Hockey Chat:  The Sabers and Fylers had been battling in a 2-2 tie in overtime. RJ Umberger (Philly) had been taking some hits from heavy man Brian Campbell (Buffalo).  RJ had shrugged off getting roughed up before and didn’t think much as he grabbed the puck headed up ice with 8 minutes left.  But just as he got to the blue line, with thoughts of skating up ice and scoring on his mind, Campbell met him hard in what RJ thought was open ice, and laid him out.  Always, always keep your head up when skating up.  You can watch the video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_99e7zFlo0

As the son of an Air Force chaplain, Danny Wuerffel had lots of neighbors growing up. He had neighbors in South Carolina, Nebraska, Colorado and even Spain. Eventually Wuerffel’s family settled in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where he developed into one of the state’s outstanding quarterbacks. And while most kids in his shoes might have fallen prey to becoming typical military brats, Wuerffel had a much different understanding of his circumstances.

“The Scriptures say to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself,” Wuerffel says. “But we are unfortunately caught up with focusing most of our passions not on loving our neighbor but loving and caring and serving ourselves.”

In the first three rounds of this year’s NCAA Tournament, Davidson’s Stephen Curry absolutely torched teams, averaging 34.3 points per game and leading his team to their first Regional Championship since 1969. Though Kansas defeated Curry and the tenacious Davidson team in the Elite Eight, the Wildcats will still go down as the Cinderella team of 2008.

It was only two years ago that Curry was overlooked by several other schools whose seasons ended long before Davidson’s. Curry was a scrawny, 6-1, 155-pound senior, considered too small and frail to handle the physical play of the AAC and SEC. Many major Division I coaches could not get past his physique. But one coach, Bob McKillop, looked beneath the physical appearance and saw the heart of a champion.

Caleb, a small quiet boy who was new to his school, was invited to an FCA game night. The time came to pick teams for basketball and two of the school’s top athletes chose sides. Bryan, a great athlete, looked for people just like him. Josh was a great athlete as well, but had another plan.

Jesus chose all kinds of people—not always the biggest, best looking, and strongest—to carry out His work. One such man was Zacchaeus. The Bible tells us he was a little man, so small he had to climb a tree to see Jesus. As the Lord passed by Zacchaeus, He stopped and chose him to spend time with. Jesus did not just say He loved others; He showed it every day.

David was new to his school and a great athlete. Jonathan was the first teammate David connected with and they became instant friends. For three years David and Jonathan grew very close. In the first game his senior year, David had an accident while driving. Many of his friends didn’t stick by his side, but Jonathan didn’t leave.

Proverbs 17:17 tells us that a friend is loyal—always loyal. We must ask ourselves, What kind of friend am I? Do I stick closer than a brother or take off when it gets tough? Can my friends count on me in times of need or just when things are good? When we find a friend who is loyal, we need to keep him or her around, because they are hard to come by.