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SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Join me on Team Good Health

Written by archive on November 30, 2012. Posted in columns, Sports.

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I fully expected to be back at work Monday after spending last week relaxing on vacation time.

Most of the teams I wanted to win took care of business so I had many reasons to smile. However, whether I just hang out around the house as I did last week, or visit family, as I will at Christmas, I usually can’t wait to get back to the job.

My plans for Monday were to be in Paxton for the girls basketball game between Baker and Paxton. Tuesday, I would be at the Milton at Crestview boys basketball game. I wanted to see the Bulldogs take down the Panthers (which they did).

But my plans quickly changed when I experienced severe pain in my right forearm much of the day Sunday. Then my blood pressure sharply increased.

Monday morning, rather than heading to work, I headed to the doctor, was promptly sent to the Fort Walton Beach Medical Center emergency room and was admitted for cardiac symptoms.

After a two-and-a-half hour stay in the ER, I went to a room immediately adjacent to the coronary unit. I guess they wanted me close enough to the unit so they wouldn’t have far to take me in case something major went wrong.

The doctors ran countless tests trying to determine if I indeed had a cardiac event and treated me with multiple drugs just in case I had something going on with my heart they might have missed.

Thankfully, I passed all the tests — this time.

When they said I needed to take a stress test, I wanted to know if it would be anything like sitting in the back seat of my car on a football Friday night trying to file a 400-word story on deadline.

My joke got the desired laugh, but I know my health isn’t a laughing matter.

The list of my health issues seems to grow longer with each passing year.

I’m 54 years old and more than 100 pounds overweight. The extra weight is likely a direct cause of my high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type II Diabetes and sleep apnea. I’m almost afraid to find out what else might be wrong with me that I don’t know about.

I’m the only one to blame for allowing myself to get in this condition.

Thirty-seven years ago, I was a 160-pound high school athlete. A few years later, after my adult body finished filling out, I was a rock-solid 190 pounds. By the time I was in my late 20s, I was still an athletic looking 210 pounds.

As I added the weight a pound here and a pound there, I never even thought about it. Weight gain has an uncanny way of sneaking up on me — right up until I tipped the scales at 315 pounds about two years ago.

Even before Monday’s incident, I had started trying to make choices for a healthier me. I’ve been meeting with a diabetes educator once or twice a month since mid-summer and recently starting using a CPAP machine to help with the sleep apnea.

My weight, which was 310 pounds a few months ago, is down to about 302 pounds.

I’m making progress, but have a long way to go.

I’ve always functioned better when I had teammates. Something about being a part of a team encourages accountability.

I consider the coaches and athletes I cover — and this section’s regular readers — a part of my team because your help makes my job possible.

Now is the time to form a new team dedicated to getting healthier. This challenge, open to anyone, is mainly directed at all the Baby Boomers who once were high school athletes and are experiencing some of the same health-related issues I face.

If you are interested in joining Team Good Health, contact me at my email address listed below. If there is enough response, I’ll see if I can get some local healthcare professionals involved to guide us down the sometimes confusing path to better health.

We could start the program in conjunction with the new year.

I’m determined to get healthy. Won’t you join me?

Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Join me on Team Good Health

FROM THE PULPIT: Find happiness in Jesus, not things

Written by archive on November 30, 2012. Posted in columns, Opinion, your-voice.

One of my favorite stories is about a Navy officer who always dreamed of commanding a battleship. He finally achieved that dream and received commission of the fleet’s newest, proudest ship.

One stormy night, as the ship plowed through the seas, the captain was on bridge duty when, off to the port, he saw a strange light rapidly approaching his own vessel.

Immediately, he ordered the signalman to flash a message that said, “Alter your course 10 degrees to the south.” Only a moment passed before the reply came: “Alter your course 10 degrees north.”

Determined that his ship would take a backseat to no other, the captain snapped out the order: “Alter course 10 degrees — I’m the captain.”

The response beamed back was, “Alter your course 10 degrees — I’m Seaman 3rd Class Jones.”

Infuriated, the captain grabbed the signal light and fired off, “Alter your course — I am a battleship.”

The reply came back, “Alter your course. I am a lighthouse.”

Sometimes, being headstrong and belligerent can cause a person some trouble. One such example appears in the Old Testament, where we read about Jacob. He had been successful throughout his life — at least, according to society’s definition. All his life, however, he had been a scoundrel, a conniver. He was a schemer, a manipulator and was quite greedy. He didn’t care what it took to get what he wanted. By one method or another, he had acquired great wealth and status.

You may remember how, in the Old Testament, Jacob had manipulated his twin brother, Esau, to make him give up his right to the family inheritance for a bowl of soup.

