Here went the merry go round of University of Tulsa Sports. Nolan Richardson was at Tulsa for five years, then Arkansas and a national title. Tubby Self was here four years, went to sweet 16's then Georgia and Kentucky, now Minnesota. Bill Self was at Tulsa for three or four years, made it to the elite eight, then left for Illinois and then Kansas (national title). Enter Buzz Peterson, exit Buzz Peterson/ One NIT Title.
We now have Doug Wojcik, who has been here five years going on six and this year had his most talented roster until those lousy knees got in the way. Last night, the remainder of Wojcik's team shone brightly, winning a double overtime game after three straight losses. Wojcik has rebuilt a program from rock bottom in to a solid contender with great demographics. Only one senior graduating from this roster.
Whats that tell you? That a little school can get good coaches for a time. The question is what is the quality of the roster and infra-structure they leave behind? Richardson had a rebuilding job and solved with his own juco national championship players from Western Texas. He left a treasure trove of players for JD Barnett to continue winning. Smith, Steve Robinson and Buzz Peterson likewise. Self, and Wojcik solved it one piece at a time by recruiting from the high schools and flat out coaching everybody up. Remember Wojcik's warriors were on their 4th point guard last night, and when Shane Hiermann went out, in came Bryson Pope who shone brightly. This year is Wojcik's best coaching performance of his TU career.
All that to say yesterday's announcement that Bubba Cunningham was staying was more evidence that TU is solidly entrenched in quality, and is of singular importance. Over five years Cunningham has "presided" over facilities improvements, as well as hiring Todd Graham, Wojcik and others. Presided may too benign a description. LEAD is more accurate. The comprehensive program BC has lead is number one in CUSA based on total championships won.
Prior to Bubba Cunningham, Judy McLeod was our AD for 10 years plus. Just for comic relief, in 1999, McLeod hired Keith Burns as head football coach. Burns came to TU from Arkansas where he was the defensive coordinator (?) and a position coach. Result? Records of (5-7) (1-10) (1-11), fired. Who'd we get to save us from that era? Steve Kragthorpe, he of CUSA title and multiple bowl game fame. Then, onward to Louisville. McLeod also lead the facility improvements at TU.
Conclusion, pay your athletic director very well and keep him or her. The above named coaches were and are indespensible. They and their players are the showcase. But the showcase must have a framework, a pedestal, hinges and rollers, and a building to protect the showcase, a foundation for the building, etc. That's the AD among many other things. Not just a gladhander, though some get by with that. Athletic directors are leaders whose value is what doesn't go wrong as well as what goes right. The not yet ready for leadership It's our good fortune Kansas sisn't get him.head coach passed on, the disciplinary control over NCAA rules so penalties don't dismantle a reputation and a team. Tulsa has Bubba Cunningham for who knows how long.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Keep both chins up - It will happen
The idea of searching for a job in this economy is daunting. The interplay between jobs that are disappearing and new ones created to take their place is heavily weighted in favor the disappeared. Add to that the reality of being at the stage of life where your chin is plural (double), in other words sixty years old, it becomes uber daunting.
Its easy to get caught in no man's land when it comes to strategy. Total networking, a form of salesmanship, or internet/Linked-in. Do search companies (employment agencies) work? Just how do you connect with the right people when you've never met them?
Rule 1 has to be, find a strategy that keeps you engaged and refreshed. The two are not mutually exclusive. Even if you never had a tendency towards depression before, you are vulnerable during times of job loss. Sliding down that hole is a bigger obstacle than anything because it is the first thing that happens to the job seeker.
First, concentrate on the fact that this is not your fault. You were not fired, you were laid off. There wasn't anything you could have done to prevent it. It was out of your hands. When you accept that, you will have conquered the 800 pound gorilla in the room with you.
Second, develop a strategy for focusing on something outside of the job search. It has to be something you do everyday as a mental and spiritual vacation. Mediation, yoga, an exercise routine, writing, something that you can accomplish and refresh your mind.
Third, talk to your spouse. This is a time of your life where you don't have to be meeting the next deadline, living up to the bosses expectations, making sure the next performance evaluation has a snowballs chance in hell of including a raise. Your spouse is your biggest fan and also a resource. The time focused on each other is a means of recharging your spirit.
