The Faith of Tyler Hansbrough

If you have followed this blog for any time at all, you know how I feel about the following:

1) “The Boy”

2) The North Carolina Tar Heels

3) Tyler Hansbrough

You also may remember that on more than one occasion I have posted about how “the boy” asked me if Tyler Hansbrough was a Christian. If you click on the link, you will see that at the time he asked me, I had to say “I didn’t know”. Well imagine my surprise today when a friend on Twitter mentioned that she just finished reading an article about the faith of Tyler Hansbrough. I was thrilled on many, many levels.

First off, I was able to read the article to “the boy” and watch the smile on his face as he heard the words of Tyler speaking about his faith. I was thrilled because we are HUGE Tyler Hansbrough fans in this house. From the article:

“The biggest thing for me, God’s always been someone there I can talk to when things get really tough,”

“It’s good to develop that relationship and realize that He is there for you during the good times. I know that God is there with me in good times and bad times. That is why I am so strong in my faith.”

“I know that everything I do there is a reason for it,” Hansbrough said. “I know that (God) is guiding me in the right direction. I don’t necessarily go out and preach a lot but I’ve always tried to stay true to my faith.”

“Jesus means so much to me. It’s hard to put it in one sentence. He has always been someone who has been there for me. I always take time out of my day and make sure that I get in touch with God. It is my chance to tell him what is on my mind.”

There you have it. Should we elevate Tyler to some level because of his faith? I might get hate mail but I say no. At the end of the day, Tyler Hansbrough is human just like you, me and “the boy”. I just found great joy in knowing that his greatest strength is that he’s walking with Jesus.

Quotes taken directly from article on BPSports.net

A Night To Remember!

Wow. Alright, let me just get the only bad part of the our Opening Night visit to Conseco Field House for the Pacers game out of the way…Tyler Hansbrough (the reason we got the tickets) did not dress. Well, he was dressed, but it was a suit and dress shoes. His bad shin is “this close” to being ready to play. While that was a bit of a buzz kill, it did not put a damper on a great, great night for “the boy” and I. I couldn’t even make this up, check this out….

1. He got on the jumbotron (pictured above with me beside him taking the picture).

2. He got a ball when they were throwing them out during a time out

3. He got another pacer jersey when they were throwing them out during a different time out.

4. He got sat on by the mascot

5. NBA Legend Larry Bird was in the house…and my friend Jeff pointed out that we had better seats!

The Pacers didn’t bring home the victory, but man that was a lot of fun. We got there just in time for tip off and were sitting right behind the cameramen on the baseline the entire game. At one point, Jermaine O’Neal came right at us for a loose ball. He landed in the empty seat beside me but did step on my camera in the process. No harm done though. He even said “you okay”?

Could you imagine explaining that warranty claim? “See I was sitting in the front row at this NBA game and a player stepped on it….” Right…

Anyway, “The Boy” was star struck at Dwayne Wade, Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, Danny Granger and, of course, Larry Bird. You can actually see us on the game highlights on NBA.com. The best views are at the :43, 1:36 and 1:47 marks. We’re by the “I” in Indiana on the baseline. The video is (HERE).  It was definitely a night we will remember. We’ve got 2 more dates circled on our Pacers calendar right now. November 20th and January 29th. Both games are against the Cavs. More to come on that.

Here are just a few of the many, many pictures I took.

[showtime]

Every Dads Dream

It is no secret that I am a fan of two things…The Tar Heels and one Mr. Tyler Hansbrough. Last night I was checking out a site that I frequent called MrTarHeel.com. I stumbled across this letter that was written by Gene Hansbrough (Tyler’s Dad) and submitted to Tar Heel Monthly. It’s too good to not share. Regardless of if you like the Tar Heels, Tyler Hansbrough or NCAA Hoops, it’s worth a read.

As I read it I reflected on the pride of this Dad. It comes screaming out of the pages as you read. Isn’t that what we all want for our kids? I’m not talking about winning Player of the Year, or NCAA championships (although that would totally ROCK!). I am more referring to knowing that they achieved their dreams. Sorry for the length, but I felt like it was worth re-posting. Here’s his letter (the bold emphasis are mine).

Would you call him a failure? He was a little kid and he couldn’t quite raise the ball to the basket. He put the ball way down by his hip and pushed with everything he had. But the ball just wouldn’t get over the rim. Still, he stayed there all alone, flinging the ball upward again and again. He never did make one that day but he stayed there a long, long time.

Awana Grand Prix

It’s that time of year again. This is the first year that we have two entries into the Awana Grand Prix on Friday night. This is the first for our daughter and the third car for our son. Each year, the brainstorming session into what we should create out of a block of wood is half the fun. As you can see by the pictures, my daughters was easy. A little pink paint and some Hello Kitty stickers and she was all set. “The Boy” on the other hand presented some challenges…

The vision was to create a convertible UNC Tar Heel car with our beloved Rameses at the wheel. What made this challenging is that we live in “Buckeye Country” and Tar Heel stuff is hard to find. Thankfully, we made a call to some great friends in Charlotte and they hit the stores in search of a Rameses. They found the perfect solution in a ball point pen and quickly dropped it in the mail. Some google images for the logos (and Tyler Hansbrough’s number 50) and some Carolina Blue paint and we had all of the pieces we needed.

I am reminded each year of the words to this classic song by Jeff Carson. It’s the opportunity to invest time into the lives of our children. It’s not about the car, it’s not about the race. It is about the investment of time together that we will forever call ours.

It’s not the car that I’m needing,
Just the chance to be with him.
I know that once these days roll past us,
They will never come again.
So little time and we spend way too much apart.
There would always be a part of us together in that car.

Cannonball!!!

In case you missed it, and since no one reads this blog, you probably did (and will). Tyler Hansbrough and Bobby Frazor decided to do some Olympic diving recently. Couple of thoughts.

1. They are college kids.
2. Thank goodness no one caught what I did in college on film.
3. That pool is pretty shallow.
4. Doesn’t Bobby Frazor have a torn ACL?
5. What is the impact of a 6’9″ dude form a 2nd story loft on water?