Tag Archives: Sports

Welcome to North Carolina!

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Welcome to North Carolina, all you BATWers!
(click the button if you don’t know what I’m talking about.)

I’m excited to be able to welcome you all to North Carolina. Now, you may be confused about why I, the Kansas Girl, am welcoming you to North Carolina. The simplest explanation is that this is where I am! I moved here 3 years ago, and now it looks like I’m here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. I originally came up with this blog title when I started blogging (back then I used xanga) right before leaving college in Oklahoma. Confusing, no?

Okay, okay, now I’m boring you and wasting my opportunity to show you around the lovely state of North Carolina (true natives would say “Noth Care-line-a,” light on the “r”). I’ve thought about what to say about North Carolina. It’s the South, you know, and I’m not a Southerner, so I’ve had a few things to say. Like why boiled peanuts should not be consumed. And funny things that Southerners say. Oh, and I can’t forgot the time that I found a confederate flag license plate at the DMV. Good times, good times. But really, I’m not painting it in as pretty colors as it deserves.

Here are a few random things it’s good to know about North Carolina:

  • We love our basketball. Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, or North Carolina State, it doesn’t matter. It’s all good here. Definitely a quality that a Kansas girl can appreciate (though I root for a different team, *ahem* the National Champion Jayhawks *ahem*).
  • North Carolina has both mountains and beach. The mountains are merely okay, but the Outer Banks are wonderful. It’s like a whole new world out there. (Cue music now.)

  • I live in Raleigh, the state capital. It’s known as the “City of Oaks.” We have a lot of trees. Something I wasn’t used to. On New Year’s they drop a giant acorn instead of a ball.

Enough about North Carolina. I feel like I’m not doing it justice. Let’s talk about me! I’m a single gal, so there’ll be no tripping over toys in my living room. I’m in my last semester of grad school, so you might be tripping over books instead. Speaking of books, I love to read. Too much, probably. I also love to write (hence the blog), laugh, and talk to others about my faith.

Feel free to take a look around. Thanks for stopping by, and please take an acorn party favor on your way out!

Landing in Enemy Territory

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I never get the paper, but last Sunday I did, to get some coupons that were in it. I didn’t take the time to read the paper (except for the Comics, can’t skip those!), but something caught my eye:

Aerial Delivery Goes Awry

It seems that UNC wanted to kick off the season by having parachute jumpers land in the stadium with the game ball. Due to bad weather, miscommunication, and poor judgment, the parachute jumpers were dropped off at the wrong stadium.

The stadium of UNC’s big rival, Duke. I’ve been trying to make a spiritual analogy out of this, but really, this is just a funny story in and of itself.

I laugh because the story says that the jumpers knew “only when they landed in [Duke's stadium] that they were in the wrong place.” Their slow descent into the stadium, where they could see the fans decked in the team colors, apparently didn’t give it away because there were few/no fans there an hour before their game. The ACC just doesn’t do football like other, Bigger (ahem) conferences.

Have a wonderful, restful, worshipful, and re-energizing Sunday!

Happy Sooner Day!

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**I apologize ahead of time for anyone who isn’t a football fan. Feel free to skip this post. Since I like to present the whole me on the blog, from time to time you’ll come across something that you and I don’t share in common. No problem. I, however, do not apologize for the views actually held in this post. The Sooners are my team, and you cannot convince me otherwise.**

Okay, so today isn’t actually a holiday. Or at least not one I’m aware of. But it IS the first day of the Oklahoma Sooner football season.

You may have thought from past posts that I am a KU Jayhawk fan through and through. Not true. Oh, it’s true enough come basketball season, but my football season love (no split loyalties here!) is the Oklahoma Sooners. OU is where I grew to like football; OU is where I grew to love football. One of my biggest regrets was never going to an OU-Texas game when I had a chance.

Being a Sooner fan on the east coast most certainly can be challenging. I don’t get to see as many games as I would like to (though I try to arrange to babysit for people with cable TV or satellite on key game nights) nor do I get to talk Sooner football with anyone. It’s kinda like celebrating an American holiday overseas.