Fourth, seek out people that know more than you do. Ask them how to search, where to search, what is out there to go after. The tendency toward isolation is in all of us.
Resisting isolation will bear fruit in the sense that while you are asking the questions, you are also networking. You are in the job hunt, activley pursuing a resolution to your employment and having some success doing it in another persons presence.
Notice I didn't give any advise about the search itself. The foundation of the search process is the searcher. A clear, informed mind will find a solution. The process is important but has to be executed by that clear committed mind. Taking care of your mind, your outlook on the situation, and utilizing that wondrous asset on the couch next to you (spouse) is the beginning of it all. And this time of your life is only temporary. REALLY HONEST TO BRETT FAVRE WITHOUT A DOUBT
Its easy to get caught in no man's land when it comes to strategy. Total networking, a form of salesmanship, or internet/Linked-in. Do search companies (employment agencies) work? Just how do you connect with the right people when you've never met them?
Rule 1 has to be, find a strategy that keeps you engaged and refreshed. The two are not mutually exclusive. Even if you never had a tendency towards depression before, you are vulnerable during times of job loss. Sliding down that hole is a bigger obstacle than anything because it is the first thing that happens to the job seeker.
First, concentrate on the fact that this is not your fault. You were not fired, you were laid off. There wasn't anything you could have done to prevent it. It was out of your hands. When you accept that, you will have conquered the 800 pound gorilla in the room with you.
Second, develop a strategy for focusing on something outside of the job search. It has to be something you do everyday as a mental and spiritual vacation. Mediation, yoga, an exercise routine, writing, something that you can accomplish and refresh your mind.
Third, talk to your spouse. This is a time of your life where you don't have to be meeting the next deadline, living up to the bosses expectations, making sure the next performance evaluation has a snowballs chance in hell of including a raise. Your spouse is your biggest fan and also a resource. The time focused on each other is a means of recharging your spirit.
Fourth, seek out people that know more than you do. Ask them how to search, where to search, what is out there to go after. The tendency toward isolation is in all of us.
Resisting isolation will bear fruit in the sense that while you are asking the questions, you are also networking. You are in the job hunt, activley pursuing a resolution to your employment and having some success doing it in another persons presence.
Notice I didn't give any advise about the search itself. The foundation of the search process is the searcher. A clear, informed mind will find a solution. The process is important but has to be executed by that clear committed mind. Taking care of your mind, your outlook on the situation, and utilizing that wondrous asset on the couch next to you (spouse) is the beginning of it all. And this time of your life is only temporary. REALLY HONEST TO BRETT FAVRE WITHOUT A DOUBT
Advertise? - Where?
Counselors Chris Trail and G.T. Bynum propose raising additional revenue by placing ads on city vehicles. Congratulations for thinking outside the billboard. Is this really a net addition to city revenue?
First, both Trail and Bynum are intelligent men. Trail has run a restaurant widely known in Tulsa. That industry in a notoriously tough environment in which to survive, let alone profit and prosper. Bynum has a more diverse career going on. His public utterances on city issues are at least articulate and original, even if I don't always agree with him. The source of the idea is credible.
It's also not all that practical. The proposal was to advertise on city vehicles and property. The vehicles are a problem. They are small and already have verbiage and/or ID numbers on them. How much space is left on a truck or sedan? Further, given the available space, the vehicles would have to stationary or travelling very slow for anyone to read the ad. And by the way, could this advertising include police cars and fire trucks? I wonder if that's even legal. I am certainly not ready to see a fire truck racing by me on a call while extolling the value of a Little Debbie snack cake. Something of a credibility issue there.
As far as city property, would the signage ordinances even allow it? The TMAPC is from time to time hearing cases and requests about variances to the sign ordinances for billboards. If the Bynum - Trail idea envisions billboards, who would pay to construct it? What are the operating costs if it is digital? If these are the more standard wood frame or metal frame sings, who maintains them?
Most importantly, who establishes the rates the city will charge? Surely there isn't an employee already on the city payroll that has experiencing establishing ad rates in this market. Is this another "consultant" the city will have to hire?
Keep in mind this idea is VOAB (Void of Any Benefit) if its not a net positive cash flow. And it could well become another boondoggle if all the costs are not tracked through a newly established enterprise fund that accumulates all the costs and revenues from the advertising activity.