You may remember how Jacob outwitted his blind father, Isaac, by putting on sheepskin to trick him into thinking Jacob was Esau who had come to receive the family inheritance.

Then, in fear of revenge, he fled home and got as far away from Esau as he could because Esau had vowed to kill his brother.

Later on, Jacob turned the tables on his father-in-law, Laban, who had tricked Jacob into working for him for free for 14 years. Jacob later turned the tables on him with his own trickery, and became quite wealthy at Laban’s expense.

Yes, Jacob had done some nasty things, and had gotten some important people very angry with him. For him to enjoy his wealth, he had to flee for his life and live in another country.

Do you know people like that — people who don’t care who gets in the way, or who gets hurt as long as they get what they want? They leave a wake of emotional destruction behind them. They enjoy that they are getting what they want, no matter the cost to others. My heart goes out to people struggling to fill some void in their life, a void created by some hurt or neglect forced upon them.

The unspoken question that drives many of us is, “Am I happy?” If the answer is “no,” you seek ways to change things to become happy.

Unfortunately, most people seek change in the wrong way. What usually gets changed is their job, spouse, clothes or where they live. They keep bouncing around from one thing to another, hoping the next discovery will make them happy. Unfortunately, this kind of searching continues to turn up short-term happiness or purely empty results, and never addresses the deeper need within them.

My question for you is, “Are you happy?”

If you are, I celebrate with you.

If not, I ask you to ponder why you are not.

Material possessions do not make one happy, although they can sometimes help. Rather, relationships bring the most happiness and joy into life.

But the ultimate relationship — one with Jesus Christ — brings the ultimate joy.

Give thanks to God.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: FROM THE PULPIT: Find happiness in Jesus, not things

SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Waiting on a coach's fate is tough for fans

Written by archive on November 29, 2012. Posted in columns, Sports.

I wasn’t too spiritual as I attended church Nov. 18.

Yes, I was there to worship and serve as a member of my church’s Guest Services team, but my mind was elsewhere.

I was distracted by events in Knoxville, Tenn., over which I had now power. Like many Tennessee fans, I waited to see if — or when — Derek Dooley would be fired as the Tennessee head football coach following a loss to Vanderbilt the night before that dropped the Volunteers to 0-7 in Southeastern Conference play and 4-7 overall on the season.

I might have been at church and away from my computer, but I still had my smart phone and was constantly checking my trusted websites to see updated status on Dooley. News of his firing came some time around 10:45 or 11 a.m.

I shouldn’t have been so caught up in the drama surrounding the Volunteers, but I am a Tennessee alumnus and do love the team. Most people probably already know that “fan” is just the shortened form of fanatic and southeastern college football fans are fanatically in love for their team.

I wonder how many Auburn fans were checking their phones while at church this past Sunday to learn Tiger football coach Gene Chizik’s fate.

A new kind of anxiety kicks in for fans once the coach is fired — it comes with hoping our team will be the one that lands the coach everyone talks about.

The big name I’ve seen on Tennessee message boards is former Oakland Raider and Tampa Bay Buccaneer head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden was a Tennessee graduate assistant in 1986 and married a former Tennessee cheerleader. Early rumblings were that he had been in contact with potential assistant coaches testing their interest in following him to Knoxville.

If not Gruden, maybe Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher. Word is he might be persuaded to leave Tallahassee, but he might be more interested in Auburn than Tennessee if both schools were options.

Tennesseeand Auburn aren’t the only schools in the Southeastern conference seeking a football coach; Arkansas and Kentucky also are on the look-out for the next guy to lead them.

Arkansas has been in search mode since then Razorback head coach, Bobby Petrino, took his infamous motorcycle ride with his mistress last spring — a trip that landed him in a neck brace and out of a job. Word has it that the Hogs also are interested in Gruden, but if Gruden were to coach at the college level, Tennessee is the leader for his services.

That brings us to Kentucky, which has always been, and probably always will be, known as a basketball school. Word has it that the Wildcats might be interested in Petrino, and I can’t help thinking he would be a huge mistake for any program. Yes, the guy wins, but he has more baggage than an airport lost and found.

The next few weeks will be interesting as we wait to see who will be hired to fill the SEC openings. Even fans who lack a horse in the race care to see who will go where, and what impact the new coaches will have on their favorite teams.

A home run hire like Gruden could quickly land Tennessee back in a place of SEC East pominence. And things would get very interesting if Fisher ended up at Auburn, where his biggest rival would be Alabama, which is coached by Nick Saban, his former boss at Louisiana State.

If Kentucky pulls the stringand goes with Petrino, it will be interesting to see what ethics guidelines appear in his contract.

