Random Thoughts-December 9

Some random thoughts while waiting for the roads to clear.  It will take to spring.

-Anyone else love to watch football played in the snow?  Several games yesterday featured snow which hampered and changed the way games are played.  I believe those games are won by coaching, making the adjustments to play calling, attitudes, and strategy.  Philadelphia, for example, won yesterday with the changes made by their coaching staff at halftime.  The Eagles have change of direction speed, a game not suited to snow covered fields.  Using the speed in straight lines eventually put the Lions on their heels and put the Eagles in the win column.

-Seattle's run defense was finally exposed by a good San Francisco running game.  Downhill running, combined with great line speed blew open some holes and lead to the 49er win yesterday.  It sure wasn't a dominant performance, but enough to get the win.  While New Orleans looked good last night against a hot Carolina team, Seattle still appears to be the class of the of the NFC.

-Tom Brady and the Patriots pulled out one more win, but the end appears near.  Sooner or later, it's gonna take a new magician, and we'll see what Bill Belichik can do with a lesser product.  They appear to be the class of the AFC, but some of the best competition appears to be weaker than first thought.

-Quite an interesting week in Major League Baseball.  Robinson Canoe's signing in Seattle appears to inject new life into the Mariners.  Second level superstars, like David Freese, changing address. The playoff teams and the ones that finished close seem to be relatively quiet.  I'm looking for some moves from teams like Kansas City and Cleveland.  The Nationals made a couple of moves late in the week to add depth, but still need top line talent to go with Harper and Strasburg.  Wondering how much longer Jeff Samardzija will be a Cub.

-Finally, sending prayers to the Elkhart community.  Sarah Crane, the youngest stage four colon cancer patient in the United States, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday.  One can't look anywhere without seeing purple Sarah Strong signs and merchandise.  It united a community.  She was a friend of several young people that I have coached over the years, and we are praying for a peace beyond understand to all involved.  It covers a lot of people.

No...I'm not off base on the last one.