Bynum was careful to emphasize that this is something to evaluated first (my words, not his). True enough, here's hoping that evaluation is with an open mind. The devil is in the details.
First, both Trail and Bynum are intelligent men. Trail has run a restaurant widely known in Tulsa. That industry in a notoriously tough environment in which to survive, let alone profit and prosper. Bynum has a more diverse career going on. His public utterances on city issues are at least articulate and original, even if I don't always agree with him. The source of the idea is credible.
It's also not all that practical. The proposal was to advertise on city vehicles and property. The vehicles are a problem. They are small and already have verbiage and/or ID numbers on them. How much space is left on a truck or sedan? Further, given the available space, the vehicles would have to stationary or travelling very slow for anyone to read the ad. And by the way, could this advertising include police cars and fire trucks? I wonder if that's even legal. I am certainly not ready to see a fire truck racing by me on a call while extolling the value of a Little Debbie snack cake. Something of a credibility issue there.
As far as city property, would the signage ordinances even allow it? The TMAPC is from time to time hearing cases and requests about variances to the sign ordinances for billboards. If the Bynum - Trail idea envisions billboards, who would pay to construct it? What are the operating costs if it is digital? If these are the more standard wood frame or metal frame sings, who maintains them?
Most importantly, who establishes the rates the city will charge? Surely there isn't an employee already on the city payroll that has experiencing establishing ad rates in this market. Is this another "consultant" the city will have to hire?
Keep in mind this idea is VOAB (Void of Any Benefit) if its not a net positive cash flow. And it could well become another boondoggle if all the costs are not tracked through a newly established enterprise fund that accumulates all the costs and revenues from the advertising activity.
Bynum was careful to emphasize that this is something to evaluated first (my words, not his). True enough, here's hoping that evaluation is with an open mind. The devil is in the details.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
THERE'S A FLAW IN THE OINTMENT
It's now 15 months since my own personal recession started. With the increased amount of time to watch our elected officials pull us out of the recession and the high unemployment rates comes greater clarity.
I remember Ronald Reagan once intoned on his radio commentary " Government in, of, and by itself has no wealth. The only wealth government can have is that which government has taken away from the governed.". In other words those who actually did the work to create the wealth in the first place. The late ex-President's remarks implied that government does not (should not?) create wealth. Further, government does not create anything that brings wealth. Not because it is without collective intellect, not because it is inherantly evil (that can't be true because government is made up of US), not because government is without justification in some form. Government cannot exist without "our" money to spend. Government by itself does not earn a living and pay the bills. It takes from us what it needs to survive.
This protracted recession has been plied with "stimulus" from the public treasury. Banks were propped up when they did not generate liquidiy on their own. Jobs are not being created in sufficient numbers to bring down unemployment. What's going on here?
The House and Senate are wrangling over passing or changing the Bush tax cuts. The biggest issue is what to about the wealthy. In fact, part of that debate revolves around what is wealthy? At least part of the debate of wealthy is how to include profitable existing companies and the small businesses that average Americans start from zero. How much do we tax the very people we all either work for or want to work for?
How about a short business lesson. First, the profit is not a luxury. It's evidence of greed. It's a requirement for any company to survive. That's becauase the legal definition of net income does not include all the spending required for that company to compete in it's market place. Profits go to develop new products, explore and penetrate new markets for existing products. Profit is also what pays for employee raises, cost increases in benefits, cost increases on inputs to the company's products, and the asset base the business requires. Bulldozers, flower delivery trucks, and vertical boring mills don't last forever but niether do they routinely wear in less than a year.
Profit is also what drives the hiring of additional employees, and one facet of convicing management to replace the ones that leave. What else gets paid out of profits? Federal, state, local..........governments, through taxes. Higher taxes mean lower profits, a shrunken pool of resources to continue the business in a healthy state.
Any business has a life cycle, just like its products. They start out as an innovation of some kind and conintue on a rising tide of sales volume. As the product matures (ages) adn competition develops, sales dollars level off. When that happens, other newer products take over the market and the original leader in the market place declines in sales volume. Eventually, the mature product becomes obsolete and sales revenue disappears.
