Through death came life

Never did I think I'd cry conducting an interview. That all changed today.

I never knew that I'd have something in common with an 17 year old football player. He had a dad in and out of jail and so did I. He lost someone very close to pancreatic cancer, so did I. Except the person he lost was his dad. Though Duane's father was in and out of jail he strived to make sure he kept a relationship with Duane and his siblings.

That was good and bad at the same time.

With the lack of father figure in his life, Duane was not a likeable guy. He started fights, got suspended, had a haughty attitude...all the above. Then, on November 27, 2007 Duane's world was rocked. Three months prior, he found out that his dad was going to be released from prison. The most exciting news he had ever received. His dad was going to finally see him play football.

A bittersweet moment and he didn't even know it yet.

That same day he also found out that his dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The night of November 27, 2007 he said, "Goodnight daddy, I love you..." and then he started to break down crying. "I'll see you tomorrow."

But there was no tomorrow he told me. Those were the last things he was able to say to his father.

Through death came life. A light bulb clicked and from that moment Duane Brady made a 360, in his personal life and on the football field. His coaches can attest. Once know as a big jerk, coaches and players hated to be around him, but now they can't get enough of him.

In his senior season of football at St. Augustine High School, he broke University of Florida's Brandon James' season rushing record. Everyone couldn't be prouder. As senior graduation nears in the next month or two, Duane will be embarking on a new journey at Murray St. in Kentucky.

He's an amazing young man and I can't wait to see how God will be using him.

Welcome to the 2010 season, Yankees

Welcome to the Trop, Yanks.

Please meet the team that's going to give you a run for your money this season. On first, you've got Carlos Pena, on second you'll be greeted by Sean Rodriguez and SS Jason Bartlett when they get you out on a 5-4-3 double play. If you make it to third, gold glove winner Longo will be glad to say hey. And if you dare to send your ball to the outfield, Carl Crawford, B.J Upton and Ben Zobrist will be glad to catch it for you.

Just thought I'd be polite in case you guys weren't familiar with each other.

Last night, the Yankees ventured to Tropicana Field in their first three-game series of the year. New York was no match for David Price and the Rays as Price pitched a pretty much flawless seven and two-thirds innings. Pena greeted pitcher Javier Vazquez with a two-run homer to tie the game and DH Willie Aybar another two-run homer for assurance.

The Rays have put together their best team to date. So watch out Yankee fans, you can't expect sure wins here.

He's gone Hey-wire

Two weeks from today, I'll be graduating college. I thought that was a big feat, until I watched opening week of baseball...the Atlanta Braves home opener against the Chicago Cubs. A twenty-year-old by the name of Jason Heyward starting in right field for the Braves. TWENTY-YEARS OLD and he's already starting in the majors. I'm twenty-one. To think of playing a professional sport and making millions at my age boggles my mind.

Ok, so yeah he's twenty-years-old, but what made his debut most remarkable is that he hit a grand slam on his first-ever at bat in the majors. A GRAND SLAM. Some veterans that have been playing the game for some time now are still looking for their first grand-slam.

Analysts say he has more patience beyond his playing years. At his first at bat he didn't come out swinging. Instead, he waited on the ball patiently until he saw his fastball cross the plate and he ripped it.

They say patience is a virtue. For him, patience will carve out a long-lived major league career.

The Invisible Man

If you were to look up invisible in the dictionary it would say: not perceptible by the eye or discernible by the mind. By definition, we know that Andy Hirko is not “invisible” because he is perceptible to the eye, he’s a person just like you and I. But who is this Andy Hirko?

In 1999, he stepped foot on Flagler College’s campus ready to take on every party and every girl. Hirko was a pitcher on a baseball scholarship, and just like most male athletes, thought he was hot stuff. He said he had his share of fun, but could feel he was lacking something, some kind of emptiness, but couldn’t put his finger on it at the time.

As he finished out his freshman year and entered his sophomore year, he started to take notice that his core group of friends had that something he was looking for.

“They had this joy and peace about life,” said Hirko.

So he asked them how he could get this same joy and peace. They told him that it was simple: there was this guy up in heaven that loved him so much and just wanted to have a relationship with him, just like a friend, but even better because he’s got so many connections to help him get through life.

“Now that I asked Jesus into my heart,” he told me, “I wanted to do it right. It was either all or nothing and I chose all.”

That’s the beginning of his “invisible” journey.

Hirko started the college ministry at Goodnews Church after graduation to reach out to kids like him.

“Many kids have a bad taste of church whether it be from a person or a past experience,” said Hirko, “But I’m just here to love and accept them for who they are. To show them that Jesus is love.”

Many don’t understand why he does what he does, like waiting outside of Panama Hattis until 1 a.m. to drive a bunch of drunk college students home for free. He’s got better things to do that night, like take care of his three-year-old daughter.

But it’s not about him.

The student at the bookstore at the beginning of the year couldn’t fathom why this stranger, Hirko, wanted to buy his semesters’ worth of books. Five hundred people wanted to know why he was handing out free Schmagel’s bagels. Dozens of kids on campus were scratching their heads when they were handed free whole pizzas, perfectly in tact.

“It’s all about love,” said Hirko.

Remember the bracelet WWJD, what would Jesus do? That’s Hirko’s mission. To show people Jesus is if he were with us today. A down to earth man who just wants to help you out through life, like your friend, but better because this friend would never stab you in the back or use you for what you’re worth. This friend wouldn’t ditch you when you did something you know you shouldn’t have done. Like a pet dog, this man would be a life-long companion.

