OT Thriller: An Epic Classic

Fargo, ND is a buzz lately about the NDSU Bison making the NCAA tournament and what a game they played on Tuesday evening beating the Golden Grizzles of Oakland University to secure their automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. Fargonians are kind of in a box right now - loving their Bison, but one game washed away all my thoughts of how entertaining the Bison game was the other night - and that came in the manner of a 6 OT thriller on Thursday night between my #4 UCONN Huskies going down to #20 Syracuse 127-117 in yes 6 OT's. The game ended at 12:30ish a.m. and 1:30 a.m. NYC time. This is when the Yankee playoff games seem to end - not games at Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tourney.

UCONN showed heart down the stretch in regulation coming back to tie the game after being down 6 with 3 minutes to play. UCONN was in control of all the overtime periods except period number 6......the only period they didn't get the tip (since Hasheem Thabeet had fouled out) - and they surrendered a three right away on Syracuse's first possession that seeminly started the road to the end for the Huskies on this night. UCONN had many opportunities to slam the door on Syracuse during the first 5 OT's. What a disappointment not to get the job done.

AJ Price was great, Stanley Robinson was insane. Other than that - no one for UCONN showed up offensively, although both teams showed tons of heart and class (w/the exception of Erik Devendorf - who proved that he is one of the cockiest players in college basketball - taunting AJ Price after making threes a couple of different times- and standing on the scores table after hitting an improbable game winner that was reviewed and was eventually taken away from Syracuse).

I am somewhat glad UCONN lost this game and will get some rest the rest of the weekend. I seem to remember a past national champion - North Carolina - who lost early in the ACC tourney a couple of years ago - only to win their next 6 in a row and claim the National Championship.....Let's hope the Huskies can pull that feet off as well.

On a final note - I scrolled the TV lineup that this game was competing with at 12 midnight only to find TBS airing the movie Doom as well as various channels carrying different male enhancement ads - It's a pretty good bet ESPN ratings did just fine after midnight on this night. And last Jim Calhoun's press conference was classic, as usual, when he made a statment about the Big East and asked people to "Do The Math....Everyone is wondering why everyone in our league can't be 15-3 - well someone has to lose games....Do the math and you'll find that this is the best and deepest conference in America."

Top Ten Sports Rivalries

A sports rivalry is an intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans.

With tonight's upcoming Duke - UNC college basketball game I thought it would be interesting to list my top 10 rivalries that come to mind when I think of the preceding definition. For the record, I will be cheering for UNC tonight as Duke is very easy to dislike for me. 1) My UCONN Huskies recorded two of their biggest wins in school history against Coach K and his floor slapping defenders in the 1999 NCAA Championship game and in the 2004 National Semifinal game (en route to another title) - so they pretty much annoy me and 2) My great friend Nick Schmidt is a Tar Heel fanatic - and our mutual friend John Sayler loves Duke - so it is easy to gang up on him and hate the Blue Devils.

Top Ten

10. Cowboys - Redskins - an NFC East rivalry that seems to always have Troy Aikman and Joe Buck ecstatic even though the game sometimes sucks.

9. BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre - a recent rivalry created in the UFC. St. Pierre has won both matches. The first by a controversial split decision and the second one recently with a 4th round corner stoppage. The fight was won by St. Pierre, but controversy again lingered as there is now an investigation into if St. Pierre cheated using Vaseline on his back.

8. Michigan - Ohio St. - clearly a football rivalry that has been dominated recently by the Buckeyes. Michigan on the other hand has been losing to Appalachian State, but keeps on rolling over the Minnesota Gophers in the Big Ten.

7. Leeds High School vs. Minnewauken High School - Separated by 25 miles these two schools used to dislike everything about each other on the basketball floor (now they co-op). For years they co-oped as a football team as North Central Benson - but on the basketball floor all bets were off - and more than likely Leeds came out victorious - and usually went to the state tournament. 6x's in the 90's (winning a state title and finishing runner-up twice).

6. Vikings - Packers - Cheese Heads have had their days with Brett Favre - it is now time for Jared Allen to have his way with Aaron Rodgers for years to come.

5. Sioux - Gophers Hockey - This video should say it all - when you can't get through a handshake (the most respectable part of hockey) - it is a safe bet that you don't like each other at all.

4. Twins - White Sox - Coming off a 1 game playoff last year for the AL Central crown these two teams have combined to win 6 out of the last 7 titles (Twins - 4, White Sox - 2). The Sox got the biggest prize though winning the 2005 World Series w/stinky AJ.

3. Celtics - Lakers - a rivalry that is coming back with Boston's Big Three and the Lakers w/Kobe. This rivalry hopefully can be carried through as the aging superstars retire (KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant). Hopefully Rajon Rondo and Andrew Bynum can carry the torch so this rivalry doesn't die as it did after Magic and Bird.

2. Yankees - Red Sox - when a construction worker tries to bury a David Ortiz Jersey in the new Yankee stadium to curse you - I think a pretty big rivalry exists. Nothing was better than the 2004 title the Sox won as they came back in the ALCS (down 3 games to 0) to defeat the Yanks.

1. Duke - UNC - Nothing says it better than Roy Williams when he referred to Duke as "them guys over there" - When you don't even want to utter the words of your opponent - I don't think there is much love.

