The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Category: College Football (Page 9 of 12)

The Poll Must Go On

October 14, 2008 / / 2 Comments

 KK&C Top 20 Logo

 

Maybe it was Give Away Day hangover. Maybe it was too many upsets on the same day. But on the craziest weekend of the college football season so far, we only had 11 of our 20 panelists submit their polls. And that’s a shame. I hate that maybe UT’s new #1 ranking may be tainted a bit by the small sample that is this week’s poll. And I wonder if LSU’s huge drop (from #5 to #12) or Penn State’s huge jump (from #6 to #3) would look any different if we had all 20 sets of votes. Auburn and South Florida dropped out this week. Michigan State makes its debut at #17 while North Carolina shows up for the first time at #19. I hate that Larry T didn’t chime in this week. He officially swore off his Mississippi State Bulldogs last week, six days before they upset Vandy. With the Dallas Stars regular season underway now (have they won a game yet?) we may not hear from Ted S again. Ten of our eleven pollsters ranked Texas #1. The lone dissenter is Jerry K. The hard-core Aggie votes “tu” and “Texas-Stinkin’-Tech” lower than they should be every week. Jerry ranks Texas today #2. And big Texas supporter Billy W gives us this nice little nugget: “The fightin’ Texas Aggies (you have to read this in your best Dave South voice) are #104 in the latest Sagarin Rankings, behind eight Division I-AA schools and all eleven other Big 12 teams.” Hang in there, Jerry and Charlie. It’s not all bad being known as a basketball school.

 

1. Texas (10 1st place votes, 219 total votes) – “Lisa, that was a good win right there.” JimG; “Deserves to be at the top.” BW; “Next in line of #1s that will fall.” CJ; “Colt for Heisman! JennG; “I had no doubts about their toughness. I hope Missouri isn’t mad.” RA; “Colt is fully grown.” PD; “Proved superiority in the Big 12, the best football conference on the planet.” MH; “Texas is #1 to stay. Horns 34, Missouri 26.” SF.

2. Alabama (202) – “Moving up because others fell.” MH; “Really, can they hang up here?” JennG; “Tide rolls through the bye week.” JimG; “Has looked unbeatable, but SEC is too tough.” BW; “In good shape for national championship run.” CJ.

3. Penn State (1, 201) – “Go, Papa Joe!” DM; “Coasting to Big 10 title and national championship game.” SF; “Maybe if Joe Pa gets a national title, he’ll retire.” JennG; “An octogenarian in the national title hunt. Go AARP!” MH; “This bunch is for real.” PD; “Should be able to go undefeated in the Big 2/Little 9.” BW; “Go ahead and knock them down the list. They will lose to Ohio State.” CJ.

4. Florida (175) – “LSU proved to be gator-bait.” RA; “Best one-loss team right now.” MH; “Looked like the old Gators.” BW; “Will be in the top three soon.” CJ.

5. Oklahoma (165) – “They are good, just not as good as the Horns.” MH; “Outcoached.” PD; “Stoops got a case of Tom Osbourne Syndrome.” JimG; “OU stinks!!!!!” RA; “And the Oscar goes to….OU’s punter!” CJ; “Sorry, Sam.” JennG.

6. USC (155) – “Still a powerhouse.” MH; “Did they blow up hot dog Rudy Carpenter, or what?” JimG; “May fall as the year goes on in that I-AA conference.” BW; “Don’t rule them out.” SF; “Almost time for ESPN to re-anoint them the greatest team ever.” CJ.

7. Oklahoma St. (152) – “The right Cowboys won this week.” RA; “WHOA! I would NOT have picked them to beat Missouri!” JennG; “Making me a believer.” JK; “Maybe the best ‘Cowboys’ in Texas and Oklahoma.” MH; “Boone Picket done bought himself a football team.” PD; “I’m 40!! I’m a man!! I can take it!!” JimG.