This is no easy task, though, because so many people are skeptical of Christianity.

“We [the leadership team] just step out on faith that God will lead us where we need to go each day,” said Hirko. “I do it so they [college kids] have the chance to experience what I did, true peace and joy in life.”

What is that true peace and joy you might ask? It’s not fearing about the unknown that lies ahead. That job or career you don’t have yet, or that man or woman that hasn’t swept you off your feet yet. To a college student these are milestones in life after graduation, but he’s trying to show them that they don’t have to do it alone. There’s someone that wants to walk with them every step of the way.There are no gimmicks or strings attached to what Hirko does. He does it because he wants to. And that’s what is not discernible by the minds of today. Nobody just gives of his or her self these days. They’re usually in it for a prize or monetary gain, but not Hirko. He just wants to be invisible that others might see Jesus in human form.

Raised on a Dog Leash

Just in: attempting to do a load of laundry is just a stressful as trying to stop the war in Iraq.

In the sensible world, this isn’t the case. If President Obama had the choice between doing a load a laundry or trying to stop the war in Iraq, I’m pretty sure he’d pick the latter.

But in my case, my roommate freshman year thought that every task she had to do without the assistance from her mother was like trying to stop global warming— sheer impossible. It was second nature to me to have to do my own laundry, make my own living, do my own homework. My parents raised me to be self-reliant so I didn’t know anything different…until college that is.

I can remember it now. Move in day freshman year, each girl was nervous as can be, yet sizing each other up to see which would be their lucky roommate. You’d pass a gothic girl and be like “ oh God, I’ll go to church for the whole year as long as you don’t put me with her” or you pass a girl who looked like she didn’t know what a shower was and tell God you’d feed the hungry each week if he could spare you this once.

When I got to my third floor room I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. There stood a sweet and outgoing girl who I knew I’d click with instantly. In my head, I was thanking God a thousand times over, but may have said one too many prayers. When my roommate’s parents said their final good-byes, I was trying to reverse every thankful prayer I had said. A girl I thought was so vivacious and outgoing turned into the biggest basket case I had ever met. I’d call my mom several times a day, “Mom, what do I do? I can’t stop making her cry.”

“Now, now,” my mom would reply. “It’ can’t be so bad. Just be patient.”

“Mom, I suggested she do some laundry to take her mind off of home, but when she went to do her laundry, she just burst into tears from the mounds of stress to try to fathom doing it without her mom.”

This, my friends, is a severe case of what I’d like to call disfunctionitis. In laments terms, it’s where the parents caudle their child too long, to the point that they can’t fend for his or her self.

It’s funny to see how times have drastically changed. My mother is the first of five and growing up she was like the second mother around the house. From middle school on, she helped her mom cook, clean, iron…all the above. And today, most children don’t know the cardinal rule of washing laundry: never mix your whites and reds or you will end up with pinks.

I digress.

I think it’s great that parents are there for their kids to guide them through life, but they’ve got to know the difference between guiding and smothering. Guiding is when you walk down a path side by side, there to pick up your kid when he or she hits a bump or two. Smothering is like the poor kid whose parent buys a “dog leash” to walk him or her around. They’re able to control the distance their child goes, and is able to reel him or her back in when they don’t like what’s going on.

Ok, so I gave my roommate the benefit of the doubt. “She’s just really homesick,” I’d tell myself. Until she uttered this question: “Kristina, can you help me make a boxed cake?”

A BOXED cake? My blind grandmother can make a boxed cake. That’s the moment I realized my roommate was raised on a dog leash.

Singing the Blues and Oranges

So much for March Madness... my March has actually been a lack of madness. My bracket was screwed up from the onset with all the top seeds dropping like flies...so much for going for the highly-favored teams. I will never look at the odds again.

I made a bet with my uncle, who is a huge Georgia Bulldog fan and I'm a huge Gator fan, that if my brackets beat his then he has to wear a Tim Tebow jersey and if I lose, I have to put on a Georgia cheerleading uniform. I started to wallow in my sorrows because it's just NOT possible for a Gator fan to lose to a Georgia fan, but then Northern Iowa became my hero! Facing off against No. 1 seed Kansas, No. 9 seed Northern Iowa surprised 90 percent of America and upset the Jayhawks, including my uncle. There went his one bracket because he had Kansas going all the way. I felt on top of the world, yet another victory for the Gator fans.

But then came Butler and West Virginia. Butler came in and beat my No. 1 Syracuse Orange and West Virginia beat my No.1 Kentucky Wildcats. I had both making it to the finals in both of my brackets, 'Cuse winning it in one of my brackets and the Wildcats in the other....

And that ladies and gentlemen is why I'm singing the Blues and Oranges.

Moving on up

Listen up girls, there's a new, exciting element that will be added to ESPN this coming fall. It's called espnW. Yes, this will be a site dedicated to women and high school sports! How awesome is that?!

A big-time network is finally realizing the importance of women in sports. Through espnW they'll highlight top high school female athletes from around the country, in various sports.

It's still in the making and am not sure everything it'll entail, but it just excites me that high school girls will have the same opportunity to showcase her amazing talent as the boys have already been able to do.

Keep your eyes and ears open to this amazing new venture.