Playing for Change - the power of music

A clip from film “Playing for Change” by filmmaker Mark Johnson. This remarkable film took 10 years to complete.

The DVD appears to be discontinued but is available through rental companies.

Does Tony Romo wear a cape at night?

The ‘Dallas Cowboys’ and ‘Media Coverage’ often means drama.  Let’s not review the many story lines that lead sports and entertainment pages such as Pacman and Jessica.

But, when the sun goes down in Texas the starting QB is quietly building a collection of Good Samaritan deeds.  Does Tony Romo put on a cape at night?

In September, Romo pulled over to help a stranded couple change a tire.  Most recently, Romo enjoyed a movie with a homeless gentleman.   Tim McMahon of the Dallas Morning News discovered the latest act of kindness.

A homeless man who goes by Doc was cashing in change at a Cinemark theater in Dallas when a guy walked up and offered to pay his way into the movie. Doc, who planned to spend his day passing out flyers for a few bucks, accepted a rain check before realizing that he recognized the generous gentleman.

“Was that Tony Romo?” Doc asked the kid behind the counter.

It sure was. Doc hustled across the street to the consignment store that paid him to occasionally pass out flyers and requested the day off.   By the time he got back to the theater, “Role Model” had already started.
Romo, who confirmed the story but didn’t want to elaborate, waved Doc over to sit by him and his buddy.

Doc sheepishly mentioned that he hadn’t showered in a few days. “Don’t worry about that,” Romo said. “I’m used to locker rooms.”

And so the $67 million quarterback and a man who doesn’t have $6.70 to his name sat next to each other and shared laughs for 90 minutes or so.

For Romo, who made news by changing a couple’s tire on the side of the road on the way home the night of the season opener, it was just another kind gesture to a random stranger. It meant the world to Doc.

“For me, it was a blessing,” Doc said. “It came at just the right time. It gave me some encouragement and faith in mankind. I just wanted to say thank you.”

Dallasnews.com, other sources

The Senior: 59 yearl old linebacker writes book

Mike Flynt was swapping stories with some old football buddies in the summer of 2007 when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: getting kicked off the college team before his senior year.

So, one of his pals said, why not do something about it?

Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt’s only concern was if he was eligible.

Finding out he was, Flynt returned to Sul Ross State 37 years after he left and six years before he goes on Medicare as a player on the Division III team.

Flynt gave new meaning to being a college senior. After all, he’s a grandfather and a card-carrying member of AARP. He was eight years older than his coach and has two kids older than any of his teammates.

“I think it was Satchel Page who used to say, ‘How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?’ I’d be in my late 20s or early 30s, because that’s how I feel,” said Flynt, who has made a living out of physical fitness. “That’s been my approach to this whole thing. I feel that good. I just wanted to be able to perform and make a contribution to the team.”

A longtime strength and conditioning coach at Nebraska, Oregon and Texas A&M, he’s spent the last several years selling the Powerbase training system he invented. Clients include school systems and the military. His colorful life story includes being the son of a Battle of the Bulge survivor and having dabbled in gold mines and oil wells—successfully.

Flynt’s life was supposed to have been slowing down. With his youngest child starting at the University of Tennessee, he and Eileen, his wife of 35 years, were planning to take advantage of being empty-nesters for the first time.

Instead, they moved to a remote patch of West Texas so Flynt could mend an old wound and inspire others.

He became emotional discussing his goal of “helping a bunch of young men to make up for those guys that I let down.” Then he laughed about the reality that fellow Baby Boomers are getting the most out of his comeback.

“People were kind of in awe. They kept comparing me to themselves and where they are physically,” he said. “If I helped anyone out by what I did, then it was all worth it.”

Mike not only made the team, but he played the last half of the season on a regular basis at linebacker and on special teams.  He is the oldest contributing member of a college football team in NCAA history.

