George, I am truly sorry that the church has let you down. To my knowledge, I don't know you, but from your IP address it looks like you're local to the Washington, D.C. area. This is a sincere offer: if you contact me (esgetology@me.com) I would be glad to try to help you with the things you mentioned.

Excellent point. I guess I fear that through pre-judgment (prejudice), I might have missed out on some music I'd actually enjoy. In the case of George Winston, there are a few tracks that are okay, but most of it rates a "meh," with the banging becoming unnerving with each subsequent play. Great music gets better with each subsequent listen. So, the experiment was a failure in this regard.

I love your "analogous statements"!

Thanks for making these available. My parish will be using them for Lent starting this Sunday.

Alan,

I thought it was pretty clear that I was referring to the fans *at the game who cheered the injury.* Nevertheless, I apologize if that's not the impression I gave.

Totally agree re. why the Vikings lost. I don't like the way the Saints play defense, but the Vikes lost the game for exactly the reasons you specify: coaching and fumbles.

That's a cool story re. the Indy team doctor. Go Colts!

Thanks for the tip on Scrivener. I wrote my sermon in it this week, and I think it has the potential to be a very powerful tool for me.

Not really sure how to make this more clear.

Agressive = No problem
Intent to injure = Problem

It's hard to think objectively about your own team. I didn't say the defense shouldn't rush the passer - that would be preposterous. Late hits may "happen"; blows to the head, and blows below the knee, don't "happen" - they're intentional, as Gregg Williams has indicated. Aggressive pass rush = fine. Intent to injure = not fine. He doesn't want the QB to flinch next time; he wants the QB to not play again in the game. Did you actually read what Gregg Williams said? Do you really want to defend a coach saying he hopes his team injures the other team's QB?

I was planning on rooting for the Saints in the Super Bowl. But when I read what Williams said, and watched some of the replays of Saints-Cardinals and Saints-Vikings, I just hope that Sean Payton can rein in this monster (a public disavowal would be a good start) before someone's career – or life – is ruined.

I don't recall that, but I certainly don't condone it. I do think there's a difference between an individual player's infraction and a gameplan designed to injure the QB.

I don't think dirty is in the eye of the beholder. The game has rules. Late hits will sometimes happen because of the rapid flow of the game. Willful disregard of the rules is dirty. There were a number of other hits on Favre, especially in the first quarter, with several blows to the head. If you watched the game carefully, he was bleeding from the mouth in the first quarter after blows to the head.

That's Gregg Williams (and Sharper, who has a vendetta against the Vikings). Williams' most careful student was Sean Taylor, who was notorious for late, vicious hits. He caused numerous concussions before his tragic murder. But it wasn't just Taylor - the whole Redskins defense played that way. That's how Williams coaches.