Pippen says LeBron might be better than Michael Jordan

     Scottie Pippen recently said in an interview that LeBron James could be, "The greatest player to ever play the game." He might be on to something. MJ may be a great scorer, but he never fully trusted his teammates as LeBron has ever since he joined the league. LeBron may have a career scoring average of 27.7 ppg, but he has done his time on the boards, and dishes the ball with point guard like efficiency, something Jordan could never do, highlighted by James' averaging more assists per game in his second season than Jordan ever did. LeBron is also a force on the defensive end, but so was Jordan, who averaged two steals per game over his fifteen year career. When computing the two players' total  contribution, a sum of a player's career averages of assists (worth two points, because they too are baskets, but by another player) and points, LeBron is the better and more complete offensive player. Jordan is without a doubt the best raw scorer in NBA, but LeBron James is the more complete player. However, LeBron will never be universally considered as the greatest player ever until he wins at least four championships.  However, Pippen is onto something and I agree that in time, championships pending, LeBron James will recognized as the greatest player in NBA history.

Mr. Goedde, the Best Teacher I'll Ever Have

     Mr. Goedde is my eighth grade english, reading, and religion teacher at St. Andrew School.  He is the greatest teacher I will ever meet, and today he received an award for being the top eighth grade teacher in southwest Ohio, his impromptu speech afterwards brought many to tears.  I know I speak for all of my grade when we thank him for all he has done for us this year.
      One of Mr. Goedde's best traits is his personality, he captivates all of his students, and earns their respect, for when he speaks the room goes silent.  He takes learning beyond the classroom, talking about politics, music, and our Catholic faith.  Another is that he doesn't care about grades, he cares more about the individual than the test score that too many teachers use to define a student.  He is like a second father, and the golf outing my friends and I went on with him is my favorite memory in the eighth grade.  However, he does have a flaw, and that is that he sets his own standards very high and always expects more from himself, and never giving himself credit when he clearly deserves it.  I can only hope that he has enjoyed teaching me as much as I have enjoyed being in his class.

Camping Once Again Wrong

     Once again Harold Camping, a California preacher radio host of Family Radio International, was wrong in predicting the date of the Apocalypse. He was wrong the first time in 1994,  but after his followers were let down, he was forced to give a reasonable explanation, and he chalked it up to a mathematical error. Now realistically do you expect Camping, who was once a civil engineer, to make the same mistake twice? He cost FRI and more importantly his followers millions of dollars, one man spending his life savings of $140,000 to plaster New York subways with Camping's apocalyptic message.

What was also astounding was that Camping doubted his own prediction, for when an atheist offerred to buy all of Camping's possessions, claiming that if he truly believed that he was to be raptured, he would sell everything he owned for $1 because he wouldn't need it in the afterlife. He refused Now that he has changed his Doomsday prediction to October 21, 2011, he still will not sell any of his possessions. I assume he knows he is wrong.

I would at least this 'man of God' to have the decency to admit he was wrong and even apologize as expected, but he obviously did not have courage to do so.

One of his followers, Jeff Hopkins said it best when he stated, "I thought he would show some more human decency in admitting he made a mistake, and we didn't really see that."

Regardless of popular opinion, Family Radio certainly is making money, and in 2009 filed in the IRS that it had received $18.3 million in donations, and $104 million in assests.

This makes me wonder if he is simply using his platform to trick devoted Christians into wasting their hard-earned money to profit himself.

That's why on October 21, 2011, I'll  be spending it like any other Friday, gettin' ready for the weekend. 

Stephen Hawking Claims Heaven Doesn't Exist

First off, I am not attacking any atheists here, I am just stating my opinion as a Catholic.

Stephen Hawking once again claimed today that Heaven does not exist, saying it is a "fairy story for people afraid of the dark," while likening our brains to computers when they crash, he says his beliefs are partly based on the fact that he has had motor neurone disease for many years. Now, I can only imagine that he has somehow assumed that because he has suffered for most of his life, there cannot be a God because he doesn't deserve to suffer. On the contrary, I believe the reason God has kept him alive and gifted him with such a great mind is to give him both a chance to repent and to serve him with his whole existence. However, if he believes that death is the end, then why does he strive to do things for science and do good for others when it essentially has no signifcance in the end? And if there just happenned to be our universe, which, at its creation was the size of this period .  and it just decided to explode? How does this happen?  God decided to do this.

The following is Pascal's wager: If you die not believing in God and there is no God, you lose nothing.
                                                 If you die believing in God and there is no God, you lose nothing.
                                                If you die believing in God and there is a God, you gain everything.
                                                 If you die not believing in God and there is a God, you lose everything.

Pretty harsh consequences, no?
That right there along with Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, the Bible, and all the unexplained miracles in life, are all the reasons we believe in God.

Remember, Faith is believing even when you do not see

Link to article on Professor proving God's existence and watch the video http://www.wsmv.com/news/13358825/detail.html


God Bless,
Billy W.

Trump Will Not Run In 2012

Donald Trump won't run in 2012. Did you hear that ? That was America taking a sigh of relief ! Though I am a Republican, I do not want this man to run our country  for many reasons, particularly because he 1. is a loud mouth and uses bankruptcy as a financial ploy 2. he has no prior political experience (gov. sen. etc) 3. he just wouldn't be a good president. Though he claims he can win the Republican nomination and eventually the general election, he "isn't ready to leave the private sector yet." That's all well and good, but the fact he stirs up all this propaganda only to not run makes me feel like it was more of a publicity stunt than a serious bid to lead our country, though NBC's threatening to replace him and then eventually offering him $60,000,000  to return to the Celebrity Apprentice could have played a major role. Though many do not see him as a serious candidate he is leaving the race when he was, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll from last month , behind only Mitt Romney. And later in a different poll, he was tied with Mike Huckabee at 16% support, though he was disliked 44%. Trump's and particularly Huckabee's not running further muddies the field for the Republican nomination, especially that the party's votes may be divided after Ron Paul declared his bid.

Read Trump's quotes at http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/05/trump-not-runninng-for-president.html

Draft Hypocrisy

So, I know some of you watched the NFL draft not too long ago, and watched as the Cincinnati Bengals selected the talented  A.J Green, the best WR in the draft with the 4th pick , and immediately afterwards, Sports Illustrated criticized the pick, claiming that wide receivers had a high rate of failure. But, (here's the kicker) in the April 25th edition of SI, they said the Bengals themselves should select a wide receiver, Julio Jones. Now, I understand that they are different players, but two picks later they applauded the Falcons for selecting a lesser wideout. I am not trying to call foul on SI as I am a subscriber to their magazine, but this kind of hypocrisy is what makes me mad. Yes, I understand that the Bengals are not a good organization, but insulting them for choosing a premeir talent and filling a major offensive need, and then praising the Falcons for choosing a less talented player when they already had WR filled with Roddy White is not right. It's about time we start respecting teams whether we like them or not.