Just talk

This is going to be a blog focused on Houston-area high school athletics, so that’ll be the primary focus all the time, but sometimes news of the day will find its way into my recorded thoughts as well. With that in mind, here’s a little of both…

The Houston Chronicle’s Jenny Dial has reported that Morton Ranch head coach Scott Svendsen has been put on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Katy ISD into some inappropriate activity there. The Katy Times went a step further and reported that parents, players and coaches were told that Svendsen “would not be back as head coach, effective immediately.” While I hope that there’s nothing going on that shouldn’t have been, my experience causes me to ask why a district would take such a drastic action—especially to a head football coach right before football practices begin—unless there were some fire to accompany the smoke.

If you read the comments that follow the Times’ story, there are plenty of opinions—both good and bad—about the situation and what led to the coach’s dismissal.

To me it’s especially sad to see this at Morton Ranch. I know several people on the staff there, both coaches and people not related to the athletic department at all. There are a lot of great people who work there. And though I’ve never met Svendsen personally, I’ve talked to him by phone and had him as a halftime guest on one of our Saturday night broadcasts last year after his team got off to an amazingly good start. All indications were, as a Katy Times story tells, that he was going to be the kind of person who was going to build the football program the right way.

Here’s hoping it wasn’t just talk…

So, how about the story of the Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton falling off the wagon back during the off-season? There’s another sad occurrence. But I hope this one will have a happy ending too.

Photos surfaced last week on Deadspin.com showing a shirtless Hamilton surrounded by females (none of whom were his wife) drinking in a bar. For most pro athletes, this alone would be no big deal. For Hamilton, it’s huge. The Josh Hamilton story is well-known…and very inspiring. It’s a story of the large role that athletics plays in the lives of young people, and the void that we can allow it to fill. And how, when that filler is gone, we can try to fill the void with almost anything. It’s a story of human frailty and addiction. But, thankfully, it’s also a story of redemption, forgiveness and grace.

And that last part is what makes this a huge story. Hamilton’s own story is that he has found his redemption, forgiveness and grace in Jesus Christ. The world, being the skeptical place that it is, hears that and begins to look for the angle. If they can’t seem to find an angle—some motive behind the claim—and the story appears to be true, then they look for a weak spot in the armor…something to make the person less than too-good-to-be-true.

Hamilton has given the world that weak spot.

It’s a popular thing these days to attack Christianity. This isn’t going to be a soapbox…I believe ‘Christians’ have brought a lot of this on themselves. But I personally believe there’s a huge difference between a religion and real faith. And those who look to ridicule ‘Christians’ can’t tell the difference between the authentic ones and the ones who use it as a tag. So, any lapse by anyone calling themselves a Christian is fodder for the mill.

Here’s the deal: there has never been born a perfect human being and Christians—the REAL ones (not the ‘religious’ ones)—don’t claim to be perfect, just forgiven. Hamilton, in the aftermath of this event, appears to be authentic. He has owned up to the validity of the photos; he’s asked forgiveness of the people (besides himself) that would be most hurt by this; he’s taken responsibility for his actions. I want to believe him, to root for the guy.

It’s where he goes from here that will dictate the story’s ending…at least in the world’s eyes. I’m not one who believes that people who profess to be Christians have to abstain from alcohol for the rest of their lives. But I think Josh Hamilton’s history proves he doesn’t handle it well, so he SHOULD. And, the fact that the world is watching a little more closely, perhaps hoping he’ll stumble again, should be motivation enough.

Here’s hoping his story wasn’t just talk too…