That cycle describles the marriage between companies, profits, and a healthy a healthy job market. The mature comapanies' workforces go through layoffs and at the same time new jobs are created by the newer products and companies in the same economy. Profitable companies that successfully develop replacement products and processes as the maketplace requires maintain a stable or growing employee base. Those that don't, shrink or cease to exist.
Over time, the U.S. has lost jobs, mostly manufacturing, to foreign countries for a variety of reasons. Wage rates are the predominant reason, but also countries that have less developed governmental bureaucracies have been more attractive. Singapore offered a five year tax holiday to companies that would open offices there in the 1980's and 1990's. America has become a population of people trying to sell each other insurance or investments. Nothing against people who work in those pursuits, just a metaphor. We have ceased to be the planets chief innovator.
The debate in Washington is over raising more revenue. The federal government is trapped in to doing this due to the moutainous (even by federal standards) level of the deficit. The above narrative is to say simply this. How do we reduce the deficit? More revenue? Less spending? If government takes more moeny out of the economy (tax rate increases over 2009) less will be available to companies to stay competitve and growing. Are the rates limited to personal income rates? That includes a lot of people who put the self employment income on their 1040's. Those companies will be less likely to grow in to job creating engines.
The foundation of job creation is the relationship between companies on the rise and companies on the decline. Those on the rise come largely from sole propietor's that invest time, talent, and hard work to start what eventually become new enterprises. There is a flaw in the remedy politicans seem want for our economy. That's right, ours, the American citizenry. Just ask Cheter Cadieu Sr. (QuikTrip) or T. D. Williamson Sr. (TD Williamson Inc.) how that works, then pass on what you learn to Washington.
I remember Ronald Reagan once intoned on his radio commentary " Government in, of, and by itself has no wealth. The only wealth government can have is that which government has taken away from the governed.". In other words those who actually did the work to create the wealth in the first place. The late ex-President's remarks implied that government does not (should not?) create wealth. Further, government does not create anything that brings wealth. Not because it is without collective intellect, not because it is inherantly evil (that can't be true because government is made up of US), not because government is without justification in some form. Government cannot exist without "our" money to spend. Government by itself does not earn a living and pay the bills. It takes from us what it needs to survive.
This protracted recession has been plied with "stimulus" from the public treasury. Banks were propped up when they did not generate liquidiy on their own. Jobs are not being created in sufficient numbers to bring down unemployment. What's going on here?
The House and Senate are wrangling over passing or changing the Bush tax cuts. The biggest issue is what to about the wealthy. In fact, part of that debate revolves around what is wealthy? At least part of the debate of wealthy is how to include profitable existing companies and the small businesses that average Americans start from zero. How much do we tax the very people we all either work for or want to work for?
How about a short business lesson. First, the profit is not a luxury. It's evidence of greed. It's a requirement for any company to survive. That's becauase the legal definition of net income does not include all the spending required for that company to compete in it's market place. Profits go to develop new products, explore and penetrate new markets for existing products. Profit is also what pays for employee raises, cost increases in benefits, cost increases on inputs to the company's products, and the asset base the business requires. Bulldozers, flower delivery trucks, and vertical boring mills don't last forever but niether do they routinely wear in less than a year.
Profit is also what drives the hiring of additional employees, and one facet of convicing management to replace the ones that leave. What else gets paid out of profits? Federal, state, local..........governments, through taxes. Higher taxes mean lower profits, a shrunken pool of resources to continue the business in a healthy state.
Any business has a life cycle, just like its products. They start out as an innovation of some kind and conintue on a rising tide of sales volume. As the product matures (ages) adn competition develops, sales dollars level off. When that happens, other newer products take over the market and the original leader in the market place declines in sales volume. Eventually, the mature product becomes obsolete and sales revenue disappears.
That cycle describles the marriage between companies, profits, and a healthy a healthy job market. The mature comapanies' workforces go through layoffs and at the same time new jobs are created by the newer products and companies in the same economy. Profitable companies that successfully develop replacement products and processes as the maketplace requires maintain a stable or growing employee base. Those that don't, shrink or cease to exist.
