I guess all I need to do to attract visitors to my site these days is to use key words and phrases in my journal entries. For instance, a check of last referrers shows several searches for Nicolette Sheridan, the woman who dropped her towel for Terrell Owens in a MNF intro. All this makes me wonder how much attention I could attract for using the phrase "free sex" (don't worry, I've broken up the words with hidden html markers). Of course, that could attract the kind of attention I don't want.

It wasn't too long ago that searches for Joel Osteen resulted in my page. Because I have sermons on my site, and because I once mentioned the heretic Osteen, searches for his sermons resulted in a hit to my pages.

Now, because I used those phrases again, I expect to see more search page results in the referrers section. Eh, "business" is "business."

I can't explain why, but when you leave a comment from one of the three (four actually) journals--Atlantis, Atlantis Mobile, or Wags the Journal (the fourth is a list for my personal page)--the resulting page picks a template from one of the other journals. Unfortunately, my knowledge of PHP is not good enough right now to figure out how to fix it.

The journals function normally otherwise, so go ahead and leave your comments, they'll be placed appropriately, you'll just see them in the wrong templates at first.

FINALLY!!

Finally, a win in Tallahassee!

All game long, the announcers kept saying, "Nothing comes easy for this team," referring to Florida. But, the streak or curse has ended for the Gators, they finally won one in Tallahassee. 18 years. 18 long years...

Congratulations, Coach Zook, you've done what the greatest coach in UF history couldn't do. You beat FSU in Tallahassee! GO GATORS!! This one ranks right up there with 52-20. It was also a great way to celebrate the Gator football program's 1000th game.

It's great to be a Florida Gator!

In an apparent attempt to boost ratings for Monday Night Football (huh?) and Desperate Housewives, ABC aired a provacative introduction to the game last Monday. Nicolette Sheridan, a seductress, appeared in the skit where she lured Eagles Wideout Terrell "Whiner" Owens to skip the game and spend the night with her. She appared to be in only a towel and drops the towel to jump into Owens' arms. While racey, nothing of her private parts was ever shown (according to reports).

Now, here's where things get interesting.

If ABC hoped to generate a little bit more buzz for Monday Night Football and "Desperate Housewives," its risqué intro to the Dallas-Philadelphia game sure did the trick. Two days after the network aired the segment featuring Eagles star receiver Terrell Owens and actress Nicollette Sheridan, coaches and players were still talking about it. Reaction ranged from amusement to anger. Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy found it racially offensive.

Racially offensive?

So what if Sheridan is white and Owens is black, I just don't get how this is making any kind of racist jab. I mean, there was a time, not so long ago that a white person dating a black person (or seen in a situation like these two) was shunned and the black person lynched. Not that I condone either person's actions in the skit, but I think the fact that we can watch it happening now, and that someone has the gall to call it racist, shows that society has come a long way in how it views interracial relationships.

I'm sorry, Coach Dungy, but if you found the MNF intro disgusting, that's fine, but that's no excuse to play the race card. I think your quote just about sums things up: "To me that's the first thing I thought of as an African-American."

Go ahead and label me a racist, but it seems the race card is always played by an "African-American" when an "African-American" is involved in something less-than-honorable. "Blame 'whitey' for it," is what this attitude says to me. You can't accept the responsibility and consequences for your own actions, neither should anyone in your own race.

Yes, I found the intro disgusting, too (by accounts of it), but not because it involved someone who was black. I found it disgusting because it commercializes and trivializes sex, a wonderful gift from God.

You know, related to this who racist BS is this objection to white performers/entertainers (or those pretending to be) appearing in blackface while, at the same time, movies like White Chicks are funny. I guess the shoe fits better on the other foot.

Okay, the day is over, and so is my rant.

Hey! Just thought I'd drop a line to say, "I'm alright." I'm dealing with ingrates, is all. Soon, voters' meetings will be over.

Okay, I'm sorry 'ingrates' was uncalled for and a bit inflamatory. I'm dealing with alligators, as they tend to be called in my business.

Here's a verse to reference to kind of get an idea of what I'm talking about. From 2 Timothy 4:3..."For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." I refuse to scratch itching ears.

Anyway, life will go on...

Often, when we think of church, we think of the building down the street and the hundred or so people who attend there. Or, it could be the thousand-seat auditorium we pass by when we go to work.

However, in the context of Scripture--specifically Revelation--and the Creed, the Church is so much more. The Church is the communion of saints; that is, the total nubmer of those who believe in Christ. On earth, the Church is found where the Gospel is preached in its purity and the sacraments administered according to the Gospel; around these means of grace, or course, unbelievers may be gathered. However, only believers in Christ are members of the Church.

It follows, then, that the Church is much larger than either the hundred member building or thousand-seat auditorium we know. While members of the Church may gather there--and these are members of the Church Militant--there is a larger, unseen dimension to the Church. Since the Church is made up of all believers (and only believers), then those who have walked the path of faith--or climbed the ladder of faith--before us and now rest in Christ are members of this one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church--and this the Church Triumphant.

This, as we observe, is their day. This is our day. This is the Church's day. This is All Saints' Day.

For all the saints who from their labors rest, / Who Thee by faith before the world confest, / Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. / Alleluia! Alleluia!

I have posted my All Saints' Day sermon. You may view it here.

No, this isn't a late topic on Halloween. Those would be words out of my mouth. I would be saying them to a very specific group of people. Hockey players. Not just any hockey players, either. NHL hockey players. Not just any NHL hockey players, either. The upper echelon of NHL hockey players. And this if I could get to and attend a game, assuming the season starts up.

I wrote something in this regard about a month ago. I missed hockey then, and I still miss it. I'm beginning to think, given the attitude and actions of some of these upper echelon players, I'll be missing it for a long time. Why?

They're playing in Europe! You know, that's great and all, but to me that says there are two things going on.

First, many of these guys are playing for less money than I make. That's pretty pitiful since I'm not in the greatest paying job in the world (no one becomes a pastor for the pay). All of them are playing for a lot less money than they would be making if there were a season this year, even with a salary cap, though there is a report of one guy getting paid something in the millions, but it hasn't been confirmed yet. What does this tell me? They're not concerned about a salary cap. They're just doing this to prove a point--how stubborn they can be--and lock us fans out of the game we love (despite what you'll read at ESPN, the players aren't locked out, the fans are).

Second, since they're playing now and oversees, their minds aren't on what's going on here. They could probably care less about the NHL at this point. They're playing. They're having fun. They're enjoying themselves. They're completely removed from the labor dispute. Thanks guys, I feel the love! The fact alone leads me to believe there will be no NHL hockey this year.

I still don't want to play the blaming game. I still don't want to point fingers. The NHL and team owners aren't completely blamesless, either. It's just that the longer the fans are locked out, the worse it will be on the entire league, owners AND players.

So I thank the role players who are left on this side of the Atlantic with no job. You know the type. The bruiser the coach calls on when a "statement" needs to be made. The defender who is willing to take a puck in the gut to keep his team in the game. The guy who makes the league minimum. The guy who receives no glory, but plays mostly for the love of the game. So I thank players like Rob Ray and Pierre Dagenais who have come out and said that they would be willing to play with a salary cap if that's what it takes to put the game back on the ice. These are the men I will cheer for from now on.

Did you hear that Peter Forsberg? What about you Ilya Kovalchuk? To you and all the NHLers playing in Europe: "Boooo!" You'll receive little thanks from me for playing the game. My heart and thanks go to the guys like Ray and Dagenais; they are the real heart and soul of hockey, not the star-struck types who score all the goals. Boo! Boooo!! BOOOO!!!