The writers over at the Gender Blog have posted another great article on manhood. They have just begun a series of posts on how to teach truths about manhood to boys through the (slow) sport of baseball. But there are plenty of lessons here for the big version of boys too, otherwise known as men. Here’s a sample of the post:

Play Ball: Umpires and Understanding Authority

Once a player steps out onto the field, the umpires control the game. As mentioned above, there are an enormous number of subjective calls: balls, strikes, infield-fly rule, fair, foul, out, safe, and the list goes on. There is no instant replay (yet!), and baseball is notorious for its “colorful” interactions between coaches, fans, players, and umpires. Entire games can hinge on any of these decisions.

But what I want my sons to understand is that submitting to the judgment of the umpires is part of the game. Imperfect authorities are going to make mistakes, they are going to sometimes show favoritism and they are sometimes going to avenge a rude fan or disruptive coach.

Too bad.

We trust in a sovereign God who is meticulous in overseeing all things and in our life will use unfair employers, rude people, poor judgment, and the like, to shape us into the image of Christ.

Principle for Manhood: Players do not argue with the umpire. They do not express disgust or disappointment with the umpire. That is the coach’s prerogative. You do not blame the outcome of the game on the umpire and you do not use him as an excuse because your team did not play well.

The remaining points of this post are…..

Take One for the Team: Self-Sacrifice and Toughness

Slide! Obedience to Authority

You’re Out! Unfairness

There are some really great lessons for all of us in this article. Do yourself a favor a drop by their blog to read the rest. Click here….

On the 128th day of 2008, I finally hit my first golf ball of the year. For a dude that loves golf, this year has gotten off to a very slow start. But what a start. My friend and fellow church planter, Paul Harshbarger, hooked us up with passes at WeaverRidge Golf Course here in Peoria. Weaver is rated in the top 100 public courses in the U.S. (#61) Public courses are courses that any body can play (as long as you have enough $$$) verses private courses which are only playable if you have an in. (I’ve also had the chance to play #1, 5, 8, 15, 24, 51, 65, 76, & 87…. which means I have a long way to go if anyone’s offering)

Anyway, here are some of the sights of the day (BTW - I broke 90)

The Sweet 16 have been whittled down to the Elite 8 and before the weekend is over, we’ll have our Final Four. I don’t know if this will hold through the weekend or through the end of the tournament…..

But for Today…….

THE DOEBLER HOUSEHOLD IS 1-2-3 in the Coach’s Corner Standings.

That’s right, my offspring and myself hold the first three spots. I’m getting a little misty-eyed just thinking about it. Brandon, my youngest (although 14 isn’t as young as it used to be) is in 1st. I’m holding down slot #2 (I’m still going to win though), and Zach, my eldest (17 and growing) is in third. This is a Kodak moment….the kind of moment that every self-respecting father dreams of. Sniff, Sniff. And I’m proud that you could all share this glorious moment with me.

Now, it’s off to clean toilets somewhere…and other non-glamorous duties.

Tournament madness resumes tonight as they begin to whittle the Sweet 16 down to the Elite Eight. I’ve still got a fighting chance in both brackets I’m in, mostly because I’ve still got 7 out of 8 teams left that I have picked for the Elite Eight. If they hold serve, I’ll have a good chance to win both. Here are my teams for tonight:

• Xavier - didn’t have them playing WVU, but if they win, it doesn’t matter
• North Carolina - thought they’d be playing Notre Dame
• UCLA - Did anybody have them playing Western Kentucky? Anybody? Don’t lie!
• Tennessee - Had this game picked right, but after the way Louisville annihilated Oklahoma, this could be trouble.

Anybody got it different?

I’ll have some thoughts about Easter and what this day has been for us and for me later tonight in Sunday Night Lights. But I thought I’d add a quick update or two on the tournament.

I woke up from my nap just in time to see Davidson put the finishing touches on Georgetown…(take that Mark Batterson). He’ll need an extra cup of coffee or two at Ebenezer’s to help him wake up from his NCAA hangover after that game. That’s what happens when you pick with your heart. I know all about that…since I’m a South Carolina fan. Anyway, I just love pulling for underdogs. I know it makes a mess of the brackets, but I love seeing them overcome. I saw a blog earlier that mentioned that Jesus’ resurrection was the ultimate come-from-behind victory. Maybe that explains my penchant for underdogs….I don’t know. But it was pretty cool to see Davidson whip some Georgetown butt!

My brackets still don’t have me at the top, but my secret weapon is that I still have more remaining points than most in both brackets I’m in. My entire Elite Eight is still playing…so I haven’t lost any chances from the last several rounds, which is where the points really add up. So I’m hanging in there.