8. Texas Tech (151) – “Fortunate win over Huskers.” DM; “Leach sucks the life out of opponents. 4th & 5? Are you kidding me?” CJ; “Same old, same old; no D.” PD; “Barely gets by a weak Nebraska team…still no D in Lubbock.” MH; “Shaky” JK; “Still not convinced by their defense.” JimG; “Struggled against who?” BW; “Where’s A&M?” JennG; “Aggies are tough at Kyle Field.” RA.

9. BYU (129) – “Someone please beat them!” SF; “Mormon intervention helps them get by New Mexico.” JimG; “They’ll sleep-walk through their conference.” BW; “A 16-game winning streak. If they make it 20 straight, Cougars could be in the national hunt.” MH; “Still hangin’ strong.” JennG; “Dream will end Thursday night.” CJ.

10. Georgia (126) – “Beat up a weak Vols team. So what?” MH; “Not impressive.” PD; “Too many tough games to go.” BW; “Talent can only get you so far without discipline.” CJ.

11. Missouri (114) – “Chase looked human.” MH; “Shave the mohawk, Chase, and lose the ’stache, too.” DM; “Misery against T. Boone’s Cowpokes.” JimG; “Will not beat Texas in Austin.” JK; “No longer in the ‘chase’ for the Heisman, much less the title.” CJ.

12. LSU (90) – “Didn’t show up against Florida.” MH; “The wood shed is that way->” CJ; “What happened to the vaunted Tiger D?” JimG; “They’ll bounce back.” BW.

13. Utah (89) – “”Do we have to put them on this list?” CJ; Nice team that nobody sees.” BW; Second-best undefeated team in their state.” MH; “Matchup with BYU will determine a BCS berth.” JimG.

14. Ohio State (79) – “Getting close to Top Ten again.” MH; “2009 will be scary for the rest of the country.” CJ; “Blah…” JimG.

15. Boise State (61) – “Played one quarter at Southern Miss, but scored enough to win.” MH; “Idaho—where all conversations about football begin and end.” CJ; “Could there be two flies in the BCS ointment this year?” JimG.

15. (tie) Kansas (61) – “They keep winning but they can’t move up.” BW; “Manhandled Colorado, but falling next week.” MH; “Will be looking ahead to hoops after trip to Norman this week.” CJ; “Insert your own Mangino reference here.” JimG.

17. Michigan St. (37) – “For real.” PD; “Thank ESPN for this ranking.” CJ.

17. (tie) Virginia Tech (37) – “ECU loss looks worse every week.” RA; “Show the Hokies some love.” MH; “Seem to have righted the ship.” BW.

19. North Carolina (31) – “New one in the group.” PD; “On the ‘heels’ of a great season.” CJ (Charlie, we’d rather have a lame Mangino reference than a lame Carolina joke); “Finally beginning to recover from Mack Brown leaving.” BW; “Butch Davis should be calling plays in Fayetteville.” JimG.

20. Vanderbilt (9) – “Ooops.” PD; “Proving there is SOME depth in the SEC.” MH.

Also receiving votes: Tulsa (7) “An offensive machine.” JimG; Minnesota (4); South Florida (4); Wake Forest (4); Ball State (3) “Just because a 7-0 team deserves it.” JimG; “Really? 7-0?” RA; ”Didn’t know we had a state named Ball.” MH; TCU (3) “Better be ready to bring it against the Mormons next week.” RA; Nebraska (1); Pittsburgh (1) “This team is starting to play well. Look out Big East.” BW; Texas A&M (1) “Will continue their dominance in the turnovers category. The Red Raiders are overlooking A&M. Aggies will be in the Big 12 Championshp Game in 2010. Guarantee!” CJ.

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

“In a sense, the theologian is like a sparring partner. His job is to keep the church on its toes both intellectually and spiritually. If the church neglects truth, sooner or later it will get flabby and go sick; and what once were soul-stirring insights will degenerate into hollow platitudes. And if the church neglects its call to live out the gospel as the people of God, then whatever truth the church has will go sour on it.”

