THIS JUST IN

Pittsburgh is apparently going to win the Stanley Cup when Hell freezes over. Who says roster moves at the end of the season aren't important? Not me, Dr. Faustus!

Also, while I'm not a huge hockey fan, you've got to see this to believe it:

BEHIND THE (BASEBALL) CURTAIN

In memoriam, Nick Adenhart (1986-2009).

Obviously, this is a sad time for Angel fans and for baseball. Having been the Commissioner of several Fantasy Leagues, I have felt the shock of sudden loss before, of players that I had closely followed, abruptly perishing still in the prime of life. Some of these, being athletes, were losses that were tied to bad decisions made by the players, but I feel them no less keenly.

There is a ghoulish gallows humor that tends to permeate leagues such as ours, due to the fact that one team's loss can be advantageous to another team's chances. I have often had to remind myself that while I want my team to flourish, I don't really want to see another player injured and that I shouldn't be thrilled when another team's player is hurt. But boys being boys, I suppose some of these reactions are understandable. I can remember, without pride, the happiness I felt when Pedro Guerrero sustained a season-ending knee injury sliding into third while playing for the Dodgers, who had previously won the 1985 NL West pennant largely on a surging Pedro's stick. I would like to think that I have grown a little as a person since then.

Let's remember, these are real people with real lives. We should live vicariously through their triumphs and struggles on the diamond, rooting for or against them based upon their baseball performance...but not for or against their health, or the stability of their personal lives. Many (especially pitchers) are routinely putting their health at risk. Pitching is not the most natural motion in the world. Pitched, thrown or batted balls can do more than leave strawberries: they can lead to serious injury, even death. That is difficult enough, without concerning ourselves with divorce, substance abuse or (as in Adenhart's case) a tragic accident.

And, while going down memory lane, I'd like to remember the following individuals in baseball whose tragic end has affected me personally:

Ken Caminiti.

Tim Crews and Steve Olin.

Mike Darr.

Bo Diaz.

Miguel Del Toro.

Josh Hancock.

Steve Howe.

Dick Howser.

Joe Kennedy.

Darryl Kile.

Corey Lidle.

Doug Million.

Kirby Puckett.

Eric Show.

Alan Wiggins.

MY LITTLE SOAPBOX (ignore if you want to avoid something preachy)

You might wonder why I would compile such a grim list. It is an interesting fact, rarely mentioned, that people who work in the biology field have more regular contact with suffering and death than a lot of others. So in a sense I'm immersed in that sort of thing. But I also take great pleasure in the life I live now, and have great hope for the world to come. Let's take the time to really enjoy the life we have, including the great game of baseball, and cherish the people who are important to us.

PREDICTIVE POWER

Vox Day and other 'evolutionary skeptics' often wonder about the predictive power of evolutionary theory. And me? I wonder about the predictive power of those who advocate another notion, that of 'intelligent design', to explain the diversity of life.

AN EVOLUTIONARY PREDICTION:

So, Neil Shubin and colleagues think that they should be able to find a 'fish-a-pod' fossil exhibiting transitional features between tetrapods and fish, and they figure out about how long ago that should be (ca. 375-85 million years ago), and where in North America they might likely find tropical shoreline environments of that age (Ellsmere Island). And they go there and look around, for a couple of summers.



In other words, Neil Shubin and his colleagues made a PREDICTION based on evolutionary theory that they would find such-and-such a fossil of such-and-such an age at such-and-such a location.

And guess what? They did: Tiktaalik rosaceae. Read the article for more info.




AN INTELLIGENT DESIGN PREDICTION:

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, no ID advocate has ever made any sort of testable scientific claim based upon their model. Whereas, as I've just shown above, real scientists often use evolutionary theory to do exactly that. But ID advocates do make polemical statements, and these can be evaluated in terms of their probability, if not falsified. For example, from 1998, Phil Johnson:

“I believe that at some time well before 2059, the bicentennial year of Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species,’ perhaps as early as 2009 or 2019, there will be another celebration that will mark the demise of the Darwinist ideology that was so triumphant in 1959.’” Phillip Johnson, “How to Sink a Battleship,’ in Mere Creation, ed. By William A. Dembski, (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 446-453, p. 448


Glenn Morton (a fellow theist to both Dembski and myself) has an interesting article on this point. It seems that evolution has been in a state of imminent demise for some time. Enjoy.

LENTEN CAROL

Do you see how he rides through the city gates
as a king, with his head held high?
Do you see in his face any sign or trace
that he knows he will soon have to die?
Surely he would have known in his special way
that they sought him to crucify:
Yet he rides unafraid though the sun and shade
as 'Hosanna!' the people cry.

Do you see how he goes to Gethsemane
as the night winds begin to blow?
Do you see him on his knees, near the olive trees,
as he prays for God's true will to know?
There are none who would blame him for staying free
of a death so painful and slow;
Yet he knows he must see to his destiny,
to his Calvary he must go.

Do you see how he stands in the judgement hall
as a captive with head bowed low?
Do you see how he fails to reply when assailed
with blunt questions whose answers he knows?
Could it possibly be that his lot was cast
to have failed as Savior and King?
Yet we see in his eyes not the least surprise
when they say he must face death's sting.

Do you see how they take him outside of town
to the hill to be crucified?
Can you stand there and hear ev'-ry taunt and jeer,
Do you see how he painfully dies?
Yet if all that he said when he walked this earth
would be treasured and held as wise,
There is no way to doubt that the truth will out;
even now he prepares to rise!

From 'Lenten Carol', words and music by Stephen Walters. Published by The Sacred Music Press. (C) 1994 by The Sacred Music Press. All Rights Reserved.