The Main Event

[kyle.davis]

I think that what happens sometimes is that when the content of Jesus's message is communicated, the tone in which he communicated it is lost. In the case of the quote on the flyer, "whoever believes in me is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in me stands condemned already," what Jesus is communicating is not condemnation, but an invitation to healing from condemnation. Much the same as you would not fault a doctor for speaking truth about your physical health - whether you like to hear it or not - one should probably not fault Jesus for speaking truth about your spiritual health. I think that in many ways and many times the church has failed to communicate Jesus's message in Jesus's tone, and I apologize to and ask forgiveness of those who have been hurt by the church's tone. I myself would be in the group of those who at times have been hurt by the church's tone, but despite that, I have found that only in Jesus can those and many other wounds be healed. If you were at the main event, this is essentially what Joel and Tressel and the rest of the players were attempting to communicate.

 

[BayBuck]

Being a former Lantern sports writer myself, I would also take offense to your statement "The Lantern sucks!" Apparently columnists aren't allowed to have an opinion you disagree with or the whole newspaper sucks.

I've been a part of the OSU campus community since '96 and have been reading the Lantern ever since, and the two points of consistency in its publication are its sophomoric liberal bent and poor quality of writing. If you wrote commentary for that fishrag, it's quite possible you received some feedback from me, an English major who expects higher from the nation's largest university's college paper.

The only reason I harped on the "tax dollar" issue is that Woods mentioned it twice simply for rhetorical effect, and that just seemed like sloppy research/writing to this reader.

 

[Cornerback6]

If this moron realized the amount of money that JT helps tOSU bring in each year, he might never say another word. What an idiot.

 

[bkochmc]

My wife and I were at the event as the ministry she works for was involved with the planning and promotion of it... the event had a very good turnout, I'd say at least 10,000 to 11,000 in attendance. TBDBITL started the evening off with Craig Krenzel opening up the night... Joel Penton was the "MC", a host of other football players gave their testimony or gave a brief talk about how they balance their relationships, academics and football with God (Stan White Jr., Roy Hall, David Patterson, Todd Denlinger, James Lauranitis, Marcus Freeman, Vernon Gholston, Derek Harden, Joe Gantz), then Coach Tressel spoke for about 10 minutes. I also saw Tyson Gentry and Chris Spielman in attendance.

As for Mr. Woods, he is entitled to his opinion but it would be nice if he got all the facts before he started blasting the event (I'm in the camp that he wrote his article for shock value)...

• The event was an idea of the seniors involved
• Tressel, Krenzel, and the players showed up on their free time
• The event was not endorsed or affiliated with The Ohio State University
• The players and sponsors involved raised enough money to cover all the costs, inluding renting St. John's Arena
• On top of that Cedarville University sent over 300 students to help with the event, all on their bill (event staff t-shirts, transportation, food, etc)

Overall I thought the event was a great success and a good way for the student-athletes to reach out to the community.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

PLAYING AND PRAYING
Thousands flock to hear Tressel, Buckeyes speak about God and the gridiron
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Kevin Kidder
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

OSU football coach Jim Tressel, Katie Harden and her husband, wide receiver Derek Harden, listen to defensive tackle David Patterson speak in St. John Arena.
It had all the aura of a Buckeye football rally: a packed St. John Arena, a band belting out Hang on Sloopy, game highlights playing on huge projection screens.
Then members of the team, including Coach Jim Tressel, started quoting Bible verses.
Thunderous applause rained down on them.
Some members of the Ohio State football team took to the stage last night to share their spiritual side at "The Main Event," a rally designed to tell fans how Christianity affects their lives and their football.
In addition to Tressel, it featured seniors David Patterson, Joel Penton, Roy Hall and Stan White Jr. Other players joined them on stage throughout the 90-minute event.
Thousands of fans filled St. John Arena to the rafters, as player after player told stories amid humorous video clips and tapes of past glories on the gridiron.
After watching a clip of himself shaving his bald head and slurping up cereal, Hall talked about his mother, and how she had been in an abusive relationship while he was growing up. He was "not able to understand how she could keep going on," Hall said.
"Once you understand that God is behind everything, it gives you strength," he said. "I just want to say one more thing: I love you, Mom, and go Bucks!"
Patterson, a self-described "mama?s boy," related how he constantly calls his mother when anything goes awry. His mother questions whether he asked God for help first.
"We are small, very small compared to God," Patterson said.
Though Tressel was wearing his traditional scarlet sweater vest, he said he wanted to step away from his role of coach and speak "as a child of God."
He went on to quote Proverbs and Psalms in emphasizing reverence for and relationships with God. "Relationships make our lives so complete," he told the crowd.
He then related a story from a high-school sports summer camp in 1969, where retired New York Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson asked him, "If the game of life ended tonight, would you be a winner? "
"I wasn?t sure I could answer yes," Tressel said. The question helped him become more spiritual.
Inside, devoted fans wearing Buckeye necklaces milled about with fans who came to last night?s rally on church buses from across Ohio.
About a dozen members of the Northside Baptist Church in Lebanon made the hour or so trip. It was worth it, said 16-yearold friends John Cooper and Jeremy Jackson. Both are Buckeye fans, and they said they wanted to know how religion influenced the game.
The story that Hall told of his mother being abused struck a chord with both teens.
"It?s kinda weird, when you think about where he is now," Jackson said.
Rodney Morgan, of the West Side, said he came last night more to hear how religion influenced the men.
"It?s interesting, the Christians on the team. You don?t get to hear about that," said Morgan, 40, as he walked out of the arena.
"I?m trying to get right by God myself," he said.

 

[Bleed S & G]

but as a non-believer, I can tell you that I can't stand being told I'm damned because I don't share the faith.

Thats not a very christian message.. lol

 

[BB73]

He then related a story from a high-school sports summer camp in 1969, where retired New York Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson asked him, "If the game of life ended tonight, would you be a winner? "

That's weird. I haven't thought about Bobby Richardson since the last time somebody got a bunch of base hits in a World Series, but last night I dreamed I was watching him in a Home Run hitting contest.

 

[OH10]

I've been a part of the OSU campus community since '96 and have been reading the Lantern ever since, and the two points of consistency in its publication are its sophomoric liberal bent and poor quality of writing. If you wrote commentary for that fishrag, it's quite possible you received some feedback from me, an English major who expects higher from the nation's largest university's college paper.

The only reason I harped on the "tax dollar" issue is that Woods mentioned it twice simply for rhetorical effect, and that just seemed like sloppy research/writing to this reader.

Well, I wrote commentary, and it was extremely sophomoric. I did get a few emails from English major Nazis who don't understand the art of comedic commentary.

But since I wrote about irrelevant sports topics that would only interest me and a few diehards, the liberal slant was missing. Sorry.

It's a student newspaper. Most of the columnists in the opinion section (not the sports) weren't journalism majors actually. They were students who submitted sample columns and were chosen by the editorial staff. While many of them were not established writers (See Dave O'Neil - who was a conservative columnist by the way), their columns were often entertaining and thought-provoking.