After last night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings Michel Therrien let it fly about two complaints: the Red Wings are good at obstruction and Chris Osgood is a good actor.  

Well, he’s right on the second count.  The fact that Osgood cross checked Ryan Malone and then fell onto his back and the officials fell for it was worthy of an Oscar.  His fall behind the net wasn’t quite as worthy, but still impressive.  So yes, the Penguins got hosed on those two calls.  

On the first count - he would be right, if this was the regular season.  But this is the post-season, and the rules change in the post-season.  What the Red Wings are extremely good at is using their sticks to hook - but not enough to draw a penalty.  They’re also very good at holding and obstruction, good enough to not get penalties called.  That’s the trick in the post-season, clutch and grab but don’t hold on long enough to justify a penalty.  Really, it’s brilliant and a sign of experience.  

A little history.  When the league returned from the strike the Refs called everything - if you touched your stick to someone else it was a penalty.  If you reached your hand out and laid a hand on someone it was holding.  Personally, I liked it that way.  I have little patience for a slow moving talent-lacking defenseman who can’t skate and win the race to the puck against a forward.  But it got excessive and over time the officials eased up to a more reasonable level.  In the playoffs the game becomes grittier and more of the clutching and grabbing comes into play.  Previous to this series, the Penguins were just way too fast for every other team they played, so no one could actually get close enough to them to put a stick or hand on them.  The Red Wings are fast enough to keep up though, and so they can play effective defense.  

In game three watch the difference in defensive styles.  The Penguins are trying to play skating defense instead of the “gritty” physical defense that the Red Wings play… right there you’ll see why this series is 2-0

So half my youth group (not joking) is in Indianpolis this weekend for the Indy 500 Parade.  I managed to remember to set my computer to record it.  Looking good all 224 of them!  (You will need QuickTime to watch either the full size or small version.  If you actually want to try and find people you’ll need the full size version)

Full Size

Small

YouTube

Intro: Seldom do any of my posts justify a repost - but the feedback from this one was too good to not.

For the past two years my beloved Buffalo Sabres have been contenders in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, both times advancing to the conference finals and losing.  This year they are home, playing golf already.  In spite of this, I am enjoying the NHL Playoffs more than ever.  Here’s a few reasons why:

1. The Sabers aren’t in it - when I watch Sabres games I have no patience for close games.  I want it 4-0 at the end of the second in favor of the Sabres.  But when I’m watching a game for fun, I want it close.  I watched the last two Boston vs. Montreal games and they were fantastic - but Game 6 was better.  It was close, back and forth, etc.  I didn’t really care who won Game 7, I just wanted it to be close so I was pulling for Boston.
2. I can be objective - I’ll be the first to admit that when I watch my beloved Sabres there is hardly ever a call that goes their way and hundreds that don’t.  Of course, I’m slightly biased in my opinion.  Watching other teams I can make a better evaluation of calls.  I still find the startling difference in the way the post-season is officiated and the regular season troubling.
3. I have VersusHD - Last season I had Versus on my regular digital cable package, but I jettisoned it to save some money.  I got lucky - my cable provider added VersusHD to their HD line-up.  Hockey is one game that I think benefits tremendously from being in HD.  (I know almost every sports fan thinks their sport benefits the most).  But sports where you’re watching a small object (a hockey puck or a baseball) I think are impacted the most because you can actually see the object.  Plus in general, the widescreen format of HD is better for sports period.
4. Rediscovered the love - Basically since I’ve been in college (99-2000 season) I’ve been out of the hockey loop.  I really couldn’t follow my Sabres because there was no TV access.  Now, thanks to my slingbox I’ve been able to follow them for most of the season and have rediscovered my love of hockey.
5. Great matchups - Perhaps the biggest reason though is that some of the match ups are great.  Pittsburgh trashed Ottawa (which was great), Boston vs. Montreal, etc.

Now how much longer before Andrew can go to his first game?

Who riots when you win?

I have been to countless hockey games that have gone well and that have gone poorly.  I’ve been there when teams have won the series and lost the series.  But never have I seen people riot!  What’s stunning is that the Canadians won the game and their fans still rioted!  What gives?

This Thursday we had a Presbytery meeting. At this meeting we voted on whether or not to accept a settlement agreement with Memorial Park Presbyterian Church. The basically agreement is that for a between 500 and 600 thousand dollars within the calendar year, Memorial Park can leave the PC(USA) with their property in tact.