                                                                                                             —Colin Brown, 1967

Living To Intercede

October 8, 2008 / / 5 Comments

“He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” ~Hebrews 7:21

Nearly 90 men of the Legacy Church of Christ met in our worship center this past weekend to pray over 1,500+ requests from our church family and the North Richland Hills community. Groups ranged in size from two or three to seven or eight. Continuously for 24 straight hours. Lots of overlap as most of the groups needed much longer than an hour to pray for the 50-60 requests they were assigned and for each other.

We opened up the floor during our prayer breakfast Saturday morning to process the previous 24 Hours of Prayer. And the discussion was inspiring.

Everyone expressed a genuine sense of humility and awe as they sat down in the presence of God with that many requests from our brothers and sisters. What a responsibility. Some felt a great sense of unworthiness. What great faith our church family has in prayer and in our God to take the time to write down their pleas. What great trust they have in us to take those requests to the Father. It was said many times that they learned more about their own brothers with whom they prayed for one hour than if they’d spent all weekend with them doing something else. There’s something about listening and participating as someone pours out their heart to God. There’s a true bonding that takes place that can’t really be described, it can only be experienced. I know my life will never be the same after having spent 90-minutes praying with Quincy and Manuel Friday afternoon. And neither will our friendships. I see them differently now. I know them differently. Lord, bless Quincy. Your Word dwells in him. He is really living in you. Please bless him. We were all amazed to realize that people we run into in the halls of our church building two or three times a week, for years, are dealing with some of the things they’re dealing with. Who knew? It never would have occured to me. I see them differently now. I treat them differently now. What great ministry opportunities something like this creates. God, please give me the sensitivity to recognize those people who are all around me and the power to jump in and hug them and love them and minister to them. It’s amazing to read the requests of the strongest and most faithful people I know. They’re asking for forgiveness. They’re asking for strength. They’re asking for answers. They’re asking for the power to be better. And I can’t imagine them being any better. God, I’ve got such a long, long way to go. Please help me be more like your Son. More like them. Al Grant prayed with four different groups from 1:00 am to 5:00 am Saturday. And he began each of those hours by confessing his own sins to our Lord. He ended each of those hours by making all the men hold hands in a circle, encouraging them to feel the same love he was feeling. Father, please help me be more like Al.

The prayers were raw. And they were all for other people.

We are Christ-like when we pray for other people. When we bear one another’s burdens to God’s throne, we are being like Jesus. When we lift up our brothers and sisters, when we carry their concerns, when we take their problems to God, we’re imitating Christ.

When I mentioned at the close of our breakfast that the next 24 Hours of Prayer was already set for September 18-19 next year, we nearly had a revolt on our hands. We can’t wait that long. We need to do this at least twice a year. At least. They’re right.

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

 KK&C Top 20 Logo

October 8, 2008

This week’s poll has the same ten teams at the top, just in a little different order. OU & Mizzou remain #1 & #2. LSU drops from #3 to #5. So Alabama, Texas, and Texas Tech all move up a slot. South Florida drops from #12 to #19. Auburn falls seven spaces to #20. And the undefeated Commodores bolt from #19 all the way up to #13. Wisconsin is out. Virginia Tech is in. Charlie gives us another Mangino crack. Steve has this week’s only prediction on the outcome of this week’s Shootout at the Cotton Bowl. I’ll throw mine in right now: Texas 52, OU 10.

