Tag Archives: Sports Spectrum

DuckDynasty1

Duck Dynasty, How It Almost Never Happened

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Phil sits in Willie’s office at the Duck Commander warehouse. He’s telling a story, like Phil usually does.

Being with him in person is kind of surreal, like you’re having coffee with a cartoon. It looks like he came straight out of your television and sat in your living room—sunglasses resting on his head, camouflage bandana and pants, as if he’s been hunting all day, and a nest of a beard you could probably turn into a winter scarf… Continue reading →

RobertGuerrero1

Invisible No More

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If you could have stood in the locker room before the fight, you would have thought an army was about to charge into battle. The energy gave you chills. The noise made your head throb.

As Robert Guerrero’s team, family and friends gathered around him, howling and chanting, Bob Santos stood quietly, questioning their naivety, nervously wondering if this would go down as the biggest mistake of Robert Guerrero’s career… Continue reading →

ClintHurdle1

Hurdling The Obstacles of Life

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Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle exudes honesty and transparency and sets a high standard for himself on and off the field. That’s not lost on his players, who he expects to live up to a high standard, as well. “Every player is responsible and accountable to represent the name on the front (Pittsburgh) more than on the back,” says Hurdle, who has led the Pirates to two of their best first-half starts since winning the National League East in 1992. “Don’t take that for granted.” To inspire others, he regularly reads the writings of Christian leaders such as Chuck Swindoll and Rick Warren and challenges men with Romans 14:12, “So each of us is accountable to God.” Hurdle challenges all men to get over their specific hurdles that keep them from having a servant’s heart. But, Hurdle hasn’t always been so strong in his faith. There was a time where Read More

Ben Crane Spread (dragged)

The Heart Of A Man

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On Tuesday, Ben Crane and the “Golf Boys” released their second single, “2.Oh,” as they continue to revolutionize the image of the PGA Tour. Our feature on Crane, “The Heart Of A Man,” was published in the Summer 2012 issue of Sports Spectrum.

Ben Crane was walking off the green after a birdie on the par-5 15th in the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, NC… Continue reading →

Another Angle — Life is a hard drive

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Cigarette smoke sunk into my skin like cologne.

I was in a random man’s garage—I think his name was Bob—and I had just met him. Bob had wrinkles in his face like he had been tanning and smoking for decades and an unbuttoned shirt that revealed his skinny, almost sickly, chest and stature. I’ve never met a mass-murderer, but if I ever do, I imagine him looking like Bob… Continue reading →

BYU v Notre Dame

Airing It Out — The Te’o saga, what really went wrong

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Odd. Bizarre. Baffling. Strange. Stunning. Mesmerizing. Absurd. Dumbfounding. Crazy. Embarrassing. Weird. Twisted.

Can anything truly describe the curiously interesting story surrounding Manti Te’o, the most-decorated football player in Notre Dame’s recent history? Continue reading →

FIS Snowboard World Cup

Can’t Hide Her Love

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Kelly Clark sat alone in a Utah hotel room, writing in her journal. It was another contest beginning another season: 2004, two years past the pinnacle of her stellar career when she became the first American female to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal. That same year, 2002, she also won every other event, including the Winter X Games, and attained all her professional goals—at age 18. Clark was the queen of snowboarding and had everything: fame, money, travel, the ability to dictate her career. It was incredible—for a little while. Now it all felt empty. “I was writing about if I didn’t wake up tomorrow, I was fine with that,” says Clark in the Nations Foundation film One Year. “I didn’t think anybody would care if I didn’t wake up tomorrow. I was writing if this was what life was, then I was done with life.” Fast forward to the Read More

Can Politics, Faith and Athletics Mix?

Can Politics, Faith and Athletics Mix?

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Some Christians are familiar with the faith of our nation’s Founding Fathers like Samuel Adams, Benjamin Rush and John Jay.

They weren’t afraid to express their faith, like when Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Father of the American Revolution, wrote this while Governor of Massachusetts in a Proclamation of a Day of Fast on March 20, 1797: “That wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is Prince of Peace…” Continue reading →

Drowning Doubt

Drowning Doubt

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There’s a mother driving her white Ford Thunderbird down a California freeway.

It’s 1994 and it’s lunch hour. It’s Orange County and it’s sunny. She’s on her way to Costco to buy groceries for her family, just a mile from her exit, when she realizes something.

But it’s too late… Continue reading →

Uncommon Challenge