Over time, the U.S. has lost jobs, mostly manufacturing, to foreign countries for a variety of reasons. Wage rates are the predominant reason, but also countries that have less developed governmental bureaucracies have been more attractive. Singapore offered a five year tax holiday to companies that would open offices there in the 1980's and 1990's. America has become a population of people trying to sell each other insurance or investments. Nothing against people who work in those pursuits, just a metaphor. We have ceased to be the planets chief innovator.
The debate in Washington is over raising more revenue. The federal government is trapped in to doing this due to the moutainous (even by federal standards) level of the deficit. The above narrative is to say simply this. How do we reduce the deficit? More revenue? Less spending? If government takes more moeny out of the economy (tax rate increases over 2009) less will be available to companies to stay competitve and growing. Are the rates limited to personal income rates? That includes a lot of people who put the self employment income on their 1040's. Those companies will be less likely to grow in to job creating engines.
The foundation of job creation is the relationship between companies on the rise and companies on the decline. Those on the rise come largely from sole propietor's that invest time, talent, and hard work to start what eventually become new enterprises. There is a flaw in the remedy politicans seem want for our economy. That's right, ours, the American citizenry. Just ask Cheter Cadieu Sr. (QuikTrip) or T. D. Williamson Sr. (TD Williamson Inc.) how that works, then pass on what you learn to Washington.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tonight at 7:00 Central....................
LaBron James returns to Cleveland, Ohio to play his first game in that city after his elongated, over elevated, over publicized move to the Miami Heat. This is not just a run of the mill event, it's Cleveland and its storied but tortured sports history.
The drive. Ninety nine yards in the closing minutes by the Denver Broncos and John Elway. No Super Bowl for the real Browns. The fumble. The next year, again versus the Broncos and Elway, Ernest Byner loses the ball before not after goiing in to the endzone for the winnig touchdown. Once more, no Browns Super Bowl.
Go back in history. In 1954, Willie Mays made the catch of his life against the Indians in the World Series. An over the shoulder grab nearly to the center field wall. Giants win the series, Giants win the series, Giants win the series. The Indians never return until 1996 when closer Jose Mesa and his 100 MPH fastball blew up in the ninth inning and gave the Braves that piece of history.
This is the city that lost the Browns to Baltimore because of a prudent financial decision. Cleveland's economy was in a down cycle and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a new stadium just wasn't rational. So Art Modell left for Baltimore, itself jilted when the Colts ran off and eloped with Indianapolis. This is the city that got a new set of Browns years later and drafted Tim Couch as its quarterback of the future. Couch was a better piece of furniture than a passer.
Remember that the Los Angeles Rams were the Cleveland Rams before they moved west. Remember that this was the city reffered to as the "mistake on the lake" when Dennis Kucinich was mayor. Remember, if memory serves that Cleveland either declared, or came close to declaring bankruptcy in the 1970's. Remember this was the city that referred to its NBA franchise as the "Cadavers", not Cavaliers, in the teams early years. This is the city where the river that flows through it caught fire, chemical slicks float on the surface. This city has been left at the alter without a bride, the border without a visa, the drive through window without a menu.
LaBron James can't be held accountable for the past that is Cleveland's. He didn't create the history. He can't be held accountable for his decision. Owners routinely trade players before their contracts are done, though some players have rights of refusal. Why shouldn't the dethroned King James be able to make a decision after he has completed his contract?
What James did was rub Cleveland's nose in the situation of the floor. The length of the tease, the one hour "decision" show, the mysterious process he went through with Cav's owner Dan Gilbert.
Tonight's game warrants an answer for all the above. Clevelanders will blame James for everything they can think of. By the time the game starts, they will think its his fault the intern forgot the donuts for the planning meeting. Will he do the powder throw tonight? Is it nostalgia when the memory turns your stomach in to a brick?
When I lived in the Akron-Cleveland area, it was as a child and adolescent. When I look back on those memories, its as an adult recounting youth. We always had heros. Most of them were athletes and the adulation connected the adults and the kids for some really special moments. James jumped in to that process as a high school aged man, then left for greener pastures. He can't be faulted for that. Show the guy some repect and say thank you for the time with us. You will never have it that good with the fans again.
The drive. Ninety nine yards in the closing minutes by the Denver Broncos and John Elway. No Super Bowl for the real Browns. The fumble. The next year, again versus the Broncos and Elway, Ernest Byner loses the ball before not after goiing in to the endzone for the winnig touchdown. Once more, no Browns Super Bowl.