And since we know Petrino won’t return to Arkansas, who would be second on Arkansas’ list if Gruden goes to Tennessee?

Yes, it will be a tough few weeks as we wait to see just how things play out with our favorite teams.

Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Waiting on a coach's fate is tough for fans

SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Giving thanks for the best job

Written by archive on November 19, 2012. Posted in columns, Sports.

I can’t believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are in the home stretch of 2012.

My seasons of life as a sports writer are once again coming full circle; in a little more than a month, I celebrate my 12th anniversary covering Okaloosa County sports.

Whether looking back on the last 12 months or the last 12 years, I can find plenty for which to give thanks.

I am thankful for the family members, friends, pastors, teachers and mentors who have helped shape my life and encouraged me to chase my dream. I’m thankful for newspapers in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida that have allowed me to pursue that dream for close to 20 years.

I’m thankful for sports and how they have shaped my life on and off the field. I appreciate the competitive fire my high school coaches ignited that has instilled a “want to” deep in my being. It allows me to push through and get the job done.

Since my dream was to write sports, I’m thankful for the thousands of athletes I’ve had the opportunity to cover through the years. I’ve been fortunate enough to watch and write about high school athletes who went on to play at the highest college level and even the highest professional ranks of their respective sports.

I recently got a big kick out of watching former Crestview football player Chris Pickett, now a Troy University defensive back, play my college alma mater, Tennessee, on TV. I should mention that I’m thankful too that the Trojans didn’t pull off the upset as it’s been a tough season to be a Volunteer fan.

As a sports writer, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the ball players and coaches I have admired the most. I’d be lying if I said all of them made a favorable impression on me, but I’ve found most to be gracious with their time and patient with me as I’ve asked the same questions they had been asked hundreds of times before.

Sometimes, I’m writing on deadline and question why I’m so thankful for this job and the sanity of anyone who would dare try to turn a 400- to 500-word game story in 30-45 minutes. And to be honest, sometimes I wonder how much my job matters in the grand scheme of things — after all, I’m just covering high school sports.

I’ve had the answer to those questions countless times from kind words of a parent or grandparent following a game, or when somebody takes the time to send me an email or make Facebook posts telling me how much it means to them to see me at a game or how they will treasure a story I’ve written.

I’m thankful for the kind words that assure me that I have made a small difference just by doing my job.

Yes, today, and every day, it isn’t hard to find things for which I can give thanks — so with a heart full of joy, I wish you all a very happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Giving thanks for the best job

FROM THE PULPIT: Humble yourself before He humbles you

Written by archive on November 15, 2012. Posted in columns, Opinion, your-voice.

God chooses to fill empty vessels, but He cannot fill people with the Spirit if they are already full of themselves, and there is a real danger in the church of having a sufficient spirit. That is why we don’t see many revivals; people thinking they have a sufficient, satisfied spirit.

When we humble ourselves, God promises to hear and respond — and he never breaks that promise. You will never find a time in the Bible when men humbled themselves before God and he did not hear and respond. God puts the responsibility to humble ourselves on us.

Seeking humility means we confess our burden for the way things are. The circumstances of people carrying crosses, living far from God, precede every revival in the Bible.

We must feel a burden for our own lack of righteousness.

Fast, weep and mourn

Why do we get upset when sinners sin? What do we expect them to do? They don’t have the truth of God, the cover of the blood of Christ or the Holy Spirit to guide them.

God says in Joel 2, "Even now, return to me with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, abounding in love and He relents from sending calamity."

That’s what it means to humble ourselves, to feel that burden. However, I wonder if we have become too proud to rend our hearts, weep and mourn.

Even in desperate times, we have one great source of hope. We can move God’s heart by our pleas, and a passionate calling on God’s name by his people always precedes revival.

However, God is moved by someone’s kneeling, not his or her standing.

God tells us repeatedly that if we are serious about humbling ourselves, we must pray and fast.

Jesus, in His teaching, did not say “if” you fast. He said “when” you fast.

Fasting is one of God’s ordained ways of humbling ourselves.

Psalms 35:13 says, "I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting."

In Ezra 8:21, the prophet Ezra proclaimed a fast so that he and his companions might humble themselves before God.

Fasting is a sign of humility to the Lord God because it is our attempt to subject our desires so we can focus on God’s desires. Also, fasting communicates availability and yielding to God for whatever He wants instead of what we want. Most of all, fasting enables us to give our full attention to God’s leading and not to our own agenda.

Fasting means you are willing to give up something your body demands to fervently seek something you spirit needs.

Overcoming fear

You want revival? Pray and fast.

So why don’t we?

First, we are afraid because some denominations don’t do it.

