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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
March Madness. No, that's not about people who love the music of John Philip Sousa. You know. March Madness!!! Dicky V, b-ball, hard picks, last second game winning baskets. Okay, it's the NCAA Basketball Tournament. People call it March Madness because it gets the blood boiling in the veins of college basketball enthusiasts all across the country. It used to get the blood boiling here in the Bluegrass for we University of Kentucky Wildcat fans. For many UK fans there is something else making their blood boil about basketball, but that's for another day.
For me, being a Kentucky resident but a native Ohioan, I am looking at this year's tournament with guarded optimism. I am old enough to remember the one and only NCAA Tournament Championship that my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes won back in 1960. I also remember the two heart rending losses to the University of Cincinnati in the championship games of 1961,1962. 1962 was the last time that OSU finished the season ranked number one in the country in the Associated Press college poll. Right now the Buckeyes are perched at number one.
Right now is sweet. But the true test is whether or not they can continue their winning ways through the Big Ten Conference Tournament and through the NCAA Tournament. You see, it's not about being voted number one in college basketball. It's all about proving that you are. That can be difficult. What really gets me is that the Buckeyes could be playing their first games right here in Central Kentucky. Rupp Arena in Lexington is hosting one level of the tournament. OSU, due to its proximity to Lexington, would probably play here depending on the outcome of the seeding process which takes place this coming Sunday. Ah yes, Sunday.
Sunday marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time. Sunday is also the day that the NCAA powers that be set the field for the 65 teams that will compete for the National Championship. Yep, Sunday is an important day. It has been for almost two thousand years. Forget about the time change, forget about the NCAA selection show, forget that the NFL plays when football's in season. Sunday is the day that He made important. Sunday is the day that He brought to worldwide prominence. Sunday is the Lord's Day.
"Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them." Acts 20:7 That's what Sunday is all about. It is all about rememberance. Paul had been in Troas for a week waiting for the time when all the Christians there would get together and remember the death of Jesus on the cross through communion. Why Sunday? Because that is the day Jesus walked out of the tomb to become the "firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." 1 Corinthians 15:20 That day Jesus left no second guessing about who is Number One. The tournament was over and all the opponents were defeated, even death. As Dick Vitale would put it, "He's Number One, baby, with a capital 'O'."
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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