The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Category: College Football (Page 1 of 12)

Of Course He Called Deion First!

January 14, 2025 / / 0 Comments

In the immediate wake of Jerry’s parting with Mike McCarthy and the somehow believable news that the Cowboys owner has contacted Deion Sanders about filling his head coaching vacancy, there are many more questions out there than answers. The unknowns will all be revealed in due time–after a year or two of sitting on his couch, McCarthy will get around to writing his book. For now, amid all the speculation and guessing, there are a few truths we already know:

~ Jerry went into the final week of the season having no coaching plan for 2025. He denied the Bears an interview with McCarthy, missed the first round bye window to interview anyone with the Chiefs or Lions, and then four days later lost McCarthy and his entire coaching staff. If he’s going to contact any assistants with Detroit or K.C., he has to wait now until those teams are eliminated, possibly another month. If he wanted Vrabel or Belichick, he waited too long. If he really wanted McCarthy to stay, he should have determined a month ago if he could get him for the minimum wage one-year contract that was reportedly offered. That’s a man without a plan.

~ Jerry tried to sign McCarthy to another one-year deal. The exact terms haven’t been verified by McCarthy or the Cowboys organization, so that may not be absolute truth. What is indisputable truth is that Jerry went into the 2024 season with a head coach in whom he had no confidence–McCarthy and every assistant were on the final year of their deals. And Jerry’s plan was to do it again in 2025. He tried to sign McCarthy to another one-year contract! Who does that? And why would you hire a guy who would take it? And how would you ever sell that as exciting news to Cowboys fans?

~ Jerry called Deion Sanders the moment McCarthy walked. Coach Prime has already confirmed the phone call and the conversation–he can’t help it. We know that the Cowboys owner contacted his former shut-down corner within just a few minutes of negotiations breaking down with McCarthy. This is the way Jerry Wayne rolls. This is how he thinks and how he operates.

Hiring Deion would be the most Jerry thing Jerry could do. Has there ever been an owner in any sport who hogs the spotlight like Jerry? Has there ever been a player in any sport who self-promotes like Sanders? These two are made for each other. It’s happening. It’s the only thing that could have ever happened. You think the Cowboys thing is a crazy spectacle now? You think the Cowboys are focused solely on grabbing headlines and being culturally relevant and making money? You think what happens on the field always takes a back seat to what happens with Jerry’s endless promotions and marketing experiments and roster and playbook meddling? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The circus is just beginning.

Three rings. That used to mean Super Bowls to Jerry. Now it means a big top and a car full of clowns.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I said the Longhorns would have to play a perfect game against Ohio State Friday to advance to the college football national championship game and I outlined six things that had to happen. Four of the six things did not.

Instead of Texas scoring first, Ohio State got the game’s first points on a touchdown. Instead of zero turnovers, Texas had three. Instead of combining for 130 yards rushing, Wisner and Blue ran for 62. Instead of Ewers attempting fewer than 35 passes, he made 39 throws. The only things that went the Longhorns’ way was that they committed less than six penalties (5), and they held Jeremiah Smith to under 110-yards receiving (one catch for three yards–remarkable).

I know Quinn has the passion and the work ethic, I know he has the pedigree and the history, and I know he has grown as a quarterback and as a person. But I think we’re all ready for the Arch Manning era to begin in Austin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the Longhorns loss, our annual GCR Staff Bowl Challenge is over. I am pleased to announce that Ashlee Hill, one of our supremely gifted children’s ministers, ran away with the top prize. Ashlee correctly picked the winner of 14 of the 17 selected bowl games and had Texas and Penn State in the Final Four. Jim Tuttle, our experienced and wise Spiritual Formation Minister, finished a distant runner-up, a full 23-points behind Ashlee. The rest of us finished somewhere between them and Cory Legg, our talented Worship Minister, who, I think, has figured out a way to intentionally finish in last place. It wasn’t even close!

Peace,

Allan

Bible Reading Plan

January 10, 2025 / / 2 Comments

I’m convinced most of us don’t read our Bibles. I think we believe the Bible is God’s Word, I think we believe the Bible is our authority, I think we believe our lives are better when we read the Bible, but I don’t think we really read it. I think it just sits there.

