Ouch!

I write to you in a very uncomfortable state right now....I have just returned from the football game tonight against Irvine. We ended up losing tonight (28-6), and the pain post game is always worse when one has lost. However, that is not what has struck my fancy to write tonight. There has been a character trait brewing among the team, that has finally reached its boiling point...One that I not so affectionately call "Cliche motor mouth".

After coming off an 0 and 10 season last year *begins to hang head in lament*, we seniors this year decided that something had to change. With the previous seniors there was a serious lack of leadership and commitment and just a hunger to play the game. So on the first day of pre-season (January 3rd), we were going to hold people accountable for being at practice and having just a plain old fun time! This plan worked for a while but has slowly been on the decline, and has now really reached a low point within the past couple of weeks. Practices are crummy, nobody really wants to be their, and the lack of enthusiasm has begun to suck the life out of us. However, this has not slowed down the "cliche motor mouths!"

I find that people who use cliches, as their pitch to get other people excited, ignorantly display what type of person they are. It usually implies some sort of shallowness and an inability to think for one's own. They try to talk with sincerity, however, lack the ability because they have become mere puppets. This is then manifested in our practices and games. Nobody knows how to get excited, because nobody understands excitement. They try hard to conjure up feelings of excitement, but ultimately fail in the end because it is not found in simple little lines from a movie.
Yes, mere words which are not backed up with action seem to be entirely meaningless. Carrying out an action is entirely different from just talking about it. Because ultimately what gets people excited and willing to do what has been said is when the "cliche" has actually been carried out. Anybody can talk about how we must discipline ourselves in virtue or the Christian life, but I find that not everybody can not do it. Whether it be a lack of courage or just laziness.

May we be like the apostles who not only taught the truth but lived it and were willing to die for it!