“I told him he was an idiot,” said Jerry Larned, who coached Flynt at Sul Ross in 1969 and counseled him at the start of his comeback. “I said, ‘Gosh, dang, Mike, you’re not 20 years old any more. You’re liable to cripple yourself.’ He understood all of that. But he had a burning desire to play. … He is in great physical condition. He still runs a 5-flat 40 and bench presses I-don’t-know-what. He’s a specimen for 59 years old.”

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There’s not much video on Mike but here is an interview he did for the 700 Club

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Back in the day, Flynt was quite a player.

In 1965, he was on the first state championship team at Odessa Permian, the high school featured in Friday Night Lights. He was offered a partial scholarship at Arkansas when the Razorbacks were among the top teams in the land, but instead went to Ranger Junior College.

He wound up at Sul Ross in 1969. An NAIA school then, the Lobos were in the Lone Star Conference with East Texas State, which at the time had future NFL stars Harvey Martin and Dwight White, and Texas A&I, which was starting a two-year run as national champs. The highlight of Flynt’s two years at Sul Ross was sticking A&I with its only loss in ‘69.

Flynt was going into his senior year in 1971 when he got into a fight that was far from his first. School officials decided they’d had enough and threw him out of school. He earned his degree from Sul Ross by taking his remaining classes elsewhere.

“I actually grieved for more years than I can remember the loss of that senior year,” said Flynt, who’d been a team captain and the leading tackler as a junior. “What really got me was I felt that was my football team and I had let them down. … I don’t know if I ever got over it, but I finally learned to live with it.”

Then came word of a reunion of former Sul Ross students from the 1960s and ’70s. Randy Wilson, who has been best friends with Flynt since they met as college roommates in 1969, talked a bunch of his former teammates into using that event as an excuse to get back together.

During several days of reminiscing, Flynt’s pain became fresh as ever, especially when one of the guys said their ‘71 season went down the drain without Flynt.

That’s when he told them of his remorse. And, he added, “What really gets me is that I feel like I can still play.”

“You might as well give it a shot,” Wilson told him. “The worst thing that can happen is you get your head knocked off and come home.”

When Flynt returned home to Franklin, Tenn., his wife wasn’t as fired up by the idea.

“I feel like I’m married to Peter Pan,” she said.

It took time to accept that instead of joining their daughter at Tennessee’s home opener she would be watching her husband hit kids one-third his age.

Eventually she came around. They sold their suburban Nashville home and moved to Alpine, a town of about 6,000 residents near the Big Bend National Park, a three-hour drive from the nearest major airport.

“I told her, for me to know that I can do it and not do it would be worse than losing out the first time,” he said.

A devout Christian, Flynt sees many religious undertones to his story. He also believes it touts the benefits of strength training.

“People have asked me, ‘Mike, what is the fountain of youth?’ Well, it’s strength training that builds muscle, increases bone density and burns calories,” he said. “It’s the one thing you can do in your 90s and benefit from.”

Just to be clear, Flynt won’t be playing football in his 90s.

He’ll be out of eligibility then.

Kid can do it all on one leg

Adam Bender slips a chest protector over his Astros jersey, buckles a shinguard to his right leg, positions a mask atop his head, grabs his catcher’s mitt and hops out of the dugout.

Adam has his game face on. Or at least what passes as a game face for an 8-year-old. His eyes are serious. His freckled nose is crinkled with determination.

It is a cool, breezy Saturday morning at Veterans Park, which is already buzzing with activity. Baseball games are being played on three diamonds within a pop-up of each other. Parents are clustered in and around the stands, chatting and cheering. Players of all ages, wearing uniforms or team T-shirts, swarm the place.

Hardly anybody gives a second glance to the catcher in the Southeastern rookie league deftly playing on one leg.

Adam Bender is just another kid playing ball, which is exactly how his parents, Michelle and Chris, want it.