Go back in history. In 1954, Willie Mays made the catch of his life against the Indians in the World Series. An over the shoulder grab nearly to the center field wall. Giants win the series, Giants win the series, Giants win the series. The Indians never return until 1996 when closer Jose Mesa and his 100 MPH fastball blew up in the ninth inning and gave the Braves that piece of history.
This is the city that lost the Browns to Baltimore because of a prudent financial decision. Cleveland's economy was in a down cycle and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a new stadium just wasn't rational. So Art Modell left for Baltimore, itself jilted when the Colts ran off and eloped with Indianapolis. This is the city that got a new set of Browns years later and drafted Tim Couch as its quarterback of the future. Couch was a better piece of furniture than a passer.
Remember that the Los Angeles Rams were the Cleveland Rams before they moved west. Remember that this was the city reffered to as the "mistake on the lake" when Dennis Kucinich was mayor. Remember, if memory serves that Cleveland either declared, or came close to declaring bankruptcy in the 1970's. Remember this was the city that referred to its NBA franchise as the "Cadavers", not Cavaliers, in the teams early years. This is the city where the river that flows through it caught fire, chemical slicks float on the surface. This city has been left at the alter without a bride, the border without a visa, the drive through window without a menu.
LaBron James can't be held accountable for the past that is Cleveland's. He didn't create the history. He can't be held accountable for his decision. Owners routinely trade players before their contracts are done, though some players have rights of refusal. Why shouldn't the dethroned King James be able to make a decision after he has completed his contract?
What James did was rub Cleveland's nose in the situation of the floor. The length of the tease, the one hour "decision" show, the mysterious process he went through with Cav's owner Dan Gilbert.
Tonight's game warrants an answer for all the above. Clevelanders will blame James for everything they can think of. By the time the game starts, they will think its his fault the intern forgot the donuts for the planning meeting. Will he do the powder throw tonight? Is it nostalgia when the memory turns your stomach in to a brick?
When I lived in the Akron-Cleveland area, it was as a child and adolescent. When I look back on those memories, its as an adult recounting youth. We always had heros. Most of them were athletes and the adulation connected the adults and the kids for some really special moments. James jumped in to that process as a high school aged man, then left for greener pastures. He can't be faulted for that. Show the guy some repect and say thank you for the time with us. You will never have it that good with the fans again.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Christmas Parade? - Shariah Law?
The controversy that blew up this morning makes me wonder as well as wander.
Tulsa has had a traditional "Christmas Parade" for years. I remember going to it in the 1950's with my own parents. It's been labeled a "Christmas Parade" throughout its history. So this year a new sponsor renamed it, "Holiday Parade".
In the first chapter of the Book of Acts we find the following statement by Jesus himself. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jersusalem, and in all Judea, and to the ends of the earth." This was spoken to the Apostles by Jesus himeslf after His crucifixion and before He ascended to Heaven. This verse is commonly called "The Great Commission". In many denominations, and in my mind, this is interpreted as Jesus speaking to all Christians throughout time. Why is it a problem to use the word "Christmas" which includes the word "Christ", making it a candidate for exclusion in favor of the blander and less meaningful "Holidays"?
This on the heels of a court decision that delays the effective date of State question 755 "State Question 755 poses a clear violation of my religious freedoms," the executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. "Throughout American history, the courts have found in favor of the Constitution." according to Maneer Awad who filed the initial legal action. The question bans the recognition of Islamic Shariah law in Okalhoma as well as other portions of international law. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101201_16_A13_CUTLIN506944
The U.S. Consitution's Bill of Rights states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establiishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise excercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of greivances." The first sentence of the first amendment to the Constitution is about "freedom of religion". Is that not a message rrom the founding fathers on their prioirties?
The two events are dis-similar but joined by subject. No law was passed in the parade issue. A change in sponsors brought a change in title. The question is "why?". What is it about the presence of the the word "Christ" that must be dealt with? It's not even a standalone word, it a syllable. Its been the topic of the parade since I was a child, a time when dirt was a relatively new substance. Is the Great Commission fading from our conscious will as a group?
The state question is a different type of story. Over 70% of those voting on this question in the last election voted yes for the ban. Webster's Student Dictionary, pub date 1999, defines "respecting" as "about or concerning". The same volume defines the root "respect" as "concern or consideration". In other words favoring.