This has been long and ugly battle. I’m not going to get into the details because I don’t know them all but in January Memorial Park sued the Presbytery asking Allegheny County to declare that they own their property exclusively. Prior to that they had been negotiating with the Presbytery so that they might leave with their property.

As a preface: I strongly disagree with Memorial Park’s decision in almost every facet. I disagree with their decision to leave the denomination. I disagree with the literature that they distributed to their congregation, and more than anything I was disgusted by their decision to sue the Presbytery and run to the Post-Gazette to make sure it made the papers. The decision to sue directly contradicts Paul’s painstakingly clear instructions in 1 Corinthians 6 and is frankly inexcusable in my opinion. For a church who bemoaned the loss of biblical authority in the PC(USA) to then sue the denomination is bewildering.

All that being said, what happened on Thursday caused me even more pain. With a settlement agreement presented I hoped that it would be approved by voice vote and everyone would be done. Memorial Park could go on their way and continue their ministry, and the Presbytery could do the same. In the end, that’s what happened - but by a vote of 132 to 82. The disturbing part was that few if anyone was complaining about the actual terms of the settlement - they seemed to be upset that there was a settlement at all. People were advocating going to court, no matter what the cost. Despite the fact that we might face years of court battles and spend thousands and thousands of dollars (on both sides). Years of front page stories about Christians suing each other and fighting it out in court. All of this at the risk of not winning and Memorial Park walking away - aside from the damage done to our Christian witness. The Presbytery had already spent $55,000 on this case. Even more troubling: there was little or no discussion of 1 Corinthians 6 prohibiting lawsuits among believers, but lots of angers, hostility, and a general desire to get even. In the end the settlement was approved, but I have to wonder why people were so eager for a fight?

Yesterday a prayer vigil was held at the home of Robert and Jeri Pitts.  The Post-Gazette did a video documentary of it and you want to watch it:

Watch it here

Adam tagged me… so here we go:

The rules are pretty basic:

1. In about 25 words each, answer the following five questions;
2. Tag five Presbyterian bloggers and send them a note to let them know they were tagged;
3. Be sure to link or send a trackback to this post

So I will take my stab at contributing to this PresbyMeme.

1. What is your earliest memory of being distinctly Presbyterian?

General Assembly 2000.  It was there I began to understand the distinctiveness of Presbyterian theology/polity.

2. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend LESS energy and time?
This one is easy: The Washington Office and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.  The Washington Office is irrelevant and no one cares what the PC(USA) thinks and ACSWP spends thousands of dollars writing papers that are dry, boring, arrogant, and irrelevant.  Oh, no one reads them.

3. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend MORE energy and time?
New Church Development.  We have a ton of churches that no one is going to start going to - so we need to plant new ones, even if they’re right near existing PC(USA) churches.

4. If you could have the PC(USA) focus on one passage of scripture for an entire year, what would it be?
Matthew 7:24-27 (Building your foundation on the rock).  Jesus is the one who makes our ministry effective, but if we forget he’s our foundation it’s made considerably more difficult.

5. If the PC(USA) were an animal what would it be and why?

The PC(USA) is talbot (an extinct dog).  The PC(USA) is much loved and served a purpose, but is looking at an increasingly post-denominational age.

I’ll tag: Chris, Mike, Eileen, Hunter, Frank,

Check out my review of the Apple TV here …

I am not one to jump into the political fray on my blog as I do not follow politics all that closely.  However, I do enjoy watching elections (for entertainment if nothing else) and I find debates to be absolutely hilarious (”You’re nice enough Hillary” was a great line from this year’s election season). However, as I’ve watched this year’s primaries I’ve realized that the primary system is inherently unjust. And as a Christian matters of injustice are of a concern to me.

While I acknowledge that for the most part he/she with the most money wins in politics (although this year there have been exceptions to that rule) I think the extended primary season makes that even more the case. Plus, only some US Citizens get to pick the nominees. Chances are, by the time the primaries are over, the race for the nominations might be over too, and the chances of the Pennsylvania primary in April mattering in the Presidential race are almost none existent (the exception might be the democratic side). If a candidate does poorly in the early races you might as well drop out, even though you might have done well in other states.

My proposal is to put every single primary on the same day. Instead of 22 states on Super Tuesday, do all 50. Or even 48 and let New Hampshire and Iowa keep their traditional early spots. That way everyone in the country gets to pick the nominees and the full field of nominees gets a chance instead of being dead by the South Carolina primary.