Am I wrong? Man, I hope I’m wrong.

Let’s say you are reading your Bible. Everybody’s reading the Bible.

I’m reading the Bible every day. I’ve got this plan.
I read the whole Bible every year, front to back. I follow this program.

Most of us can read the Bible. It’s not that hard. If you don’t have a Bible and you can’t afford to buy one, you can get a free one at any hotel or hospital. I can’t speak for the Gideons as an organization, but I don’t think they care–just take it! Also, anybody at any church will happily give you a Bible.

It’s not that we don’t own Bibles. It’s not even that we don’t read our Bibles. It’s not that we don’t believe the Bible is the holy Word of God–we do! The problem is that we don’t read the Bible formatively. We don’t read the Bible in order to live. We mostly read it for information instead of transformation.

We are surrounded by words. Our society is drenched in words. We are word-saturated. But most of the words we read morning, noon, and night have no impact on our lives. They don’t change anything. Grocery lists, newspapers, energy prices, text books, Facebook and Twitter, novels and magazines, owners manuals, menus and billboards and the continual crawl at the bottom of the screen–we’re constantly reading. But whether it’s a Texas meme or a Washington tweet or a story about a kidnapping in Wyoming, it doesn’t really change our day-to-day lives.

There’s a temptation to read the Bible the same way you read an email from work. Especially when you download the Bible onto your phone, there’s a real danger to read the Bible like you read the internet. We read it for information, to gain knowledge. We read it for entertainment, to laugh or to kill time. We read it for inspiration, to find something to get me through a tough spot or encourage me to achieve my goals. We read it out of desperation, when we’ve got nowhere else to turn. Or we read it out of determination, to check that box on my Christian disciplines or New Year’s resolution list. We can’t read the Bible the same way we read a cookbook or a James Patterson novel. It’s different.

What if, in 2025, instead of reading the whole Bible from Genesis through Revelation, you hunkered down in ten core passages? What if you identified ten foundational Scriptures that speak to the most important things: the nature of our God, his mission, your holy purpose, God’s grace, Christ’s love, the Holy Spirit’s power, the ways we should treat each other and think about the world. What if you camped out on those ten passages for the whole year and really got them inside your soul? Memorize them, meditate on them, pray them, journal them, recite them out loud. Instead of every word of the Bible rushing by you this year, what if you dug down deep into ten core passages until they became a part of you?

