Saint Matthew's

While completely idiotic, the barking dog play would be funny for, let’s say, the Knicks to utilize once in a while. Imagine – Nate Robinson diving onto his knees and barking, stunning his opponents and leaving a fellow Knick open for an easy lay-up.

Oh, did you notice — it was a Lutheran High School that used this play.

(Via The Sporting Blog)

I was out a little while ago. Overheard a conversation between two adults. I wanted to interrupt, but I didn’t. Why? I couldn’t fully grasp their mental prowess.

They were talking – and agreeing – that Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Bono all sounded the same.

???????

Have they ever heard the three of them sing?

The guy has been on the sideline for a couple of months, itching to put on the pads and stand between the pipes to help his team.

So, when he gets his first chance to play, any semi-literate hockey fan could never bet against him in his return to the ice?

Could they?

Last night, Devils goalie Martin Brodeur returned to the ice after an lengthy arm injury and really stepped it up – he and the Devils shut out the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 at the Rock in Newark.

As a Rangers fan, who is licking his wounds from another anemic goal-scoring output and loss, while I hate Brodeur when he plays against my Blueshirts, as a hockey fan I must say that I am happy that he’s back.

I did something yesterday that I haven’t done since July 2005.

I bought gasoline for my car in New York State.

At $2.11, when compared to the $1.73 here in town, I feel rather dirty for spending the money. Oh, I needed to spend it — I would have run out and gotten stuck on the upper level of the GWB. But I still feel bad for buying gas in New York.

Last night, the Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the dreadful shoot-out (I know some fans like it, but the point system associated with it stinks). However, following the game, new head coach John Tortorella made some telling comments about his team, something a lot of Rangers have been sensing for a long time:

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I’m a little concerned about the conditioning of the club – I thought we were tired in the third period,” the head coach said. “If we’re going to play an attack style, we need to be in shape.”

The Rangers have routinely started off games on fire … but come the end of the second period, they’ve seem winded. Forget the third period. Even I’m lighting candles for them. I believe the coach has tapped into a big Rangers problem. With a short season left, I hope he can get this team in shape.

(The quotation is taken from Larry Brooks’ game report in the Post)

For some reason, last night’s divine service just clicked. I did spend more time yesterday afternoon organizing my thoughts, studying me sermon, and reading through the service with a “fine tooth comb” to get my verbal transitions worked out better. But last night, the service just clicked. Oh, I am not saying that our weekend services don’t click — it’s just that last night, every portion of the liturgy worked well.

Something about receiving God in Word and Sacrament … I guess it just works every time it’s tried.

I will be taking time this morning to visit a friend over at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. Otherwise, I just finished up an early morning visit and am now in the home office organizing my daily calendar and to-do list, both of which are not too outlandish today.

When I am over in NY, I think I will stop by and see my father at work.

OK. I’ve been very quiet these past couple of days where the Rangers have taken hold of the New York sports headlines as they’ve fired Tom Renney and replaced him with John Tortorella.

I feel bad that the Rangers didn’t play well for Coach Renney. He is a good man who deserved better from his team. I hope he decides to stay with the Rangers in some capacity – the team needs a stand up guy in the organization.

Tortorella – I’ve always like him. The Rangers should have signed him as head coach after John Muckler was fired many moons ago. He is fiery and hopefully will make the Rangers play a faster, stronger brand of hockey. We can only pray.

Hopefully, the so-called leaders on the Rangers have awoken from their season-long slumber. Tonight, they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs up in Canada. We Rangers fans can only hope for the best.

Are ashes holy?

What happens if I don’t get ashes?

Ashes are nothing more than burnt palm. They are imposed on foreheads in the shape of a cross for no other reason than for meditative purposes on this first day of Lent. They aren’t especially holy – they just imposed in recognition of sin and repentance.

“For you are dust, and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:19

We realize that we’re sinners and in need of a Savior, but do those ashes on our foreheads move us to understand the importance of true repentance? Wearing ashes proves nothing. These ashes should move us to meditate and pray over the this knowledge that we are sinners and should be punished for our sins. Our eyes during this season should be focused on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. He paid our sin debt to the Father. He rose from the dead for our justification.

Lent drives our thoughts inward to look into the meaning of our sinfulness. But our hopes for a greater future with our God propels us forward to cross.

I checked my calendar today. Rubbing my eyes, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

There is nothing on my schedule for today (outside of watching “24″ tonight at 9 on Fox, and that isn’t on my schedule).

What in the world will I do with myself?

I received the following in an email last night from a devout New Jersey Devils fan. Suffice to say, this Rangers fan isn’t amused.

