-On Wednesday afternoon, JTH and I delivered my resume to PCR’s mother, LLR, at Norwood Baptist Church. She serves as the church’s secretary. I was pleased to find that the church has a great facility and is less than eight miles from my home.-LLR gave us a tour of the building and an update on the status of the church. The pastor did leave but his departure was not as abrupt as I had been made to believe. A faction in the church decided it was time he left and pushed him until he did so. LLR and her husband have been members of the church for nineteen years but the previous Sunday represented their last as members of the church. She worked closely with the pastor and felt it was time to leave. LLR and her family’s withdrawal is not an isolated incidence. The church’s story is all too common and unfortunately churches seem to be the last to learn that “a house divided will not stand” (Mark 3:25).
-After a lengthy visit with LLR, JTH and I picked up lunch from Wishbone’s Famous Fingers & Wings and ate at the daycare he works at.
-On Wednesday night, MPW, RAW, and I went to the Tennessee basketball game at Thompson-Boling Arena. Though it was logistically ridiculous, I drove west to Farragut to pick them up at RAW’s home and then back further east of where I started to attend the game. This way, I got to get a quick kiss from KJW while she ate. (She removed the cup to administer the kiss.) It was worth the massive detour.-Earlier in the day, KJW was playing with her wand and transforming things from one object to another. Her mother, KLTW, then used the wand on KJW. She asked KJW what she turned into. KJW responded, “Jesus.” She then asked “What does Jesus say?” Answer: “Hi. I’m Jesus.” At least she is thinking about Jesus...
-We used our tickets to get into the game, but our seats were upgraded. JTL had four seats in section 110 that he acquired at work and he graciously allowed us sit with him. We sat directly behind the sound board. As you can see, our view was far better than it usually is as you can actually make out people on the court from this photo. JCT, who often sits with us in Section 317, sat with his father in the same row as we did. We also got to see CD, JKM, and MBR from church.
-The Vols played the Mississippi State Bulldogs at 9 PM in their next-to-last home game. The Bulldogs shot very well (especially in the second half) and their great free throw shooting (15 of 19) kept them in the game. The Vols pulled out a close win, 81-76. Bruce Pearl has never lost to the Bulldogs.-Heavily hyped freshman Scotty Hopson had originally committed to play at Mississippi State. Against the team he could have played for, he scored a career-high 21 points and was selected as player of the game. It is worth noting that the rainbow jump shooter air balled another free throw, making it at least three on the season. Is that a record?
-The play of the game came when Brian Williams blocked a shot, caught the deflection and immediately whipped an unbelievable bounce pass the length of the court to Wayne Chism who caught and dunked the ball. Although all aspects of the play were impressive, we were most surprised that Chism actually caught the ball.
-Despite the fact that the Vols failed to score 90 or more points, fans in attendance did get a free chicken sandwich from Chick fil-A. These vouchers were given at the doors upon entry. We figured that the franchise had a certain budget for this season-long offer and since the Vols have only scored 90 at home twice, they had extra funding for the promotion. Whatever the reason, free poultry is always appreciated.
-At halftime the finals of a campus wide three-point shootout were conducted. (Evidently only recreation majors knew about the competition as all finalists seemed to be associated with that field.) The two male finalists tied at nine points while the girls contest was won 8-4. There were 30 possible points so the shooting was not overly impressive. Still, they did better than I would have. The winners won a game from EA Sports, who had representatives on hand to promote a basketball video game. Thompson-Boling Arena was voted one of the fifteen toughest places to play in college basketball and the student section received commemorative shirts indicating as such. Unfortunately, the student section was sparsely populated on the night they were honored for their participation.-Tennessee sports legends Bernard King (basketball, 1974-1977) and Albert Haynesworth (football, 1999-2001) were in attendance and announced to the crowd. More importantly, church members WRW and SWW were featured on the “Kiss Cam”.
-After the game, MPW, RAW, and I were joined at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery by JTH and JDM. None of us had eaten there in some time. We would have eaten at Applebees but it was nearing their midnight closing time. Despite their being quite a few customers, Perkins had only one waitress on duty covering the entire restaurant. Despite suffering from a migraine, she performed well.
-We discussed the upcoming church league basketball season, which begins on March 2nd. JTH had many ideas for MPW as MPW will jump the tip-off for us to start games. Among JTH’s suggestions was for him to pants the opposing player. After numerous ideas and much prodding, the taciturn MPW finally said, “How ’bout you jump and you can do whatever you want.”-I also learned that I had underestimated a MoFoS marketing ploy. When I am wrong, I am wrong and I can admit it. I scoffed at the notion of selling “collectible cars” in this February 25th “In Eckleburg’s Eyes” post. I learned that earlier in the night, De La Rosa had put a collectible car on hold. Why on hold, I do not know. I do not see the demand being so great that the store will run out of the items. Then again, I could be wrong again. I never dreamt one would sell at all.
-Finally, Wednesday, the legendary Ric Flair turned 60. Whooo!
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