1. Oklahoma (10 1st place votes, 294 total votes) – “Last week for OU to be number one this year: Texas 29, OU 27.” SF; “Baylor will have to leave the Big 12 ‘Sooner’ or later.” JR; “Would love to see Texas whoop up on some Boomer Sooner.” JennG; “Winners of the Big 12.” JS; “Their defense will help them prevail in the Red River Shootout.” JimG; “Can they play defense against a real team?” PD; “Gotta vote ‘em high while I can.” RA; “Next poll, #12.” MH;   

2. Missouri (1, 293) – “Oh, my word, they are good.” JennG; “Chase Daniel is starting to make me sick.” JR; “Potent.” JimG; “I really think they can outscore anybody.” PD; “Still impressive, biggest test in Austin in two weeks.” SF; “Still in the ‘chase’ for #1.” CJ; “That mean boy from Nebraska spit on me.” RA; “Looked unstoppable against the Huskers.” DM; “Great win in Lincoln.” BW; “Could beat ANY SEC team.” MH;
3.  Alabama (276) – “Continues to ‘roll.’” JR; “Should not have been so close.” BW; “After last week, a let down was inevitable; a W is a W.” CJ; “The luster is gone.” PD; “Winners of the SEC.” JS;

4.  Texas (2, 271) – “Will be my #1 after this week.” SF; “Will need big defensive effort to win Saturday.” JimG; “Colt is looking like a Heisman Trophy winner.” CJ; “Look out, OU.” DM; “Go Horns!” MH; “I hate to say it, but they are ready for the Sooners.” PD.  5.  LSU (2, 262) – “Still under the radar?” CJ; “Can’t drop them yet.” PD; “Tigers deserve the top spot until someone beats them.” JimG; “Still undefeated defending champion.” BW;  

6.  Penn St. (240) – “Playing well in a weak Big 10.” BW; “Joe Pa onside kick demonstration scheduled for Thursday.” JimG; “Not the best in the Big 10. Bet the farm they lose to OSU.” CJ; “Love the vanilla unis.” MH; “Joe Pa demonstrating extreme domination all the while having nothing to do with the game plan.” DM;  

7.  Texas Tech (222) – “Impressive win Saturday.” CJ; “When you’re hot, you’re hot.” PD; “4th & 9 from their 10-yard line, Leach will go for it. Do they have a punter on scholarship?” SF; “Mike Leach is the strangest coach ever.” JimG; “Still surviving without a D.” MH.
 8.  USC (200) – “Have they righted the ship?” BW; “Highest ranked one-loss team. Trojans hoping everybody else falls.” MH; “If Sanchez is OK, USC is OK.” PD.  

9.  BYU (197) – “As a diehard Euless Trinity supporter, I’m obligated to vote for a team with players named Vakapuna, Latu, and Mahuika.” JR; “BCS-crashing party starts in SaltLake.” CJ; “Could BYU be QBU again?” MH; “They will enjoy conference play.” BW.  

10.  Georgia (166) – “Black, white, red, pink; whatever jerseys Georgia wears, the Vols are in trouble.” SF; “Still walking around with their tails between their legs.” CJ; “Have I said the SEC is overrated?” MH;  

11.  Florida (146) – “It was just Arkansas.” BW; “Don’t have quite the teeth they had three weeks ago.” CJ;  

12.  Utah (130) – “Still beating everyone they play.” BW.
 13.  Vanderbilt (127) – “Still best team in Tennessee.” SF; “Daydream becoming reality.” CJ; “Proof you can win with smart guys.” DM; “The nerds are here.” PD; “Can’t believe they are here.” BW; “Too high.” JS;   



14.  Ohio St. (113) – “Wisconsin missed its band.” SF; “Would not want to play them in a bowl as young one gains experience at QB.” CJ; “Still vastly overrated.” RA; “Also ran.” PD; “Will continue to win ugly.” BW; “May still win the Big 10 and lose again to USC.” DM.  

