out here in the middle
christianity, cycling, music, culture
christianity, cycling, music, culture
out here in the middle...
Tip Your Servers, Please
The Christmas season is the toughest time of the year, if you're a budget geek like me. In addition to all the gifts for all the relatives you never see, there are budget busters around every corner. No matter how carefully you plan, there will always be an extra gift, a meal out, or a broken water heater to mess things up.
Add to that a deep recession, and you have the makings for a difficult time financially in the month of December.
Sometimes it is hard to avoid eating out during the month of December. Whether it is a holiday gathering with friends or coworkers, or you're out Christmas shopping and don't feel like going home to cook a meal, this is a big month for restaurants.
I was chatting with some co-workers at the bank recently, both of whom happen to moonlight as waitresses at local restaurants. Out of curiosity, I asked them about the tips they receive this time of year. They both said it varies—regular customers will often give them extra tips, while others stiff them altogether. The most common reason people give for not tipping in December is that they say they can't afford to. Money is just too tight.
Can I just say something? If you're going to eat out at a sit down restaurant, tip your servers. Don't skip out on the tip. If you cannot afford to leave a tip, don't go to a restaurant where tipping is expected. That's just wrong.
In fact, I would suggest that you tip more than usual this time of year. Those servers are probably doing like my friends—working second jobs to help make the ends meet. Leaving an extra tip is a great blessing to them. I was listening to a talk radio show the other day, and someone called in to say that he had left a $20 tip on a $20 dinner check. He wasn't bragging, he was just so filled with joy that he wanted to share it. He said it felt great. Another caller said that they had left a $100 tip recently, and he had the same feeling.
That's because generosity is a good thing. It feels really good to be generous. And it doesn't matter if our generosity is directed toward those we know, or those we don't. Generosity to complete strangers is just as great a blessing!
Lisa and I are going out to eat tonight. No reason—our shopping is all done, and we don't have any other plans. But her dad gave us a gift card to a local restaurant, and it is burning a hole in our pocket. Now the gift card is for $35. We usually share a meal and an appetizer, so we eat cheap. Hopefully we can eat cheap, so that the remainder of the gift card balance will be enough to make a really nice tip for our server. But if not, we'll leave a generous gratuity for him or her.
Another thing for those of you who happen to be followers of Christ. Generosity should be a quality you strive for. And it is a quality that identifies you as a believer. On the flip side, a lack of generosity is a bad witness.
Talking to my friends about their experiences serving tables, they said there is nothing worse than seeing a group of people come to their restaurant, offer a prayer before the meal, then leave them a crappy tip. They said that they hate to work Sunday afternoons, because often the "church crowd" will be the most difficult customers. Not only to they leave lousy tips, but many times they complain about everything. One girl said that if she didn't go into the business already knowing what she believed, she would have been turned off to Christianity, based on what she witnesses regularly by church people in restaurants. So sad.
So everyone have a Merry Christmas, and don't stiff your servers.
Okay. Good talk.
Add to that a deep recession, and you have the makings for a difficult time financially in the month of December.
Sometimes it is hard to avoid eating out during the month of December. Whether it is a holiday gathering with friends or coworkers, or you're out Christmas shopping and don't feel like going home to cook a meal, this is a big month for restaurants.
I was chatting with some co-workers at the bank recently, both of whom happen to moonlight as waitresses at local restaurants. Out of curiosity, I asked them about the tips they receive this time of year. They both said it varies—regular customers will often give them extra tips, while others stiff them altogether. The most common reason people give for not tipping in December is that they say they can't afford to. Money is just too tight.
Can I just say something? If you're going to eat out at a sit down restaurant, tip your servers. Don't skip out on the tip. If you cannot afford to leave a tip, don't go to a restaurant where tipping is expected. That's just wrong.
In fact, I would suggest that you tip more than usual this time of year. Those servers are probably doing like my friends—working second jobs to help make the ends meet. Leaving an extra tip is a great blessing to them. I was listening to a talk radio show the other day, and someone called in to say that he had left a $20 tip on a $20 dinner check. He wasn't bragging, he was just so filled with joy that he wanted to share it. He said it felt great. Another caller said that they had left a $100 tip recently, and he had the same feeling.
That's because generosity is a good thing. It feels really good to be generous. And it doesn't matter if our generosity is directed toward those we know, or those we don't. Generosity to complete strangers is just as great a blessing!
Lisa and I are going out to eat tonight. No reason—our shopping is all done, and we don't have any other plans. But her dad gave us a gift card to a local restaurant, and it is burning a hole in our pocket. Now the gift card is for $35. We usually share a meal and an appetizer, so we eat cheap. Hopefully we can eat cheap, so that the remainder of the gift card balance will be enough to make a really nice tip for our server. But if not, we'll leave a generous gratuity for him or her.
Another thing for those of you who happen to be followers of Christ. Generosity should be a quality you strive for. And it is a quality that identifies you as a believer. On the flip side, a lack of generosity is a bad witness.
Talking to my friends about their experiences serving tables, they said there is nothing worse than seeing a group of people come to their restaurant, offer a prayer before the meal, then leave them a crappy tip. They said that they hate to work Sunday afternoons, because often the "church crowd" will be the most difficult customers. Not only to they leave lousy tips, but many times they complain about everything. One girl said that if she didn't go into the business already knowing what she believed, she would have been turned off to Christianity, based on what she witnesses regularly by church people in restaurants. So sad.