“I was a little hesitant when we first brought him up here for baseball,” Michelle said. “I thought his spirit might be crushed if he got out every time. Then I thought, who am I to micromanage his feelings? He’s going to have to learn how to deal with this stuff.

“The more I shelter him, the more he’ll think, ‘I’m fragile.’ I don’t think I’ll ever tell him he can’t do something.”

Adam is amazing to watch. He takes his position behind the plate, resting on his right knee.

When a runner rounds third looking to score, Adam jumps up and holds his ground.

He suffered a mild concussion on one collision and missed a practice or two. But he recovered and was ready for action in the next game. At one point this season he led the rookie league in put-outs at home.

At bat, his athletic skill and balance allow him to take a full swing, and he usually makes contact. He hops to first base as quickly as he can. If he’s safe, he uses crutches to run the bases. When he gets thrown out, he hops dejectedly back to the dugout.

He’s a competitor, and not just in baseball.

Adam, who lost his left leg to cancer when he was 1, has played soccer for a couple of years. He uses crutches, and is a whirlwind on the field in Centenary United Methodist’s “I Am Third” league.

Full Story from Mike Fields at the Lexington Herald-Leader

Adam’s story will be featured on ESPN in the coming months.

In July, he threw out the first pitch at a Cincinnati Reds game, and he caught the first pitch at Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros games.

He also went to Las Vegas as a special guest at a party at Caesars Palace put on by Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids Foundation.

In January, Adam will return to Chicago to receive the Bo Jackson Courage Award at the Pitch & Hit Club’s 63rd annual awards dinner.

Former NBA star Love delivers inspirational message

Perhaps it was his last name or his gentle demeanor, or maybe it was that he has met President-elect Barack Obama and Michael Jordan on numerous occasions, but when former NBA All-Star Bob Love finished his motivational speech to ninth graders Wednesday at Naples High, an auditorium filled with teenagers rushed forward to hug him.

The kids Love was addressing — about staying in school and choosing friends wisely — are growing up in a different reality than the former Chicago Bulls great, who was born in the Jim Crow South (Baston, La.) in 1942.

Two girls — one white, one black, one with dreadlocks, one with red ribbons in her hair — sat side by side, holding hands as Love told his story. Both had “OBAMA” written on their arms in marker.

“God bless America,” Love said again and again.

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Because of his stutter, Love found life after basketball difficult. At one point, unable to find gainful employment because of his stutter, Love took a job as a busboy and dishwasher making $4.45 an hour.

“Those were some of the most embarrassing, most humiliating days of my life,” Love said. “It took me about a year and a half of speech therapy before I could speak a whole sentence. Still, every morning I get up and look in the mirror and practice what I learned. I never want to go back to where I came from.

“All those honors I received when I was playing, I would give back in a minute to be able to give these kids some words of inspiration.”

Love, who does nearly 200 speaking engagements a year, played against some of the game’s true legends.

Read Full Story - Love Inspires

Inspirational Golfers Draw Attention to Tournament’s Mission

Some of the world’s top golfers are in Florida this week for the Professional Golfers’ Association of America Tour’s last official money tournament of the year. Sponsored by the Children’s Miracle Network, the event also raises money for the network’s mission - funding 170 children’s hospitals around the United States and saving and improving the lives of children. Dave Maier profiles two golfers who personify that mission.

At first glance, playing several days of grueling, high-level competitive golf may seem like an unusual method of rehabilitation for the recipient of a heart transplant. But for 28-year-old Erik Compton, it’s becoming a habit… or at least a trademark. This week, Compton is among 128 golfers teeing up at the PGA Tour’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic outside Orlando, Florida.

It’s not often that a golfer’s life experience so closely reflects the mission of a tournament sponsor. But in this case, Compton knows what sick kids can accomplish when they receive the right care at the right time.

“Obviously, it’s a very fitting event,” he observes, “considering everything that I’ve been through, I kind of know what kids are going through because I’ve been there.”

