Today, I saw you. And you saw me. We haven’t seen each other in years…probably bordering on more than 3 years since we saw each other last. And it happened so fast…I’m not even sure what I saw.

I saw you…and I must say, you look great. I can’t say I stared at you…I don’t know why but both of us seemed pretty engrossed in our phones. But the few moments I stole looking your way gave me all I needed to know about how you’re doing…you’re doing great.  I’m glad you feel good and that things are going so good with you and your family.

When I turned around and saw you, my instinctive “hey” was heartfelt, and the one I got in return was as well.  I wonder what would’ve happened if I had swallowed my pride and gone up to you after that…?  I wonder if you would’ve been nice…or maybe merely polite.

I hurt your feelings, that much was clear when we stopped being friends more than 3 years ago.  I apologized. A lot. And still it didn’t seem to matter.  ’Give me time’, you said, and so I did. It didn’t seem to change anything.  Our lives as friends had diverged in a wood and we went down separate paths.

It’s okay, really. I get it. I don’t get the lack of forgiveness though. Yeah, I’ve spent a little time thinking about you these past 3 years, not a lot mind you…and only really when someone else in my life mentions you. I don’t bring you up to the people I know because it’s obvious now that you and your family are a chapter in my life and my family’s life that’s closed. For good.

But yeah, I don’t get the lack of forgiveness. God teaches us to love one another…part of loving each other is forgiving each other when we inevitably wrong someone. Forgiveness isn’t easy, Lord knows I know that. But I’m trying.

Are you?

You would probably say that you are, and you may even say you have forgiven me, but maybe you’d also say that you know you don’t want me or my family in your life at all. That hurts, I won’t lie. The countless hours our families spent together over the years tell me otherwise. But if you’re in a different place in your life and don’t need me or my family in your life, that’s your choice.

I hope you have forgiven me. I hope you have. I hope there wasn’t a moment when you saw me today, when that lump jumped up in your throat and you said “Hey” when you remembered that you hadn’t forgiven me. Because I forgave you a long time ago.

And now, I’ve let you go.

This is going to be a bit disjointed I’m sure, more like stream of consciousness for me, but in a way, I feel like I need to get some thoughts out there on where I am with social media.

First, there’s the school of thought that you shouldn’t think about social media at all. I’m sure a lot of my friends are that way, as I probably have 100-150 people on my Facebook friend list that post with any regularity, and I have over 600 “friends” on Facebook.

I’m not sure how I feel about this…clearly, social media is what you make of it, and many have, for some time now, used Facebook and Twitter to promote their own ideals to their “followers” and “friends”. But some choose to simply lurk in the background, viewing the news feed as some sort of time-wasting activity that allows their brains to shut off for a time (as a break from work, kids, routine, etc.)

I get that too…I get things like Facebook and Twitter being ways to pass the time. I’ve found that in my experience in social media, Twitter is a much better forum for me because of the way you engage with the people that follow you and (hopefully) the people you follow. Facebook seems to be way more “post and I’ll get back to you later” for me. I’m sure it’s different for everyone.

I’m also conflicted because (and this may sound pompous) but I am a complicated person. I love God, but I also love good humor (that’s not always the cleanest or maybe even ethical). I have great experiences I wish to share with people (Facebook seems better suited to that) but without any real engagement back, how do you know if you’re making any impact? Should you even care if anybody is reading what you post?

I find myself sharing what might be deemed as “politically incorrect” on Twitter more often than not and sharing the lighter side of things on Facebook. That doesn’t seem right…why should I be two different people through different social media outlets?

Is it because most of the people I follow (and that follow me) on Twitter are on the left-side of the political spectrum and the vast majority of the people that are friends of mine on Facebook are on the right-side? Maybe…I’m sure that has something to do with it. And I’m sure that when I’ve run into times when I’m posting a lot of left-wing material to Facebook, lots of people have chosen to “hide” me or maybe even “unfriend” me.

Maybe that is the contributing factor to not posting a ton of stuff to Facebook…maybe I don’t want people to unfriend me or hide me…but in the end, I’m tired of being one type of person through Twitter and another through Facebook. I don’t know what this means, but for all it’s problems, Facebook does provide a connection to a lot of people I would otherwise never hear from. And in fact, I could go weeks without being on Twitter and feel like I haven’t missed a thing because it’s not so much about life events on Twitter as it is “stream of consciousness/what’s happening right now”.

Wow…so where does all this leave me? I don’t know…maybe it’s time for a Facebook break? Maybe it’s time to be the same person across all social media, but living to who and what I believe across all forums and know that the people that love me and want to be my friend will do so even though they might not believe the same way I do. Maybe I should just get back to work and stop worrying so damn much about things like this.

Thanks for reading.

A dismantling…a mauling…call it whatever you want to call it, and it’s already been said ad nausea, last night’s Beatdown by the Beach is yet another reason to put your full faith and trust in the SEC, and specially Nick Saban and the University of Alabama. The championship rings haven’t even been sized yet and many are predicting that 2013 could be a year where Alabama could do an unprecedented BCS ‘Three-peat’.

