Alas.

Alas.

Kentucky Basketball 05-06 has come to a conclusion.

So today, I settled in to looking ahead to next season. I wondered about the future and actually feel pretty good and at the same time I wonder why I and others didn't see the UK season pan out the way it did ahead of time.

Here are a few reasons:

1) We think our players are going to always find a way to win. And when they fail it's due to their failure and never our over-expectation.

2) The team just did not have the high profile athletes that are needed to compete consistently at Division I level.

3) They were under-prepared. Period. (Maybe that's why their trainer was dismissed mid-season?)

So what do I learn from all of this as a pastor?

I learned that high expectations do not necessarily produce positive results. Sometimes people will wilt beneath the pressure to produce. These players are 18-21 year old kids. They don't deserve this kind of pressure unless they're getting paid for the pressure. A la NBA.

I also have learned that you cannot expect people to produce consistantly outside of their God-given abilities. The exceptions to this belongs to the Holy Spirit (Who, thankfully, does not mix sports with religion). Helping my parishioners to learn to play the game of life with savvy calls to not over-burden them.

And the last thing I have learned from my bad Kentucky Wildcat basketball season is that preparation is always the key. Prayer, teaching and nurturing are essential to good spiritual growth and ministry. And as a pastor, I am the key to that work in our church.

Yes, there will be a next year, Big Blue. But in the meantime, I will apply the things I have learned from your season to my next one.

Aloha.