3/17/2009
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Underdog
<br><br>He doesn't even know that I exist.  He has never heard my name nor has he seen my face.  He doesn't send me a card on my birthday and I certainly do not expect him to give me a present when Christmas rolls around.  But, in spite of all that, I have to rank up there with being one of his biggest fans of all time.  I have had the opportunity to see him in person on a number of occasions.  I have seen him play baseball....I have seen him play golf....I have eaten at his restaurant....I have bought his shoes....I have driven by the gates of his home....I have hung posters of him in my room....I have old VCR tapes of even older games....I have magazines with him on the cover.....I have seen him play on his home court and touched the statue of him outside the stadium doors.  Yes, I suppose for me, Michael Jordan WAS, and even still now, IS basketball.      <br><br>Having said all that, it goes without saying that back in the day I was a huge Chicago Bulls fan....and I certainly was not alone.  Many of us enjoyed watching them win championships year in and year out.  But alas, there were still some unusual folks who did not want them to win all the time.  There were actually some basketball fans who wanted someone else to win every now and then.  I don't think it was so much that they didn't like the Chicago Bulls as much as that they just wanted to see someone else have their time in the sun.  I guess it got boring watching Michael, Scottie and Dennis hoist the championship trophy in the windy city each spring.  And, I suppose looking at it from their point of view, I don't guess I can blame them.<br><br>After a while, its no fun watching someone dominate something all the time.  I dare say there is a little piece of all of us that wants to pull for the underdog.  There is something exhilarating about watching David defeat Goliath.  That's why I love college basketball so much this time of the year.  March Madness is a breeding ground for upsets.  Even the most elementary college basketball fan has heard of all the number one seeds in the mens bracket....North Carolina Tar heels, Louisville Cardinals, U Conn Huskies, and the Pitt Panthers.  Granted, one might assume these teams will go deep into the tournament, but who is to say?  What about some of the higher seeded teams....Chattanooga, Robert Morris, CS Northridge, Radford, Binghamton and Morgan State?      Though its not probable that they will get past their first game, it certainly is possible.  When the ball is tossed up Thursday, everything on paper get tossed out the window.  As the old saying goes, “Thats why they make you play 'em”.  I do not have a crystal ball, but you can mark it down....there will be some teams to win in the next few days that aren't “supposed” to win.  There are some relatively unknown players right now preparing to swing their slingshots in the direction of the giant in their way....many of them will miss their marks.....but there will be a few who will hit him square in the forehead and move on to the field of 32....and some will go even farther.<br><br>No doubt, you have come across the verse in the Bible that says, “With God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)  Who, feeling like an underdog in their own lives, has not received some comfort from the words above spoken from God's own Son?  Have you ever felt like the Radford Highlanders going up against basketball powerhouse North Carolina?  Maybe you feel like the odds had been stacked up against you by Satan himself.  Perhaps you compare yourself to the “players” around you and feel like you are not near as talented, driven, and capable.  Don't believe that....not for one minute.  Christ himself told us that as long as God is in control of our lives that “all things are possible”.  Notice it did not say “a few things” or “a thing or two”....it said ALL THINGS.  Satan wants you to just throw in the towel, wave the white flag and cry “uncle”.  I guarantee you some of the number 1 seeds in this years tournament would like for the 16's to just go ahead and mail it in and not show up to play.....not so much because they think  the game will be a cake walk as much as there is a little fear in the back of their minds that they just might get beat by the little red-headed boy with rocks in his pocket.  Somewhere right now a pair of glass slippers are being fitted for someone.  Just out of curiosity, what size do you wear?<br><br>Go the extra mile-Devin<br>