Being a Christian Athlete

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Everything you do, you give it your all. You do your best for the Lord. And so it's like, no, those go perfectly hand in hand of being competitive but also being super Christ like. [00:00:12] Speaker B: And welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to in the Nessie Emmaus athletic sports podcast. I'm your co host, Shane Douglas, here with Matthew Tomlinson. Matt, how are you doing, my man? [00:00:25] Speaker A: I'm doing good, Shane. How about yourself? [00:00:27] Speaker B: I am. Well, thank you for making us a part of your day, your routine, listeners and viewers, we love you. We appreciate you. [00:00:34] Speaker A: Happy Thursday. [00:00:35] Speaker B: Happy Thursday. Yeah. If you're listening in the morning, it's 09:00 Thursday, 901 nine one Thursday as this episode is dropping. But it's been an eventful, busy week, I guess. [00:00:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it really has. [00:00:51] Speaker B: Same for you. You've been on the road a little bit. We'll talk a little bit about, more about Winterfest later this episode. That's going to be like a little fun segment, kind of like top three, top five, but just some Winterfest memories and kind of talking about it. Some people hear us talk about Winterfest or students or alum and they're like, what's Winterfest? Like? Maybe some of you families out there trying to listen to see if we talk about your boy or hear about it. Yeah, it's an awesome time. We'll get more into that. But NFL playoffs are over. Kind of still the postseason, but now we got Super bowl matchup. [00:01:26] Speaker A: Super bowl. [00:01:27] Speaker B: We got the Kansas City Chiefs and. [00:01:31] Speaker A: The San Francisco 49 ers. [00:01:33] Speaker B: And the San Francisco 49 ers. Brock Purdy representing Iowa State. Well, we got like and believers out. [00:01:40] Speaker A: There, Iowa, but very strong Christian. [00:01:42] Speaker B: Super strong Christian. He went to my home church in Des Moines and spoke a couple of times. So that was really cool. We had a member from our church that was good friends with Brock as well as some alum from the area that went to Iowa State that know him from the football team. So got those connections. It's like the seven degrees of connection. Do you know what I'm talking about? [00:02:05] Speaker A: I've heard of it before, like a. [00:02:07] Speaker B: Psychology thing where we are like seven connections away from everyone out there connecting us to everyone around the world. And it's definitely true. I'm four connections away from Brady. [00:02:18] Speaker A: Nice. [00:02:20] Speaker B: That's just that because we had alum from here, from Emmaus, that I believe it was her sister, her cousin that married Tristan Worfs. And Tristan, worse, was the right tackle. Interesting for Tom Brady when he was in boom. You know, it's proven. Here we go. Who do you want to win? Who do you want to win a Super bowl? I'm sure we're in Iowa. Dubuque, Iowa. So we're going to be talking to a lot of Chiefs kingdom out there. [00:02:46] Speaker A: But I do not a lot of 40. [00:02:48] Speaker B: Yeah, no one does. [00:02:50] Speaker A: I do not want the 49 ers to win either. But I would rather they win because of Brock Purdy. Okay. Because of the Iowa everyone likes and because of just how much of a strong, outspoken Christian that he is. [00:03:01] Speaker B: Same with CJ Stroud. [00:03:02] Speaker A: And he was Mr. Irrelevant, too. And how cool would that be? [00:03:04] Speaker B: CJ Stroud? [00:03:05] Speaker A: Yeah, CJ Stroud hearing his post game conferences was just so cool. I know there's some recent controversy in that last playoff game that I think NBC edited out his articulation of the gospel. [00:03:17] Speaker B: Did they actually. [00:03:18] Speaker A: Apparently they did that. [00:03:20] Speaker B: See, that's the thing is every time when there's a christian athlete, it's like, okay, christian athlete or christian athlete, it's really tough to pinpoint the true believers to people who have really picked up their cross. And the Lord, of course, has gifted all these players, even the athletes we have here, even us in this room, Lord has gifted us with many abilities, but when it comes to CG strategy. [00:03:45] Speaker A: Platform that both of them have had and continue to have is just so cool. Just see how super cool literally every word that comes out of their mouth is. I'm here because of the Lord has put me in this position to glory. [00:03:56] Speaker B: Really cool. I don't know. They have that platform, they have that stage and they're using it like you said and thankfully cut off and whatnot. But you always wonder, you got to see the fruits. Where are the fruits at? Anyone can say all day that they're a Christian, but where are the fruits at? Honestly, in front of the camera, you. [00:04:15] Speaker A: Can definitely say that. But what happens behind the camera? [00:04:18] Speaker B: Not trying to transition or always like throwing mace in there, but you see that a lot here. You see a lot of the fruits in the game, on the court, on the field, in the classroom. But that's the thing, because we're not just recruiting athletes. [00:04:34] Speaker A: We're recruiting christians, believers, students than