Those of you that know me, know that I am an Arkansas Razorback fan through and through. They have been my team, in all sports, for as long as I can remember. Most of my life I have spent way too much time on all sports, but now the only sports teams that I follow are those that wear the Razorback. I will assure you that there are times that is not an easy thing to do. It seems as if the Razorbacks as plagued with the old adage, that if anything can go wrong, it will. Every time it seems that we have things going our way: in a game, during a season, or the direction of the program in general; something happens to keep us from making the next step. The stories are endless of how many times that has happens.
BUT, I want to focus one time, when a few careless words ruined a good season; and nearly brought the whole program to its knees. During the 2004 season, there was discontent brewing among the fans — won-loss record was not as good as they wanted it, the play-calling was very vanilla and predictable, and the head coach was calling the plays. The fans wanted a change, but the coach salvaged things by signing three of the best running backs around. At the same time that was happening, just north of the campus in the town of Springdale, they were putting together a powerhouse of a team. In 2004, with a team that was led by mostly juniors, the only game they lost was the state championship game. 2005 promised to be a very special season for this team.
Two important things happened during the summer between those seasons. The star quarterback committed to play football for the Razorbacks, and the Springdale head coach agreed to give a sports writer access to the team in order for a book to be written about the 2005 season. During that season Arkansas won a close game over one of the Mississippi schools, and the head coach made an ill-advised remark about his play-calling ability. The high school star quarterback made a very unflattering remark about the coach, when he heard the remark — and somehow that remark made it to the book that was published in the middle of the 2006 season. That season was going really well, when the book came out, we lost the first game; but the freshman quarterback came in and gave the team a lift. The next week he was named the starting quarterback, and the team won 8 games in a row. Now honestly, the quarterback had little do with the wins, but he was the starter and part of what was going on. But then the book came out, and the season unraveled right in front of us. The Razorbacks lost 3 out of their last 5 games, and the fan base was almost hopelessly divided. Beginning with a couple of statements that were ill-advised at the time they were made. What a tragedy.
What made me think of all that today? My devotional reading was in Matthew 12 this morning, and I read these words of Jesus.
… For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (Matthew 12:34-37, NLT)
Now, I know that in the grand scheme of things what happens to a football team in not all that important. But, I think that is a perfect illustration of what a few “careless” words can do. I know that back in 2006 and 2007, when all the anger and discontent was happening, the remark was often made — “there are somethings that we say, that nobody needs to know and sure don’t need to be recorded and reported.” That may be true of a football player, his team, and his coach; but that is not what Jesus said about those that are following HIM!
Let’s get our hearts right, and guard what it allows the mouth to say. We need to remember that God is always listening, and what we say is important. We really need to think about what we are saying, and be sure that we speaking with love. Peace.
Hoot's Musings 