I want to say from the outset that I don't like Jeff Gordon. I have no real use for him. I would say that he's a great race car driver, but I think it's more accurate to say I think he's a very good driver on a great team in a juggernaut of an organization.

Yesterday, on what would have been Dale Earnhardt's 56th birthday, Jeff Gordon won his 77th Cup Series race. The significance here is that the win broke the tie between Gordon and Dale Sr. on the all-time wins list. Not only was it Dale's birthday, but it was at a track that Dale owned. No one, I mean no one, drove Talladega like Dale did. In a class move, Gordon credited Dale Sr. with teaching him everything he knows about winning at the rural Alabama superspeedway. I'm not sure teaching was the right word, it was more like schooling - I think that's what they call it when someone just dominates you on the field (or in this case the track).

The fans, red-blooded Earnhardt fans that they are out there, ignored pleas from Dale Jr. and NASCAR and threw beer cans and various other kinds of debris onto the track as Gordon celebrated his win. Dale Jr. had suggested they throw toiletpaper instead of cans and bottles. Video indicates only one fan actually followed his advice.

Some observations:

1. There are two types of Nascar fans and it all centers on how a person feels about Jeff Gordon. In the south, he generally gets a rough reception. Lucky for him the sport is popular everywhere now and they don't just race in the south anymore.
2. Throwing cans and bottles onto the track is stupid, even if you don't like the guy. A more appropriate way to deal with your frustration toward Jeff Gordon (or any other driver) is to play one of the NASCAR games on PS2 (or your console of choice) and on the last lap, using the Total Team Control feature (which allows you to switch out of your car into the car of a teammate, thus not jeopardizing your run to the title) take Jeff out on the last lap. No one gets hurt, it's a great thing.
3. While restrictor-plate racing is exciting I hate the fact that they can't run the last 5 laps without multiple caution flags. I really don't think Gordon would have won if the caution with 5 to go hadn't come out, it was a scramble at that point and he went to the front too soon. Dale Jr. had enough car to move back to the front as soon as he got some help (from Harvick or Stewart or his teammate Truex Jr.).

So there's your NASCAR update. Jeff Gordon, rah, rah, who cares! While under the old point system (pre-chase) he would be running away with things, come September that 200-point lead is going to be gone and there will be 11 drivers in striking distance. Get it all out of your system now, Jeff, when it comes down to it, Jimmie will dump you like he did Casey Mears (also a teammate) yesterday and let's be honest, you can't do it without him.

Saying Goodbye

The last 16 days since my April 3rd post have been a whirlwind that included a 9 day jaunt to Panama City Beach, Florida. CIY partnered with Southeast Christian Church to create a unique spring break event. Things went well. The weather was good...a couple of days. The trip home Saturday took a mere 15 hours and 58 minutes (about 30 less than the trip down on Good Friday). When I got home that night I was exhausted.

As I was sitting at home Monday afternoon catching up on TV I'd missed while I was gone I got the call that my aunt had less than 24 hours to live (see April 3rd post). Sensing that if I wanted to see her before she died I needed to make the drive to Tulsa I headed that way. What I found was a difficult scene. Her condition had deteriorated to the point that while she was breathing I would scarcely say she was alive. She could no longer respond, though the nurses said that she could still hear us and could sense when people were close to her.

Over the next couple of hours, several other family members gathered there at her house to say goodbye and console one another. Around 6pm as I was standing on the back porch chatting with her son, Darin (who is grown, married, and has 3 daughters) about OSU athletics (anything to divert us for a few minutes) someone stepped to the door and summoned Darin. I followed, realizing she was either gone or would be soon.

Everyone involved realized that she was far better off leaving this world and going home to be with the Lord. But...the pain and loss we feel in her abscence is still tremendous. The hardest part was watching those who were closest to my aunt - her husband, her son, her mother, her 2 sisters, and her 2 older granddaughters - deal with the reality that they had known for some time was likely.

In that moment, in the way only a child can do, Darin's youngest daughter (Taylor, who is 4), came in and having no real comprehension of what was happening asked her mom (Renee), "Is Ma (which is what she's always called her grandmother) all better now?" Renee responded that she was. I heard Taylor also ask, "Is Ma going to be with God now?" Again, Renee told her she was. I'm not sure why or how, but for me those two innocent questions were a ray of light in a tough moment.

Monday, April 16, 2007 will certainly be remembered in history because of the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech - as well it should be - but for my family it will go down as a day we lost someone we loved very much to a disease (cancer) that effects so many.

To my knowledge all of my remaining relatives are fairly healthy at this point, so God willing I don't plan to write anymore posts about the loss of a family member at any point in the foreseeable future. Thanks for indulging me on this one.