We live in a time when committment and sacrifice are waning. The great commission was enunciated shortly before the ascention and before the stoning of Stephen for merely speaking out in defense of Jesus teaching. The Constitution was written after a war for independence based on principles. Today, the divorce rate (committment to marriage and one's spouse) is rising. Voting (committment to one's democracy) is lower than ever. Church membership, in the mainstream denominations, is in great decline. That trend is only partially offset by the rise of the Mega Churches such as John Hagee, Rick Warren, and locally Bob Yandian, Willy George, and others. Change and evolution are good things in a lot of areas of life. Society without fundamental foundations is like houses built on sand. They may start with a foundation but it soon cracks, costs a lot to repair, and ends up not supporting what it was intended to.
Tulsa has had a traditional "Christmas Parade" for years. I remember going to it in the 1950's with my own parents. It's been labeled a "Christmas Parade" throughout its history. So this year a new sponsor renamed it, "Holiday Parade".
In the first chapter of the Book of Acts we find the following statement by Jesus himself. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jersusalem, and in all Judea, and to the ends of the earth." This was spoken to the Apostles by Jesus himeslf after His crucifixion and before He ascended to Heaven. This verse is commonly called "The Great Commission". In many denominations, and in my mind, this is interpreted as Jesus speaking to all Christians throughout time. Why is it a problem to use the word "Christmas" which includes the word "Christ", making it a candidate for exclusion in favor of the blander and less meaningful "Holidays"?
This on the heels of a court decision that delays the effective date of State question 755 "State Question 755 poses a clear violation of my religious freedoms," the executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. "Throughout American history, the courts have found in favor of the Constitution." according to Maneer Awad who filed the initial legal action. The question bans the recognition of Islamic Shariah law in Okalhoma as well as other portions of international law. http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101201_16_A13_CUTLIN506944
The U.S. Consitution's Bill of Rights states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establiishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise excercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of greivances." The first sentence of the first amendment to the Constitution is about "freedom of religion". Is that not a message rrom the founding fathers on their prioirties?
The two events are dis-similar but joined by subject. No law was passed in the parade issue. A change in sponsors brought a change in title. The question is "why?". What is it about the presence of the the word "Christ" that must be dealt with? It's not even a standalone word, it a syllable. Its been the topic of the parade since I was a child, a time when dirt was a relatively new substance. Is the Great Commission fading from our conscious will as a group?
The state question is a different type of story. Over 70% of those voting on this question in the last election voted yes for the ban. Webster's Student Dictionary, pub date 1999, defines "respecting" as "about or concerning". The same volume defines the root "respect" as "concern or consideration". In other words favoring.
We live in a time when committment and sacrifice are waning. The great commission was enunciated shortly before the ascention and before the stoning of Stephen for merely speaking out in defense of Jesus teaching. The Constitution was written after a war for independence based on principles. Today, the divorce rate (committment to marriage and one's spouse) is rising. Voting (committment to one's democracy) is lower than ever. Church membership, in the mainstream denominations, is in great decline. That trend is only partially offset by the rise of the Mega Churches such as John Hagee, Rick Warren, and locally Bob Yandian, Willy George, and others. Change and evolution are good things in a lot of areas of life. Society without fundamental foundations is like houses built on sand. They may start with a foundation but it soon cracks, costs a lot to repair, and ends up not supporting what it was intended to.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Back from the dead
The University of Tulsa football team continues its resurrection this Saturday. After a season opening heartbreak at East Carolina (51-49) in which a 6'6" receiver out jumped a 6'0" (if that) TU defender for the decisive score, TU suffered the ignominy of losing to Oklahoma State (65-28) in which the entire OSU roster out jumped TU's best for the whole game. The turnaround benchmark was the victory over Notre Dame (28-27) followed by a (64-27) pasta-ing or pasting of Rice University. Tulsa's roster accepted the acclaim for an historic victory, let it go and prepared for a new game one week later, and surgically took apart that opponent.
