This is for my Canes.....


How to win every game.

When I was a kid, my dad used to walk me to the ob to watch Bama come to the OB game on New Years. The one thing everybody talked about was Bamas undersized Dline dominating their bigger opponent. They would always win the battle on the line of scrimmage even tho they were shorter and weighted less. One of the reason was Bear Bryant taught them how to leverage their weight.  But the bigger reason was they had a stronger will than their opponent. They refused to get beat. So when the Canes started dominating in the 80s they displayed the same standard of dominance. The Canes refused to get beat.

Let me say that Cane philosophy was in total agreement with King David whether they understood this or not . The truth is that we christian can use our religion in the wrong way. Did you know that God does not like to lose? Just think if all of the bad people dominated the christians then our level of peace and tranquilly would be destroyed. This is why God never loses. Since the beginning of time God has destroyed many brutal nations. There is no better christian example than King David. He did not just win, He fought in a way that no one wanted to fight Israel after David annihilated the enemy.  I will explain Davids favorite Psalm. If i were young and playing to win I this would direct my thinking about what it means to compete like a Cane. We have a history of that is extra ordinary as an example that we should be warriors not just football players.Here was what David taught about being a good christian example. 

1I love you, O LORD , my strength. 2The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I call to the LORD , who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

Just because you have physical talent does not mean you will win.  You need to train your will to never lose. The old canes used to say you got to dominate your opponent until they are convinced that you are their dad. You see God has won the victory over all opposition. That is why David describes God as being his shield. The first axiom is that when we are dependent upon God we have the will to overcome all opposition. So the problem is not having what is necessary to achieve our goal.  The problem is that we allow our thoughts to wonder. We should never give time to thinking about losing. So this is the first rule that should dominate our thinking. We depend upon a God who overcomes all our opposition.

   4The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6In my distress I called to the LORD ;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

I memorized this Psalm and it helped me use every experience as motivation to overcome opposition. God wins because He has more power than the opposition and he is able to destroy the opposition. So when we lose the little battles those are temptations to accept losing. We must never accept any thing that motivates us to play below our ability. King david taught that our opposition were reminding us of the our weakness instead of motivating us to win. So in this way it was cursing the king. So he calls on the Lord  in order to control his anger and use that loss as fuel to never give up. You see competing has noting to do with the plays or the calls. Competing is having a stronger will than the opponent. David is saying that when he was in the height of the war was when he was at his best. When he was in danger of losing the war , he would knew that God wins every time. His will was too strong to give in.

  7The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
8Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
  11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him-
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
 12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
 13 The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded. 
 14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.
 15 ^`The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD ,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

David was a pro at exercising his will to win. He is saying that all of the wars he won had universal consequences. Winning depended upon owning all the land. The stakes were the highest because when David won, God took possession of all the kingdoms. David had a will that would not bend. He was totally devoted. Every time the U dominated college football we made all our opponents home turf our own. This is a great chritian witness. This portion is so important for developing a devotion that is uncommon. We must play for the highest purposes. We must win for the glory of God.


¹⁶ He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
¹⁹ He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰ The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the LORD ;
I have not done evil by turning from my God.
²² All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.
²³ I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.
²⁴ The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.


God has made us to excel beyond our ability. David is saying that when he meditated on this Psalm, he was motivated to be better than his last effort. He was motivated because he believed that he represented a nation that was ruled by God. He is pronouncing the power that he experiences from God when he faces the opposition. We are made to fight beyond our ability. God has given us chemicals called endorphins. When we play on the endorphins we never get tired. David is pronouncing Gods power flowing through him in order to be motivated beyond his ability. He is fighting on the endorphins. When he is pronouncing the power he is fully focused on the battle so that he is obeying God. Just being in the war and never giving up is obedience. Being led into a spacious place is when you are ahead in the game and you and your opponent know that you are dominating. They believe they are gonna lose.

 ²⁵ To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
²⁶ to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
²⁷ You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
²⁸ You, O LORD , keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
²⁹ With your help I can advance against a troop ^F36 ;
with my God I can scale a wall.
³⁰ As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.
³¹ For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?
³² It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ You give me your shield of victory,
and your right hand sustains me;
you stoop down to make me great.
³⁶ You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.

Now listen we are not happy with losing because we lose control. No one remembers who we are. You were not made to lose control. God is in control because He always wins. When you win the entire college conversation is on the Canes. So this helps you learn the importance of developing the kings attitude here so that you never lose control of  the conversation. The world is not right if the Canes are losing..thats the christian conviction.

 ³⁷ I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle;
you made my adversaries bow at my feet.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.
⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save them-
to the LORD , but he did not answer.
⁴² I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind;
I poured them out like mud in the streets.
⁴³ You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
you have made me the head of nations;
people I did not know are subject to me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they hear me, they obey me;
foreigners cringe before me.
⁴⁵ They all lose heart;
they come trembling from their strongholds.
⁴⁶ The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Savior!
⁴⁷ He is the God who avenges me,
who subdues nations under me,
⁴⁸ who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from violent men you rescued me.
⁴⁹ Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD ;
I will sing praises to your name.
⁵⁰ He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.


David is teaching that you can never let up on the opponent. Your not just winning in order to win the game. Your playing to send a message to the rest of the teams. You will lose when you play the Canes. This winning attitude and dominance is promised to us. We are Davids descendants.