Wow! I don't believe it.
The UCLA basketball team had a great comeback win tonight. Trailing Gonzaga the entire game, by as many as 17 points, they scored the last 11 points to win 73-71.
Great team effort, reminiscent of comebacks last season of the football team.
In this tournament, one of the signs of greatness, destiny, is a team that wins a "miracle" game. Like the '95 Bruin buzzer-beater by Tyus Edney over Missouri. It shows heart. UCLA has been coasting until their close game with Alabama, now with a "miracle" win over Gonzaga, is their anything that can stop them from the championship?
Bruins (28-6)
On Court PTS REB AST PF
J. Farmar 15 0 7 3
A. Afflalo 15 2 1 4
L. Mbah a Moute 14 10 0 4
R. Hollins 12 7 0 2
C. Bozeman 4 4 4 3
Friday, March 24, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
100 Most Influential NCAA Athletes
The NCAA is celebrating 100 years in 2006, and this article lists the most influential student athletes during that century.
Quite a legacy from my alma mater of not only oustanding athletes, but also outstanding people.
"UCLA heads the NCAA list with eight of the 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes in History. Two Bruins, Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe, rank No. 1 and No. 2"
Quite a legacy from my alma mater of not only oustanding athletes, but also outstanding people.
"UCLA heads the NCAA list with eight of the 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes in History. Two Bruins, Jackie Robinson and Arthur Ashe, rank No. 1 and No. 2"
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
The Power of Affirmation
I don't know if this story is true or not...but I know the principles are true.
We all crave affirmation, and what others tell us shape our own self-image.
In turn, our self-image shapes how we behave.
I'm a sucker for stories like this...
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper,and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list.
Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?"she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam. His teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who had acted as a pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Mark's maths teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "Yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognise it?"
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home. "Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too!" Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists."
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again. The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't even know when that one day will be.
Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed, And As Special As You Are.
I'm a Polished Arrow in the Hands of the Lord (Isaiah 49:1,2)
We all crave affirmation, and what others tell us shape our own self-image.
In turn, our self-image shapes how we behave.
I'm a sucker for stories like this...
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper,and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list.
Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?"she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam. His teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who had acted as a pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Mark's maths teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "Yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognise it?"
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home. "Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too!" Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists."
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again. The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't even know when that one day will be.
Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed, And As Special As You Are.
I'm a Polished Arrow in the Hands of the Lord (Isaiah 49:1,2)
Friday, March 17, 2006
Criticisms of The Da Vinci Code
I started reading Da Vinci Code two years ago without knowing what it was about. Two-thirds of the way through, I threw it away, disgusted by its fabrications, arrogant tone, and poor writing. This wikipedia article lists 44 false claims in the book.
"Many of the complaints center around the book's speculations and sometimes deliberate misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity and the history of the Roman Catholic Church, with many other criticisms being generated by the book's inaccurate descriptions of European art, history, and architecture."
"Many of the complaints center around the book's speculations and sometimes deliberate misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity and the history of the Roman Catholic Church, with many other criticisms being generated by the book's inaccurate descriptions of European art, history, and architecture."
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
UCLA Basketball peaking at right time
Wow, the Bruins are on a roll. They finished the season strong to win the Pac-10 regular season championship, then won 3 games in 3 days during the post-season conference tournament to win that championship.
They are playing their best basketball of the season right now, which is a good sign: a team that is improving in its play, not just coasting on its talent. A sign of teamwork rather than just good individual players.
This is what was lacking in the Lavin era - players and the team never seemed to get better as the season wore on.
Fun to see this team and these players develop. Now 26-7, they are a testament to good coaching by Ben Howland. Bravo!
Now three weekends of basketball to go in March Madness!
"The Bruins moved up six slots in the Associated Press poll to No. 7. It is their first appearance in the top 10 since Jan. 2002"
They are playing their best basketball of the season right now, which is a good sign: a team that is improving in its play, not just coasting on its talent. A sign of teamwork rather than just good individual players.
This is what was lacking in the Lavin era - players and the team never seemed to get better as the season wore on.
Fun to see this team and these players develop. Now 26-7, they are a testament to good coaching by Ben Howland. Bravo!
Now three weekends of basketball to go in March Madness!
"The Bruins moved up six slots in the Associated Press poll to No. 7. It is their first appearance in the top 10 since Jan. 2002"
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Americans' highest priority
That is the topic of this survey by the Barna Group. Check out the link for the complete article.
The following two sentences particularly caught my attention as the pollster tried to reconcile people's verbal affirmations of faith, then choosing other aspects of their life as more important when asked to rank them.
"It seems as if God is in, but living for God is not. Many Americans are living a dual life – one filled with good feelings about God and faith, corroborated by some simple religious practices, and another in which they believe they are in control of their own destiny and operate apart from Him.”"
The following two sentences particularly caught my attention as the pollster tried to reconcile people's verbal affirmations of faith, then choosing other aspects of their life as more important when asked to rank them.
"It seems as if God is in, but living for God is not. Many Americans are living a dual life – one filled with good feelings about God and faith, corroborated by some simple religious practices, and another in which they believe they are in control of their own destiny and operate apart from Him.”"
Sunday, March 12, 2006
How to Read A Book
Thoughts from Mortimer Adler:
"Reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself
in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought-through book." "And best of all, your marks and notes become an integral part of the book and stay there forever." p. 127
"Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author."
"Learning doesn't consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to
question himself and question the teacher. HE even has to argue with the
teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying." p. 128
"Reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself
in words, spoken or written. The marked book is usually the thought-through book." "And best of all, your marks and notes become an integral part of the book and stay there forever." p. 127
"Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author."
"Learning doesn't consist in being an empty receptacle. The learner has to
question himself and question the teacher. HE even has to argue with the
teacher, once he understands what the teacher is saying." p. 128
The Principled and Self-Aware Life
Insight from BOOK SAVVY by Cynthia Lee Katona:
WWID "What Would I Do?" "A strong sense of "What Would I Do" in any given situation is what is largely missing in many Americans' lives. People
scramble from crisis to crisis, without any self-awareness or rock-solid
principles to guide them." Where do such helpful principles and
self-awareness come from?" p. 20
Churches and good literature.
WWID "What Would I Do?" "A strong sense of "What Would I Do" in any given situation is what is largely missing in many Americans' lives. People
scramble from crisis to crisis, without any self-awareness or rock-solid
principles to guide them." Where do such helpful principles and
self-awareness come from?" p. 20
Churches and good literature.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
The Best Picture Misses the Big Picture
This LA Times opinion piece facetiously thanks the Motion Picture Academy and makers of the movie "Crash" for opening his eyes to the real LA: a powder-keg of racial hatred.
In doing so, he points out how news and entertainment media tend to sensationalize social trends and paint society according to their point of view.
I'm looking forward to seeing the movie and wonder if I will have the same reaction.
"I used to think we could all get along, more or less. I believed that despite its many flaws and obvious divisions by race and class, Los Angeles was one of the more successfully integrated cities in the world. And so to me, 'Crash' felt like an artless, dated and manipulative morality tale on the evils of the sprawling metropolis, shot with a long lens from behind the bars of a gated seaside community."
In doing so, he points out how news and entertainment media tend to sensationalize social trends and paint society according to their point of view.
I'm looking forward to seeing the movie and wonder if I will have the same reaction.
"I used to think we could all get along, more or less. I believed that despite its many flaws and obvious divisions by race and class, Los Angeles was one of the more successfully integrated cities in the world. And so to me, 'Crash' felt like an artless, dated and manipulative morality tale on the evils of the sprawling metropolis, shot with a long lens from behind the bars of a gated seaside community."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)