforms. It was one win, and they are now 1-7. But at that moment yesterday, they might as well have been 7-1. A comeback, a blocked punt for a touchdown, a 2 point conversion, a 4th down touchdown to take the lead, an interception return for a touchdown to end the game. A special day indeed.

Looks like Coach Raheem Morris’ “union with Josh” may have afforded him another year of coaching. But then again, it’s one game. Teams will now have film on the 21 year old QB. But then again, the whole town had forgotten what it’s like to win a football game. Now we remember.

Soccer can be quite a violent sport. It really can. Of course most of the real violence, like killing people, is left to the fans. But women’s soccer? Yep, on the field at least, it can be even more violent. If you’ve not seen these highlights of New Mexico defender Elizabeth Lambert, whose smile belies her aggressive play, click here. This is quite amazing. Sometimes I wish I would have had the talent to play college sports. But then I watch this video and am thankful I didn’t; I’m sure this would have been me instead on SportsCenter.

Well the Yankees won another world series. I guess it had been a few years. But when you go out in the off season and spend nearly 450 million dollars, you OUGHT to win. Players on a team like that ought to feel a little weird. It’s kind of like a guy playing basketball against a girl. If he wins, he really can’t feel all that proud of himself; he ought to have won. No glory in that. And if he loses, wow, he lost to a girl; that’s worse than just losing. With no real pride and the possibility of deep shame, it’s really a no-win/break-even situation. I think it would feel a little weird suiting up in the New York pin-stripes. Go Rays.

Well the Bucs are now the only team without a win, and at (0-7), I’m liking their chances to be the only team to go winless besides the Detroit Lions last year (0-16) and themselves during their inaugural season in 1976 (0-14). The only hope, if you can call it hope, is that they are starting their 1st round draft pick Josh “soul-glow” Freeman this Sunday against the old rival Green Bay Packers. The main problem with this situation is that Freeman isn’t good. He wasn’t very good in college, and that tends to not bode well for a good pro-career. Usually it works that way.

But the other problem is for the head coach and general manager. They have bet their future, perhaps their very future in coaching and general managing, on one man: Freeman. If he succeeds, they will have jobs for a while. If he fails, they will be out of a job. Perhaps this year, or perhaps next year. Their fate is forever linked with his.

This is reminds me of a term theologians call “union with Christ.” In a nutshell, our past, present, and future are so tied to Christ, that his life, death, and resurrection in someway become our life, death, and resurrection. He died on the cross, so our sins were nailed with him on that cross (Col 2:13). He bodily rose from the dead, so that we will one day bodily rise from the grave (I Cor 15). His death and resurrection also means that presently, we have died to sin, and now no longer are slaves to sin (Romans 6). We struggle, but we are free from slavery. We Christians who are in Union with Christ, are freemen and free-women.

Now when it comes to Josh Freeman, I think the coach and GM are slaves to failure. I’d definitely be worried about being “in union” with Josh Freeman. Fortunately the one who is in union with Christ, has no insecurity. For Christ has already succeeded and we can presently live in that victory. If only I/we would believe this more!

I was reading in Romans 14 and 15 this week and found it apropos for Halloween. The book of Romans deals with what God requires to be in a right relationship with Him (faith in Christ alone), as well as how to live in a right relationship with others in the church (faith in Christ alone results in charity and graciousness). There were Jews and Gentiles in the same church, each carrying their own cultural and religious baggage. Instead of giving the “right” answer, he instructs both parties to not look down on each other. He reminds both parties that whether they eat/don’t eat food sacrificed to idols or whether church is/isn’t to be held on Saturday or Sunday, everything is to be done in faith. If an action is not done in faith, THEN it is sin. So whether you feel God’s pleasure on you while trick or treat with neighbors, wait for them to come to your home to meet some new faces, or simply turn out the lights and read a book, do so with faith. Don’t look down on others who by faith partake or by faith choose not to partake! The church will always be filled with people of different convictions; it has since God decided to include we Gentiles. Let us love one another in our differences, free to dialog, but never dogmatically looking down on one another.

Few teams are as bad as the Bucs this year. Few teams are in as much disarray as the Bucs this year. Few teams have as poor management skills as the Bucs this year. Enter the Washington Redskins. Of course the Redskins do have 2 more wins than Tampa does this year; but then again if Tampa could play itself, and the winless St. Louis Rams, I’d imagine they’d have the same record.