Notable and Quotable: Kansas City Chief's Patrick Mahomes

"Doing what I do every single day, and then knowing that as long I'm doing everything the right way, the way that He'd want me to do it, then I can walk off the field with my head held high and be able to be the man that I'm supposed to be. It's given me a lot of blessing in my life and I'm trying to maximize and glorify Him in everything I do"

Super Bowl Winning Quarterback Patrick Mahomes

Notable and Quotable: Patrick Mahomes

"Doing what I do every single day, and then knowing that as long I'm doing everything the right way, the way that He'd want me to do it, then I can walk off the field with my head held high and be able to be the man that I'm supposed to be. It's given me a lot of blessing in my life and I'm trying to maximize and glorify Him in everything I do"

Super Bowl LIV Winning Quarterback Patrick Mahomes

Tom Brady: From Deflated to Elated

What a great and inspiring tale of not giving up! Super Bowl LI belonged to the Atlanta Falcons in the first half- and it didn't look like the New England Patriots had a chance. Even Tom Brady seemed deflated. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) And then, it happened one step at a time. A tale of perseverance that paid off handsomely.

This morning, I ran across this challenging piece of Scripture, a command from God in the book of Jeremiah, and I thought of all of them:

Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

                                                            Jeremiah 9:23-24

Oh, Lord, let our hearts cry out to you! Let my heart be changed! To only boast of knowing you, but in a way that shows your greatness and our true humility. The gift of intimacy with you, the One True God is better than all the knowledge of what the world tells me is important. It's better than being strong and healthy with a perfect body. It's worth more than all the stocks, bonds, wealth and power found in corporate America and beyond.

Oh, Lord. let me love you more than anyone or anything! You alone, Oh God, deserve our praise! The eternal lasts beyond the temporary awards and accolades of this world. And Lord, let me persevere in the things you have called me to, not sacrificing the blessing of your call in exchange for the comforts and pleasures of the world.

Disney Theme Park Disasters: Chester and Hester's Dinorama

Of course, like most of Americans who watched last night's Super Bowl, I'm still surprised by the turn of events. Have a great Monday!

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Consider this new look at Disney Theme Park Disasters as the counterpoint to my earlier post (and series) "When Reality is Better Than Imagineering Art". I'm among the many cheerleaders of Disney Imagineering (and the decisions of the Suits) when something spectacular is built at the parks. Or, as in the case of Tokyo Disney Sea, when an entire park turns out to be full of substance and incredible eye candy. Be it old school (Disneyland's New Orleans Square) or new (California Adventure's Cars Land and Hong Kong Disneyland's Mystic Point) or something in between (Animal Kingdom's new Africa expansion), park fans like myself love to discuss all the detailed beauty we find and praise all who do a great job to make it happen.

The opposite is also true. I'll complain loud and clear to anyone who asks when I see Disney take the shorter and cheaper route, giving well paying guests a less than excellent product. I don't care what the project is, who the Imagineers are, or what park it is in. We've seen California Adventure at opening, Walt Disney Studios in Paris, and a number of cheap additions designed to fill a void and pad that huge paycheck of Bob Iger's and the investors in the Company. I have no doubt, that those will be the subject of future posts.

Let's take a look now at some of the worst of the worst...

Top of my list in Florida? Chester and Hester's Dinorama in Disney's beautiful and woefully (for now) under built Animal Kingdom. 

Relatively attractive art cannot hide the cheap look of the end result.

This area is not only a black eye on an otherwise stunning park, it is an example of everything wrong with the Florida parks under the budgeteer business mindset of the Walt Disney World leadership- prior to the stupendous success of Universal Studios' Harry Potter expansion, when they immediately realized they were content playing second fiddle to their competition. 

Be it under Michael Eisner or Robert Iger, there is no excuse for this mess of an expansion or others that similarly fall short of excellence. (Trust me, there's many other places where the Company we love has sold its fans short!)

Triceratop Spin and Primeval Whirl are the main "attractions" here, along with an assortment of carnival games to extract even more cash from a crowd that has already paid too much money to enter the park gates. Certainly this area was a quick addition to address the complaint of not enough attractions, but the overall "theme" and execution is horrible at best. Spinners should fill out a terrific menu of attractions, not replace them.

There was one good thing to be found at Chester and Hester's Dinorama. Although I never saw him, it was the temporary home of Lucky the Dinosaur, a free roaming animatronic that walked the area. He was last seen at Hong Kong Disneyland when that park was a shadow of what it is now and prior to that was found at a struggling California Adventure. 

As proof of how unimpressed I was with the area, I searched photos from my last two trips to the World (2007 and 2009), and I found only a handful of photos. Of course, it's now 2015, and there's not another trip to Walt Disney World in sight. But that is another story altogether. Perhaps after Pandora. Perhaps, no guarantee.

Yes, "the World" is a beautiful place and worth our time. But in this mini-land at Animal Kingdom, I say not here, not ever. Chester's and Hester's is at best a temporary project but should become extinct as soon as possible... but we know how the Mouse views "temporary", don't we?

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company. Photos copyright Mark Taft.)

Going Hardcore

Don't you love it when folks go hardcore? I mean when they put everything into what they are doing- heart, mind, and body. 

Every time the Walt Disney Company steps up and goes all in on a project, they please fans and stockholders alike. Cars Land shows full commitment. Tokyo DisneySea brims with excellence, and you can almost see every yen spent in creating it. 

When a musician pulls off an excellent and celebrated album, they have a chance at superstardom versus just being popular when the public purchases the disc in droves. Michael Jackson's Thriller stands above most.

And let's talk sports here- a gifted athlete with a powerful team behind him/her can bring results on the scale of a Michael Phelps slam at the Olympics or a winning Super Bowl team. Hours of investment can yield incredible return.

This "win at all costs" mindset is what I love about Jesus Christ. Far from the whimsy blonde haired victim some portray him as, he accomplished the most difficult thing ever done: completing the job given to him by God the Father. Choosing to follow through and die for the sins of all men who would change their ways and embrace him- and then, when all hope seemed lost, raising again to life on the third day. 

He gave it all. His was a life devoted to pleasing God the Father. Nothing else mattered. Pleasing men never entered his mind, only saving them from eternal damnation. Religious leaders of the day were threatened by His passion, his boldness, his unearthly wisdom, and his unconventional manner. The crowds loved him.

Jesus pulled no punches and always spoke the truth, and He paid the price for it with his life. One day they are praising him in the streets during the most rustic of parades. The next, they are chanting for his crucifixion, mesmerized and manipulated by the authorities. Little did they know that this all played right into God's hand. 

Days later, the miracle of all miracles took place- and sin was conquered for all time. Hid body broken, bloodied, and scarred beyond recognition all for our benefit. Never the victim. Always the victor.

Totally hardcore.

Super Bowl Heroes

Yesterday was not a glorious day for us in Denver and definitely not for the Broncos. But whether you rooted for Denver or Seattle, you've just have to check this out!

Go!

Don't watch much football at all, little really- but I have to hand it to Peyton Manning and the Broncos. GO!