athletes. [00:04:40] Speaker B: We are recruiting followers of Christ. If they're a student here or if they're an. I mean, honestly, you can look at Emmaus. Historically, we aren't the most dominant athletic team. We have our pockets of dominance. But you don't look at us. I don't think any school looks at us as an athletic hub. Right. We would love, mean, we would love to be competing and have the reputation, the legacy of those schools that are like, oh, circle Emmaus. Circle Emmaus every time you see them on the calendar. [00:05:10] Speaker A: And they're christlike. [00:05:11] Speaker B: But that's the thing, is, we've always just had good character overall, which is awesome. We would rather that. But it doesn't always transition to the most athletic students. [00:05:23] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think, especially now in these last several years and looking forward, there's been almost like a transition in society of people, because normally it's like these really talented players who are really strong christians are like, oh, I'm going to a liberty, or I'm going to this division one school, this division two school, or this d three school. And I think now it's like there's so many christian families out there that see just kind of like all of the nonsense that goes on at public universities. And I think things are shifting more back towards the Christian, the Bible college of those are actually valuable assets and places where you can be competitive. Like we always say, you can be competitive and you can be christlike, because a lot of people are like, oh, you can't be christlike and competitive, or you have to be christlike, but you're not competitive. But it's like, no, those two go hand in hand. [00:06:19] Speaker B: Jesus isn't like a wallet or your keys that you had to grab every time you leave the house, right? No, this is something that you like. Jesus is something that is always with. [00:06:26] Speaker A: You, because when people talk about that, it's the whole you put God in the box illustration. Like, you can't, oh, okay, my game's done. Okay, take them out. Oh, my game's on. [00:06:35] Speaker B: When you're padding your body, do I got my keys? [00:06:38] Speaker A: Go. [00:06:38] Speaker B: My wallet. [00:06:38] Speaker A: Where's God? [00:06:39] Speaker B: I'm about to enter the court. It's like, oh, here's my wallet. Here's throw it out. [00:06:44] Speaker A: Because literally, scripture says, everything you do, you give it your all. You do your best for the Lord. And so it's like, no, those go perfectly hand in hand of being competitive, but also being super christlike. And so, yeah, I think the shift in, especially christian higher education, there has been a shift of talented believers have been shifting towards, okay, I think I need to go to a christian environment and perform there at a high competitive level. [00:07:14] Speaker B: It comes down to the day when you got to ask yourself, especially as a christian athlete, or even honestly just as a Christian, when it comes to things of the world and your flesh and how it wants to pull you away from christlike things or even having an attitude that is glorifying to the Lord, but asking, okay, what do I want? Do I want to please my flesh or do I want to please God? [00:07:38] Speaker A: Yeah, I definitely think there needs to be christian athletes, obviously, at public universities because we need to be a light and a mission out there. But also those need to be the students that are super mature and super strong in their faith. Because how often do we hear about, have we seen even friends or acquaintances that have gone that route and know they got corrupted or they were on a slippery slope and they fell on the slope? [00:08:03] Speaker B: And so it's like at sundown. [00:08:04] Speaker A: At sundown, right, Luke, by the way, no, I'm just kidding you. Last year. We need believers everywhere, but especially those that can be here and just fully study the word of God, get that professional degree and play athletics, and then continue their ministry, whatever it is, if it's at home, if it's in a ministry, if it's in their professional job, after they come study the Bible and they get to jump in there fully afterwards. [00:08:29] Speaker B: And you said it, we need christian athletes, we need christians, strong christians in public schools. And to see someone like Brad Purdy and CJ Stroud and where they are now, how they went professional and where they have taken their career and still be devoted, be still honoring to the lord is extremely impressive. [00:08:46] Speaker A: And I know sports spectrum has done a bunch of stuff with Brock Purdy, but just hearing, I'd love to hear, just talk to them about when you were in Iowa State or CJ Stroud was at Ohio State. Like, how did you get yourself in a circle of believers or in some sort of salt or christian ministry? That's what I was able to elevate people around you. And I'm sure when they were there, everyone knew them as the Jesus guys. [00:09:13] Speaker B: I'm not sure if Rock Purdy was involved with salt. [00:09:16] Speaker A: I wonder. [00:09:16] Speaker B: I had a lot of friends at Salt during the days because we went to school around the same time, not together, because I was advanced, he was out of state. But I don't think, I wonder