So everyone have a Merry Christmas, and don't stiff your servers.
Okay. Good talk.
Winter Solstice
Monday marks Winter Solstice, which is the day when the sun is the lowest in the horizon, for those of us in the northern hemisphere. It lasts only an instant in time, and marks the shortest day of the year. It also marks the first day of Winter.
If you're a pagan, Winter Solstice means rebirth, holidays, gatherings, rituals, celebrations, and all that crap.
If you're a bike commuter, it marks the beginning of the end of the dark night of the soul, also known as winter bike commuting. Don't get me wrong, winter bike commuting is still better than driving. In fact, I've read several article lately extolling the virtues of winter commuting, and I'm going to try to write about them here in the coming days. So I don't want you to think that I don't like commuting on my bicycle in the cold weather months.
Its just that warm weather riding is so much better. It is lighter, and therefore faster. You're not all bundled up. Your body doesn't have to decide whether to sweat or freeze. You don't have to worry about hitting a patch of ice. And you don't have to worry about riding home in the darkness. My resolve is not nearly as strong when it is cold and dark in the mornings. The fireplace is like a magnet, and knowing that I can be to work in less than twenty minutes if I wanted makes it very tempting to leave the bike at home.
When you're a winter bike commuter, you hang on to every little bit of good news.
"Sure, it's 35 degrees outside, but at least the sun is shining."
"There is a strong west wind today that should carry me straight to work."
"I shaved my legs last night, and I don't want to waste it."
Or the always good, "School is out this week so traffic will be light."
But there is no better motivator than December 21, Winter Solstice. Its like, we made it to the top of the mountain, and it is all downhill from here. From Monday on, each day will get a little longer. Darkness will come a few minutes later. And before we know it, the weather will be warm again.
I can't wait.
If you're a pagan, Winter Solstice means rebirth, holidays, gatherings, rituals, celebrations, and all that crap.
If you're a bike commuter, it marks the beginning of the end of the dark night of the soul, also known as winter bike commuting. Don't get me wrong, winter bike commuting is still better than driving. In fact, I've read several article lately extolling the virtues of winter commuting, and I'm going to try to write about them here in the coming days. So I don't want you to think that I don't like commuting on my bicycle in the cold weather months.
Its just that warm weather riding is so much better. It is lighter, and therefore faster. You're not all bundled up. Your body doesn't have to decide whether to sweat or freeze. You don't have to worry about hitting a patch of ice. And you don't have to worry about riding home in the darkness. My resolve is not nearly as strong when it is cold and dark in the mornings. The fireplace is like a magnet, and knowing that I can be to work in less than twenty minutes if I wanted makes it very tempting to leave the bike at home.
When you're a winter bike commuter, you hang on to every little bit of good news.
"Sure, it's 35 degrees outside, but at least the sun is shining."
"There is a strong west wind today that should carry me straight to work."
"I shaved my legs last night, and I don't want to waste it."
Or the always good, "School is out this week so traffic will be light."
But there is no better motivator than December 21, Winter Solstice. Its like, we made it to the top of the mountain, and it is all downhill from here. From Monday on, each day will get a little longer. Darkness will come a few minutes later. And before we know it, the weather will be warm again.
I can't wait.
Tiger Woods is Athlete of the Decade
It is that time of year again. It isn't even Christmas yet, and everyone is scrambling to get their stories published about the "greatest this or that" from 2009, or as is the case this year, the "greatest this or that" of the decade. 2009 is the last year of the decade, I guess, so everyone seems to be looking back.
These lists are always difficult to quantify. How do you name the greatest sports team of the last ten years? Or the greatest news maker? Or the greatest anything? Especially in this day and age, when stories and celebrities come and go like a vapor in the wind. Most stories don't hang on for one year, much less ten. The only thing that is obvious on any list of the past ten years would be the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. I'm sure that it will top everyone's list as the most important story of the decade.
But not all lists are as weighty as that. Take the AP list of greatest athletes of the decade, a list which was released earlier this week. It comes as a surprise to no one that Tiger Woods tops the list. Well, it WOULD have been no surprise up until about two weeks ago, when we found out that squeaky clean family man Tiger turned out to really be named "Cheetah." So far, fourteen women, most of them pretty trashy looking, have come forward claiming to have had an affair with Tiger Woods. It has been reported that most of the votes were cast after the scandal broke, so it would appear that his wandering eye and womanizing ways have no impact on his impact on the sports world.
Lance Armstrong came in second. A close second. And he is a womanizer. So I guess it doesn't really matter. When your top two choices are Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong, fidelity goes out the window, at least as far as qualifications for this honor go.
Of course, I would argue that Lance Armstrong deserves to have won this honor. No surprise there. It isn't that I don't think that Tiger deserves it—surely one could make the case that he deserves it. I'm sure he does. I just happen to believe that Lance deserves it more.
I was chatting with a guy earlier in the week about this. He is an avid golfer, and he argued the point that Tiger deserves it more than Lance. He made some excellent points.
So yes, in many ways, one could argue that Tiger deserves to be named "athlete of the decade." But I have a few arguments against it.
Is a golfer truly an athlete? I mean, sure, golf is a game, a fun game, but is it really a sport? I heard one person say that any game where an 85 year old man can beat a 35 year old man is not a sport, it is a game. There is a difference.
I've always said that any sport where you can be a professional, and be named "Lumpy," is not a sport at all.