Link-O-Rama

Mark Dever on Evangelism @ DG conference Message 1, Message 2, Message 3

The Church: A Gospel Centered Community - Part 1, Part 2

Last 5 books I've bought: Vintage Church, Breaking the missional Code, We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry, Porn-Again Christian, and Showing The Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Cor. 12-14

C.J. Mahaney on Michale Phelps's Bong

10 countries listed as the world’s worst persecutor of Christians

Rick Reilly describes what it is like on the field at halftime being a crazy Bruce S. fan

Videos of Interest

John Piper encouraging President Obama to be courageous on the issue of abortion

Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill recently featured on ABC's Nightline. Thorns makes a good point on this interview

And finally, have you ever seen a coach in hockey try and sit in the penalty box? Well at UND last weekend it seemed that the Denver University coach was trying to do just that.

Celebrating Life and Death

Yesterday was an interesting day for our family. We had the opportunity to celebrate physical life and physical death on the same day.

Aunika turns 2
Two years ago Shannon and I welcomed an undeserved blessing into our lives. We celebrated this day with forgetting the rules, buying a $9 balloon (that actually was about 5 balloons attached together - hence the price), going to Culvers and eating burgers, fries, ice cream, and allowing her to drink caffeine. We finished the night with allowing Aunika to stay up until 10 watching her Pooh DVD, and then to bed where I read her 3 books compared to the normal 1. We concluded our day with prayer - thanking the Lord for Aunika's life and praying for her someday to make a commitment to Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

Shannon's Grandmother Passes
At 11 a.m. (Pacific Time) - Shannon's grandmother Jackie Ellingburg passed away in Las Vegas, NV. Jackie had been battling cancer that was recently discovered in the fall. We celebrate because Jackie was a daughter of the Lord Most High. She was a women that was following Jesus and we are joyful that today she is with Jesus. Shannon had the opporunity to be with her in December and had the priviledge of caring for her as well as special times of reading her Scripture. The words of Chris Tomlin and the song I Will Rise are especially true and near to my heart and mind today

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise I will rise

Through the power of the resurrection - Jackie did rise

We Are Freaks

My Grandfather: My family and my friend Pt. 2

Proverbs 22:6 commands parents to: "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." My grandfather, Oscar Moser (a.k.a. Ozzie), trained my father, Larry to raise me a certain way, to teach me, to put up with me and to ultimately love me despite my faults, disobedience, and times of disrespect growing up.

I had the privilege recently of interviewing my Grandpa over the Christmas holiday. Enjoy.

Saved From Wrath (Brett): "I've noticed over the years that when we play cards - you often slam cards down on the table. What do you wish to accomplish with this tactic? What do you want to communicate to your opponents?"

Grandpa Moser: "I hope that it throws my opponents off base. I hope it keeps them in check. Sometimes I do it as a sign of frustration - and sometimes I do it as a sign of joy."

SFW: "I've heard this legendary story of you shooting a bunch of ducks with three shots - tell me that story"

GM: "One day Bob, Carl, and I went up to hunt by Chase Lake and there was a barley field that the ducks were feeding in. There was a NW wind so we went against the wind and came from the SE side. The ducks were on a side hill and there was going to be some crawling involved. Bob and Carl said, 'Na you can't do that'. I crawled down in a ravine and then belly crawled for a while until I got right on top of 'em. I finally got in position where I was right there. I stood up and yelled 'HEY' and shot three times. I ended up with 18 Drakes and 3 Hens for a total of 21."

SFW: "Didn't you get fined for shooting oh 16 more than the legal daily limit?"

GM: "I couldn't get fined cause at that time there was no limit."

SFW: "Your favorite sport is softball - you've played for over 40 years and you are now over 80 - do you plan to continue playing?"

GM: "It really depends on my ankle...but if my ankle is healthy I'll go, but I might have to have surgery for that ankle to go - but if I can't I will most definetely be managing as long as I can."

SFW: "Does it bother you that opposing teams bring the outfield in for your at-bats during softball games?"

GM: "Not really....actually I like it cause then I can hit it over their heads...ha...ha..ha!"

SFW: "You drove school bus for 40 years as well - what is one thing from that experience that you can share with me?"

GM: "I had to be firm with the kids. They needed to obey the rules or they were expelled from the bus."

SFW: "What is one of the mischievous moments from when you were young that you could share with me?"

GM: "Well one day we were hunting gophers with our sling-shots and rocks and we couldn't get this one so we decided that we were going to 'smoke him out' - We went and got some grass and matches and proceeded to try and 'smoke him out' - we had 3 different holes that we lit some grass on fire.......We ended up leaving and sometime later - we realized that we had burned down the pasture....there was a digger and plow that came so the fire wouldn't spread."

SFW: "Aside from knowing Jesus Christ what is your biggest accomplishment in life?"

GM: "Getting married and having 9 children."

SFW: "What was the best part of having 9 kids and what was the most challenging part?"

GM: "The best part was loving them all - and that they were all healthy. The most challenging part was startin' out with 2 daughters and then I went for the boys."

I am proud of my Grandfather because he is my family and he is my friend - along w/being one of the most joyful people I know. He laughs more than most - and lights matches more than most - as that's his version of an air freshener. He closed our interview with this, "Anytime you want to interview me again - just come on around!"