The incomplete and crippled lives of those who are tone deaf, have never been in love, never known true friendship, never cared for a good book, never enjoyed the feel of the morning air on their cheeks, never (I am one of these) enjoyed football... C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the PsalmsThe left tackle's job is to protect the quarterback from what he can't see coming. To protect his blind side. Leigh Anne Touhy
Several years ago during a Japanese language for beginner’s class, I was asked by a bunch of instructors to choose between sumo wrestling and football. I said football because 'tackling' is a sumo ingredient of the game. But bluntly, it is like choosing between a thrilling game and a boring one. I enjoyed every football game and film I have watched. I even cried last night after watching The Blind Side. It turns out that it is much better than how it was depicted on the poster. It is like putting "Radio" in the shoes of "Rudy" and become "Invincible" with the blessings of a prayerful team in "Facing the Giants" and the humour and character of "The Replacements". One of my favorite scenes was when the family prayed together during a Thanksgiving dinner and of course the part when Tim McGraw read the narrative poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" to Michael. Lesson learned? A crisis emerged when an investigator from NCAA popped-up and questioned the motives of the Touhy’s in adopting Michael. This made Michael doubt about the sincerity of the Touhy's but soon realized that he was wrong. The extra-ordinary kindness extended to him was not motivated by selfishness but out of duty and delight. Even if his doubts were valid, the self-interested pursuit of joy as C.S. Lewis said, is not something ugly and wrong - insisting that it is a Christian duty for everyone to be as happy as he can be. Not at the expense of the object, that is. What starts out as a little deed of kindness in the dead of winter turns into something more--Michael Oher is the first-round pick of the Ravens in the 2009 NFL Draft.
