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Pat's Run attracts more than 3,000

Abstract: Even with a start time of 8 a.m., the third annual race of Pat's Run attracted more than 3,000 participants on Saturday to San Jose's Leland High School. The run is named for Pat Tillman, who is remembered for leaving behind a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, where he was tragically killed by friendly fire....
Ted Rudow III,MA 5/07/08
My parents are sport fanatics! My Grandfather, on my mother side, with my Great-Uncle were the first to be named "Walter Camp's All-American"in football on the West Coast in America. So from the age of five, I was in competive sports until I became a missionary in April,1972. During my teen-age years before my life was in turmoil! The only escape for me, I thought was sports. So I practiced and practiced basketball until I received few athletic scholarships included West Point but I decided to attend the University of California at Berkeley, in 1970.

The Vietnam War was going on, and Berkeley was the hot-bed of radical resistance. It also was one of the top academic schools in the United States. So for me, it was quite a change coming from very staid background. During that time, I began taking drugs and reading from mystical books,but they never satisfied my soul. I was on the honor roll and was voted first-team all-Northern California freshman in basketball, Captain and Most Valuable Player in 1971 and still hold the freshmen rebound record of 17.3 per game but still my life was empty without the Lord! I felt pressures on many sides to really put out all my time and energy towards becoming a basketball star in college and pressing toward a professional career. On the other hand, deep within my heart.
I felt that there was something wrong with all this!I felt caught between two worlds,one with the teachings of Jesus and His commandment to love thy neighbor,while in the other world, I was told to gain a near-manical desire to win and to physically punish my opponent in a defeat!
Sports really foster the spirit of competition. It's the spirit of the world‚ the "me first" spirit--do what's best for yourself, win no matter who you have to hurt or step on in order to get ahead of the next guy. That's the spirit of the world, which is just the opposite of what Jesus wants to teach people--to love your neighbor as yourself.
Of course, some form of sports is fine. It's good exercise and can be good fun. But things in the world are so different, and when athletes get to the professional level where they're being paid to win, it gets extremely competitive.
Ted Rudow III,MA
Class of 1996