what. [00:09:26] Speaker A: He was doing to continue to build and grow his relationship. [00:09:28] Speaker B: Yeah, but that's the thing is what I was saying earlier. I feel like a lot of people and a lot of young believers, christians today, and maybe some listeners that we have, high schoolers, are taking the court, taking the field and saying, okay, am I going to be a good athlete? Am I going to be, am I going to be a good player or am I going to be a follower of Jesus? And they think that there is a decision between it's one or the other, for sure. I'm not saying that you just have to follow Jesus, but the thing is, you can do both. [00:09:58] Speaker A: Yes. [00:09:59] Speaker B: And that's what I feel like is a direction that a lot of people, a lot of young christians feel like they can't go. And that's just within the athletic realm. And this can be used and explained through a bunch of other situations. If it's drama, if it's music, there's loves and there's passions that we have, that we have here on earth, that the Lord has given us those passions, those desires, and it is all right to seek those as well as seeking the Lord. Yes. Honoring the Lord through those things. So just take both. [00:10:30] Speaker A: That's the platform. [00:10:31] Speaker B: It's not just saying, okay, well, I guess if I want to be successful in soccer, I got to make it my idol. No, that's not it. [00:10:40] Speaker A: Oh, that's wrong. [00:10:41] Speaker B: It is wrong. Right. Honor the Lord through everything. Honor the Lord through your actions. Be a good steward of your time here. Be a good steward of your time with soccer. [00:10:50] Speaker A: And if he gave you those talents, utilize those talents exactly. For him. Not for yourself, but for him. [00:10:55] Speaker B: The answer can be both. Right. And sometimes the Lord takes it away. It takes away through an injury. He takes it away through many other things. A change of direction or a conviction in your heart. Maybe it is an idol. Like, shoot, I got to walk away, evaluate or something. And being anime, I feel like we have came across a lot of athletes who have turned away from sports because this became an idol in their life. Or honestly, their play kind of went down because they realized, I've been putting too much time to this. I need to put more time to the Lord. [00:11:26] Speaker A: Or we've seen even, like, some where before Emmaus, they realized that sport was their idol and took a step back and then came to Emmaus to study the Bible. And then, you know, the Lord seems to have given me back, me wanting to play, and then they come here and play, and then they perform very well. That's been cool when that has happened, where it's kind of like, almost like, hey, pause. Let's think about this. Let's pray about this. Let's reevaluate your life. But then, oh, here it is again. For you to use and fully glorify the Lord through it. [00:11:58] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. So ultimately, we can do both. [00:12:01] Speaker A: Yes. [00:12:02] Speaker B: And that's with everything beyond athletics. [00:12:04] Speaker A: And I'm really excited to hear the concerning hymn series going on of Eric interviewing about why you should homeschool. Why you should christian school and why you should public school. And just hearing the differences in those three, because I think kind of what we're talking, we need lights out there. And so just hearing that, know, from a christian perspective, I think that's going to be kind of cool and kind of go hand in hand with what we're talking about. [00:12:24] Speaker B: I mean, yeah, we always talk about, like, alum out there that might be listening. Shout out to Emmaus alum alumni weekend coming up, and we'll talk about that a little bit, how we are, like, oh, we wish we could have these guys back. These girls, like, these strong men and women of the Lord who are alum of the school, come back to him. Not like, yes, but also follow the Lord wherever he's leading. But it's amazing for you to be out there, be in the public school system, be in the business world, corporations, be a light out there, like, grow the kingdom, fulfill the great commission. That's what we want. Doesn't matter what we want, but that's what the Lord wants. People ask themselves every day, kids back here, they ask themselves every day, educated. Yeah, sure. They ask themselves every day, what is the Lord's will for me in life? We all know the Lord's will for us in life, and it's the great commission. So to honor Lord, make disciples of all nations, baptizing him in the names of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Doing that where the Lord has guided you. If that's in the classroom, if that's on a construction site in the business world, Adimaeus away from Emmaus. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Nurse, be in the military. [00:13:26] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's why we have a double degree here at Emmaus, is to use your professional degree as an avenue so that you can use the Bible degree. [00:13:36] Speaker A: Because they say Paul was a tent maker. Yeah, he was the greatest missionary ever. And he was a tent maker. [00:13:41] Speaker B: It's true. All in all, go 49 ers. I want the 49 ers to win down with the chiefs. I haven't liked the chiefs. [00:13:50] Speaker A: Enough is enough. [00:13:51] Speaker B: I have not liked the chiefs, like, ever. Well, they're in my division. [00:13:54] Speaker A: You can't like them. [00:13:56] Speaker B: Yeah. So don't want them to win, but they're probably going to win. NFL is rigged. I'm joking. Probably not. [00:14:01] Speaker A: I mean, Taylor Swift rigged. So. So we'll see what happens. I mean, it's crazy, dude, you said it. [00:14:09] Speaker B: You said her name. You did. [00:14:19] Speaker A: But yes. Anyway, moving on down to zero. [00:14:21] Speaker B: Down to zero. [00:14:22] Speaker A: Emmaus athletic. [00:14:23] Speaker B: It's good for business. [00:14:23] Speaker A: That she's there a lot of money. So we had three games that we're recapping, two by the women's team and one by the men's team. We'll start with the men's team because one game. But we played Central Christian college of the Bible on Saturday and man, what an up and down game. I mean, we've been kind of in a groove these last three games, especially shooting wise. We've been shooting the ball a lot better than we have in recent the rest of the season and so we actually shot the ball pretty well on Saturday. Central, super athletic, really good team. It's been crazy this year. [00:14:59] Speaker B: They've always been that way. [00:15:00] Speaker A: They really have. Really. Like this year, obviously, Manhattan because it's the second half of the conference schedule now because we've played everyone once Manhattan went six and but then everyone else has beat everyone and so it's just kind of like, it's been like a real battle out there. So we played Central. We were up seven in the first half. They ended up taking a two point leading in the halftime. Then we went up nine in the second half and then just could not quite finish it out and they ended up winning by, I think it was like nine, but it was really encouraging because obviously a loss is a loss, but I feel like we played as well as we could have played without getting the win. I think we've really kind of turned our gear this season of like the things have shifted and I think that's been really encouraging because everyone has those games where you play everybody best that you can play, but it's just not quite good enough because the other team is better. And so that's kind of where we were at. So we'll back down there or we are back down there to play them in I think, like three weeks. So it'd be good. But that's good. We're getting there, but yeah. Then moving on to the girls. Super exciting for the girls. They played Central obviously on Saturday and it was a fun game. They fought really hard and they got the win, which is so exciting, which is awesome because they surpassed their win total from last year and so on, that game. So that was super exciting. That was a really big conference win. [00:16:28] Speaker B: Which they got that win total in. [00:16:30] Speaker A: Conference at the conference tournament. [00:16:33] Speaker B: Who knows? Maybe we'll double it. [00:16:35] Speaker A: Yeah, who knows what will happen? Anything can happen in tournaments. And then on Tuesday night they played Marinatha again. Marinatha drove down, which is interesting because I don't know what happened because originally both teams were supposed to play, but then Marinatha guys couldn't come down, but then they ended up playing moody instead. But they're coming down in, like, three weeks also, so it's like. I don't know. But the girls played. [00:16:56] Speaker B: They don't like you. [00:16:56] Speaker A: I know. I guess not. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Oh, you specifically. [00:16:59] Speaker A: Yeah, me. They don't like me. Anyway, they had a tough game. I think they lost by five or seven up there. Our girls did to Marinatha. And then they ended up. Couldn't quite pull it out. The end. It was kind of in waves, like, Marinatha went up ten, then we went up by eight, and then they went up, and then we went up, but then they ended up pulling it out. And I think they won by. Let me check my notes. They won by nine. And so it was really tough. We were down a starter. There was a lot of emotions going on in the day, but the girls really surrounded each other and came together and so it was encouraging to see that, but couldn't quite get there and. [00:17:35] Speaker B: They were down a player. But what I really like about the girls team this year is just how they have really came together, through adversity, through losing a player of Brill last. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Semester, graduating it semester, bringing in some. [00:17:48] Speaker B: New talent and just how they've. [00:17:50] Speaker A: It's hard to bring in three new girls and then, like, you'd think it. [00:17:54] Speaker B: Would just help the team right away, but no, it doesn't. It's challenging. It's just changing the culture. Culture changes with just one little swift of wind coming through. [00:18:04] Speaker A: Exactly. But it can be a good thing because I know change is hard no matter what it is, but also change can be good. So I think having three new girls come in, that's hard for the rest of the team. But that change is good because it's going to help elevate everyone. Yeah. [00:18:18] Speaker B: Because then it pulls the coaches tensions away to bring in those