Where Compton had been was on an operating table, where he received not one but two life-saving heart transplants. The first came in 1992 at age 12, after he was diagnosed with heart disease. Then - following a major heart attack 14 months ago - Compton received his second transplant in May and was out playing competitive golf again by October.

In between the transplants, Compton was a national junior golf champion and a two-time all-American at the University of Georgia. Although he played a number of other sports, Compton says golf seemed the most natural fit for his competitive nature.

“Golf was an individual sport,” he explains, adding that a lot of the kids his age were stronger than he was. “And being able to shoot low scores with the health condition I had, it was a way for me to prove that I was stronger than some of the other kids.”

Also on hand this week is 16-year-old blind golfer Matt Cooper, who has lived with nearly total vision loss since he had most of a brain tumor surgically removed at age 3.

Read Full Story - Inspiration Golfers on VOA News

Roy Williams runs route to fight world hunger

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams announced today that he is joining Pizza Hut and Yum! Brands in a global Hunger Relief effort. Williams issued a challenge to players in three other cities to see who could raise the most money for hunger relief.

“Every six seconds a child dies from hunger somewhere in the world,” said Roy Williams, wide receiver, Dallas Cowboys. “Hearing this fact inspired me to get involved and do something. I’m proud to be a part of the ‘Hunger to Hope’ program and I want to do everything I can to help end hunger.”

“Each of us can make a difference and together we can really make a change,” Williams said. “That’s why I’m challenging three other players to put on a uniform in a Pizza Hut restaurant for just one day to collect donations and see who can collect the most. We’re all competitive guys, so this should get interesting.

Williams and three football opponents will race to accept the most donations on Tuesday, October 21. The players will collect tips and donations from generous patrons at participating Pizza Hut restaurants in their cities. Participating players include:

• Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys (formerly of the Detroit Lions)
• Mark Clayton, Baltimore Ravens
• Davin Joseph, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Chris Spencer, Seattle Seahawks

“We’re honored that Williams has lead the charge with his fellow players to benefit this very worthwhile cause,” said Scott Bergren, Pizza Hut President. “Our goal is to double last year’s record by raising more than one million dollars at Pizza Hut restaurants by the end of this month, and we couldn’t reach it without the generous support of our customers and guys like Roy.”

The player whose city raises the most money as an average per participating restaurant will receive a catered pizza party for their team. All players are receiving pizza and pasta for a year as a thank you from Pizza Hut.

Last year, Williams raised $10,000 for the World Hunger Relief campaign after delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut in Detroit. The wide receiver publicly commented that he didn’t tip pizza delivery drivers as he was unsure of the protocol. Pizza Hut challenged him to walk in the shoes of a driver and Williams graciously obliged raising money for charity in the process.

Pizza Hut participates in World Hunger Relief as a Yum! brand. World Hunger Relief supports the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and other hunger relief agencies. Nearly 36,000 company and franchised restaurants located in more than 100 countries will be participating, including KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food.

This year, Mariah Carey is the Hunger Relief Ambassador with the quote, “The change from hunger to hope starts with you.” Customers who donate to the World Hunger Relief campaign at participating restaurants around the globe will receive a free download of her song, “Love Story” from her newest CD E=MC2.

Funds raised for WFP go directly to the areas of greatest need, feeding poor school children in the developing world and helping villages become self-sustainable. Every U.S. dollar raised during World Hunger Relief 2008 will provide four meals for hungry children all over the world. The company’s employees and franchisees will be volunteering their time around the globe at hunger relief agencies, food banks, soup kitchens and launching fundraisers.

During this year’s World Hunger Relief campaign, Yum! plans to generate the equivalent of nearly $50 million in awareness of the hunger issue through television and print advertising, public service announcements, public relations, web-based communications and in-restaurant posters and signage. In addition, the company is leveraging the power of the internet to reach millions of people through the http://www.fromhungertohope.com website and other online activity.

