Pat Tillman

The Train Daddy is back, bringing sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk to you, the loyal readers. All aboard!

Last issue we talked about making America skinny again and the importance of physical activity. So don’t eat 200 peeps in five minutes this Easter! That’s just what professional eater Matt Stonie did. He holds the record for most peeps eaten in five minutes, 200 of the little nasty marshmallows. I would literally eat a sugar-coated piece of dog poo-poo before I would eat a peep!

Happy Easter to all my readers, even you haters complaining and emailing me randomly about my writing style, which is genius and bombastic at the same time! Also I have a new email since Yahoo was hacked: titanman1984@gmail.com. I receive about a 75/25 mix of positive and negative comments, but be assured I read and analyze each email. In all seriousness, thank you all. Making you laugh, making you think, making you uncomfortable and generating conversation is what I strive for when writing these articles.

Before we get too deep into this remember, Jesus is the reason for the season; my motto is live life by the 5 F’s: Faith, Family, Football, Food and Friends. It’s not all about peeps and chocolate bunnies, or children beating each other up for hidden eggs. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, proof that God will judge the world in righteousness.

Did you know 76 percent of people’s first bite from a chocolate bunny is the ears, 11 percent the feet and 9 percent the butt; the other 4 percent is unknown. The largest Easter egg hunt was in Florida; over 9,000 children fought while searching for over 500,000 eggs. That’s my Easter tidbit for you!

If you’re reading this, you probably live in America, with the exception of my dedicated readers in Johannesburg, South Africa, always emailing me—“Jambo, my friends!”

Here in America we have rich, we have poor and we have people in between willing to help those in need. People die for lack of water in other countries, that’s unfathomable here, food isn’t scarce and when tragedy strikes help comes quickly from all directions.

Yet many in the media and groups of protesters hitting the streets would have everyone believe America is a country full of racists filled with problems so deep we may never dig out!

Take a moment—I’m talking to you, reader—go ahead and laugh, because when you compare America and all her citizens’ problems to less fortunate countries around the globe, there are only two honest reactions, being thankful and feeling sorry for others suffering outside of this country.

I am not downplaying the problems some Americans actually deal with, I only compared to many third-world countries, that’s enough said.

I have so much respect for people who dedicate their lives to help others, people who ask for nothing and give everything. So next time you here some college students whining about their rights, or liberal snowflakes crying about life being unfair, take a moment and remember you live in America!

With all that said, let’s highlight some inspirational athletes throughout time who have inspired people, not just with athletic ability but through their actions and faith.

I was just rambling about my love for America, that’s why my first athlete defines Patriotism. Pat Tillman was young, rich and a successful NFL player, cementing himself as a reliable player he was destined to play football and keep getting paid big money. Then the Trade Centers came down and Pat felt a responsibility to serve rather than playing football. He turned down a contract worth millions, instead signing a contract with the US Army in 2002. Pat died in Afghanistan two years after joining the Military and after all these years is still an inspiration to millions of people.

Eric Liddell

I am sure some of you are familiar with the film Chariots of Fire; it won an Oscar in 1981 and tells the tale of the next man on my list. The Flying Scotsman, born Eric Liddell, was an Olympic Champion, a missionary, a POW and a beacon of hope to many. Eric, a faster-than-fast sprinter, was quoted saying “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure.” In the 1924 Olympics he became famous for his unorthodox style of running; he won a gold and bronze medal and was the topic of much discussion after refusing to run his best race, the 100 meters, due to trials being held on Sunday.

Liddell later returned to China where he was born and his family spread the word of God to many. It was dangerous times with the Japanese Army invading China and Eric becaming a POW. He later died as a prisoner of war five months before the camp was liberated. Many tales of Eric’s selfless acts and good deeds came from other POW’s who survived. I couldn’t begin to tell you his entire story here, so watch the movie!

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is a group whose vision is to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. Since 1954 athletes and coaches have taken part in the FCA. People like Tom Landry, Bobby Bowden, Roger Staubach, Jennie Finch, Tony Dungy, Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, Tim Tebow, Reggie White, Shaun Alexander, Josh Hamilton and many more have all vocalized their faith through the FCA.

I am going to move on to some more recent athletes, like Kurt Warner, the man who defeated my Tennessee Titans in the Super Bowl. Should I hate Kurt? The man took glory away from my team. How could you hate a man who was bagging groceries at a grocery store and a few years later is the MVP of the Super Bowl? I have attended a conference where Kurt spoke about his life and faith in God. Read his book; it is full of knowledge that I have applied to my life.