Yep, his name is Lumpy
Any activity where the majority of participants drive around in little cars is not a sport.
One particularly passionate golfer said to me, "come out to the course with me, and play 36 holes, and see if it is an athletic endeavor. You won't be able to walk after that."
Of course, I defended myself by telling him that on at least a couple of occasions, I have played 100 holes in a single day. Sure I was tired, but I could still walk. And I was fat when I played 100 holes in one day.
Not one to get into a contest with him, I didn't suggest that he join me for a 100 mile bicycle ride. It is hard to argue against the athleticism required to be a pretty decent cyclist. Sorry.
And Lance has changed his sport pretty radically too.
Oh, and did I mention that Lance overcame cancer before he accomplished all these things? To me, that is the clincher. Tiger is a great golfer. He is the greatest golfer ever. He is one of the top athletes of any sport in the last ten years. He has won more money, and more tournaments, than just about anyone.
But he never had cancer. In fact, up until last year, he's never really even had a side-lining injury. Lance had testicular cancer, which spread to his lungs and his brain. Some doctors gave him less than a 2% chance of surviving. It hit him when he was in the prime of his career, or so he thought. But he fought through it, and ended up at the top. No other athlete in history has overcome such odds.
To me, Lance Armstrong is the greatest athlete of the decade.
Of course, now all the tennis fans might argue for Roger Federerererer, who came in third. Not a chance.
These lists are always difficult to quantify. How do you name the greatest sports team of the last ten years? Or the greatest news maker? Or the greatest anything? Especially in this day and age, when stories and celebrities come and go like a vapor in the wind. Most stories don't hang on for one year, much less ten. The only thing that is obvious on any list of the past ten years would be the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. I'm sure that it will top everyone's list as the most important story of the decade.
But not all lists are as weighty as that. Take the AP list of greatest athletes of the decade, a list which was released earlier this week. It comes as a surprise to no one that Tiger Woods tops the list. Well, it WOULD have been no surprise up until about two weeks ago, when we found out that squeaky clean family man Tiger turned out to really be named "Cheetah." So far, fourteen women, most of them pretty trashy looking, have come forward claiming to have had an affair with Tiger Woods. It has been reported that most of the votes were cast after the scandal broke, so it would appear that his wandering eye and womanizing ways have no impact on his impact on the sports world.
Lance Armstrong came in second. A close second. And he is a womanizer. So I guess it doesn't really matter. When your top two choices are Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong, fidelity goes out the window, at least as far as qualifications for this honor go.
Of course, I would argue that Lance Armstrong deserves to have won this honor. No surprise there. It isn't that I don't think that Tiger deserves it—surely one could make the case that he deserves it. I'm sure he does. I just happen to believe that Lance deserves it more.
I was chatting with a guy earlier in the week about this. He is an avid golfer, and he argued the point that Tiger deserves it more than Lance. He made some excellent points.
- The PGA purse has grown from about $85 million to nearly $300 million since Tiger came along.
- Tiger is the first athlete in history to earn over a billion dollars in winnings, endorsements, etc.
- Viewership for tournaments where Tiger does NOT participate are significantly lower than ones where he does. In the year he was off recuperating from a shoulder injury, ratings were down 50%.
- Tiger will likely win more major championships than any golfer in history. That is, if his current scandal doesn't force him into retirement.
So yes, in many ways, one could argue that Tiger deserves to be named "athlete of the decade." But I have a few arguments against it.
Is a golfer truly an athlete? I mean, sure, golf is a game, a fun game, but is it really a sport? I heard one person say that any game where an 85 year old man can beat a 35 year old man is not a sport, it is a game. There is a difference.
I've always said that any sport where you can be a professional, and be named "Lumpy," is not a sport at all.
Yep, his name is LumpyAny activity where the majority of participants drive around in little cars is not a sport.
One particularly passionate golfer said to me, "come out to the course with me, and play 36 holes, and see if it is an athletic endeavor. You won't be able to walk after that."
Of course, I defended myself by telling him that on at least a couple of occasions, I have played 100 holes in a single day. Sure I was tired, but I could still walk. And I was fat when I played 100 holes in one day.
Not one to get into a contest with him, I didn't suggest that he join me for a 100 mile bicycle ride. It is hard to argue against the athleticism required to be a pretty decent cyclist. Sorry.
And Lance has changed his sport pretty radically too.
- He won the most difficult athlete event in the world, the Tour de France, seven consecutive times. Six of those victories came this decade. No other cyclist in history even comes close. Last year, after a three year retirement, he came back and managed a podium finish (third place overall).
- While in retirement, he managed to run the New York City marathon in less than three hours. He said it was the hardest thing he has ever done.
- While on vacation in the off season in 2009, he raced, and won by thirty minutes, a 100 mile mountain bike race in the mountains of Colorado.
- Bicycle sales across the world are up, even in the midst of a deep recession. More people in the United States are riding bicycles than ever before, and much of the credit lies with Lance.
- Prize money for cycling events has increased world wide. So have television ratings in the United States. Who would have ever thought that Americans would be lining up to watch bicycle races on television? But line up they do.
- Sure, Tiger is the fourth most recognized athlete in the world. But Lance is the seventh most recognized.
Oh, and did I mention that Lance overcame cancer before he accomplished all these things? To me, that is the clincher. Tiger is a great golfer. He is the greatest golfer ever. He is one of the top athletes of any sport in the last ten years. He has won more money, and more tournaments, than just about anyone.
