Error Count

So i was chatting with friends about the topic of "sin". Often it's portrayed as the evil and malicious actions, deliberately designed to hurt others for our own advantage. But i've also heard that literally, the word "sin" is just the "falling short of the mark". In other words, to be not perfect.

As you might imagine, this is when my mind switched to sport. In rugby league, one of the half-time stats is the error count of both teams. Clearly, it is good to have a low error count - and many half-time speeches by coaches revolve around just that. However, i have yet to see an error count of zero - because there is no such thing as the perfect game.

Similarly, i think God (in my opinion the ultimate coach) understands that we are only human (after all, that's the way we were made) but still would like to see us reduce our error count - after all, we can achieve so much more if we're not continually dropping the ball.

State of Origin - Part 2

Last night's 30-0 win by Queensland can be considered one of the most convincing in State of Origin history. What makes it more amazing is that it comes after the team's (self-admitted) sub-standard performance in game one of the series.

So what makes the difference? Sure, Steve Price returned from injury - but in the meantime Justin Hodges had also been suspended. And the other two selection changes don't fully explain the transformation from a side that conceded 18 points, to a side that keeps the opposition scoreless.

Though rugby league is played on a 120m x 60m field, sometimes the most important plays happen in a much smaller space - the heads of the 26 players involved. And this is where life is like sport.

Often the most important things are our attitude, and the support of our "teammates".

When is a Team not a Team?

Perhaps it's not a surprise, but at parties i often get into conversations about sport. Last night i was asked this philosophical question, while discussing the departures of Ben Hannant (pictured) and Friday night's 4-try hero Denan Kemp, from the Brisbane Broncos at the end of this season.


Technically it was about how many players have to leave before it's no longer the same team? The best i could explain was that it is similar to an extended family, where new people are born (or married) into the clan, while others pass on. Over time, the composition changes but it's still the family.