Couldn’t see the mountains for the haze this morning.  However, it was nice out and we got some work done outside. 

Spring, she is a comin’!

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Humiliation.  I have been there, and it isn’t fun.  Sometimes we can overcome it within a short time; others seem to linger for decades.

We watched the Super Bowl yesterday.  Didn’t watch the half-time show, and from what I hear it is just as well – didn’t need the increase in blood pressure.

For those of you that haven’t heard the stories about the Carolina Panthers, let me briefly discuss it.

This year this team was all but unstoppable, they demolished opponents left and right.  About mid-season the quarter back did a dance move in the end zone after a touchdown.

Just as a side note:  It has gotten to the point that any play deserves some kind of exuberant gestures on the field.  Tackle, catching pass, run for a few yards, etc. all are reasons for players to do a little dance.  It is getting ridiculous; it used to be done on outstanding plays, now it is done on almost every play.  Don’t like any of it, personally.  These guys are making millions of dollars to do their jobs; it would be like a plumber doing a dance because he unclogged a sink – gads.

Anyway, part of that dance was a ‘dab.’  It was a dance move that had been requested by the man’s younger brother.  The opponents were incensed.  They felt the celebration had gone over the top.

When confronted, instead of walking away, the quarterback made the ‘dab’ move in their face.  Now, the first may have been a sign of ‘celebration’ but the latter was taunting the opposing players as far as I was concerned.

This became a bone of contention the rest of the year. 

The Panthers are a ‘young’ team.  The quarterback is a very good player, but he is a ten year old in a 26 year old body.  He lacks maturity, he pouts when he doesn’t get what he wants.  He is a good looking man, big and strong and he knows it.  He has a great smile – and flashes it all the time, or almost all the time.

As the year drew to a close the entire team took up the ‘dab’ moves and performed it whenever they could, going to the point of doing a group ‘dab’ move with six minutes left in a game.  They were, of course, far ahead – most teams wait for the final minute or two, not this team, they had become so proud of their performances that they were over the top on their celebrations.

They kept saying that it wasn’t to show disrespect for their opponents, they were just having fun and showing it in their exuberance.  Their comment was, if you don’t like it, stop us from scoring or making plays.

How much of it was just having fun for love of the game, and how much of it was fun showing up the opponents is debatable.

However, their behavior was all about them and their play.  Even their responses did not show a respect to their opponents as far as I was concerned.

Yesterday, they were stopped.  More than that, they were embarrassed and humiliated and the first thing I thought of was this verse.

As the game went on, their offense made several grievous errors and in doing so gave the ball up to the Broncos who were able to cash in on a few of them – enough that they won the game handily.

As the game progressed you could see the frustration and the anger on the Panthers faces.  Their demeanor started to change and you could tell they had about given up, there were no smiles. 

One of the motions that occur on almost every down is the runner will point to the end zone, sometimes with a ball in hand, other times not – basically saying, look how good I am.

One of the Broncos did just that.  One of the Panther players walked by and knocked it out of his hands.  A clear lack of good sportsmanship and he was flagged causing his team to lose 15 yards, a first down and more time off the clock – time they couldn’t afford to lose.

The Broncos won.  One of the requirements that I disagree with is that members of the losing team must come out and give a press conference.  It can be brutal.

How the player handles that shows a lot about them.  Most, if not all the previous losing, quarterbacks come out in their suits and ties and answer the questions giving credit to their opponents even though you can tell they are hurting inside.

This quarterback came out in a hooded sweatshirt.  He was petulant and gave one or two word answers.  He was hurting, of course.  He left the platform before his time was up.

I can appreciate his feelings, these men were supposed to win the game, easily.  They had been running over the top of their opponents without slowing down.  They had been in your face celebrating for most of the year.

Now, they were defeated.  By a team that had as their ‘general’ the oldest quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, by a defensive team that was so much better than they were that the Panthers could rarely do anything right.

It hurts.  To be humbled like that is an incredible blow to a person.

Now, it is up to him.  He has had a good upbringing, although he had made some stupid mistakes while in college.

However, he, like a lot of these young men, have incredible talent and have always been fawned over.  They can seemingly do nothing wrong and they get what they want.

When they are faced with adversity many of them don’t know how to deal with it.  And, unfortunately, they either cannot get over the humiliation, or they go rogue and create more problems for themselves.  In the past this young man pouts and is standoffish.

I don’t like the celebrations that go on in the game today.  I can understand celebrating an exceptional play, or winning the game itself.  But when they celebrate all the time, especially when they celebrate as if they are showing up their opponent they are asking for ‘comeuppance.’

The Panthers got their comeuppance yesterday; the young man has an opportunity to show that he is maturing and that he understands that his pride has helped fuel the humiliation.

We often go into the same thing, though.  It is such a narrow tightrope we walk.  We want to do well, we want people to pat us on the back, we want people to know that they can count on us to do our very best – putting forth our best efforts and accomplishing, well, the tasks that have been given to us.

But we must remember the gifts we have are God given, and when we glow in the warmth of congratulations too much and forget to acknowledge God, we are setting ourselves up for an embarrassing downfall.

It is something we all must deal with from time to time.  We just want to make sure that, as mature Christians, we realize the praise of man means nothing if we forget the hand of God in our endeavors.

Later, Art :-)