But he never had cancer. In fact, up until last year, he's never really even had a side-lining injury. Lance had testicular cancer, which spread to his lungs and his brain. Some doctors gave him less than a 2% chance of surviving. It hit him when he was in the prime of his career, or so he thought. But he fought through it, and ended up at the top. No other athlete in history has overcome such odds.
To me, Lance Armstrong is the greatest athlete of the decade.
Of course, now all the tennis fans might argue for Roger Federerererer, who came in third. Not a chance.
Oral Roberts Died Today
Tulsa is the home to Oral Roberts University. Today their chancellor passed away. Oral Roberts is a bigger than life personality, or at least he used to be, and his name has been associated with Tulsa for the past fifty years.
When I was a kid, and we moved to Tulsa from the great state of Maryland, Oral Roberts University was one of the first places we went to see. Anytime our family came down for a visit, they wanted to see ORU.
We watched him just about every Sunday. I'll always remember them singing their theme song, and hearing Oral say, "something GOOD is going to happen to YOU!" Then Richard and Patti, and the World Action Singers, would start in. Oral always referred to his wife as his "darling wife, Evelyn."
Upon the news of his death, comments posted online wish Oral well, quoting verses like, "well done, good and faithful servant, enter into your rest."
Respectfully, I must disagree.
Roberts did a lot for the city of Tulsa. I'll admit that. Before that, we were an oil boom town, known as the "Oil Capital of the World," because every year, the International Petroleum Exposition was held here. But as the oil began to dry up, and most of the oil companies moved to Houston, Oral Roberts stayed put. His university drew people by the thousands here, and many of them stayed.
His contributions to the Christian faith were not so positive. In fact, I would argue that there is a sum negative. He owned a Bible. He held church services. But that's about it. Let me explain.
Roberts is the arguably the father of the health/wealth/prosperity gospel. He taught that it is always God's will for you to be healed, for you to be healthy, for you to be wealthy. This is completely the opposite of what Jesus taught. Jesus taught that in this world, we will have troubles, and our lives will not satisfy.
Roberts took advantage of people. P.T. Barnum said that there is a sucker born every minute, and Oral made millions from his belief in that. A fool and his money are soon parted, and Oral knew how to extract millions of dollars from little old ladies. In my opinion, he is no better than the people who send those emails from overseas, and take money from people who can least afford it, with the promise that they will get rich if they give their money to him.
Roberts was a false prophet. Many times, Roberts "prophesied," and those prophecies did not come true. In fact, often he was proved wrong. For example, he stood up and preached against the Assembly of God denomination for their handling of the Jim Bakker incident. He said they were wrong, and said that God told him that he was innocent. A true prophet of God is never wrong.
Roberts was a liar. When his son Richard divorced his wife, Patti, Oral gave the order for all records of her to be destroyed. Thousands of hours of archived video tape were edited to keep her out of the minds of donors. The same was true of his son Ronald, who committed suicide.
In the 80s, when trying to raise money for his doomed hospital, he claimed that he was visited by a 900 foot Jesus. Jesus told Roberts that if he didn't raise $8 million, God would "call him home." In other words, God would kill him. I'll never forget the Saturday Night Live skit about this little chapter in Oral's life. The final check came from the owner of a dog track in Florida, and when Oral endorsed that check, any credibility he may have ever had was gone forever. He would take money from any body, any time.
He wrote a little book many years ago, called "The Miracle of Seed Faith." I read it once. In it he claimed that the Bible teaches that God will specifically pay you back, financially, ten times what you give to him. Do you need a thousand dollars? Give a hundred to me. Do you want a million dollars? Send $100,000 to me, and God will give you the million. He treated it like an investment.
In the 1970s, John Lennon wrote Oral Roberts a letter. Lennon was obsessed with television, and watched several popular TV evangelists. Lennon told Roberts that he was sorry he ever said that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. He said he was afraid of dying, and wanted to escape hell. He asked Roberts if Christianity was real, and if it could really help him. Bro. Oral mailed John Lennon of copy of "The Miracle of Seed Faith." John Lennon send him a large contribution. A few years later, Lennon said that he had been born again. But within eighteen months, he had rejected Christianity completely.
Oral spent the last several years of his life in Palm Springs, California. That's where millionaires go to retire. While he was basking in the lap of luxury, the university that bears his name was nearly run into the ground. Only the actions of a few members of the board of directors saved the institution. If it had been left to the Roberts family, that school would be on the auction block today.
It is not my intention to bemoan the dead. I have prayed for Roberts' family today, because they are surely hurting at the loss of their patriarch. But the fact is that there are a lot of misled people out there because of Oral Roberts. Some of those who are misled are members of the faith, but their doctrine is jacked up because of what Roberts taught. And some of them are outside the faith, and Oral Roberts is going to be held accountable for the trash that he taught. It would be better for him if a giant stone was tied around his neck, and he was tossed overboard.
I only wish that his crappy doctrine would have died with him today. But there's no chance of that.
Biggest Loser Season 8: Danny Cahill
The eighth installment of The Biggest Loser did not disappoint. There were two Tulsa boys in the mix this time, and both did well, and one did really well.
Danny Cahill, who is 40, weighed 430 pounds when he stepped onto the ranch seven months ago. Last night, on live television, it was revealed that he had lost 239 pounds, which is more than 55% of his body weight. He now weighs 191 pounds. Well, he weighed 191 pounds at the final weigh in. I suspect that after the show, he went out for some pizza and beer, so he might actually weigh 199 pounds this morning. Surely he deserves it.