The second reason is pride. It is humbling to fast. If you decide to pray, mourn and fast, some people will ridicule you because you are doing something radical and not going with the crowd. See Psalms 69:10-13.

Revival doesn’t come because we see the importance of humility and declare its virtues. Revival comes because we intentionally seek it.

God clearly says, "This is what you do if you want to humble yourselves before me."

The question is, are we too proud to do it? Humility means we have a burden with present conditions — and then we pray, fast and start addressing our desperate need for holiness.

Revival always makes us address our need for holiness. I have wondered why revival comes so slowly and so infrequently, when every church would say they are for revival. So why do we rarely see it?

Many people ask for revival because they think it would be fun. They have never been in a revival.

Long term, revival is glorious; short term, it is painful. Because if there were a movement of the Spirit in church, there would be a conviction of sin like we have never seen before. And are we sure we want that?

Every time you start to tell a dirty joke, or keep your money from God, make a dishonest deal or skip church over some silly, selfish reason, do you really want the spirit to crush you so that you have to fall to your knees and ask for forgiveness?

That is what you are asking for if you are asking for a revival.

Peter says in the fifth chapter of his first letter that we need to clothe ourselves with humility because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, we must humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand.

Humble or be humbled

Every time something bad happens, we are too quick to say, "That must be spiritual warfare." Many times, it is God’s discipline. It is God keeping his promise to humble the haughty in spirit.

Do you remember how proud and arrogant King Nebuchadnezzar was before God, even though he had been warned in a dream to humble himself? He didn’t, of course. Therefore, God sent him into the wilderness for seven years to live like an animal. In Daniel 4:37, he says, "I learned a great lesson. I learned that all those who walk in pride He is able to make humble."

The Bible says that one day every knee will bow. We are not talking about whether you will be humble before God. We’re just talking about when you will humble yourselves and how. God will humble all that do not humble themselves, The Bible says.

If you will not fall flat on your face before God, he will put you flat on your back — but one way or the other, you’re going down.

If you want purity and rightness in your life and in this church, you must humble yourself and ask God for revival.

Rev. Albert Corey is pastor of Oak Ridge Assembly of God in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: FROM THE PULPIT: Humble yourself before He humbles you

SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Seasons change in sports and life

Written by archive on November 6, 2012. Posted in columns, Sports.

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My desk is a little less sloppy today, as it is that time of the fall I always dread: the end of football season.

Crestview closed out the regular season Friday against Niceville and Baker travels to Vernon this week as the Gators end the season on the road.

I am a football guy and, yes, a baseball guy as well. However, basketball was the first organized sport I played back in the winter of 1965-66.

Looking back some 47 years, it should have been obvious that I would one day gravitate toward the gridiron. While playing my first game in a church league in Memphis, Tenn., I intercepted a pass, stuck the basketball under my arm and headed down the court.

That was the day I learned what traveling is. If my memory serves me correctly, my Highland Heights Baptist team won that game 66-6, but my contribution was the pick and run on the travel.

To be honest, my baseball career didn’t start much better. Again, I was playing for Highland Heights and I went to the plate for the first time and stood in the box for left-handed batters. My mom didn’t realize I hit lefty and she yelled out. “You’re standing on the wrong side of the plate.”

It’s a wonder my love for baseball didn’t disappear on that red-faced day in the spring of 1966.

Baseball, basketball and football are the games that have shaped my life. Track helped get me in shape the year I ran to get myself ready for spring football. Running track also allows me to say that I competed in the same meets as Baker sprint legend Houston McTear.

But when all is said and done, I find myself longing for football or baseball season.

I love the sights, smells and sounds of football and baseball. I also love the first chilly temperatures in late fall as football winds down and the changing of seasons to spring as baseball gets going full speed.

I’m OK with the winter sports basketball and soccer. I do have more of a connection to basketball, though, as I played it when I was growing up.

My generation wasn’t raised on soccer. That era preceded the soccer craze.

Now, I transition from fall sports to winter sports. Shortly after the first of the year, I’ll start thinking about spring sports. And before you know it, May will be here and it will be time for spring football.

The cycle of a sports writer’s life seems unchanging and, at times, unending.

The Class of 2013 was still in kindergarten when I started at the Northwest Florida Daily News in December of 2000. Now, they are all grown up and about to take on the world.

Graduation season is another time I dread as I bid farewell to the young men and women I’ve followed through the years.

Football season is winding down and sports seasons change, as do the seasons of life. We can all take comfort in knowing that hope does spring eternal with each new season.

Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Seasons change in sports and life

SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Seasons change in sports and in life

Written by archive on November 6, 2012. Posted in columns, Sports.