South Carolina Vs Auburn - Post Game thoughts

Wow. I'll go ahead and apologize if I go off while writing but I'm coming off the heals of a nationally televised beatdown. Going into the game I knew Auburn was overall a better team but I didn't think it was going to be that bad. I knew Cam Newton was a good quarterback but that game seemed to separate him from all others.
One thing you can't overlook with Cam is his love for the game. Outside of all the scrutiny, alegations, past trouble, he cannot hide how much he loves the game. To have a player like that on your side makes it more fun to be a fan (but then again to be undefeated always makes it more fun.) Also it goes to show you how parents can ruin sports for their kids. I know Cam was in trouble at Florida and was probably going to get kicked out anyway. I know that many of you say that there's no way he didn't know about the money his dad was asking for, I'm not sure I wouldn't agree with you, BUT outside of all that there is NO denying that the kid loves the game and his attitude makes others around him love the game. We KNOW one thing, his dad admits to taking money. There isn't evidence YET (according to the admission of the NCAA) that Cam KNEW about the exchange of money but after watching tonights game and watching my gamecocks fall for the 2nd time this year you can tell he loves the game. Being involved in youth sports growing up and now running a youth sports organization I see it all the time. I see parents who are trying to live a dream through their kids, in hopes that ONE  day they will make it big. In the process they ruin the FUN for their kid and in return we create leagues that quit keeping score...that's fun.
I will say that out of the loss it was good to see a KID with a big smile enjoying the game of football. It was hard to see him playing around on the sideline, seemingly not taking the game serious, not respecting the game, not acting like "you've been there before" but then again outside of any unforseen circumstance this will be his LAST run through the college football ranks, off to the pros next year. Enjoy the ride Cam, whether you have to return the wins and heisman trophy one day no one knows yet but for now enjoy it, smile big and have fun.

Carolina congratulations. Congratulations on a great season. Honestly it will be a season that will be remembered by Gamecock fans for awhile. Also, congratulations to paving the way for another opponent that claimed the Heisman trophy against your defense. We have a knack for that or at least it seems, (Tebow '07, 302 passing, 120 rushing, 7 TD's, Mark Ingram '09,  246 yds rushing, Cam Newton '10 335 yds passing, 73 yds rushing, 6 TD's). The NCAA ruled Cam ineligible on Tuesday then reinstated him on Wednesday, but what didn't they know on Tuesday that they knew on Wednesday or vice versa? From recent NCAA rulings we know that the NCAA works best as a REACTIVE governing body than a PROACTIVE. Worst case scenario will be that they will come back with information months/years down the road and take away wins and/or trophies. The NCAA's reaction time on making a decision is like me trying to hit a Roger Clemens fastball (but then again i guess the competitive advantage a team gains by a person such as Cam is worth the risk if they can produce results because there's no way anyone can prove he knew about the rule breaking, just use this phrase "MIS-REMEMBERED", sorry getting a little emotional). I will say let's HOPE for the sake of college football that it's a mistake by his father, and Cam had nothing to do with it and all achievements and awards can be enjoyed by the player, his coaches and his team. Congratulations to both teams on a great regular season. 

Boston Marathon!

December is here and that means marathon training begins. Last december I qualified for the Boston marathon at the Kiawah Island marathon running a 3:08. I've run three marathons so far and Boston 2011 will be my 4th following a 16 week training plan. I will be starting around Christmas so stay tuned for all the updates and training plans to come!