On the Coach’s Corner front, as of right now, Jon Hartman and my youngest, Brandon, are tied for 1st, but I’m breathing down their necks. On the “Blogging Church Planters” bracket, I’m still in 48th, but have more points left than most.

Make sure you check back tonight for the Sunday Night Lights recap.

The first day of March Madness brought few surprises….which was NOT GOODfor me. I have come to count on upsets as the bread and butter of the tournament and they are part of my picks. The first round of games didn’t work out to well for me, but I moved up the charts in the second round of games during the day. I am participating in two brackets. There’s one here on the Coach’s Corner, and then I’m in a bracket of “blogging church planters” scattered around the country. Here are the day 1 results:

Coach’s Corner- I started out near the bottom of both brackets, but in my own bracket here on the blog, I have made a strong move up to number 3 after batting 1.000 in the second round of games.

Church Planting Bloggers - I’m still in the middle of the pack (that’s me down there at #42), but that’s not bad after starting the day almost at the bottom. As the old saying in golf goes “It’s not how you drive, it’s how you arrive.”

On the Coach’s Corner Bracket, have to give kudos to Mitch Varda who only missed one game. But I’m still lurking. How are your brackets doing? Any perfect brackets out there among the readers here?

I LOVE the NCAA tournament. I’m a competetion nut. I love it when people strive, give their best, and let the chips fall where they may. Naturally, I pick a bracket for March Madness. Now, I not only enjoy the competition on the court, I enjoy the competition of coming up with the best bracket. You’re invited to join. Here’s how.

STEP 1 - To get started, click here! (this will take you to the sign-up page on Yahoo. WARNING - If you want to be able to follow these directions while you complete the registration, right-click the “click here” link, and then choose to open in a new tab. That will keep this page open and give you a new window to work in.)

STEP 2 - Click on the “Join a Group” button pictured here.

Read the full story

Last night’s Super Bowl was pretty intense. After many years of SB blowouts, the last several years have been very good games. What made this one unique is that it became a defensive struggle. My oldest son made the observation early in the second half that it was boring. The score at the time was still 7-3….not much excitement. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an intense struggle. It reminds me of the difference between WWE wrestling and “real” wrestling (I just had to take a quick look over my shoulder to make sure Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn’t behind me when I wrote that). WWE is far more entertaining to watch than “real” wrestling (yep…still no Stone Cold), but “real” wrestling is way more intense. It’s exhausting. It sometimes looks like not much is going on, but those guys are straining with every ounce of energy in their body.

Last night’s SB was a lot like that. Interesting thing about those types of games…they may look boring early, but once the clock starts to wind down, it’s gets really good….because it’s still anybody’s game to win.

Every one knows the Patriots were HUGE favorites (18 points) and were undefeated coming into the game. They were looking to make history. The Giants had lost 6 games in the regular season and weren’t given much of a chance. Going into the fourth quarter, the Patriots still held a tight 7-3 lead. But the Giants pushed down the field and took the lead 10-7 early in the 4th. But the Patriots, showing the character and skill that had kept them unbeaten all year came back to reclaim the lead 14-10 with only 2:45 left in the game. That’s it…game over…champions do what champions do…and in this case the Patriots fought back to take the lead and win the game late…Not so fast my friend…the Giants decided they still had something to say.

This is where the life lessons kick in. Yesterday morning, we wrapped up a series of messages that have focused on pursuing something more in your life. The focus yesterday was in how you put that in motion to achieve it. We looked at a story found in 2 Kings 4 about a widow whose dreams for life looked pretty far-fetched. Game over! You tried but what can you do? Well, she decided that was not an acceptable answer. The passage tells a remarkable story of overcoming odds through the power of God at work in her life.

I thought the last drive by the NYG was a great modern-day picture of that (minus the God-element..but you know what I mean). The Giants had given it a good shot. No shame in that. But they decided that they came this far and they weren’t going down without a fight. In the last drive, there was one remarkable play that stood out in my mind. On that play, Eli Manning, the QB of the Giants, was being swarmed by the defense of the Pats. No way he gets out of that. But his sheer determination allowed him to escape their grasp, and fling a pass down the field. On the receiving end of that pass was yet another Giant, David Tyree, who was also unwilling to go down without giving every last ounce of energy and commitment to the fight. The two ends of the play looked like this:

Their perseverance ultimately allowed the entire team to rise up and experience the victory together. Our journey toward the “something more” that God has for us will require similar perseverance. There will be times it seems as if the game is over…nice try…don’t feel bad…you gave it your best. But DO NOT accept those platitudes as substitutes for achieving what God has placed in your heart. Your perseverance toward “something more” will not only allow you to get there, but you will have others with you as well. So press on toward your dream…God has something more for you.

Let’s hear from you! What did you see in the game that you enjoyed or that meant something to you?