What would those ten passages be? How would you identify them? How might our God change you this year if you committed to this very different way of engaging his Word?

~~~~~~~~~~

IF Texas commits zero turnovers…

IF the Longhorns commit fewer than six penalties…

IF Texas scores first…

IF Wisner and Blue combine for 130+ yards rushing…

IF the ‘Horns defense holds Jeremiah Smith to under 110 yards receiving…

THEN Texas will beat Ohio State tonight and advance to the national championship game.

I really believe all five of those things must happen if the Longhorns are going to hang with the Buckeyes tonight. If even one of those five things doesn’t happen, they’re toast. That means not one single fumble or interception, and no turning the ball over on downs, going for it on fourth down and not making it–that counts as a turnover. It means Quinn Ewers can’t throw the ball 35 times; Texas must control things in the trenches with the run. That means the ‘Horns must play a perfect game, the best and most complete game from start to finish they’ve played all season.

Hook ‘Em!

Allan

One Who is More Powerful

January 2, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I have no faith in the Longhorns. They did against Arizona State yesterday what they have done every week this season: turnovers and penalties. If Sark can’t get that team to tighten up the pre-snap infractions and if Quinn can’t put a little more zip on those long post routes, Texas has no chance against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. How many times did the announcers say, “That penalty is against the Outland Trophy winner” or “That flag is on the Jim Thorpe Award winner.” Typical Texas. They always have the best players on the field and, some would say, the very best players in the whole country, but they under-perform. They disappoint. The Longhorns are my only chance to win our office football pool. And, like the little kid at the end of the Dr Pepper “Playoffuary” commercial says, “The Longhorns stink.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“After me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” ~Matthew 3:11

What John the Baptist is preaching sounds a lot like the Old Testament prophets, calling God’s people into a right relationship with the Lord that must impact every part of their lives. Repentance is a change in your attitude toward God, which changes your attitude toward everything. And everybody. It’s a deep profound change that dramatically impacts your thoughts, actions, and the whole direction of your life. But as much as this sounds like the Old Testament, there’s a distinctly new element to this.

If I’m told over and over again that I need to repent, I need to change, I need to orient my life toward God, nothing significant ever happens. Nothing really changes. It’s like being told to exercise and eat right. I know these things, but I still wind up at Whataburger. I don’t need a preacher telling me to change. I don’t need some prophet telling me to get my life right, or else. I need some power from outside of myself to make me different. It’s got to be something besides me. Because I can ‘t do it!

Thank goodness this is not about New Year’s resolutions. This is about real, lasting, significant change.

This change you need is not about your willpower or your commitment or your resources. It’s not tied to your family or your nation or your church. It has nothing to do with your education or your zip code or your bank account. John the Baptist isn’t talking about some January resolution or a new self-help promotion. He is pointing us to the only source of legitimate change: the Holy Spirit.

The coming Lord, the one more powerful than me–he will baptize you with the promised Holy Spirit. A power who can make a new creation out of stubborn people like us, stones like us, who have no way to save ourselves. This power that is coming is not our power. It’s not the power of your good deeds or your inner resolve or your spiritual disciplines or even your faith and repentance. It’s God’s power. We are made able to repent and bear fruit because of God’s power in the coming Lord Jesus and his Holy Spirit.

The powers of this world are never going to make us into Abraham’s children. We can’t tell ourselves we have better genes or better morals or better theology. We can’t say we were raised better or we have better attitudes or better works. It is God through Christ who is making children of Abraham. God is changing people and making people brand new for his Kingdom.

And it’s happening. It’s already in motion. We are being changed. If we’ll just submit to it. Pay attention to it. Embrace it.

Peace,

Allan

Concerning Steers

December 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Texas Monthly, the venerable state-institution magazine that expertly chronicles all things Texas, has named Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Wayne Jones its 2024 Bum Steer of the Year. Jerry receives the magazine’s lowest annual dishonor for his leading role in completely destroying a once proud public trust.

You’ve got to read this.

The cover story in the current issue does a masterful job of comparing Jerry to a vampire, expertly melding together lines from the movie Interview with the Vampire and Jones’ own rant with reporters regarding the sunlight that blinds Cowboys players during home games halfway through every season. But, as the magazine observes, it’s not just speeches about the sun that Jerry has in common with the vampire; they “both thrive by sucking dry the lifeblood of others, leaving behind nothing but a pile of withered husks.”

Texas Monthly meticulously details how Jerry has, over the past 30 years, driven the Cowboys to abject mediocrity by spending very little on his coaching staff, making impulsive unilateral decisions, second-guessing his coaches, defending players who break team rules, and spending more time promoting his stadium than he does bettering his team. The history is concisely recounted, and then capped by a thorough drilling down into what’s gone so foul this season. Retaining Mike McCarthy after the playoff debacle against the Packers, waiting until the last second to re-sign Dak and Lamb, losing key starters and depth the free agency and replacing them with no one, all the blowout losses, threatening radio hosts with their jobs–it’s all here.

