You hear about athletes having breakthrough seasons. Well, 2008 turned out to be a breakthrough year for Chicago Bears’ tight end Kyle Adams. But what Adams, a second-year pro out of Purdue, experienced in ’08 doesn’t show up on cumulative stat logs posted online. He enjoyed a banner year of a different sort while meeting the needs of underprivileged people in one of the poorest places on Earth—Haiti. How Adams initially ended up in Haiti—a country in which he’s regularly served as part of missions trips—is a testament to how God works in mysterious ways. Adams said he grew up in a church environment, but he felt something was missing in his life so he joined the Fellowship of Christian Athletes on the Purdue campus his sophomore year. “I think at that point in my life I was caught up in what was important to me,” he says. “There were Read More

Robert Pershing “Bobby” Doerr, at 94, is the oldest living player in baseball’s Hall of Fame. He “lived to celebrate” his beloved Red Sox’ two World Series triumphs, and was recognized on Fenway Park’s 100th birthday. He warmly recalls pro ball at age 16 with the 1934 Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars. He also honors a lifelong friendship begun two years later, when a local teenager named Ted Williams joined him on the original PCL San Diego Padres. They were reunited in Boston (1939), with Bob retiring because of injury in 1951. Williams famously called him the “silent captain of the Red Sox,” while a Yankee opponent styled him “one of the very few men who played the game hard and retired with no enemies.” Later years have brought recognition as an Oregonian and outdoorsman, and honored his 65-year marriage to wife Monica. Bob calls his family, friends and neighbors Read More

PAY TO INJURE Bountygate,’ the great conspiracy? The NFL’s “Bountygate” scandal, on the surface, seems like a justification to an exaggerated characterization of reality. A pay-for-performance-system sinisterly was distorted as a pay-to-injure-scheme resulting in punishments, leaving numerous New Orleans Saints’ players and coaches vilified and personified as a league example to deter any future-would-be-similar-incentive programs. Although the players’ contracts forbid any kind of non-contract bonuses for on-field incentives offered by the team/organization (a very black and white mandate); it doesn’t, however, prohibit their teammates from monetarily rewarding positive performance (more of a grayish area). Pundits of this pay-for-performance type want to make it something it’s not—forcing it as some ethical or spiritual issue. I understand the reasoning players’ contracts prohibit non-contract bonuses—it’s an attempt to fend off opening Pandora’s Box to point shaving, game fixing, gambling, injuries, etc. I realize that. However, I parallel this pay-for-performance-motivation with a parent offering Read More