Champions!

I have been waiting for it rather anxiously. It appeared this morning on my MSN homepage. I can hardly wait to dive in to my 2008-09 edition of the complete Bowl Game Viewer's Guide. It details information about each of the teams and highlights key players. It analyzes the match ups and ranks them from worst to first in order of interest. It even offers me a chance to pick the game winners either privately for my own enjoyment or in a contest with other online players.

The fact is, I love watching college football. Over the course of the next three weeks, I'm going to watch a lot of it.

I'm going to watch Texas Tech and Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl because I think it will be a fun game. I'm going to watch Oklahoma State play Oregon because I love Justin Roper...the Oregon quarterback. He, his family and I go to church together. I'm going to be pulling for Georgia Tech against LSU in the Chick-fil-et Bowl because my neighbor Loree Anne's boyfriend is Tech's running back..Lucas Cox, #36. He seems to be a good guy. (I am quickly becoming a Tech fan. I think it is because they had the courage to play the Gardner-Webb runnin' bulldogs this year - my Alma Mater. By the way...Tech only won by 3.) I wish Louisville had beaten Cincy, or Rutgers, or West Virginia so I could watch Hunter Cantwell play one more time. Hunter and his family are former church members too. Hunter is a class act headed for great things. I'm going to be pulling for Georgia to beat Michigan State because...well...I'm a bit of a Georgia homer. Don't know why.

Then of course, there is Oklahoma vs. Florida in the BCS Championship game. I'm going to be pulling for both teams. Actually, I'm going to be pulling for both quarterbacks. I want them both to have amazing games...to do amazing things. I want them to make history. I want their names to be household words. I want them to become legends.

Why...? So that the next time Sam Bradford, the OK quarterback, is doing an interview for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes magazine Share The Victory...or the next time he is doing a video bible study series for them....kids might listen a bit closer. Or, the next time the Gator QB Tim Tebow is sharing his faith with orphaned kids in the Philippines or sharing his faith in a prison somewhere...he might be heard.

I don't care who wins the game. You see, to me it is not being a champion that matters...but rather what or who you are a champion for.

These talented guys are just kids really. They aren't perfect. But they do have a voice...pray for them...that they can be heard.
Check out this short video about Tim Tebow.