If I were a GM

If you follow baseball at all you will undoubtedly know that the Tampa Bay Rays (formally Devil Rays) are leading possibly the toughest division in the majors; AL East. Not really sure if this is a product of the organization finally putting together the right talent or just ditching the loosing culture. Either way you look at it, the Rays are a very young ball club. That got me thinking; what if I was the San Francisco Giants GM?

First, I would hit myself over and over for putting up $126 million over 7 years for Barry Zito. Next, I would realize that the future of the team is the young talent. Take a look across the bay and across the country to see that you can win with a team's average age that is under 30.

However, I would not do one particular thing. Use the young pitching of Cain, Lincecum, Sanchez etc as trade bait. We already gave Minnesota some good talent years back in Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano to get AJ Pierzynski who stayed for 1 year. Just build around what's in place and continue to build around the young guns. If it can work in Tampa it can work in SF.

Hey! Look on the bright side, we are not in last!

A Case of the Mundys

Last week I posted about a few blogs I have followed that I enjoy. "A Case of the Mundys" was one of them. I thought this plug in my blog was enough....apparently not. Luke gave me the courtesy "thanks" in the comments then later that night I read this comment.

Luke Mundy said...

Give me some link love in your blogroll! (That was shameless, I know...)

I was offended! OK, not really. I kinda chuckled and then realized that in fact Luke was not on my blogroll. So here is my public announcement that you can now find "A Case of the Mundys" on my blogroll!

Any others want some "link love" hit me up and I will add you.


Mike

Christians: Really?

I have always had my reservations when it comes to "Christian" branded products/services. In college I began thinking what the world would look like if Christians would just run businesses etc as Christians. Not needing to plaster the fact that it is a "Christian Business". I think people from the outside looking in would respect and be drawn to someone who worked to the standard that Christ calls us to work without feeling the need to have "Christian" plastered all over the ads.
You might be thinking, where the heck is Mike going with this? Just hang with me; here is what sparked that rant.

On my drive to work this morning I was listening to my lovely sports radio; The Dan Patrick Show. He mentioned a story about Tyson Gay, who ran a wind-aided 9.68 at the Olympic trials this weekend. That would have been a world record, but since the wind helped it does not count.
OK, here is the meat I was trying to get to. The headline for this story on One News Now, a Christian news site, read: "Homosexual runs wind-aided 9.68 seconds to make Olympics." I could hardly believe that this actually could happen. A sports blog that wrote about this story had an explanation to how it happened. I don't think it is a statement from site, but explains the process.

Apparently, they have set a filter to change many instances of “gay” to “homosexual,” which is how Tyson Gay, who set a record in the 100-meter dash this weekend, changed his name. This occurs on searches and on their home page, but the actual AP story linked from the site does use “Tyson Gay.” Headline writers everywhere are delighted the name change is only virtual. –Jim Buzinski

From my research on this story this morning, it seems only the headline links to this story had the name change and not the articles. Even more, don't you think it is the responsibility of the editors of this site to check content being posted after it has gone through its filter?

I am really interested in what you think of this story and also my thoughts on it.

Can't wait to hear what you think.

Mike

Some of My Favs

I've had this blog for about 1.5 years now. Only in the last 6 months have I really began to consistently blog. This change has come, in part, due to the gentle prodding of friends and family. I love reading their blogs, but I feel I am not doing my part if I just reap the benefits. I feel the need to contribute some content (even thought its not much) and not just be a comment blogger. In light of that, here are a couple blogs that have encouraged me, made me laugh or made me think.

Jesus is Extravagant: Owner: Gene Pensiero
-I met Gene my freshman year of college at Fresno Pacific; we were roommates. Gene came from CVC and as most of you know I from Immanuel. As you might also know, those two schools had a healthy rivalry and I was interested to meet this CVC kid. Turns out Gene was pretty cool and we laughed about most of the stupid stuff we did in high school.
Over the years I have grown to admire the Godly man Gene is. His blogs reflect the passion he has for God, the Church and his family. I have loved his most recent series titled "Working a Vineyard". If your not a regular to his site you really need to check it out. I also really enjoy the "Positive Post Tuesdays". Another must see while you're there is Gene's music page.


