Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Springfield or Bust

This last weekend I drove down to Springfield, MO, to visit my good friend Tony Turner. We hung out in the afternoon and he showed me the revitalization of the old downtown area that has been going on for the last six or seven years. When I was in school at Missouri State, that area was mostly abandoned and very run down. Now there are lots of new restaurants and art galleries and other shops, and that was good to see. That evening Tony and I went to the the Missouri Stave vs. Indiana State basketball game, and the Bears won, which was great. It had been over 10 years since I had been in the Hammons center, and I must admit that it isn't as impressive as it was to me back in 1992 when I was a Freshman. After seeing arenas at other schools the old HSC just doesn't seem like much. They are building a new arena, though, so in a couple years they should have a bigger arena befitting a big-time program.

Tony also hit my car with his SUV on Saturday, which was interesting. In my younger days I would have gotten mad about it, but I have matured over the last few years to the point where I just realized that it was one of those silly things that happens in life (and the damage is very minor), so why get worked up over it?

On Sunday I went to Tony's new(ish) church, Northbridge. It is a "non-traditional" model, and in fact reminded me of the Quest service at my church. Not really my thing, but it is always good to visit other churches and see that it doesn't really matter how you worship God, what matters is that God is worshipped with all your heart and mind.

And I would be remiss if I didn't note that the St. Louis Blues won their game last night against Pittsburgh. Yes, they won for the first time in a month, snapping an 11-game winless streak. So sad, but at least I got to see them win (on TV).

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