It was the most weight loss in the show's history. The transformation was remarkable. Who knew that such a handsome man was lurking behind that little tuft of jazz beard on Danny's face? Weight loss does great things for a person.
Danny won $250,000 for losing the highest percentage of body weight. He says that he and his wife discussed it, and they are going to put new carpet in their modest Broken Arrow home.
Rebecca Ann Meyer won the $100,000 at-home prize—she looks great too.
Season Nine begins on January 5—that's just over three weeks from now. It is a "couples" theme, and from the previews, it looks like another good one. This show is an inspiration, and if you need encouragement to get your life back, watch it. It can be done. If one man can do it, any man can do it. You can do it.
Here are some before and after pictures of Danny. Enjoy.
Danny Cahill, who is 40, weighed 430 pounds when he stepped onto the ranch seven months ago. Last night, on live television, it was revealed that he had lost 239 pounds, which is more than 55% of his body weight. He now weighs 191 pounds. Well, he weighed 191 pounds at the final weigh in. I suspect that after the show, he went out for some pizza and beer, so he might actually weigh 199 pounds this morning. Surely he deserves it.
It was the most weight loss in the show's history. The transformation was remarkable. Who knew that such a handsome man was lurking behind that little tuft of jazz beard on Danny's face? Weight loss does great things for a person.
Danny won $250,000 for losing the highest percentage of body weight. He says that he and his wife discussed it, and they are going to put new carpet in their modest Broken Arrow home.
Rebecca Ann Meyer won the $100,000 at-home prize—she looks great too.
Season Nine begins on January 5—that's just over three weeks from now. It is a "couples" theme, and from the previews, it looks like another good one. This show is an inspiration, and if you need encouragement to get your life back, watch it. It can be done. If one man can do it, any man can do it. You can do it.
Here are some before and after pictures of Danny. Enjoy.
The Indiscretions of Famous People
The news media is all a-flutter over news that Tiger Woods has been playing golf with women not his wife. People are expressing shock and dismay, disappointment at his "transgressions."
I'm not sure why people are so shocked. Let's face it, he is famous, rich, and handsome. If you're a man in that situation, and trying to keep your marriage vows, you've got a pretty tough assignment. It isn't that men have no resolve, it has more to do with the way men are wired up. Whether you have a biblical worldview, or an evolutionary worldview, you understand that men are pre-programmed to perpetuate the species, and where there is no moral restraint, this kind of behavior is going to happen. Add to that the fact that there are women who throw themselves at these celebrities, they are going to have a difficult time staying true.
From Father Abraham to King David of Israel, from Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to Bill Clinton and Mark Foley, famous people have cheated on their spouses, and created scandal. Studies have consistently showed that more than half of all married people have committed adultery. Point is, this is nothing new, and yet it still shocks us.
I'm trying really hard to keep this post from turning into a sociological study of why people cheat. Or how many people cheat. Or the fact that for every man who cheats on his wife, there are (almost) as many women who are cheating on their husbands.
And I'm not going to turn this post into a commentary on the destructive effects of adultery. There is no question that when people commit adultery, there is a ripple effect, from the jilted spouse to their children to their friends, and everyone in their sphere of influence. When you're a famous person, that sphere of influence numbers in the tens of millions, and suddenly an extra-marital affair becomes a very big deal. But even if you're not famous, adultery is a wicked, destructive activity. It is not worth it.
What this post is about has more to do with why some peoples' affairs get a lot of attention, while others seem to get a free pass.
Specifically, I'm speaking of Lance Armstrong. Now Lance is one of my cycling heroes. And he is one of my personal heroes. His cancer comeback is inspirational, and even if I was not a cyclist, I would find his story compelling. It isn't just me, either. Lance is one of the most famous people in the world. According to Forbes Magazine, Lance is one of the top 25 wealthiest sports figures in the world, even though he is near the end of his professional career. According to a USA Today survey, he is the sixth-most recognized athlete in the world. Tiger is fourth on that list.
Kristin Armstrong, Lance's exIn addition to being a cycling stud and a cancer survivor, Lance has a reputation of being a player. He was married to what some would call the perfect woman—a smart, beautiful, tall, long-legged, successful blonde who gave him three children. But they divorced, and speculation was the split was because of Lance's womanizing ways. The media just barely noticed. No one suggested that Nike or Oakley or Trek should cancel their endorsement deals over it. There were no women talking to Us or People magazines, saving hundreds of text messages, or voicemails played on TV. Lance has been with some of the most visible, hot celebrities in the world, from Kate Hudson to Sheryl Crow, even one (or both) of the Olsen twins (eeww). Today he is with Anna Hansen, the world-famous supermodel. In the Summer of 2009, she bore him a son, Max. How long this relationship will last is anyone's guess. I hope that he will settle down, and find the happiness he seems to long for.
Lance and his baby mama, Anna HansenThe point is, no one seems to even raise an eyebrow when Lance cheats, but Tiger cheats, and it is the lead story on just about every news cast. Why is that?
I have some theories of my own, but I also asked around a little, to see what other people thought. Mostly, people didn't really have an opinion, but they were quick to share the latest Tiger Woods joke, tying golf and sex and driving/crashing cars together. But here are a few of the responses people gave me.
