It’s my favorite sports time of the year, the NHL Playoffs. Yes, although I’ve played basketball my entire life, I rank the Stanley Cup Playoffs above March Madness because of the reasons we’ve seen so far…gritty play, thrilling finishes, jaw-dropping goaltending and some sick skill!!

So here’s my thoughts:

I hate Vancouver (I’m a Wild fan) so I’m super excited that they’re down 3-0 in the series to the Kings. Was not surprised at all that a) Luongo sucks in the playoffs and b) Jon Quick has been insanely good!! It’s unreal to think how much skill LA has when you see Kopitar, Brown, Richards and Carter out there, not to mention Drew Doughty back on the blue line. 

The St. Louis-San Jose series has been a blast to watch. The Blues’ goaltending depth I think will be huge in this series and we’ve already seen how special teams has had an impact. St. Louis’ power-play has been stellar and the Sharks can’t afford to take any dumb penalties because the Blues will most likely capitalize on them. 

Haven’t been able to watch Chicago-Phoenix extensively, but Crawford will have to play out of his mind in net for the Blackhawks to come back in this series. This is also a great chance for Patrick Kane to lead this team. He has the skill to put the puck in the net, just needs to make it happen. 

Not surprised at all that Nashville is up in their series against Detroit 3-1. I say this because my buddy Dean has been hyping up Smashville all season long and their goalie, Pekka Rinne, is ridiculously good (40 sv in game 4)!!! They’ve been playing great D in front of Rinne and when I see Nashville I see great team D and offensive balance. 

Those are my thoughts on the Western side of things, which I pay a bit more attention to just because I’m a Minnesota guy.

As far as the Eastern Conference goes, the series I’m paying most attention to is Washington-Boston because a) I’m a huge Caps fan and b) Boston is defending their Cup from last season. I think this series will go seven games. It’s tough to bet against the experience of the Bruins and the fact that Tim Thomas is a freak in between the pipes but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Caps eek them out! Alex Ovechkin is having a great series and I’m very happy with the way Braden Holtby (3rd string goalie by the way) is playing in net. If he’s not the Caps #1 guy at the start of next season, I’ll be upset. 

If you haven’t watched the NHL playoffs yet, do yourself a favor and check out the NBC Sports Network, NBC or CNBC!! Trust me, it will make you a hockey fan if you’re not one, and if you are a hockey fan it will remind you why you love the sport!!

So one thing I absolutely love to do is listen to music. Whether it’s worship tunes or other jams, I love it! God is so good by giving people amazing talents with instruments and their voice. 

I decided, since I’m still awake and not doing anything, I’d share with all of you some of the bands I’ve been listening to a lot lately!

Matt Redman (10,000 Reason album) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q0MaZmHsRs

Lecrae (any album) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RWEllqh5J0

Owl City (anything) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tY5RErnakc&ob=av2e

David Crowder Band (Give Us Rest) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YPsrduo2z4

Family Force 5 (III) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQEH_n7Anx8 *Great workout music!

So there you go, some of the tunage I’ve been listening to lately! Hope everyone enjoyed the blog! Be blessed! Don’t forget this life is not about us, we are living to share Christ with others and bring glory to the Lord!

“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Living a good life, going to church, reading your Bible, being nice to other people, yeah that stuff is great, but that’s not how we go to Heaven. This is hard for a lot of people to realize, they may say, “so I can be nice to other people, live a good life, and it doesn’t get me anywhere?”. Well, tough to say lightly, but NO! Because all those things are things that WE do, but that’s not what salvation is all about. Salvation is about WHAT JESUS DID when He came down to earth, took all OUR SINS and washed them with His blood by dying on the cross. If it was about what we did, it would give us reason to boast, and we have NO REASON TO BOAST. If our salvation, going to heaven, AND NOT SPENDING ETERNITY SEPARATED FROM GOD IN HELL, we’d fail miserably because we sin each and every day. 

We should act that way (living a life that is God-glorifying, that stays away from sin, that shows we love others before ourselves, shows that all the things in this world don’t mean anything compared to the importance of being like Christ) because our hearts are on fire for Jesus Christ and we want to live in a way that shows He is the most important thing in our lives. 

Why do I live the way I live? Because I love Jesus and want to show others that He is the most important thing in my life and I don’t need all the other things in this world to be satisfied and happy. I am satisfied and find joy in a PERSONAL relationship with Christ. 

So yeah, that’s what’s on my mind at 2 a.m. in the morning. God bless!!

Just got done with around an 11 hour day at Applebees (10-2, 4:45-11) and was thinking today while washing a ton of dishes how I feel about working at Applebees. A lot of times when people would ask me where I work now that I’m graduated I wasn’t chomping at the bit to say “Applebees”. But it has taken some growing up on my end to realize that this job is a blessing and the fact that I even have a job is something that I don’t deserve and need to be thankful for each and every day. 

Yeah, it’s not what I went to college for. I have a college degree and was washing dishes tonight for almost 7 hours, hard to get psyched when you think about things in that perspective. 

But I really do enjoy working at Applebees. I’m getting plenty of hours, the atmosphere is fast paced which is something I like, the people I work with are super great, I make decent money and I can be myself (outgoing and dorky) and it makes guests’ experience enjoyable! 

So, it’s not my dream job, but its a job I enjoy and am thankful to have. I know God has that dream job all planned out for me, just have to be patient and trust in His timing!

Please go away. 

Sincerely,

Matt :)

There is no doubt in my mind that the God I love and follow and worship is powerful beyond all measure!!!! I was feeling really spiritually dry the past few days and all it took was great friends to call me out on things and God using His Word to remind me how my life is HIS, not mine. 

