The father and son team of Dick and Rick Hoyt has served as an inspiration to me in my quest to educate people on the plight of the physically-challenged.

For the past twenty five years or more Dick, who is 65, has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.

Rick was born with cerebral palsy in 1962. At the time of his birth the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain. In spite of this, the duo has been joining triathlons and marathons since 1979. They also once hiked a total of 3,735 miles across America. Awesome!

Dick is a retired air national guardsman, while Rick is a graduate of Boston University. Together they run to campaign for the integration of the physically-challenged in mainstream life. Another goal is to help the disabled participate in activities that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.

This has always been my goal as far as my son, Luis is concerned. Just because he is differently-abled doesn’t mean that he should be denied access to most activities.

Read more on Team Hoyt here.

Havant and Waterlooville’s dream run came to an end as they went down to Liverpool 5-2 at Anfield last January 26, 2008 . The Hawks earned the right to play Liverpool in the fourth round by defeating Swansea City last January 16, 4-2.

In last Saturday’s match the non-leaguers made Liverpool work for its victory, even leading twice before being overwhelmed by their mighty rivals. Non-league refers to football played in England played at a level below the premier league and the football league. What’s amazing is that the Hawks are composed of part-timers. The team members hold different jobs ranging from salesman, teacher, personal trainer and garbage collector. Their star scorer is training to be a cabbie in London.

Such stories are the stuff of dreams. Take a bow Havant!

Other links:
Havant and Waterlooville FC
Liverpool FC
The FA Cup
BBC

Check out this video I stumbled upon medgadget. Cool animation by nucleusinc. The choice of background music by JS Bach makes it even cooler.

The quarterfinals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup are now underway and this weekend’s matches pit New Zealand against France. Of course, no rugby match featuring The All-Blacks won’t be complete without the haka.

The haka is a traditional posture dance from the Maori people of New Zealand. It is accompanied by shouts and performed by a group. It is not just a war dance but it is performed for a variety of reasons such as welcoming guests and for celebrating achievements. The NZ All-Blacks and the NZ Maoris perform this dance before every international match.

What’s fascinating about the haka is that it’s such a powerful display of national pride. The members of the team may be European or Polynesian but everybody is equally passionate. It’s not just posturing. They can back it up with performance. The Kiwis are the top-ranked team in the world today.

Interestingly, the other South Pacific teams (Samoa, Fiji, Tonga) also have their own version of the haka.

I also relate to the haka because Philippine dialects are part of the Malayo-Polynesian group of languages. In fact, the words to one of their popular haka goes, “Ka mate, ka mate (I die, I die). In Pampango “mete” also means to die.

Here’s the haka, from the match between New Zealand and Portugal in this year’s World Cup.

Video was posted by gregusforever.

Lewis Hamilton has been cleared by the FIA of causing a crash between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel during this year’s Japanese Grand Prix.

According to BBC, Vettel of Toro Rosso rammed Mark Webber of Red Bull after Hamilton allegedly braked excessively behind the safety car.

Anyway, I’ve been trying to view footage of the incident. Amateur videos have been shot and uploaded on Youtube. Here’s one:

This video was uploaded by dertzuio.

I think Hamilton, must have been trying to prevent his brakes from seizing.

What do you think?

Monday Blues «

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“What’s in it for me?” This is the response that we sometimes get when we ask for other people’s help. Of course, those who are close to us may do things for us for nothing, but in today’s reward-driven environment, people almost always ask if the potential benefit is worth the effort that they are about to put in. In business and at work, asking the WIIFM question has become acceptable. Asking this question has become the mark of the savvy professional. I agree. In running an enterprise or in performing our jobs, it is always important to find out what we stand to gain before we commit our resources to any task.

Even well known authors of business and motivational books, advocate some form of selfishness. They maintain that to be able to help others, we must help ourselves first. Aboard planes, one of the things the attendant tells you (or gestures to you) during the flight safety reminders is that you should secure your own oxygen supply first before attempting to help others.

Let’s reframe this popular thought. How about thinking “What’s in it for them?” How will people benefit from interacting with you? Are things easier for people now that they’ve received your output? Will they be grateful for having met you, or will they regret the day they met you (or hired you, or dealt with your company)? Did you create value during your interaction? Will things be clearer after they read your report, or was it only an exercise of compliance? Will they walk away from this transaction blessed or cursed?

-Carlos Castellon

Being free means liberated from bondage, from slavery. These days, freedom can also mean a host of other things. Being free can also mean having access to talent and to privileges such as material resources and technology. Being able to move and dwell within certain circles is also freedom. We can also count financial independence and the ability to structure our own time as freedom. Following Christ releases us from rituals and ceremonies that can weigh us down and prevent us from advancing God’s work.

Lord, we thank you for these modern amenities, which were not available to us before. Nowadays, we live in an age of ever increasing choices. Teach us to use these to glorify You and to advance Your purposes here on earth.

May these allow us to reach out to a greater number of people. This we pray for in Christ’s name. Amen.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

- Galatians 2:13

After the book and video series. Can the game be far behind? I thought it was just a gag when I saw the review on TV.

I think this is taking it too far.

Here’s the description in one of the gaming sites:

Based on the renown series of Christian-faith novels about the aftermath of the Rapture and the lives left behind in the ensuing turmoil after those who are saved by their faith in God are gone. Left Behind: Eternal Forces will put players in command of the apocalyptic battles raging in the streets of New York City between the angelic Tribulation Forces and the demonic Global Community Peacekeepers during the End of Days. Gamers will participate in events from the Left Behind book series in single player mode and battle to capture territory from other players in the multi-player online game mode.

Here’s the link to the screenshots:
http://www.vgpro.com/games/pc/left_behind_eternal_forces