Alright, answer me this: is the Rocket being honest or is he just playing every team against the other to get the best deal for himself? After watching the Southwest Sports Report on Thursday night, it seemed like the Rocket was genuinely, sincerely interested in the Rangers.
It probably didn’t hurt that Tom Hicks noted the flag flying alongside the flag of the United States at the Rangers spring training complex in Surprise, Arizona. The aforementioned flag was emblazoned with the Longhorns National Championship logo from this past football season.
The camera crew caught a great line from Kam Loe as he passed the Rocket in the clubhouse. “We’re going to the World Series,” Loe said. “Why don’t you come and join us!”
Classic.
During the segment, the Southwest Sports Report had an interesting statistical tidbit comparing the run production the Astros provided for the Rocket on the days he started in 2005 versus the Rangers run production on the same day. The conclusion? The Rangers scored 190 runs on the same day in which the Astros only plated 109. Had the Rocket pitched for the Rangers on the exact days in 2005, his record would have likely been 23-4 (versus the 13-8 he registered with the Astros).
I’m keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed on this one.
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What a blessing this evening to spend a quiet evening over dinner with my wife. Mandy is so precious to me. As a minister’s wife, she is the perfect blend of loving support and positive encouragement. We were blessed by Kate Schumacher’s offer to keep our girls, allowing Mandy and I to spend the evening together before she and the girls set out for Arkansas tomorrow during Trae’s spring break.
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John Maxwell, prolific writer on leadership from a spiritual perspective, has written an excellent little book entitled Running with Giants. In the book, Maxwell draws on the race imagery of Hebrews 12 and uses each chapter to illustrate what the great heroes of the Old Testament might say to us as counsel for our own marathon through life.
I especially love his words in the chapter on Moses, calling us out of the “safe zone” and into the “faith zone.”
“We do not naturally leave the safe zone. I didn’t want to leave Egypt; it was all I knew. Yet if I hadn’t, I never would have experienced the burning bush. Then I didn’t want to leave the Midian desert. But if I hadn’t left the desert, I never would have seen God part the Red Sea or deliver His people. And I never would have talked to God face-to-face. Just because you don’t want to do something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t!”
“Growth begins when we leave the safe zone. For forty years, I benefited from everything Egypt had to offer. But only after I left Egypt for the first time did I begin to learn what was really important. And it took another forty years in the desert to discover how God intended to use me. By then, I had been broken and remade by God. I had learned humility. You can’t stay the same and learn at the same time. If you want to grow, you need to go.”
“The safe zones rob us of our greatest moments and memories. Many people are so afraid of risk that they spend their entire lives in Egypt, the land of ‘not enough.’ A few are willing to get out of their safe zone, and as a result, they enter the desert, the land of ‘just enough.’ But God wants more for you. He wants you to leave the wilderness and enter the promised land, the land of ‘more than enough.’ It was by faith that I left my comfort zone, and that is what is required of you if you want to enjoy God’s blessings to the fullest. Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the risks you didn’t take than by the ones you did. Defeat tomorrow’s regret by moving forward and getting into the faith zone today” (44-45).
