Craig Live

That time has come once again. That time late Saturday night where I decide to go to church Sunday morning.

Ever since I've lived in Birmingham (approaching 9 years), I have never attended a church I absolutely loved. Some have been better than others, but I can't recall leaving church Sunday morning thinking "that service was just awesome."

Even after attending church services my friends consider awesome, I would rate them mediocre at best.

Not to criticize their church, but no church here has really captivated me. I'm not sure if that says more about me or the churches, but I feel as if I've come to a dead end in my church hunt.

It might just be me being a cynic by nature, but there also hasn't been a pastor I've loved hearing. Not to argue that I could do a better job, but I simply find most pastors here boring. I understand that a pastor's job isn't to entertain people for an hour, but they could entertain maybe just a little while?

The last worship experience I fairly enjoyed actually had a good pastor. It just lacked everything else.

About fifty people were in attendance for this particular service, and although the pastor was very friendly, he was the only person I would consider friendly.

I consider myself a friendly guy, and I made an attempt to meet some people in their college ministry that morning. It was a weak attempt, but it wasn't because I didn't try. I met alot of people, but nobody went out of their way to be friendly in return. I felt like the new kid at Hoover High being just another face in their crowd.

It's not that I aspire to be talked to or noticed, but I felt like the only member at church that morning trying to make fifty other people feel welcomed. Had a few more people taken that time to be friendly with me that morning, I would go back in a heartbeat. But for now, I think of them as the church where nobody took a few minutes to make a visitor feel welcome.

I've visited a countless number of churches in my years here, and I'm adding one to the list tomorrow morning (assuming the girl I'm going with can wake up tomorrow morning). I'm eager to visit this new church with her because she built it up to be a great place, but it wouldn't be the first time I'm disappointed with a church with a great reputation.

If she can't make it up, I suppose I'll be busy being a social butterfly watching Joel Osteen on TV while eating Corn Pops.

In other words, SHE MUST WAKE UP.

The biggest debate in the Tiger Woods saga continues to be "Did Tiger owe the public an apology?"

It appears to be a three way tie: The obvious yes, the obvious no, and people in my case who couldn't care less. But because I lie to myself and pretend people enjoy reading my blog, I will offer my two cents.

I have always lived my life with an attitude of, "let me live my life, and I'll return the favor." That being said, I don't like involving myself in your decisions.

This case is different though. I feel that any public figure should apologize when he or she knows their actions are inappropriate. From Tiger Woods apologizing to the millions of young golfers who once idolized him, to John Edwards apologizing publicly to his family, people will respect you in the end if you fess up, especially involuntairly (not the case for these gentlemen).

But if the confession isn't executed properly, it loses all validation.

In Tiger's case, he did some things right and some things wrong. I'll defend both sides in this case allowing you to decide on your final verdict. But first, decide for yourself by watching for yourself thanks to Fox News.



In Tiger's defense, let's begin with what he did correctly.

THE RIGHT
Compare this to past celebrity confessions. They often do the common, "I'm sorry IF I offended you." So does that mean if I'm not offended, you aren't sorry? Many celebrities have used this classic line, and because frankly I'm not offended because I could care less, then they aren't sorry.

Luckily for Tiger, he didn't resort to using this classic fallacy. He did do the right thing by being straightfoward and flat out saying, "I want to say to each of you, simply, and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in." It was his third sentence in his speech...OH WAIT...SPEECH?

This leads me to the bad.

THE WRONG
Even though Tiger got the big thing right, he did the little things wrong. My biggest complaint is that his speech sounded VERY scripted. Yes speech, because he was obviously keeping his eyes on his script.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter how well anybody can deliver a speech unless it's in a college speech class. Because in any other case, you don't need to give speeches, but rather answer questions. Speeches lack sincerity because THEY'RE SCRIPTED. Did Tiger really sit down and think of all that material on his own?

On a completely unrelated note, this is another reason I am not an Obama fan. All he does is read his telepromptor as a source of information. We have all seen how he is when it comes to thinking on his feet. He makes fun of disabled kids. Disgraceful.

