Monday, January 25, 2010

Risks and coming up short

Well in one of my final Bradenton Herald articles-which has been deleted from cyberspace-I simply raised a question about pragmatism and football decisions. Now at the end of the Minnesota Vikings season, I'd like to offer another "take" on the whole Brett Favre deal.

Again, as far as football goes, it looks like it was the right decision. After all, football decisions are strictly pragmatic: if it works (produces wins), it is the right decision.

One could argue that there's some moral limit to this, like locking dudes in shed's or slapping them around (which allegedly happened at Texas Tech and USF respectively-coaches were fired). Although if their programs had been number one, I still think this stuff would have been swept under the rug.

However, back to the Vikings. They didn't accomplish what they sat out to do: win the Super Bowl. But I must admit now that while I think it was busch-league and primadonna-esque to skip the hard part of training camp and then just show up, I have to come to respect both Favre and coach Brad Childress. Favre for his toughness (I did pull for him last night) and Childress for his risk taking.

Favre could have broken down by the end of the season like he did the previous year. He could have thrown 3 times the interceptions he actually threw (7). Neither of which Favre did. Childress thought big, took the risk, and was not afraid to fail.

I can't help but think of Paul and his lofty goal of reaching of reaching Spain with the gospel. He writes to the Romans in 15:24

"I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while."

Paul never made it to Spain, which you could argue would have been a Super Bowl of sorts. But he thought big, prayed big, and wasn't afraid to come up short. A good reminder.

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