911 Operator: “What is your emergency?”
Caller: “I’m choking.”
911 Operator: “What is your location?”
Caller: “Rangers’ locker room.”

Today is President’s Day, a goofy national holiday that was created so as to NOT celebrate the individual birthdays of our nation’s first president, George Washington, and the man who saved the union, Abraham Lincoln. I call this holiday “goofy” because no one really knows what it is about.

Unless you think that today is a day for buying stuff. Stores have a lot on sale – just go and see the deals for yourself.

Banks are closed, Wall Street gets a reprieve, and the post office doesn’t deliver today. But every store is open hocking deals on everything from mattresses to TVs.

Me? I’m staying at home today, cleaning up the house and maybe catching up on some of the stuff I’ve Tivo’d these past many weeks. My DVR is filling up, so either I watch these shows or just delete them … I need room for the new shows that will tape this week. Also, I will head on out to the post office to drop off the Netflix movie I’ve had for about 5 days (I rented the latest Indiana Jones movie; I saw it in the theaters and was not impressed; watching it again, I was less impressed than I was in the theater).

Not too exciting, I know.

The past couple of days have been really busy – I’ve been delinquent in writing.

Yesterday, I had a chance discussion with one of our neighbors here on Grand Street about, of all things, the weather. They said that with temperatures slowly rising and the start of baseball spring training, this winter is about over. I said I wouldn’t be too confident in this weather prognostication. 

For a couple of days now, I have had this weird feeling that winter is waiting to remind us that he’s still around. Why do I have this fear that we’re in for at least one more big snow storm?

A friend of mine asked me last week why I slowed down with my posting about my favorite hockey team, the New York Rangers. That’s simple – they stink. How many times can I sit in front of my computer and vent my spleen?

They don’t score. They don’t play defense. They skate like they are all wearing 60 pound weights on top their equipment. They don’t have much heart. They play as though they’ve given up on the season.

I was happy on Monday night – not that the Rangers lost to the Devils 3-0 at the Rock in Newark – but that I had a church Voters’ Meeting and missed the game.

Sean Avery appears that he’s coming back after the Rangers exiled him and he signed with the Dallas Stars and then he got into that little “sloppy seconds” scandal that got him suspended and placed into therapy. When the Rangers didn’t resign him in the off-season, I felt it was a mistake because Avery played with passion and heart. Whether you liked the way he played hockey, that’s another issue. But his hockey was filled with passion, and I like players who have it.

Instead, the Rangers went down the “Koom-ba-ya” path — picking players who would like one another, play video games together after practice, and discuss why their investments were in the toilet.

I don’t know if the Rangers forgot, but hockey is about winning, about raising the Stanley Cup. It is not about whether the team loves one another. This isn’t some social experiment – it’s a darn hockey team!! No Hillary Clinton “Villages” needed – you need heart, passion, and a willingness to leave it all on the ice.

I am just a little ol’ pastor in New Jersey who just so happens to be a hockey fan, but I always believed that winning cures all ills. You can hate your linemate, but if you win the Stanley Cup, all is forgiven. OK, maybe you won’t trade Christmas cards, but your names will be forever engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Tonight, the Capitals come to town. The Rangers are playing rather pathetic hockey. And yes, I am thanking the Lord that I have church tonight at 7:30, something that will prevent me from watching most of this pending disaster. As you can tell, my confidence in my team is overflowing.

Of course, my Rangers heart aches with the news our former captain, Jaromir Jagr, could be headed to Edmonton. Heck, the Rangers have no room for players like Jagr or Brendan Shannahan, two real leaders who actually care about winning. But they have room for Wade “A $39 Million Weight Around Our Salary Cap Neck” Redden, Chris “Was I Named the Captain? No Kidding!” Drury, and Scott “Thank God for all those Good Years in Jersey; It’s Now Paying for my Manhattan apartment” Gomez. Right now, I’d take Jagr and Shannahan over these three. Maybe we’d actually score a goal.

Over the past several months, I have been trying to get more organized throughout my life. Foe example, I started actively using my calendar on my computer that syncs with my iPhone so I know exactly what and where I have to be at a given time. I am now using Remember the Milk to arrange my daily “to do” list (this replaces Post-It Notes). So far, this organization kick is moving along smoothly, though not every part of my work and home life is organized to the point of where it should be. I am getting there.

However, one of the worst things about being organized is looking at a “To Do” list and a schedule and coming up with only one conclusion – “Oh, my!”

For some awful reason, my Tuesday is a train wreck.

I have a dozen items that I need to get done (most of them cannot be postponed); my schedule has a couple of items that I cannot escape from; and I have a possible hospital run sometime today.

Boy, I can’t wait until 8pm this evening (when my day – according to my schedule – will actually end).