15.  Kansas (89) – “Beat Iowa State by a basket at the buzzer. Not bad for a hardwood school on grass.” MH; “Big comeback against who?” BW; “Leaky defense.” PD; “I’m taking a sabbatical on Mark Mangino waistline cracks.” JimG; “Mangino takes a bite out of Cyclones’ chances for an upset.” CJ (Charlie’s riding last week’s momentum, he can’t let it go. Thank you, Charlie.); 




16.  Oklahoma St. (86) – “Their defense scored more points than their offense.” JennG; “Aggies exposed weaknesses in their D. Missouri will capitalize this weekend.” CJ; “Scary running the ball.” JS;  

17.  Boise St. (82) – “Will they face a challenge?” BW; “I would rather eat my shoe than watch one of their games.” CJ;  

18.  Virginia Tech (38) – “Starting to get going.” BW; “Bouncing back nicely as they always do.” CJ;   19.  South Florida (35) – “On my list because of a complete lack of choices.” CJ;  

20.  Auburn (21) –   Also receiving votes:

Michigan St. (17); Wake Forest (14); TCU (13); North Carolina (7) “Butch Davis should be in Fayetteville, not Chapel Hill.” JimG; Illinois (4); Kentucky (3); Clemson (2); Northwestern (2); Pittsburgh (2); Wisconsin (2); Ball St. (1); Florida St. (1) “Bobby B has ‘em on the mend.” MH; Fresno St.(1); Nebraska (1) “only losses are to Top 20 teams.” DM; Notre Dame (1); Texas A&M (1) “A model of consistency.” CJ;

Delay Of Game

October 7, 2008 / / 0 Comments

Due to family commitments that were all met yesterday at Putt Putt Golf & Games, Carrie-Anne’s midterm exam and the celebratory dinner afterwards, and today’s trip south to the Waco Alliance, this week’s “KK&C Top 20” will be posted later this evening.

I know you understand. 

Check out one of the blogs I have listed here on the right side of this page. You can’t go wrong. Have a great day.

Peace,

Allan

A New #1!

September 30, 2008 / / 0 Comments

KK&C Top 20 Logo 

September 30, 2008

The Trojans go down hard. Georgia gets spanked between the hedges. And Wisconsin’s brought back down to earth. This week made for some radical shifts in our KK&C Top 20. With ten first place votes, Oklahoma is the new #1 team, followed by Missouri, LSU, Alabama, and Texas. USC falls from the top position to #7. BYU cracks the top ten at #9. Wake Forest and Clemson got booted out. Vandy and Oklahoma State took their places.

The Sooners’ margin over Missouri would have been more if PaulB had put OU anywhere on his list. Nice snub. CharlieJ delivers the line of the year so far in his comment on Kansas coach Mark Mangino. (Seriously. A blog can never have too many lines about Mangino. Or too many pictures. Check out the big guy here and here and here.) Janie slid her poll in under my office door on Sunday to make sure my spam filter didn’t grab it. MarkH is still in Cambodia and even battling the flu but still managed to get his poll in while TedS and KevinW have apparently decided to get on with their lives.

Something to watch: LarryT has promised to host the KK&C Top 20 pollsters post season party if Texas wins another game 52-10. We’re holding you to it, Larry! And no Wal-Mart meat trays!

1. Oklahoma (10 – 1st place votes, 295 total votes) “Up here ‘Sooner’ than expected.” CharlieJ (Thanks, Skip); “No other way around it. The Sooners are back!” LarryT; “Play somebody!” MarkD; “With two weeks to prepare, they did not look overwhelming.” MarkH; “Setting up nicely for their annual January swoon.” JimG; “Only team in their way is Texas.” SteveF; “Chase or Colt will make their secondary look awful.” PaulD.

2. Missouri (1, 287) “I think they can outscore anybody.” PaulD; “Season is about to begin.” BillyW; “Tigers D about to be exposed.” CharlieJ.

3. LSU (3, 286) “Bayou Bengals barely getting by.” MarkH; “They’ll be tested the next three weeks at Florida, at South Carolina, and Georgia.” LarryT; “Still a mystery, but I cannot lower them.” PaulD; “Still undefeated defending champion.” BillyW.