It’s not about me, it’s about God!!! When that point was reiterated in my life, I knew I needed to fuel that flame in my heart with God’s Word and go back to Him! 

“He must increase and I must decrease.” John 3:30

molesky:

With Everything

Play it….loud.

Some random thoughts as I sit in my living room on December 27th…

Watching Sportscenter currently, showing highlights of the Timberwolves season opener against the Thunder which I actually watched last night and let me tell you…I’m excited for this season of Wolves basketball. Here are the reasons why:

1) Rick Adelman- Coach Adelman is 5th on the all-time list for wins among coaches (mid-900’s) and has a no-nonsense style of coaching. I could see he was not happy with Minnesota’s effort defensively last night as they gave up 104 points to OKC. I think the Wolves will be a much improved team defensively (after finishing last in the league in D last year) and we’ll continue to see a new attitude among this team. 

2) Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams- Rubio definitely did not disappoint in the season opener, 6 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists (including multiple passes that made you go “HOW DID HE DO THAT?”). Wolves fans, that’s probably the averages you’re going to see from Ricky, which I am totally cool with. The main thing with Ricky though is the excitement he brings to this team and city. The Timberwolves as a culture NEED Ricky. Derrick Williams (2nd overall pick in 2011 draft) notched 13 points and 6 rebounds in his NBA debut and had a few highlight reel plays. The knock on Derrick last night was that he shot 6-for-14 from the field and 0-for-4 from the 3-point line. The Wolves as a team settled for way too many outside jump shots last night instead of driving to the lane and that (along with shooting 19-of-26 from the free-throw line) I think was the reason they lost. I’m excited for Derrick though, he’ll be a fun player to watch!

3) Kevin Love- All he does is get double-doubles. Love opened up the 2011-2012 season with a 22 point, 12 rebound, 5 assist performance in Minnesota’s loss to Oklahoma City. Last year, Love broke Moses Malone’s record when he picked up 53 straight double-doubles, unreal. Love finished second in the NBA with 64 double-doubles (Dwight Howard was 1st with 66) and I expect him to be right up there again this season. Love lost 25 pounds, improved his 3-point shot, and his still a dominant rebounder. In a contract year, look for Love to make this season count. 

There’s my take on the Timberwolves so far, what do you think?!

So today my basketball had our pizza party extravaganza since the season ended yesterday and it was a blast! I’ve been in love with the sport of basketball since I started playing it when I was eight and I always looked forward to the opportunity when I would get to coach it. That opportunity came this winter when I got to coach Kennedy Community School’s 8th grade boys basketball team! 

Each guy contributed this season and made me proud to say I coached them!

Gino- Mr. circus shot, worked his butt off for me and always was pushing his teammates to get better. He was a blast because he always had a drive to get better and pushed himself hard each and every day. He’s just one of those guys that coaches loves because he’ll bust his butt on the court for you during games and practices but will also drop a line or a joke that will make your gut hurt from laughing. 

Adam- Along with Ethan, this kid was my MVP. A rock at point guard, he never took his foot off the gas pedal and became more aggressive as the season went along. Super impressed with his ability to shoot the 3 and move without the basketball. Also, for being the shortest guy on the team, was one of the best rebounders. 

Micah- Mr. 3-point. One of the best shooters on the team, Micah always knocked down a big trey when I needed him to. He always wanted to be in the game and took direction and advice extremely well. Was really happy to see him take more chances at driving to the basket late in the season to keep defenders from committing to defending him up top. 

Tyler- This guy was Mr. Versatility and always made me laugh! Tyler played three positions for me throughout the season and was huge filling in at point guard whenever Gino was gone and Adam needed a break. Tyler also has one of the highest arching shots I’ve ever seen in my life and when his shot was on it was a thing of beauty. 

Evin- This kid can flat out run! Always got back on defense when the other team would have a fast break opportunity and was critical for me rebounding the basketball. Evin is a freak of nature athlete and although he had never played basketball before, he enjoyed playing and always asked me for help in practice on how he could get better. 

Derek- I called him “Dirk” throughout the season because, like Dirk Nowitzki, he could stretch a defense out and help when I needed him to play the wing. Dirk had a great attitude throughout the years and always made his teammates (and coach) laugh and built his teammates up. If he becomes more aggressive offensively and fine tunes some post moves, this kid can be solid!

Jimmy- Mr. Hustle. I would love to have a team of 10 guys with the heart of Jimmy Thomas. Jimmy cared so much about getting better he was almost too hard on himself sometimes. I was so proud of Jimmy because of how much he improved throughout the season, never hesitating to say, “coach, can you show me how to do this..etc.”. Work ethic that coaches can only dream about. 

Andrew- Ha, Andrew always made me laugh. With never playing basketball until this season, Andrew improved leaps and bounds from the first practice to the end of the season. He was a hard worker and always had a great attitude. You could tell that the other guys enjoyed having Andrew on the team and even did their best to help teach Andrew about the game of basketball. 

Ethan- Wow, was I privileged to be able to coach a player the caliber of Ethan. Standing at 6’2” (this kid is 13 by the way!), Ethan stood above everyone else literally and talent-wise. I was extremely impressed with the talent that Ethan has, extremely refined on his post moves and as he adds more of those to his arsenal he is going to be tough to stop. But when we were ahead in games is where Ethan showed me a lot through the way he could distribute. Once he continues to improve his vision this kid will be a dangerous post player because of his offensive ability shooting-wise and his ability to pass out of the post. 

So yeah, there is a little something about each and every guy on my team. I was privileged to coach 9 young men in a very competitive season of basketball. I will definitely remember my first ever basketball coaching job. GO COLTS!

Thanking God for the opportunity to coach and giving Him all the praise!