As good as Alabama looked against Notre Dame, expect the 2013 version of Alabama’s team to be even better. On offense, Alabama loses two (maybe three) off the offensive line (Chance Warmack and Barrett Jones are both seniors and D.J. Fluker is thinking about foregoing his senior year for the NFL). Losing all three guys would be a blow that would hurt a bit, make no mistake. Not a lot of teams can replace 3 starters on the offensive line and not see a dip in some area of the offense. One of the tight ends, Michael Williams departs, and there are reports that Eddie Lacy is considering leaving early. But outside of those guys, everybody else is back, including those who are coming back from injury (Dee Hart, J. Fowler, D. White, Kenny Bell).

Clearly the most important part of the offensive group returning is QB AJ McCarron. McCarron has played masterfully in his biggest games, and looks to enter his senior season a legit Heisman Trophy candidate. And when you add to all of that a stable of highly ranked players from high school (RBs Altee Tenpenny, Tyren Jones and Derrick Henry, and TE O.J. Howard) and offensively Alabama could be scary good next year.

On defense, the losses include three defensive linemen (Quinton Dial, Damion Square, and Jesse Williams), one linebacker in Nico Johnson, and starting safety Robert Lester. Everybody else is back, and you add to that guys coming in that could make an impact like Jonathan Allen (#1 ranked high school OLB in the country), and guys that played a lot this year that are coming back like Landon Collins, Nick Perry, Geno Smith, and Denzel Devall, and you’ve got a defense that should be better, especially within the secondary, which by all accounts was the weakest part of a very good Alabama defense in 2012.

Schedule-wise, Alabama gets LSU, Arkansas, and Tennessee at home, and they start off with a rebuilding Virginia Tech team in Atlanta. They do go to College Station to play Johnny Heisman and his Texas A&M bunch but that’s early in the year (9/14/13) and you can bet that Saban is probably already getting tape together on that team this week to start preparations. They end the year (as always) with Auburn, on the Plains in 2013.

The rest of the SEC West should come down to LSU and Texas A&M. Ole Miss is surging but are still a year or two away from competing with the top three teams in the West, and Mississippi State can’t seem to stay consistent. Arkansas will have a new coach and system, so expect some growing pains there, and the same holds true for Auburn.

Over in the SEC East, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina remain the teams to beat, but don’t sleep on Vanderbilt. I expect Georgia to have a big year, however they start off with a brutal first two games, going to Clemson and then playing South Carolina at home. We’ll know really quickly if Georgia is going to contend again in 2013.

First off, can someone please clarify this for me? Is it “Noh-TRA” Dame or “Noh-der” Dame?

Big game tonight. I bet you’ve heard about it. Two of college football’s all-time elite programs square off…it’s been some time since these two teams played, but even in their storied histories, there is some shared results.

The games played so far between these two teams have been largely dominated by the Fighting Irish. I expect that to change as of around 11:47pm EST time tonight.

When Alabama Has The Ball

Alabama and first year offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier have crafted one of the better years in recent Alabama memory numbers-wise, and most of that can be attributed to two things: a great offensive line and two fantastic running backs.

The offensive line, first and foremost, has literally paved the road this year for Alabama. Few teams can run like the Tide can, and do so while very rarely breaking runs to the outside as many teams now try to do.  Alabama uses it’s offensive line to put a “hat on a hat” and create holes for their running backs to go through. Once past the first line of defense, Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon have made quick work of lighter-sized linebackers and defensive backs, with each player gaining over 1000 yards of rushing this year for the first time in Alabama history.

While these numbers are great, they might not’ve been possible had Jalston Fowler and Dee Hart not gone down in the early part of the year with knee injuries, forcing these two running backs to carry the load by themselves for the majority of the season.  Lacy, who battled a turf toe injury at the end of last season that lingered on through fall practice, seemed to only get stronger as the season went on.  And Yeldon is about as mature a true freshman player as you’ll see anywhere in the country.

Expect a game plan similar to how Alabama came out against LSU in last year’s title game…you’ll see AJ McCarron throw the ball to quick, timed routes and get in a good rhythm.  Those expecting to see Lacy and Yeldon immediately start pounding it up the middle in the 1st quarter are going to be disappointed. If history has taught us anything, it’s that the Notre Dame defense is going to be expecting run, and try and adjust to the pass, because the other way around spells certain doom for them.  So get McCarron in a good rhythm early then take some shots downfield.  Then you’ll begin to see bigger and bigger holes open up for Lacy and Yeldon.

Notre Dame’s front seven are among the best in the country, of that I have no doubt, and with a month to prepare for the game, I’m sure they will give Saban and Nussmeier something to think about with disguised coverages and different blitz packages.  But as the game wears on, I expect the Alabama offensive line to get stronger and stronger, and sooner or later, big holes will open up for Lacy and Yeldon.