Post Trip

This is my first post since we've returned and I believe I am beginning to recover....slowly.  The trip was amazing. We had the opportunity to meet many people, see many sites, and go through towns and places that we will never go through again. I remember this one guy we met named Eric. We met Eric in the middle of nowhere town called Bakers, NV. We found the people in this small town to be very very rude! (We came up with our own name for Bakers, NV that will remain between our group).  To give you a picture of how small this town is there were 2 stores, one was closed and the other we went to so we could buy some food....that's it..literally.  We went to the front porch and stood there for about a minute because it was pouring down rain. Then Tony Zanca, one of the other riders, went inside and right when he did the lady just starts shaking her head no and says, "We aren't serving". We thought "ok, i'll just look around and buy something." She says," you need to leave". So we went back out on the porch, still pouring down rain, and she comes out and says we open back up at 2, you can't stand on the porch. Really?!?! The porch was a huge wrap around porch with 4 people on it and we can't stand here while it's raining! The entire town of Bakers could stand on the porch and we would still have room for more! As we were getting ready to leave, Eric pulled up on his bike soaking wet from the rain and started talking to the lady about buying some food. She told him the same story she told us and finally we went across the street and stood under the roof of the OTHER store...the ONLY other store. I started talking to Eric and he said he left from his back porch 6 weeks earlier by himself. All he had was a cart that he pulled behind his bike. He mentioned how last night he had no place to stay then out of the blue he sees this old abandoned house that he stayed in that kept him warm and dry. It was pretty incredible to hear his stories. He wasn't a believer and I shared our story with him.We talked for a little while longer and had the opportunity to give him some food and other things. After we left, it seemed like my excuses for why this ride was hard was nothing compared to Eric's. My conversation with Eric tested my faith and encouraged me to keep going even when I thought I had it rough. The reality is that we might have it bad sometimes but someone, somewhere is going through something more difficult. Here I am praying for the rain to stop so I won't be wet and Eric is asking for a place to stay because he's cold and wet and has no where to go...MAN I GOT IT GOOD!  One of the many applications I was able to pull from my trip is the reality of God's provision. When God's people walk by faith He supplies their needs. There were times when we were asking, "God, where are you, we would like to see you work". Sometimes we would ask "God where are you, we NEED ,....." and it seems right in our needs, or hardtime God says "I'm here, right in the middle of your need". God supplied our need through someone else. We would ask where's God and look around and find that He's been there the entire time ready to supply our need...

 

Principle: WHERE'S GOD?...THERE'S GOD.
Many times when we ask Him where He's at He's usually right there were we need Him.

Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs
according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

The trip thus far...

4 days of riding in the books. The trip has been great so far. I have experienced/seen so many knew things and people that it's hard to write all of them. Going into the trip we wanted to spread the message of Christ with people and wanted to be a blessing any way we could. One thing that has caught me by surprise is how many people are coming up to us. I guess we LOOK the part of "real" bicycle riders with the truck decaled up and the matching uniforms. It has been unique each day how we have met someone that's helped us out along our trip.
The first day we met a guy named MOJO at a local coffee shop where we stopped and ate lunch. I talked to him about our trip and he rode with us for about 40 miles and helped us get to our destination. I can honestly say there would have been NO WAY we would have found some of the roads we were suppose to follow without his help.
The second day we met a guy at a gas station that came up to us and started talking to us and asking us about our trip. He gave us directions through the next town. About an hour later we went through that town and he happened to get stopped at the stop light right there as we were passing through and yelled out the window.."CROSSOVER!!". That sent chills up my spine.
This morning before we left I met a guy that told us about the roads and what to expect along our ride for the day.
The thing I have been learning the most is that God is sovereign. He knows exactly what you need when you need it.

Below is a view of the ride we did for "Day 4". It went from Carson City, NV to Fallon, NV. This print-out shows Elevation (bottom), My heart rate, and distance. 

Riding with a passion - CharlotteObserver.com

Riding with a passion - CharlotteObserver.com

Soma Sponsorship

Thanks Soma for your sponsorship and the shirts!

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Off to San Fran

Got up early this morning to go and ride the Red Rock Canyon loop. The weather was absolutely perfect. At times there was a chill in the air, much different than our ride yesterday (106  degrees!). It's now 3pm local time and we are sitting in traffic trying to get to San Francisco.

Looking forward to getting to the west coast. We have a couple of bike shops to meet up with on Monday and go over final touches before our trip home!...40 day trip home. We have been able to meet many people by handing out our cards and telling people about our trip. Please continue to pray for us as we meet more people along our trip home.