People don't give a crap about bicycling. This was one man's opinion. I disagreed with him, not because I think people give a crap about bicycling—he's right about that—but because the sport has little to do with it. People don't give a crap about golf either, at least most people. And recent surveys show that cycling is rapidly approaching golf as the popular amatuer sport. "Cycling is the new golf" was one recent headline. The sport these men play has little or nothing to do with it.
Tiger is more famous than Lance. Okay, I'll give you that. He is more famous, at least in the United States, where golf gets more publicity. On the world stage, I suspect that Lance is nearly as famous, especially in Europe, where cycling is king. Even in the United States, though, they are both on the top ten list of most recognized athletes. So I don't think it is about fame.
Lance lives in Europe half the time, and their set of morals is different over there. Okay, this makes sense. It is true that in other parts of the world, who a person sleeps with doesn't make the news as much as it does here. I'm no expert on European sociology, but what I have learned is that extra-marital relationships are more accepted in their culture than in ours.
Lance has never claimed to be a poster boy for morality. True, but then, neither has Tiger. I think this might just be the best explanation. It is true that we don't know a lot about Tiger's faith, or his moral code. I've not read a thing about his set of beliefs. He isn't going around carrying a Bible in his hand, or telling people that they should live right lives. But he is a good American man, brought up by good parents. He makes his living hanging out at exclusive country clubs that used to never let people of his color/ethnicity in the gates, unless they were carrying a serving tray. These country clubs are populated by people who express shock at the news that someone would have an affair, while secretly, many of them are carrying on extra-marital relationships of their own. Tiger is the spokesman for all that is good and wholesome in this country—Buick, Nike, fine living, and the rags to riches story.
Not so, Lance. Lance makes his living in the mountains of Europe, a teammate of other great athletes, where sweat and suffering are always the order of the day. Bicycle racing is a common man's sport, and it is the common man who comes to watch. Lance has never claimed moral superiority, and his life has never hinted that he does. He is very open about the fact that he is not a Christian (or anything else), that he believes in right here, right now. He believes in himself, and in the power of the human spirit and intellect to overcome adversity. Lance is a humanist. Nearly all success-oriented people are humanists, whether they admit it or not, until they are faced with something they cannot conquer. That's when they turn to God. Lance hasn't come up against anything he cannot conquer. Not yet, anyway. Hopefully, that day will come. But until it does, Lance is a man who lives for the day. He is rich, handsome, and successful. If women are throwing themselves at him, it is only because he has put himself in a position to enjoy the spoils of life. Among those spoils is sex with supermodels. He is going to indulge in that.
Chatting with a friend at work last week, we talked about the perfect storm these guys live in. Not only are they handsome, wealthy, and successful. They are on the road all the time, while their wives and children are at home. The more miles you put between yourself and your accountability structure, the easier it is to stray. When there is no commitment to faith or religion that would restrain such behavior, you have the recipe for unfaithfulness in marriage.
What can be done about it? If a person is in a similar situation (a person doesn't have to be wealthy or famous to be in this kind of disaster), how can they avoid the pitfalls? I suggested to someone recently that if I were Tiger or Lance, or whomever, I would take my family on the road with me. I would make sure that there wasn't any idle time. I would hope that I could find people to build a wall of accountability around me.
But what if you find no compelling reason to remain faithful? What if your attitude is "boys will be boys?" Someone suggested to me that these guys should just be very honest from the outset. They should say, "You know what? I want to stay faithful to you, that is my desire. However, I know that when I get out on the road, and there are women throwing themselves at me, I might slip up sometimes. If and when that happens, I need you to not freak out on me. Be patient with me on that, and we can spend the rest of our lives together, and grow old together. Freak out, and you'll end up with a settlement and a divorce decree." Yeah, that would go over REAL well, wouldn't it?
I wouldn't have a problem with Tiger and his wife coming to that agreement. As long as his wife said, "Look, Tiger, I'm a supermodel. I have blonde hair, long legs, and a rockin' body. Sometimes, when you're on the road, and I am missing you, occasionally I might have a quickie with the pool boy. Or one of your golfing buddies. Not saying I want to cheat, but hey, if it happens, don't freak out on me, okay?"
Mrs. Tiger WoodsSomething tells me that wouldn't go over too well. What do you think?
There is a Mode of Transportation More Dangerous Than Cycling
I once heard a trivia question, it turned out to be a bit of a trick question:
"In what mode of transportation are more people killed than any other?"
Ask your friends. They'll guess all kinds of things. Cars is usually their first guess. Airplanes too. If you're a cyclist like me, they will guess bicycling.
They probably will not guess the right answer.
It is walking.
More people are killed while walking than any other form of transportation.
It is a trick question because people of nearly every age walk. They don't start riding bicycles until age five or six. They don't start driving until age 15 or 16. And the vast majority of people in the world will never climb on board an airplane.
But everybody walks. In most places in the world, walking is the preferred way to get around.
Not in Oklahoma. If you walk in Oklahoma, there is something wrong with you.
It is even worse, and in my opinion, more dangerous, than cycling.
Today, Brooklyn met me at my office for lunch. She came straight over from class, so I told her I would grab some Arby's and we would eat at the bank. Arby's is only two blocks away, so I decided to walk. I've done it before, no big deal.
It is one block to the corner, and two cross walks over to Arby's. Cars in the right-turn-only lane acted like they were in a race with me. Some cars completely failed to stop on red, they just assumed no one was coming, and went right. Screw the guy on foot, I've got to get to my aerobics class.