X-FACTOR: For Alabama, the play of Michael Williams should be huge tonight.  Not only is he a big target for McCarron to focus on early (remember how McCarron used Brad Smelley in last year’s title game), but he’s also the best blocking tight end Alabama has and will be counted on to block one of the linebackers, perhaps even Manti Te’o, the vaunted Heisman Trophy finalist.

When Notre Dame Has The Ball

Everett Golson, Notre Dame’s mobile (but not running) QB has made a good many plays for them this year, and they have a couple of good running backs as well in Riddick and Wood.  I expect that Brian Kelly, giving a month to prepare, is going to try and put in a couple new looks for Alabama’s defense, because in all honesty, outside of All-American tight end Tyler Eifert, there aren’t a ton of skill players for Alabama to be overly concerned with.

Sure…Notre Dame’s offense has been consistent this year, but it’s far from eye-opening. They’re 75th in the country in passing yards, 29th in rushing yards, and 75th in points per game.  So unless Notre Dame does come out in some new formations, there’s a lot to key on for Kirby Smart and Co.

And back to that whole “month to prepare” thing, expect Kirby Smart to do even more to disguise his coverages and blitz packages to further make it harder for Notre Dame to get it going on offense.  Alabama’s linebacker package might end up shifting a good bit during the night, with CJ Mosley coming in to guard Eifert.  Mosley is easily Alabama’s best cover-linebacker, and this could free up the defensive backs to key on the wide receivers alone, and maybe even play some zone which has been effective at times in hiding some of the inadequacies the secondary of Alabama sometimes show.

X-FACTOR: Golson, without a doubt, will make or break this game for Notre Dame.  Alabama is going to come hard for this kid and make him beat Alabama.  He’s mobile but not particularly fast or elusive like Johnny Manziel is.  Golson can make some plays with his feet but don’t expect to see him running rampant in the Alabama secondary like Johnny Football did in November.

FINAL SCORE

Alabama 31
Notre Dame 10

In the wake of feeling all too touched by the shooting in Connecticut and across the country…allow me to wax philosophical for a moment or two…

I’m starting to think it just might be time to repeal the damn 2nd amendment. No guns. Period. Get them all. And no, I don’t care about how responsible you are with your gun or that it was passed down to you from your grandfather’s father. The entire rest of the first world is collectively shaking their heads at us. We’ve brought this on ourselves. Time to fix the problem. Can we work on becoming a society less focused on violence? Absolutely, and we should. Can we do more helping the mentally ill? Yes…definitely. And we should.

But the first thing is get all the damn guns. All of them. I realize the criminals’ guns are harder to get. We should get them too, whatever it takes. Step up the ATF, give them more money. A full-fledged campaign to rid this country of as many guns as possible. Needed last week but we’ll take it now. Every single gun-related death statistic in this country shows that people’s access to guns make it easier to commit crimes. Period. Arming more people is NOT the answer. Concealed/carry laws would help to slow gun crime but it would eventually explode. And for those that say “They’d just find another way to kill people”…more power to you. Stabbing someone to death takes a lot more guts. Guns are a coward’s way out. Guns are what scared people use to commit crimes and to feel powerful. Stabbing them, running them over with a car, smashing them with a hammer…way more deliberate than just pulling a trigger from 100 feet. Plus who’s going to get away with stabbing 27 people before someone intervenes. Make it HARDER for them. Not easier. That’s the point.

If you disagree with me, I’m sorry but IMO, you’re dead wrong. Do you know that the framers never intended the Bill of Rights to be written in stone? They are amendments…they themselves can be changed. They wanted this system of government to evolve…that’s why they included the measure to create amendments (and their repeal). The wording of the 2nd Amendment in and of itself suggests it was made for the times it was written in, not today.

And I’m really sick and tired of the far right’s concept of religious political leaders. Do you want political leaders to show high morals and represent the best of our society whenever possible? Sure. But we as Christians in this country need to stop the thinking that we have a monopoly on high moral character. Firm moral guidance and religious guidance are not connected. You don’t have to be a Christian to show good moral fiber.

So can we please stop propping up guys like Mike Huckabee? He’s got some good ideas, sure, and we could all use some more closeness as a family…but let’s be honest. God doesn’t have to be in our schools…and the fact that we don’t teach religion in our schools isn’t the reason things have gone the way they have. God lives in the hearts of all believers, and the place where true spirituality starts is in the home. If you’re not bringing up your children to honor God, then that’s on you as a parent.

To me, it’s lazy parenting. If you want your children to be of high moral fiber, it starts and ends with you as the parents to teach them that. It’s not the school’s place. And it’s not the pastor’s place to instill that in your children. The pastor’s job is to lead and provide wisdom and encouragement and lead worship. But if you’re counting on your child to absorb high moral character by osmosis, and simply attending church, you’re sorely mistaken.

Be active in your children’s lives. If you see they have mental issues, get them checked out. Don’t wait until they’re a self-absorbed 20 year old, completely detached from reality, before doing something about it.  Remember…a child is not a problem in a home, a child is a product of the home.