My OU football self has never really clashed with my KU basketball self (which is the way I was raised) until this past football season. I distinctly remember a night over Christmas break duking it out with my parents and my brother about whether OU or KU were better in football that year. It was before the bowl games (where we were defeated by a team of the conference that I all too quickly discredited and KU won heartily) otherwise I might not have argued as strongly that OU was better.

I don’t expect there to be any question this year of which team was better. When we meet on the field, October 18, Oklahoma will prove that they are better.

So, enjoy this first day of real football and get on that couch!

The Olympics and World Peace

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I know, I know, I’m bringing up the Olympics again today. It’s just that I watched a lot of Olympic coverage yesterday. Did you see the men’s 4 x 100 free relay yesterday? Incredible! I haven’t cheered that loud since KU won the national championship. I think I could swim 100 meters in 2 minutes at best on a good day, but Jason Lezak did it in 46 seconds. Not only have I been watching the Olympics, but I’ve also been following the growing crisis in Georgia. I can’t help but compare the two.

The modern Olympics were started to allow countries from all over to come together for sports, even if they can’t come together for any other purpose. The idea of world unity and peace can be seen throughout the Olympic games. Athletes from nations that are not particularly friendly with one another compete side-by-side for the same medals. But Russia’s continuing assault on its former territory, Georgia, is a fresh reminder that this world isn’t at peace. Neither sports nor any other cause, no matter how noble, will be able to bring us together in true harmony.

As much as you or I might like it, world peace isn’t actually humanly attainable in this fallen world. History confirms this. Competing selfish interests will continue to fuel countries to war against each other. What is needed for world peace is not a sporting event, but the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Only through the working of God is there any hope for unity among the nations.

Not Quite an Olympic Athlete

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Yesterday I went kayaking with my ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class at church. It was my first time kayaking, though I’ve canoed a few times. It was a lot of fun, especially since the river was quite calm (we saw no whitewater), and the company was great. We rarely paddled at all but just enjoyed being on the water on a mild day for August.

When I turned on the Olympics today, they were showing some of the rowing competitions. Wow, that looks painful! I think my own rowing experience yesterday made me more aware of the amount of energy that was going into each stroke.

Right now I’m watching water polo. Now that’s a sport I’d play. It has also made me realize that I pretty much show interest in any sport given the opportunity.

What sports will you be paying attention to this Olympics? My favorite summer sport is gymnastics. When I was a kid I thought I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast, maybe in 2000. Umm, yeah right.

What Do I Deserve, Anyway?

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You probably haven’t heard unless you live in the Triangle like me or are a golf enthusiast (I like to watch the sport, but I don’t follow the sport), but Rudy Giuliani’s son, Andrew Giuliani is suing Duke University (the story has nothing to do with the former mayor, but that provides context). Why?

Because he was kicked off the golf team, which dashed his dreams of being a pro golfer.

Duke recently got a new golf coach, and he has been trying to cut the team down to a more reasonable size. Andrew Giuliani also admits to some rage-filled behavior earlier this year, which may have something to do with it. He performed at a level that put him in the bottom half of the team. Several of the other players admited to him that they wanted him off the team.

But Giuliani demands in his suit that he had a right to remain on the team. That he didn’t deserve to be treated like he was. From what it sounds like, it wasn’t the coach who dashed his dreams. It’s either that he isn’t trying hard enough or he doesn’t have the talent to achieve higher status in the golf world.

Of course I don’t know all the facts and maybe the coach or school does have some fault for the situation. But it seems pretty clear that the reason he got cut from the team is his performance. If you were cutting a team in half, wouldn’t you cut the bottom half performers?

This got me to think if we applied his reasoning to other areas. What about all the girls out there who want to be princesses? Should they sue the US for not having a royal family?

Or what about all the boys who do not have the talent/skills/work ethic/height to become an NBA basketball player though they always wanted to be just like Shaq? Should they sue the NBA for not hiring basketball players of a wide range of abilities?

