Thursday, February 08, 2007

This & That Thursday

Eye-Catching: All Rev. Philip Andrukaitis wanted to do was make a call to Christians; the call to support Jews and Israel. Instead he created a brouhaha. In Saturday's Portland Press Herald, in Portland, Maine, Rev. Andrukaitis had an article in the Religion & Values section with his sermon title: "The Only Way To Destroy The Jewish Race." Well, alrighty then. The sermon, which dealt with anti-semitism, was reviewed and heard by people in the Jewish religious community and was well-received; it's just the title that was the problem. Not only that but the paper, which has a ban on printing items that may be offensive, somehow let the title through to the publishing stage. Needless to say, Rev. Andrukaitis was apologetic and thankfully his sermon, which talked about how God would not let his chosen people be destroyed, was well-meaning. Talk about letting your title say it all; thankfully the sermon spoke for itself.

Another Outie: Swimming has one, boxing has one, golf, baseball and football all have one. What do they all have in common? They all have a gay player. Now comes B-Ball; John Amaechi, the former pro NBA player, is coming out of the closet and is timing it with the release of his new book, Man In The Middle, out next week. Baseball's Billy Bean, golf's Rosie Jones, swimming's Mark Tewksbury, boxing's Mark Leduc, and football's Dave Kopay, Jerry Smith, Esera Tuaolo, and Roy Simmons have all come out in the past.

Amaechi was born in Boston, MA but raised in Great Britain and played with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets and played for three years in Europe. I, for one, am looking forward to reading this book. Hopefully others will see him as a role model.

peace out,

paul

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