Richard Sims

Four-peat

Time for a little bragging... Yesterday Tori's Cartersville Middle School soccer team won their fourth straight region championship! Well, it may be their fifth, but it's their fourth straight with a Sims on the team. Their only loss of the season was in the final regular season game, when they lost to Woodland in PKs. Woodland finished undefeated, but yesterday those same two teams met in the championship game, with Tori and the Canes winning in PKs. Congratulations Tori and CMS!

College Basketball 1984

Since we're in the middle of March Madness, I'm going back a few years...

Ok, here's the scene...

It's winter 1984, and my school is hosting the University of Kentucky, ranked number 1 in the country, featuring Mel Turpin and Sam Bowie, the Twin Towers. TBS televised the game (Skip Caray and Joe Dean), and during a time-out the cameraman put his camera right in my face...although it was for only about 1 second.

It isn't the best quality, and there is a lot of background noise, but it's worth the 5 minutes to watch some good old-school basketball. And yes, that's me at 5:01.

If you're getting this in a reader and can't see the video, just click here.

What a Week!

What a week it's been!

Here's a brief summary of the last several days...

On Halloween, Andy was a great Luigi!  He had a blast getting the candy that night, and I've had a blast eating it.

Saturday brought soccer games for the girls, and then Andy and I went with the Crane's to the Hawks home opener! Philips Arena was rockin', and though we were down by 21 at one point, we took our first lead with 2 minutes to go and never looked back. Awesome time!

On Sunday we heard part 2 of Andy's series Judgment Call. There have been so many times in my 18 years in the ministry when someone had to be lovingly confronted, only to have others rise up in protest saying, "You're not to judge!" We learned Sunday that churches have this completely backwards! We think we should judge people outside the church and give everyone inside a free pass. That's just the opposite of what the Bible teaches!

We also had Moxie and the guys leading worship - great job!!

Sunday night meant InsideOut for grades 6-12. Jason Sartain led us in a beautiful all-acoustic worship set, and Josh continued the series Rhythm. Great time!

Then sometime on Sunday night, I came down with a cruddy sinus infection and I'm just now returning to normal.

So that's my summary of the last few days.

What have you been up to?

Olympic Exhaustion

I think I'm suffering from an illness common around the U.S. right now. I'll call it "Olympic Exhaustion." Gee whiz, I had to stay up to watch the gold medal beach volleyball match last night, and then after that the semi-final of ladies "regular" volleyball. I could NOT go to sleep until we won that match! Then up at 6:30 this morning. Ugh! Maybe I can get some sleep when these games are over.

Have you been staying up late?

I'm Addicted...

OK, I'll admit it, I'm addicted...to the Olympics! Thankfully, they only come around every 2 years (I like the winter Olympics as much or more than summer), or I'd be a basket case. From swimming to beach volleyball to soccer, my goodness, even women's team handball, whatever that is, I've been watching it every night. And if you think the girls on that Chinese gymnastics team are 16, we need to talk.

What about you? Are you watching?

Fun in Rome

So we had to take Anslee to soccer camp tonight in Rome, which lasted until about 9:30. Kim and Tori had a little shopping to do, so us guys had the opportunity to take in a double-header with the Rome Braves. Well, almost a double-header; we had to leave after the third inning of game 2. Cool thing is, the Braves won game 1 in their last at-bat. Ah, one of those good, father-son times you just can't get enough of...

Baseball Fever

I'm certainly not the baseball expert, but I have been to my share of professional baseball games. I've been to minor league games in Chattanooga and Huntsville, and to the majors at Turner Field, old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Royals Stadium in KC (where I saw Bo Jackson play), and old Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

But I don't think I've ever seen a stadium so electric as last Saturday night at State Mutual Stadium in Rome with the Single A Rome Braves! The whole family went, but of course it was a treat for Andy, because John Smoltz was planning to pitch one inning. When John came walking in from the bullpen in the 8th inning, the crowd went crazy. When he started jogging to the mound, the crowd went wild. When he got the third out on a K, I thought the place would explode. All this in a stadium small enough that you feel like you can reach out and touch the players.

Andy looked at me while Smoltz was pitching and said, "Dad, he's gonna be in the Hall of Fame!" Just one of those moments as a dad when you know all is right in the world.

Quick Thoughts

Here are some quick thoughts on a Friday:

• No, you weren't experiencing technical difficulties: I just haven't had time to post the last two days.
• I'm really excited about this Sunday.  I'm looking forward to the worship time, with two songs brand new to Tapestry. Word of warning: this isn't going to be a typical Mother's Day message. We're closing out the On Location series by talking about a handful of practices that will help us be the light of the world.
• Now that the Hawks are done, is there anyone who reads this blog watching the NBA playoffs?
• Major Tapestry events coming up: May 16, 17 we'll put out signs for the Duck Derby; May 18 Tapestry picnic; June 7 Barbecue Classic.
• Anslee leaves early Saturday morning on the Cartersville Middle School "tour of Georgia," and she won't be back until next Thursday night. Not looking forward to being away from her for that long!
• Thank goodness for the rain that washed out some of the pollen. May is my worst month (grass pollen). By the middle of the month, I'll be able to tell whether the over-the-counter Zyrtec is working.
• Lost is rocking my world!  For every answer I get, they give me 3 new questions! Any other Lost junkies out there?

Three-peat

Last Friday, Anslee's and Tori's middle school soccer team won their third straight region championship!  The last two years, the Cartersville Middle School Lady Canes entered the tournament as the top seed. This time, though, they had a tougher road to travel.  They started out the season 1-2, then went undefeated the rest of the way. After winning their opening tournament game last Monday at home, the Lady Canes traveled to Calhoun and proceeded to knock off the number one then the number two seed to claim their third straight title. Congratulations!

Baseball Fever

Conversation I had with Andy a few weeks ago...

Me: Andy, do you realize that this year in baseball kids will be pitching to you?

Andy: Yep.

Me: And do you understand that those kids really have no idea where the ball is going when they pitch it?

Andy: Yep.

Me: And do you understand that you will get hit with the ball during the season?

Andy: Yep.

Me (in my most concerned father voice): What are you gonna do when you get hit by a pitch?

Andy (with a "why are you even asking me this?" look): Go to first base!

Which he's done, twice.  Once in the back of the helmet, last night in the back of the knee.  Way to crowd the plate and take one for the team Andy!