The kicker came when I encountered a lady leaving Starbucks. She was talking on her cell phone, wanting to turn right, and looking left. She never once checked the sidewalk, and if I hadn't yelled out, she would have run right into me. But yell out I did, and scared the you-know-what out of her. Job, done.
I suspect that if she had not had the cell phone glued to her ear, she would have been free to look both ways, and wouldn't have nearly hit me. A few weeks ago, a school bus passed me while I was riding to work. She barely made it, because there was oncoming traffic. The driver was talking on her cell phone, while driving a bunch of kids around.
It is my belief that cell phones should be banned from use within the confines of steel coffins (aka cars). It is already illegal in many states. Most every car I see, drivers are talking on their phones. Here is an interesting op-ed piece from last July's New York Times. Read it. Beginning on Tuesday, December 1, a cell phone ban takes effect in Philly. Read about it here. Here is a link to a chart that shows which states have placed a ban on cell phones while driving. You'll notice that Oklahoma hasn't done a darn thing.
Please, in the name of safety, make cell phone use illegal in cars.
And the sooner, the better.
"In what mode of transportation are more people killed than any other?"
Ask your friends. They'll guess all kinds of things. Cars is usually their first guess. Airplanes too. If you're a cyclist like me, they will guess bicycling.
They probably will not guess the right answer.
It is walking.
More people are killed while walking than any other form of transportation.
It is a trick question because people of nearly every age walk. They don't start riding bicycles until age five or six. They don't start driving until age 15 or 16. And the vast majority of people in the world will never climb on board an airplane.
But everybody walks. In most places in the world, walking is the preferred way to get around.
Not in Oklahoma. If you walk in Oklahoma, there is something wrong with you.
It is even worse, and in my opinion, more dangerous, than cycling.
Today, Brooklyn met me at my office for lunch. She came straight over from class, so I told her I would grab some Arby's and we would eat at the bank. Arby's is only two blocks away, so I decided to walk. I've done it before, no big deal.
It is one block to the corner, and two cross walks over to Arby's. Cars in the right-turn-only lane acted like they were in a race with me. Some cars completely failed to stop on red, they just assumed no one was coming, and went right. Screw the guy on foot, I've got to get to my aerobics class.
The kicker came when I encountered a lady leaving Starbucks. She was talking on her cell phone, wanting to turn right, and looking left. She never once checked the sidewalk, and if I hadn't yelled out, she would have run right into me. But yell out I did, and scared the you-know-what out of her. Job, done.
I suspect that if she had not had the cell phone glued to her ear, she would have been free to look both ways, and wouldn't have nearly hit me. A few weeks ago, a school bus passed me while I was riding to work. She barely made it, because there was oncoming traffic. The driver was talking on her cell phone, while driving a bunch of kids around.
It is my belief that cell phones should be banned from use within the confines of steel coffins (aka cars). It is already illegal in many states. Most every car I see, drivers are talking on their phones. Here is an interesting op-ed piece from last July's New York Times. Read it. Beginning on Tuesday, December 1, a cell phone ban takes effect in Philly. Read about it here. Here is a link to a chart that shows which states have placed a ban on cell phones while driving. You'll notice that Oklahoma hasn't done a darn thing.
Please, in the name of safety, make cell phone use illegal in cars.
And the sooner, the better.
Blessed. Thankful.
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving. If you're like me, you're taking stock of all the things you're thankful for. More than anything on this earth, I am thankful for my sweet family.
Overweight Students Don't Like Being Told What To Do
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him take a fitness class to lose weight.
No one wants to be told that they are overweight and out of shape. But the fact is that many people are. And like any life change, it is hard to force people to get in shape. But Lincoln University in Pennsylvania is going to try.
Many 2009-2010 seniors at the college are angry that they will not be allowed to graduate unless they take a course on fitness. But there is a catch. Not every student has to take the class. Only those students who are obese have to take it. Hmmmm....
Now, they've known since they were freshmen that they need to take this class. And many of them have not done it. With May 2010 looming, and only one semester left, many students are feeling the pressure to take it. And they're not happy.
You can read all about it here.
There are a lot of issues that need addressing here, and I'm not going to bother with most of them. We all know that obesity is epidemic among our society, and heart disease kills more people in the USA than anything else. There are a lot of fat, lazy people in this country, and many of them do not care, and don't want anyone telling them to diet and exercise. Since many parents don't seem to care enough to teach their children about fitness and a healthy diet, it would make sense for the schools to do it. But physical education programs are being cut in many schools, and once a person gets to college, they don't think anyone can tell them what to do.
There are about a million things wrong with Lincoln's plan here. For one thing, the BMI index is not very reliable. Many people have a fairly high BMI, but they are not really obese. I would want to use a more reliable scale to determine is someone is obese.
Also, a person can be skinny, and very unhealthy. We've all known skinny people who are lazy and out of shape. It seems to me that a lot of people can benefit from a fitness class.
My advice to Lincoln University is to make all students take the course. After all, some people who are skinny in college will get fat after graduation. They could benefit from the class. So make them all take it. Don't just single out the ones who are big now.
That's just wrong.
Want a Flu Shot?
Everyday, when you watch the news, you hear about the swine flu. Or, to be politically correct to swine, H1N1.