That OSU team has pummeled nearly everyone on the way to this Saturday. It has a change to pull off the Boone Pickens Christmas gift, beating Texas and OU in the same year. That Notre Dame hasn't beaten anyone of note but itself on the way to a worse season than last year. TU has one loss margin that was likely correct (OSU), and one win that was richly deserved and earned (Notre Dame).
Now TUlsa goes to Houston to face off against the other Houston based school, one of the West division leaders. A win would give Tulsa a tie breaker advantage over Houston (head to head win). Tulsa's other nemesis (SMU) owns an earlier (21-18) win over the Hurricane, so first place is not entirely in the Hurricane's hands. It is on the horizon if they can take it.
But consider the way this weekend's game looks to the players and coaches at Tulsa. No matter what the venue Houston plays in, or the number of fans that attend the game, or the attitude and volume the Houston fans produce, it cannot compare with the same factors Tulsa faced in South Bend, Indiana and overcame. Tulsa will have to take the confidence it gained at Notre Dame and the focus and clarity of purpose it showed against Rice and focus all on Houston. Tulsa has shown the tools to beat Houston.
What's all this got to do with a blog by a still unemployed accounting and finance worker bee? Greatness is not just found in large scale movements or accomplishments. Greatness is found in the small as well as large. The fallacy of the BCS conferences in any sport is that they limit themselves. They look for and find their supremacy only in the large scale stadia, the large TV markets, the large population centers, the large universities with their huge dollar budgets to spend on sports. Volume and size are not the totality of greatness. Greatness is not only grandeur. Success is not just spectacle.
Greatness is also in what you overcome on the way to your accomplishment, not the size of what you end up with. Writing a great book can be done with double A batteries as one of the tools. It doesn't take much talent to find a lunker bass with a fast boat and on-board radar. It just takes money and time. Finding the lunker by just looking the signs of structure and knowing the lake does take talent. It also takes time.
We all can achieve great things. Pursue it for yourself. We're are small compared to Boone Pickens wealth and touchdown Jesus, but not bereft of skills, value, and ability. We are not insignificant. Pursue jobs over time and learn as you go. Follow what the job search experts tell you to do. Always remembering you can overcome anything, even that which is bigger than you.
That OSU team has pummeled nearly everyone on the way to this Saturday. It has a change to pull off the Boone Pickens Christmas gift, beating Texas and OU in the same year. That Notre Dame hasn't beaten anyone of note but itself on the way to a worse season than last year. TU has one loss margin that was likely correct (OSU), and one win that was richly deserved and earned (Notre Dame).
Now TUlsa goes to Houston to face off against the other Houston based school, one of the West division leaders. A win would give Tulsa a tie breaker advantage over Houston (head to head win). Tulsa's other nemesis (SMU) owns an earlier (21-18) win over the Hurricane, so first place is not entirely in the Hurricane's hands. It is on the horizon if they can take it.
But consider the way this weekend's game looks to the players and coaches at Tulsa. No matter what the venue Houston plays in, or the number of fans that attend the game, or the attitude and volume the Houston fans produce, it cannot compare with the same factors Tulsa faced in South Bend, Indiana and overcame. Tulsa will have to take the confidence it gained at Notre Dame and the focus and clarity of purpose it showed against Rice and focus all on Houston. Tulsa has shown the tools to beat Houston.
What's all this got to do with a blog by a still unemployed accounting and finance worker bee? Greatness is not just found in large scale movements or accomplishments. Greatness is found in the small as well as large. The fallacy of the BCS conferences in any sport is that they limit themselves. They look for and find their supremacy only in the large scale stadia, the large TV markets, the large population centers, the large universities with their huge dollar budgets to spend on sports. Volume and size are not the totality of greatness. Greatness is not only grandeur. Success is not just spectacle.
Greatness is also in what you overcome on the way to your accomplishment, not the size of what you end up with. Writing a great book can be done with double A batteries as one of the tools. It doesn't take much talent to find a lunker bass with a fast boat and on-board radar. It just takes money and time. Finding the lunker by just looking the signs of structure and knowing the lake does take talent. It also takes time.
We all can achieve great things. Pursue it for yourself. We're are small compared to Boone Pickens wealth and touchdown Jesus, but not bereft of skills, value, and ability. We are not insignificant. Pursue jobs over time and learn as you go. Follow what the job search experts tell you to do. Always remembering you can overcome anything, even that which is bigger than you.
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