Realities of Life

I was confronted last night with a reality that I have been trying to deny. Up to this point, my 27 years has not dealt me too many tough blows. By most standards I've had it fairly easy when it comes to suffering, pain, and death. Well, I guess maybe that started to change 2 years ago when my dad's mom passed away. I was not terribly close to her, but as my grandmother losing her hurt.

Then just last November my mom's dad died. To date this was easily the most difficult loss for me. I could (and did) write a whole post about grandpa. While his passing hit much closer to home (because I'd had more contact with and spent more time with him than anyone I'd lost previously) I was still able to reconcile the loss with 2 facts. One, he was a believer and would no longer be in pain. Two, he lived a good long life, left an incredible legacy, and it was time for him to go to his reward.

My aunt (mom's oldest sister) has been battling cancer for a couple of years now (I can't remember when she was first diagnosed, but this has been a long process). At first we hoped and prayed that it could be confined and defeated. For the last several months it seemed more and more clear that only something God could do would rid her of the now spreading cancer. Even still I found myself praying that God would bring healing, hoping that He would choose to glorify Himself by astonishing the doctors and healing her completely. And I still pray that He might do that.

Until last night I had not heard a timeline. The hospice nurse has apparently told my uncle that patients usually have about 4 weeks from the time they are no longer to eat or drink. As I understand it, she basically hasn't been able to eat or drink (though clearly she must be getting some fluids to live more than a couple of days) anything substantial since last week.

While my aunt is a believer and I know that like grandpa she will be far better off after she passes away than she is right now, this reality is a sobering one for me. Perhaps this hits closer to home because she is in my parents generation and I'm not really ready yet to deal with the concept of my parents getting older. My dad's brother died in January 2001, but he was 10-12 years older than my dad so I didn't really give it as much thought as I am forced to do with my mom's sister (who is actually about a month younger than my dad is).

I'm rambling. Just a couple of thoughts to close.

While the whole family will hurt if and when my aunt passes away, I find myself grieved for her son. He is about 10 years my senior, but has always been my favorite cousin (to give you an idea how deep this runs, I started paying attention to OSU when he was in school there). His dad has not been part of his life in a significant way (that any of us are aware of at least) in a couple of decades. He lost his sister about 15 years ago to suicide. And now faces the stark reality of losing his mother. There's not a lot to say, I just hurt for him and for his 3 daughers (one of whom is still very young).

To avoid closing this in a totally depressing manner, I found some encouragement this morning as I was reading my Bible. I was reading from Revelation 21 this morning and found great comfort in verse 4, "'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." In this verse John is quoting Isaiah 25:8. While the context of the chapter doesn't really relate to losing loved ones, this verse does give me hope that when Christ returns, He will make all things new and we will no longer face the bitter realities of our fallen world. If you read Isaiah 25:9 (the verse after the one John was quoting) we find, "In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.'"

This post is somewhat more personal than I typically write. My hope is that someone who finds themself hurting from the loss of a loved one or friend or dealing with the liklihood of that occurance in the near future my take comfort in the hope we have in Christ. While we cannot escape loss and pain in this life, Christ offers hope of salvation and a future free of death and everything associated with it.

[Note: I apologize to the biblical scholars who might be reading along if I butchered the contextual uses of these verses.]

College Hoops

I want to ever-so-briefly congratulate the Florida Gators for defending their men's basketball national championship by defeating Ohio State last night. Wait, we've seen that matchup. No, that was in football. Very different scenario, same outcome.

Comments:

1. The Big 10 needs to not talk trash for the rest of the year. The SEC owns you right now, keep your mouths shut, practice, recruit, pay players, whatever it is you need to do to get better and then let your game do the talking. But for now, just save it.

2. This year's NCAA men's tournament was a disappointment to me. I really didn't find too many compelling storylines, at least not after the first 2 rounds. I got dreadfully tired of watching 1 seeds get down by 20 and then their opponent fold under the pressure only to let the "favorite" live to play another day. Ohio State was the chief offender, they should have been out about 3 rounds ago. While I don't necessarily care to see a double-digit seed go to the final 4 (because their odds of winning at that level are virtually nil) it's been a bad year when there are no true underdogs in the Elite 8 (the 4-7 seeds of the world) fighting for a shot at a final four and playing well enough to actually challenge a legitimate 1 seed. I'm sorry, this year's tournament was just boring to me. Then again, I checked out on basketball back in mid-February when it became apparent that my Cowboys had done the same.

3. It's April. Time for baseball and NASCAR. Plus college football kicks off in about 5 months.