4. Alabama (280) “Is there a new sheriff in the SEC?” MarkH; “Gave the Dawgs a pounding.” JanieR; “If they can just stay out of trouble. We all know Saban is a maverick.” LarryT; “They seem to have it all.” PaulD.  

5. Texas (1, 258) (Hooper voted UT #1 “SEC chokes! Hook ‘em!”) “Right where they belong…beneath OU.” JanieR; “52-10! 52-10! 52-10!” JimG; “Impressive win in Boulder will illicit positive comments from this Aggie.” CharlieJ; “Winner of Texas-OU plays for national championship.” SteveF;  “Still waiting on competition.” PaulD;  ”Too bad they don’t play Arkansas every year.” BillyW.

6. Penn St. (221) “Joe Pa is senile, he can’t remember his wife’s name, but he still knows football.” MarkH; “GreatGrandPA Joe has his lions in a row for one more run.” JanieR; “Not sure they will keep everything going.” BillyW;  ”We are!…not as good as people think we are!” CharlieJ.

7. USC (210) “Fulfilled their annual disappointment against an inferior team.” JimG; “To the 14 who voted them #1 last week, ‘I told you so!’” LarryT;  “Still recovering from Thursday.” MarkR; “HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!!! Thank you, Oregon State!!!” JanieR; “They’re still good.” DavidB; “Trojans could still beat most of the teams ranked ahead of them.” MarkH; “One bad night. Still a great team.” AaronG.

8. Texas Tech (201) “Who have they beaten that makes them worthy of advancing in this poll?” JimG; “Looked better this week than they have all year.” BillyW; “Enjoy it…this is as high as you go.” CharlieJ.

9. BYU (180)“Who is Brigham Young? And what is he doing in the Top Ten?” LarryT; “Bronco Mendenhall…what a name for a football coach.” JimG; “Will go undefeated and get creamed in the BCS.” CharlieJ.

10. Georgia (173) “Black jerseys match their eyes after Alabama spanking” SteveF; “Final score was closer than this blowout deserved.” MarkD; “They did lose to a Top Ten team.” BillyW.

11. Florida (167) “Wow…no one saw that Tebow run coming.” CharlieJ; “I love watching Urban Meyer lose.” JimG; “Second best team in Florida behind the Tampa Bay Rays.” MarkH; “Couldn’t take too much delight in Gators’ loss. We (Tennessee) have enough problems of our own.” SteveF; “I am so very let down. Ole Miss and Houston Nutt?” JennG; “Not as strong as I thought.” AaronG (understatement of the week); “Not sure what happened to them.” BillyW.

12. South Florida (139)

13. Auburn (127) “Vols quarterback is worst in 30 years!” SteveF; “Tennessee just doesn’t have the heart this year.” JennG; “Almost a negative margin of victory.” MarkD.

14. Ohio St. (116) “Big 10 ain’t what it used to be.” MarkH; “Don’t dismiss them now that they’re at full strength.” CharlieJ; “New QB and return of Beanie make Buckeyes worthy of another look.” MarkD.

15. Utah (99) “Waiting for the shoe to drop.” MarkD; “Too bad they’re not in a real conference.” BillyW.

16. Kansas (76) “Mangino is hungry for Big 12 competition.” CharlieJ (so far the greatest line of the year. Thanks, Charlie); “Could start having trouble.” BillyW; “Highest ranked basketball school this week.” MarkH.

17. Wisconsin (65) “The ‘W’ on their helmets stands for ‘What? Michigan best us?’” MarkH.

18. Boise St. (51) “Will they have a conference challenge?” BillyW.

19. Vanderbilt (43) “Best college team in Tennessee.” SteveF; “Are they really undefeated?” BillyW; “Vandy brainiacs have mastered the science of football.” MarkH; “OK, I guess so.” CharlieJ.

