Teams vs. Stars

If you are like me, and have only a casual interest in college basketball until the time for the NCAA Basketball Tournament (March Madness), it is quite fun to pick which teams will win versus which stars will shine. Let me explain my theory: There are two types of successful college basketball teams (this only applies to college hoops), and each do pretty well in the tourney. The first kind of team is dominated by top-flight talent, usually very young, and usually destined for the NBA pro game. A great player, say Dwayne Wade or Carmelo Anthony and even a Jonny Flynn (all right, maybe a stretch, but he's a beloved Timberwolf!), can take a mediocre program and make it great. The other kind of team plays together for a few years, has a coach who trusts players, and most of the folks won't ever play in the NBA. For years Duke University epitomized this type of team, but now there are a lot of good, young coaches and players playing for teams like Butler and Virginia Commonwealth University who can compete in one game showdowns.

As I looked at the games, and scanned headlines about the teams, I did pretty well this year, all things considered. I have UConn because they have the superstar, a kid named Kemba Walker. I went with North Carolina rather than Kentucky--I backed the wrong superstar...should have taken UK's. I had the other Richmond, VA team (literally Richmond), but I'm counting it as a win that VCU (also in Richmond) made it. I mean, who thought the city of Richmond, VA would have the most teams in the final 16? I almost picked Butler, but I underestimated their coach...I will not make that mistake again. Good coaching means way more in college basketball than in almost any other sport. Anyhow...it's pretty easy to predict who's going to win in college basketball: you just take great stars and even greater teams. For the record, great stars tend to be champions...look for UConn to win it all.

Which brings me to the Bible, and specifically Moses. According to the Bible the most famous Jewish leader ever died, and no one knows where he is buried..."to this day." Moses was a great star, he won the championship of his day--defeating Pharoah and his army, with a lot of help from Yahweh and other friends. But in the end the Bible is always about the team. Whether Jewish or Christian, as important as individuals may be, what they do for the rest of us is more important than anything they do for themselves. I mean, Jesus the Christ, perhaps the most famous human who ever lived, did little for himself other than die...but look what that did for us? His resurrection made us all brothers and sisters, it made us...a team.

May your tables be full and your conversations be true.