Bethany Hamilton

Next, a surfer who lost an arm and managed to get back on board! Bethany Hamilton at 13 years old was attacked and survived a shark attack, though he ate her arm! Bethany struggled in coping with the loss and returning to the ocean, though she overcame her fears and was quickly back board to being tubular! A movie was made about her life as well.

Reggie White

Next up, The Minister of Defense, a Tennessee boy! Reggie White the best defensive player to ever play in the NFL, in my humble opinion. Reggie racked up nearly 200 sacks during his 15-year career. He was literally unblockable. Hall of famer Michael Irvin said it best “He was a gift from God, and that’s all you need to know about Reggie White.”

I have to bring up Tim Tebow, without a doubt the most maligned Christian athlete in modern times. The 2007 Heisman winner was a phenomenal college football player with a bumpy NFL career. He was known for his strong faith in God and ridiculed by the media. So many people wished for him to fail, though the NFL may not have worked out for Tebow, he was and remains an inspiration to Christians around the world. He bent a knee prior to games and prayed causing a worldwide pandemic of Tebowing.

Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Ederle, better known as Trudy, won three swimming medals in the 1924 Olympics, yet she is best known for swimming the English Channel. With a name like Gertrude you would think she was from Slovakia or somewhere, but no, she is a homegrown proud American. In 1926 only five men had swam the English Channel, she became the first woman to do so and dominated their times, a record of 14 hours and 34 minutes that held until 1950. Nicknamed Queen of the Waves, she died in 2003, living to be nearly 100 years old. She taught deaf children to swim after she retired; she herself had become nearly deaf. She inspired many young women in a time when that was really something special.

Next, Danica Patrick is truly a woman in a sport full of men. NASCAR had no rules against women competing, there just weren’t many in the driver’s seat. My dad use to say men were superior drivers to women, don’t freak out feminists, I never agreed. Well Danica proved to all the haters that women can drive with the boys. In 2008 she became the first woman to win an Indy Car race. Not to mention, she is absolutely beautiful. She even made the list of FHM’s Top 100 Sexiest Women in the world. Don’t feel marginalized feminists they also have a Top 100 for men, although I stay away from that magazine.

Jackie Robinson

I want to end the list of inspirational athletes with one of my favorite athletes of all time. Jackie Robinson the UCLA and Brooklyn Dodger great was chosen by the Dodgers to break the color barrier in baseball. Reportedly because of Jackie’s faith in God, but I imagine also because he could pound baseballs. Although abused by other players for being black, he didn’t fight back. Jackie is noted for praying to God every night asking for strength, the rest is history!

Quickly onto one more subject, I had intended on doing an entire article on transgender women competing with biological women. I decided to hold my tongue a bit longer; maybe next issue. We have enough room for one recent example though.

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Recently Laurel Hubbard made history by becoming the first transgender female to win an international weightlifting title for New Zealand. Laurel set a record in the event and bested the runner up by a whopping 42 pounds, that’s a beatdown in weightlifting. Is this fair? Of course it isn’t, 30-plus years of growing muscle mass before starting the transition.

Born a man, competing with women. It’s utterly ridiculous, we all know, in general, men, after going through puberty, have larger frames, more muscle mass, and are on average stronger and faster than women.

Laurel will more than likely represent New Zealand in the 2018 Commonwealth games and is on track for the Olympics in 2020. Competitors like Tracey Lambrech, who competed in Rio, actually dropped a weight class to avoid Laurel, and many women kept their words short in fear of being branded a bigot. Some though spoke out. Two-time Olympian Deborah Acason stated “If I was in that category I wouldn’t feel like I was in an equal situation, if it’s not even, why are we doing the sport?”

According to IOC, Laurel, who previously competed as a man, is a woman. Under guidelines recommended in 2015, the IOC no longer requires reassignment surgery, then two years of waiting. Now, a transgender woman need only wait 12 months after starting hormone therapy if it is demonstrated testosterone levels are within acceptable limits.

Imagine if Usian Bolt woke up feeling like a woman and decided to return for 2020? Maybe we can have an all-transgender basketball team; I don’t even want to imagine the damage they would inflict in sports like boxing and wrestling. Train Daddy, you’re a bigot, that’s so mean! It’s common sense people, I hope a few examples like this will wake up the IOC and athletic committees around the world. It will be interesting to see how feminists handle it when transgender women in sports become more prevalent and records and medals begin being dominated by trans athletes.

You know how you make this fair; start a transgender league, unless you could care less about the integrity of sports history and the record books. This has nothing to do with politics or religion, and everything to do with common sense. Be what you want to be, I don’t care, just don’t match natural-born men with women and expect a fair contest. That’s it. Train’s out the station!