Or all the children who want to cure cancer, but don’t have the perseverance/mental capabilities/diligence to get through med school? Should top-level cancer research centers be required to hire them anyway?

Do I DESERVE to achieve my dreams just because I dream them? I’m kinda sick of my generation that thinks this way.

Dear NATIONAL CHAMPION Jayhawks

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Dear NATIONAL CHAMPION Jayhawks,

You won my heart all over again so you deserve a second letter. This is the first national championship that you’ve won since I’ve been old enough to cheer “Rock chalk Jayhawk!” And though I went to a rival Big XII school, know that my (basketball) favorite was always you.

You earned this national championship by getting into the Final Four by beating the tourney sweetheart, Davidson. I hear a lot here in North Carolina about how good ACC basketball is, but you proved better then all of them by beating UNC Saturday (and oh, how it’s been cold and rainy in sky and countenance since!). Then tonight you beat the almost undefeated Tigers with class. You’re national champions for a reason.

Mario Chalmers…you are my hero.

Ecstatic,

Ronnica

P.S. A shoutout to Roy…I love you, but it turns out we didn’t need you to win the championship

P.P.S. Tigers, do you wish you had worked on that free throw percentage a little more? I heard somewhere that Calipari said your horrible free throw shooting wouldn’t affect your tourney play, but it did. If any of those last regulation free throws had made it in, you would be elated and I wouldn’t be. Just goes to show that you must work on the fundamentals, no matter how good you are!

Dear Jayhawks

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Dear Jayhawks,

First off, congrats! You really did Kansas proud by the way you played.

Since I live in North Carolina (and to be quite honest, I enjoy cheering for UNC as well – though I definitely didn’t tonight!), I was anxious about how this game would turn out. I knew that if for some reason you were blown out (though I knew you were able to hold your own), I would hear about it.

Of course, that didn’t happen. The way you played those first 15 minutes showed just how well you can play. Though the next fifteen were rough, you salvaged it by finishing it off well.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to brag on my home state once again.

Rock chalk Jayhawk!

Loving being a Kansas Girl,

Ronnica

Meme without a Purpose

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I have one more story that I want to share about last weekend, but first I wanted to respond to what Britni tagged me with. It doesn’t seem to have a name or a real purpose, except to find out random facts about the person filling it out. Feel free to play along even if I didn’t tag you; I just wanted to save the tags for new friends that I want to know better. Here goes!

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago: In my freshman year of high school and just learning how to drive.

Five things on my to-do list today:
Watch basketball (a big priority)
Watch KU win (again, a priority)
Get some work work done
Post a blog post
Read for Old Testament and New Testament.

Snacks I enjoy:
Diet Dr. Pepper (you might not think of it as a snack, but those commercials are true)
Easter candy (Snickers eggs and Reese’s eggs have the exact correct proportion of filling to chocolate)
Anything else chocolate
Peanut butter and crackers (at least it’s better for me than chocolate)
Cheez-its

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Visit friends throughout the world and see lots of other places
Set up some sort of charitable foundation (this would be super exciting to me…I love giving things away!)
Build a modest-sized house that had a library, a large kitchen, a jacuzi tub, and the perfect place to read a good book
Forget about work, and instead opt for volunteering my time

Three of my bad habits:
Drinking too much caffeine
Drooling while I sleep (but how can I stop it? is it really a habit or just gross?)
Sitting on my legs (I’ve always done this, but it makes them fall asleep)

Five places I have lived:
Wichita, KS
Norman, OK
Raleigh, NC
To get to 5 I have to include:
Phoenix, AZ (for a summer)
Turkey (for a summer)

Five jobs I’ve had:
Cashier at Walmart
Secretary
Babysitter
Tutor
Fundraiser for OU by phone

Five people I want to know more about (a nice way of saying TAG!):
(I’m tagging new bloggy friends or one who is new to blogging so I can get to know you better, so don’t feel pushed to particpate)
Eve
Morgan
Brenda
Jen (my new bloggy friend)
Jen (my old real-life friend)