Yum! and its brands have been committed to fighting hunger for more than a decade by donating more than $46 million of prepared food annually to the underprivileged in the United States. Since the company went public in 1997, it has donated more than $500 million of its food to hunger relief agencies in the U.S.

Seve Ballesteros vows to fight brain tumor

After a golf career full of miraculous shots — including one from a parking lot during his first British Open victory — Seve Ballesteros was preparing for the “hardest challenge” of his life Sunday after announcing he has a brain tumor.

The 51-year-old Ballesteros, who retired last year, was set to undergo a biopsy Tuesday before doctors determine how to proceed.

It was unknown whether the tumor was benign or malignant.

“Throughout my career I have been among the best at overcoming challenges on the golf course,” the five-time major winner said in a statement released by Madrid’s La Paz hospital.

“Now I want to be the best confronting the hardest challenge of my life, with all my strength, counting on all of you who are sending me encouraging messages.”

Related Posts:

• Seve Ballesteros has brain tumor (Los Angeles Times)
• Seve Ballesteros: a man who transcends his sport (Times Online)
• Career Stats - PGA Tour Online

Teenager becomes first female to win tour event

Zakiya Randall, 17-Year-Old teen golf star, fondly known by fans as “Z” makes history and becomes the only and youngest female to win on the Golf Channel Georgia Tour.  After already qualifying for the Georgia Golf Channel Championship by placing in the Top Percentile on the most difficult level of play on the Golf Tour, she goes on to win the final tournament of the season on September 7, 2008 at Arbor Springs Golf & Resort Club also known as the Coweta Club in Newnan, Georgia.

“I am excited to be able to win on one of the most challenging golf courses in Georgia against some of the best Adult-Men Amateur players on the Georgia Golf Tour,” Randall said. “I have been working on some swing mechanics for further improvements so this win on the Tour in the Final Tournament of the season is really special.”

The field included approximately 50 of some of the best adult-men amateur tour players in Georgia. She now joins an elite list of amateur level golfers that has also qualified to play at the national level on the Golf Channel Tour.

Zakiya has been in Sports Illustrated, EBONY Magazine, on Public International Radio, The Golf Channel TV Show, nominated as a finalist for outstanding talents and have been featured in numerous magazines, newspapers and on-line journals around the globe.

Randall took up golf at the age of 10 and after winning a series of tennis tournaments she was immediately successful in golf, winning ‘Player of the Year’ Honors.

Houston Rockets buy supplies for Hurricane Ike victims

The reminders are everywhere.

Nearly one week after Hurricane Ike tore through southeast Texas, its destructive presence still lingers like a loathsome black cloud extending a pall over the affected area. Everywhere you go there are fallen trees, broken homes and traffic lights rendered inoperative due to the massive power outage.

Of course, far more troubling is the toll this storm has taken on the area’s residents. More than one million Houstonians are still trying to cope without the benefit of electricity. Getting gas or groceries remains a cumbersome chore. Then there are those who lost absolutely everything to Ike. Amidst so much devastation and destruction, it’s easy to be overwhlemed by the bleak landscape before us right now.

Yet the city and its residents are already starting to regroup and rebuild. It’s a process that begins, as it always does, with the healing power of hope and hard work. So with that in mind, the Houston Rockets reached out today in an effort to provide plenty of both.

In conjunction with Feed the Children, Leslie Alexander and the Rockets organization purchased several semi trucks loaded with pre-packaged, non-perishable food and basic essential toiletries which were distributed to area residents Thusday at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium. Rockets’ players and staff took turns handing out the goods.

“We’re just trying to help and contribute as much as possible,” said Rockets’ forward Mike Harris. It was a very unfortunate situation and I think we can do a great job giving back to the community and trying to help those that lost a lot of things – things that you can’t make up for and things that they’ll never get back. So we’re just trying to help in any possible way that we can.

Full article on HoustonRockets.com

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