One thing taught in every speaking class is to know the demographics of your audience. According to an ARIS study conducted in 2008, 76 percent of the American population considers themselves Christians. Even though Christianity in the United States is slowly declining, I can say that the Buddism population is not rising. But that didn't stop Tiger.

He proudly proclaimed his Buddism faith saying, "People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught."

Obviously, Tiger did't think that one through. Nothing against Buddism, but I don't know why he felt the need to mention Buddism when he would have gotten the same point across.

My final complaint comes immediately following his speech. After hugging his mom (Good job, Tiger!), he went to his friends/colleagues and started high-fiving. Instead of giving off a vibe of remorse, I felt like I was watching a celebration as he were thinking, "I pulled that off."

It seems as if he takes pride in not apologizing, but rather the delivery of his apology. As I said earlier, his speech was rather scripted, and even though he delivered it flawlessly, I felt it lacked sincerity.

I haven't seen Tiger celebrate like that since he won the U.S. Open in 2008.

And anybody who says his apology wasn't apart of his sexual therapy is lying. I am willing to bet money he was forced to speak.

THE FUNNY
My favorite line in his speech was when he thanked his friends with Accenture and "the players in the field this week for understanding why I am making this -- these remarks today."

Players in the field. Ha.

Just before 10a.m. this morning, a small plane flew into an IRS buildng in Austin, Texas. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about planes flying into buildngs? My thoughts exactly. But notice what the Fox News anchor says in the last five seconds of this video.



I'm not blaming the anchor for what she reported because she was given the information by the FBI, but I am pointing the finger of blame towards the FBI.

Just a little information on the background of the pilot: His name is Joseph Stack. He was a software engineer, and he has had many run-ins with the IRS over the years. According to California state records, he has had two software companies suspended by California tax boards. The first occured in the late 1980's and the second in 2001.

As the news broke this morning of the plane crash, all network news stations reported they did NOT believe this was an act of terrorism, as seen in the video posted above. However, once the investigation began, police discovered Stack's suicide note in which he describes his hatred towards the government and the IRS.

I don't understand many things, but in this particular story there are two things I don't understand: why anybody would fly intentionally crash a plane into a building with intentions of killing others, and secondly why the FBI released this is not an act of terror.

Mirriam-Webster defines "terrorism as "the systematic use of terror especially by means of coercion." This crazy man deliberately tried to send a political message against the IRS, and the FBI says this is not an act of terrorism? His INTENTIONAL act of sending a political message is NOT an act of terrorism? The man clearly had a motive, and he definitely got his point across. That being said, I believe his motive was achieved.

I can't proclaim myself as a fan of the IRS, but I would never consider ending lives of those who work for it. Even though I do believe the IRS is a flawed organization, I don't believe the people who are employed by it are genuinely evil people.

I don't understand why anyone would do such a malicious act, nor why the FBI says his actions were not acts of terror. Some things I just don't understand.

As I was doing my usual early morning headline searching, I discovered that former Miss California Carrie Prejean has become engaged to the St. Louis Ram's quarterback, Kyle Boller. Here is the article from CBS News.

Carrie Prejean is best known for defending her beliefs regarding same-sex marriage in the 2009 Miss America Pagent. The video can be seen right here.


Even though she was shot down by the mainstream media for voicing her opinion to same-sex marriage to openly gay judge, Perez Hilton, I always defended Prejean even though my personal standpoints conflict with hers on the issue. Believe it or not, I'm actually a down-the-middle guy when it comes to politics. I defended her numerous times on-air, and I did my best to argue her side of the story, until this.



Carrie, it doesn't matter how much anybody defends you if you can't defend yourself. I immediately lost respect for Prejean, and I no longer continued trying to represent her. CNN later reported that Prejean had appeared in a sex tape when she was seventeen which was made for her boyfriend. Carrie's publicity immediately took a downfall, and millions of young girls who idolized her were let down. In my book, she is a loser.

And then there is Kyle Boller.

Boller barely has a passer rating over 70, and for those of you who aren't football fans, that is LOW. Not to mention the fact that he plays for the St. Louis Rams, better known as the worst team in the NFL in 2009 with an overall record of 1-15. And now he is marrying Prejean. Loser.

I'm not sure who got the better end of this marriage, but the two seem perfect for each other.