20. Oklahoma St. (28) “This one is for Ron Frost!” JennG; “Spoiler alert.” JanieR; “Both OU & OSU in the top 20? A new NBA franchise? Next they’ll want to secede from the Union.” DavidB; “Probably not better than their peers, but undefeated. Rank them ’til they lose.” MarkD; “Here comes the sleeper!” PaulD; “I will never put the OSU Cowgirls in my poll.” MarkR.

Also receiving votes: TCU (12) (all on the strength of PaulB’s #9 ranking.); Virginia Tech (9) “Coach was beaming after win in Lincoln.” CharlieJ (Skip!) “Got lucky at Memorial Stadium.” DanM; Wake Forest (7); Oregon (7) “Go Ducks!” MarkR; Florida St. (7); Fresno St. (6); Kentucky (2); Clemson (2); Nebraska (1); UConn (1) “Undefeated at this point in the season deserves a vote.” MarkD.

editor’s note: I received TedS and RichardA’s polls too late. Ted’s got trapped by my spam filter. Richard’s just plain late. Too bad. Ted voted Oregon State #1 (“my new favorite team”) and USC #20 (“I just wanted to see what it’s like to see USC at #20”). And Richard’s #1 vote for Texas was followed by, “Just like Paul, ‘I must be out of my mind to talk like this.'” 

Peace,

Allan 

California Dreamin'

September 26, 2008 / / 3 Comments

I wish.

It’s just two hours. The time difference is only two hours between Texas and California. And I’ve already been here two nights, plenty of time to get acclimated, but my body is waking up at 5am. And that’s not good when we’re not getting to bed until midnight. California time. I can do six or seven hours of sleep. I’m not that good on five.

We’re well into Day Two now of the Spiritual Growth Workshop out here in Fresno. I’m being blessed by meeting and getting to know brothers and sisters from all over the Central Valley. I’m encouraged by the young and talented preachers proclaiming the Word out here and inspired by the older guys who are sharing their faith and wisdom. I’m excited to be speaking on my favorite gospel, Mark, to a hungry group of men and women. And I’m enjoying some of the local cuisine. Armenian schwarma Wednesday afternoon. Some kind of spicy steak sandwich thing at Piazza del Pane last night. And then tri-tip later today (anybody ever heard of tri-tip? I think it’s a California thing. BBQ brisket by a different name). I’m not leaving until I get an In-And-Out burger. Hopefully sometime tomorrow. The very first Chick-Fil-A just opened up here in Fresno two weeks ago, about a mile from the church building here. So we’ve been there twice already, dinner Wednesday and lunch yesterday. It’s a Woodward Park cult thing right now. And Gardner’s leading the charge. The way he promotes it—EVEN FROM THE PULPIT!—I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s getting some kind of under-the-table cut from that place.

It’s great getting caught up with Jim & Mandy Gardner and their sweet girls. And Jimmy Mitchell. I can’t imagine being in charge of organizing and orchestrating a huge workshop like this. But Jim seems to thrive on it. Being out here is a true blessing for me. And I’m grateful for the opportunity.

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

Is this Oregon State Beaver voting for Texas?There are a few things that would drive me crazy if I lived out here. None more than the fact that prime time football games kick of at 5pm. How would anybody ever handle that? We got out to the car at 8:20 last night and USC was just then atttempting that desperation on-side kick with 71-seconds left in the Trojans upset loss to the Beavers in Corvalis. We were home by 8:30 but had missed the entire game. DVR is one thing. But on a consistent basis, that would just be too much.

It is wide open now with USC going down. Texas has an outside shot now. ‘Bama and LSU are in prime position to take advantage. But OU has the best opportunity to make a case for top billing tomorrow. The Sooners will be out to “hang half a hunnerd,” as Barry Switzer used to say, on TCU. Life would be pretty lousy if Oklahoma’s ranked #1. Go Horned Frogs.

Peace,

Allan

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