I’ll give you this line in its entirety:

“Any other general manager who’d acted this way, who’d spent decades failing to build a Super Bowl-worthy roster or give his coaches the breathing room to shape such a team, would have been fired long ago–presumably to be replaced by someone with hew ideas, fresh energy, and the motivation to succeed or risk losing the job. Jones, though, is the only NFL team owner who also serves as GM. Because he’s his own boss, he faces no accountability so long as fans continue to attend games and watch them on TV.”

I highly recommend the piece.

The best line of the article comes in the next-to-last paragraph. The author references a Texas Monthly cover from 2001 in which Jerry was depicted as Satan alongside the headline “Is Jerry Jones the Devil?” (If memory serves, I believe that was a Gary Cartwright story.) “But Cowboys fans aren’t trapped in hell–they’re trapped in a purgatory from which there’s little hope of escape.”

It’s a good article.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m going with my heart over my head in making my college football bowl picks for our annual GCR Staff Bowl Challenge and picking the Texas Longhorns to win the national championship. In college football’s first ever twelve-team playoff, it seems that the ‘Horns have a simple path through the first two rounds. Hosting Clemson at Memorial Stadium this Saturday should be easy enough; the Texas defense ought to be able to shut down the over-achieving Tigers. Arizona State awaits the Longhorns in a second-round matchup at the Peach Bowl, but the Sun Devils are only there because the rest of the watered-down Big 12 imploded around them. Oregon appears to be the best team in the country, and Texas will have its hands full with the Ducks in their third round game in the Cotton Bowl. But that’ll be like a home game for the ‘Horns. Fair Park will be all burnt orange from Big Tex to the Tilt-a-Whirl, from end zone to end zone. And Oregon has not faced a defense like the Longhorns. As for the title game, it’ll be in Georgia again against the Bulldogs again. There’s no way Georgia beats Texas three times in one year, right? No way.

I am also picking my Dallas football team to post upset wins in the first two rounds to reach the final four. SMU–“Pony Up, Dallas!”–only has to hang onto the ball and they’ll score enough points to beat Penn State in a freezing, snowy Happy Valley. The only thing that has stopped the Mustangs offense this year is their own turnovers. Plus, contrary to public opinion, slippery field conditions always favor the offense. SMU may have never played in a blizzard before like they might have to tomorrow. But Penn State only has a defense. And it might not be enough.

Back to the Longhorns. When Whitney and I were comparing our picks last week, she questioned my picking Texas to win it all. Her exact words were, “Dad, have you watched Quinn Ewers this year?” Yeah, I know. It seems to take him a full first-half to find any rhythm. He’s thrown some awful interceptions in the first quarters of some really big games. He doesn’t look nearly as good the past two months as he looked in September. But here’s what I’m banking on:

Coach Steve Sarkisian.

I’ve got to believe Sark has spent the past four weeks scheming to make Arch Manning a more vital part of the Texas offense than just a once-a-game gimmick or decoy. They’ve put in some plays, yes? Arch is going to get a couple of series, right? That team belongs to Ewers, no question. But Arch has a stronger arm and poses a more dangerous threat to break a run for 30 yards. They are two completely different quarterbacks who present two totally different strengths and styles for which a defense must prepare. It’ll add another exciting dimension to their already explosive offense.

I think we’re going to see some things out of Sark over the next two weeks he’s been holding onto. Maybe he only flashes them against Clemson tomorrow. Maybe he gives Arizona State just a glimpse. But it’ll be enough to freak out Dan Lanning and Kirby Smart. It’ll put them on their heels in game-planning. It’ll give the Longhorns the advantage.

Plus, there’s no way Georgia beats Texas three times in one year. Right?

Peace,

Allan

Thanksgiving Links

November 27, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Here’s a link to the Midland Reporter-Telegram story on the “4 Midland” Thanksgiving service at First Baptist Sunday night. The story contains several really good pictures, including this one of the four pastors in the immediate afterglow of the closing prayer. Wow. How about four churches of different denominations putting aside their minor differences to unite around our Lord Jesus Christ to show the whole city what our King is really doing in us and through us for the sake of the world! This shouldn’t be newsworthy, but it is.

After a thirteen year hiatus, our Thanksgivings in Texas are returning to normal with the resumption of the annual Longhorns-Aggies football game. Incredibly, the winner of Saturday’s game at College Station will not only enjoy the firstfruits of bragging rights in the renewed rivalry that never really went away.  The Horns and Farmers are playing for a spot in the SEC Championship Game!  This link will take you to the Texas Monthly page dedicated to the 117-year history of the UT-Texas A&M rivalry. Great stories. Great pictures. Great writing. You can get lost for hours over there. I think my favorite piece is about the shenanigans between the two schools over the decades, including a myth-busting paragraph on how A&M’s 13-0 win in 1915 did not factor into the naming of Bevo.

And this:

« Older posts

© 2025 The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