More specifically, we're hearing a lot about the H1N1 vaccine. News footage from across the nation shows desperate people waiting in long lines, hoping against hope to get the shot. It reminds me of those disaster movies, where there are thousands of people being left to die, while only a few people are saved. And since every good story has to have an antagonist, the news blew a story out of proportion about Wall Street firms who received shots for their employees, even while hospitals were running out.
It has gotten so bad that I usually just change the channel as soon as they start talking about swine flu. But recently, something struck me. The news was interviewing a lady who was lined up to get her swine flu shot, and she was aggravated that they ran out before her number came up. She had waited for over two hours, but she would be back to get her shot the next time around.
I wondered, what are the odds that this woman is going to die of H1N1? Don't know—statistics are not that readily available. But what we do know is that the chances that she will die of H1N1 are lower than dying of the regular flu. And the odds that she will die of the regular flu are 1 in 304,000. To put it into perspective, the odds that I would die from my relatively minor heart procedure earlier this year were one in 1,500. The odds that you will die from a lighting strike are one in 79. The odds that you will die from taking a prescription drug are one in 3,000 (meaning that you're more likely to die from an adverse reaction to the flu shot, than actually dying from the flu?). Point is, most people have a lot more to worry about than dying of the flu.
What are the odds that she, or any other woman in America, will die of heart disease? 1 in 10. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America. It is caused by any number of things, most of them preventable. Smoking. Obesity. Inactivity. High cholesterol. High blood pressure.
On television, I see a lot of people lining up to get the H1N1 vaccine, and some of them are quite obese. I don't see these same people lining up to have a chance to join a gym, or go for a run. I don't see them waiting in line for the chance to eat more fiber, or to consume fewer calories. I don't see people getting angry at big American corporations because they lost out on a chance to drink less alcohol, eat fewer french fries, or smoke fewer cigarettes.
Granted, there is some evidence indicating that obese people are more likely to be affected by the swine flu than non-obese people. See this article out of Salt Lake City.
To be clear, the chances that an adult woman in the United States will die of heart disease is one in ten. The odds are even greater for obese women. But aren't worried about that, they're panicked about getting a flu shot, when they are more likely to die from a lightning strike than from the swine flu.
I suppose that if they made a shot that would cause a person to lose weight, quit smoking, and overcome all the poor decisions about diet and exercise we make, people would be lining up for that, too. It is hard work to reduce the risk of heart disease. Quitting smoking is not easy. Changing your dietary habits is hard. It takes more work to ride a bicycle than to sit on the couch and watch TV. Reducing the odds that you'll die of heart disease is not easy, but it can be done. And when the odds are so stacked against us, why wouldn't everyone want to try?
Right?
More specifically, we're hearing a lot about the H1N1 vaccine. News footage from across the nation shows desperate people waiting in long lines, hoping against hope to get the shot. It reminds me of those disaster movies, where there are thousands of people being left to die, while only a few people are saved. And since every good story has to have an antagonist, the news blew a story out of proportion about Wall Street firms who received shots for their employees, even while hospitals were running out.
It has gotten so bad that I usually just change the channel as soon as they start talking about swine flu. But recently, something struck me. The news was interviewing a lady who was lined up to get her swine flu shot, and she was aggravated that they ran out before her number came up. She had waited for over two hours, but she would be back to get her shot the next time around.
I wondered, what are the odds that this woman is going to die of H1N1? Don't know—statistics are not that readily available. But what we do know is that the chances that she will die of H1N1 are lower than dying of the regular flu. And the odds that she will die of the regular flu are 1 in 304,000. To put it into perspective, the odds that I would die from my relatively minor heart procedure earlier this year were one in 1,500. The odds that you will die from a lighting strike are one in 79. The odds that you will die from taking a prescription drug are one in 3,000 (meaning that you're more likely to die from an adverse reaction to the flu shot, than actually dying from the flu?). Point is, most people have a lot more to worry about than dying of the flu.
What are the odds that she, or any other woman in America, will die of heart disease? 1 in 10. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America. It is caused by any number of things, most of them preventable. Smoking. Obesity. Inactivity. High cholesterol. High blood pressure.
On television, I see a lot of people lining up to get the H1N1 vaccine, and some of them are quite obese. I don't see these same people lining up to have a chance to join a gym, or go for a run. I don't see them waiting in line for the chance to eat more fiber, or to consume fewer calories. I don't see people getting angry at big American corporations because they lost out on a chance to drink less alcohol, eat fewer french fries, or smoke fewer cigarettes.
Granted, there is some evidence indicating that obese people are more likely to be affected by the swine flu than non-obese people. See this article out of Salt Lake City.
To be clear, the chances that an adult woman in the United States will die of heart disease is one in ten. The odds are even greater for obese women. But aren't worried about that, they're panicked about getting a flu shot, when they are more likely to die from a lightning strike than from the swine flu.
I suppose that if they made a shot that would cause a person to lose weight, quit smoking, and overcome all the poor decisions about diet and exercise we make, people would be lining up for that, too. It is hard work to reduce the risk of heart disease. Quitting smoking is not easy. Changing your dietary habits is hard. It takes more work to ride a bicycle than to sit on the couch and watch TV. Reducing the odds that you'll die of heart disease is not easy, but it can be done. And when the odds are so stacked against us, why wouldn't everyone want to try?
Right?
about the author
Jason is an investment advisor, and a worship pastor, who never made very much money as a writer. He is married to his best friend, and has five of the best kids you'd ever want to meet. He is a near-daily bicycle commuter. The biggest challenge he faces in life is how to live out the two commandments.