Andrewandlisa.org: Owner: Andrew Shinn Contributors: Lisa and Liam Shinn
-This is partly going to be a 'shout out' that is trying to get more content out of Andrew. He is my brother-in-law and I enjoy reading whats going on in the Shinn household. Andrew is very intelligent and when he blogs it is a good read. But I also love the picture updates of my nephew Liam. It is a great way to bridge the gap from Fresno - Reedley and I know family up in Lodi love the updates as well.
p.s. He is also a world renown...no maybe not...how about United States renown.....no...not yet....OK I will just say it. He is an awesome professional photographer. He does weddings, senior pics and many other creative sessions. You can check shinnphoto.com or his flickr photo stream.


Spanish Speaker in the Making: Owners: Jake and Renee Harder
-Jake and Renee are family who have moved to Guadalajara, Mexico to study the Spanish language. Jake is my cousin and Renee is, you guessed it, his wife. In this blog you will read about 2 people that have agreed to allow God to take them where he wants. There are in Guadalajara for a set but not in stone amount of time and plan to use this experience to minister to people in the Spanish language, both now and in the future. They have a little girl, Gracie, who they are teaching English and Spanish. Most of all it is fun to read about them living in a different culture and the struggles/victories they come across.

Last but certainly not least,

A Case of the Mundys: Owner: Luke Mundy
-Interestingly enough, I have never met Luke in person, but I went to elementary/jr high with his wife, Sarah. I feel like I have known Luke for years after a few months of blogs and following his twitter feed. I was introduced to Luke through Gene's blog and have been a faithful subscriber ever since. And lets be honest here, that is one clever use of a last name!! I still don't really know what Luke does for a profession, although I know he did start a new job recently. What I do know is that Luke works with the youth at River Valley Church in Clovis. I continue to follow Luke's blogs because I can see his passion for ministry and I love reading things from people with passion. I like reading his posts about that ministry also because jr/senior high school students are a fun bunch of students that make for great stories. Luke also has a "Positive Post Tuesday" series that is a good read each and every Tuesday.


To all other bloggers that read Wide World of Mike; you are greatly appreciated and I look forward to more amazing content!


Here's to a great weekend!

Mike

Thirsty Thursday: Solitude

I must start today with a quick confessions. I have really enjoyed the way that my blog has given me another avenue to write down my thoughts on life. I have a journal that I try to write in everyday, but the blog has a different feel to it. It is a place where I can write about my victories or my defeats as I keep walking with Jesus. It is public so everyone has the opportunity to read it. I appreciate the words of encouragement my friends give me through this form of communication. And I love reading about whats going on in their lives as they blog away.

A while back I was in a small group with some guys at FPU. Dave Obwald was the point man with Bryan Feil and myself as his back-up. It was really neat to get to know some of the guys that were students at FPU since I have been out for a couple years. We used the study guide for 'Celebration of Disciple' by Richard Foster as a launching pad for our discussion. I want to share a few bits of that about the disciple of SOLITUDE.

"The less we are mesmerized by human voices, the more we are able to hear the divine Voice. The less we are bound by other's expectations, the more we are open to God's expectation"

"In time, however, we found that solitude did not give us power to win the rat race; on the contrary, it taught us to ignore the struggle altogether."

"God takes this 'useless' Discipline, this 'wasted time,' to make us His Friend"

Enjoy your solitude today!

p.s. The red and blue text is my simple way of saying BULLDOGS ARE NATIONAL CHAMPS!

Comedy Post

Here are a few comics that made me chuckle today. Enjoy!



How Guitar Hero/Rock Band are influencing music



This a "Wikipedian Protest"

Life Group

I am excited about this evening. Do you know why? It is because tonight is the start of a life group I am joining at The Well. It is a study through the book of Romans. I am super excited because I have done this study before and it never gets old. I am also excited to be in a life group again. During the spring I was not able to be in a life group because of my schedule with baseball and work. But, you gotta love spending time in the word with other men.

God Bless

Mike