Mark Galli: Christian Athletes Are Not Role Models

From Christianity Today online.

On the eve of yet another Stupor Bowl, this provocative article from the ever thought-provoking editor of Christianity Today. Check it out and see what you think. Can Christian athletes be role models?

The story reminds me of another quote, this one from basketball hall of famer Charles Barkley. He was one of the most dominating power forwards of his day (1990s), who used his strength and aggressiveness to intimidate opponents. He had no patience for those who believed athletes should be role models for kids. “A million guys can dunk a basketball in jail,” he once said. “Should they be role models?”

100924As we come to another Super Bowl, we Christians note that the leaders of each team are devout believers—Colin Kaepernick on the 49ers and Ray Lewis on the Ravens. Like any group with a strong self-identity, we Christians are proud that members of our tribe are star players in this national extravaganza. Not unexpectedly, when Christians become prominent in athletics, we are tempted to turn them into role models. We want them, like the lady wanted of John Kruk, to be models of athleticism, and like Charles Barkley comments, to be models of morality, as well.

But I suspect Charles Barkley had it right. Even Christian athletes, in the end, make for poor moral role models.

Read the whole thing.

Spring Comes Early According to Buckeye Chuck

From the Columbus Dispatch. Who cares about that crazy PA marmot? Buckeye Chuck always gives the definitive last word on the coming of spring.

chuck620Ohio’s chief weather forecaster is predicting an early spring. Amid snowflakes and gray skies, Buckeye Chuck popped his head out for just a few minutes from his warm burrow this morning and declared that he did not see his shadow. Buckeye Chuck has been the state’s official groundhog since 1979.

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Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil Predicts Early Spring in Annual Groundhog Day Event

From Fox News. That’s what I’m talking about.

Punxatawney PhilAn end to winter’s bitter cold will come soon, according to Pennsylvania’s famous groundhog.

Following a recent stretch of weather that’s included both record warm temperatures and bitter cold, tornadoes in the South and Midwest, torrential rains in the mid-Atlantic and high winds in the Northeast, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair Saturday in front of thousands in west-central Pennsylvania but didn’t see his shadow.

Legend has it that if the furry rodent sees his shadow on Feb. 2 on Gobbler’s Knob, winter will last six more weeks. But if he doesn’t see his shadow, spring will come early.

Read it all.