girls, making sure they feel involved and loved. But I feel like the women's team this year has done a really well job. A really good job at doing that. Good job, ladies. Yeah, good job. Shout out to coach Sharon, coach Alex for doing that. And even. [00:18:36] Speaker A: Congratulations, coach Tiff, by the way. She got engaged there today. [00:18:40] Speaker B: There we go. And then also the upper just, you. [00:18:46] Speaker A: Know, what a big opportunity for them to. But speaking of classmen, this upcoming week, we play tomorrow, play Ozarks in town tomorrow. And then Calvary comes down on Saturday and it's senior night, so we have four seniors on the guys team. That's a three. Four seniors on the girls of. Because of Abel, too. So eight seniors, which. [00:19:09] Speaker B: That's a whole. [00:19:09] Speaker A: I don't think we've had eight seniors combined. [00:19:11] Speaker B: What do we got for the guys team? [00:19:13] Speaker A: So we have Zach, Seth, Kwan and Jacob. And then for the girls, it's Abrel, Hannah, Brooke and our. [00:19:28] Speaker B: Those are some strong players. [00:19:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:30] Speaker B: Not just mean on the court. On the court. You look at it like, okay, strong players on the court. For sure. Losing Hannah will be really tough. She's a dog off the board. [00:19:40] Speaker A: Biggest post in the conference. [00:19:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:19:42] Speaker A: And then losing post in the conference. [00:19:46] Speaker B: Losing Kwan and Seth and. [00:19:48] Speaker A: Everyone's such a fierce competitor. It's been so cool to see all those guys growth in these last four years. It's been amazing to see mean all. [00:20:01] Speaker B: Of them and even some of the girls stepping up and coming, helping out the team when they weren't originally coming here to play basketball. But most importantly, just who they are to the community. It's going to be really tough. That's always the saddest part of losing the freshmen or the seniors and seeing them go. [00:20:20] Speaker A: But it's my least favorite part about college is seeing. My favorite part, whatever. My favorite part is seeing on graduation day, of seeing the students walk across the stage and then seeing from where. Because this will be like my, what, my 7th class. I think that I've been a part like that I've been since I've graduated. But seeing them walk across stage and seeing like, okay, I know where you were your freshman year, to know where you are now and praise the Lord for that change and that difference. But then, like you said. Yeah, just knowing, like, and we're going to lose their leadership. We're going to lose just the huge benefit and asset that they've been to the Emmaus community. But as it goes. [00:21:04] Speaker B: Hearing about the games, what games do we got coming up this weekend? [00:21:07] Speaker A: We have Ozark Friday and then Calvary on Saturday. [00:21:10] Speaker B: Both men's and women. [00:21:11] Speaker A: Both the men's and women's. [00:21:12] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, hopefully we can get out of the groove. I feel like we've been very consistent in some negative ways, but, I mean, what you said, the guys kind of. [00:21:20] Speaker A: Like turning a little bit. Yeah, kind of turning that direction. So if we can continue momentum, that's encouraging. Make that decision to steer the ship that way. [00:21:28] Speaker B: So as long as you can steer the shift, but also shift the ship. The shift. Whatever, dick. [00:21:35] Speaker A: Shift. [00:21:35] Speaker B: You're fistful and not putting anyone down. But losing those seniors brings in. [00:21:40] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:21:41] Speaker B: Means we have, like, a new culture, a new opportunity. [00:21:44] Speaker A: Incoming recruits for the girls team have, like, you're losing four starting seniors. That's a big loss. That's so much opportunity. And same for us. There's so much opportunity for even the returners and then the incoming players next year. [00:21:58] Speaker B: I like what you said of the word opportunity because the thing is, there's a lot of players, and we're recruits for Ms. We're both sports minded guys. That's why we're on this podcast. So no matter where we're going, we're recruiting students for the school. We're also looking at athletes. Right. And time after time. And this is for you alumni and friends of the school, if you know someone who's athletic, who wants to play. [00:22:21] Speaker A: Sports, who's competent in their sports. [00:22:24] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. There's so many high school players that go to a school and they don't play. They don't play right. And maybe it's a bigger school. Maybe you could say I'm in division three or division two, but I haven't. [00:22:37] Speaker A: Left the bench in three years. [00:22:40] Speaker B: Yeah. What's the point of that? What's the point of if you want to play a sport, if you love the sport and you want to play. [00:22:44] Speaker A: But also you have to put effort in. I hear freshmen at most places, and especially a lot of our programs, are younger with new coaches, but freshmen really don't play unless they're like game changers. Most places you don't play freshman year, you get better, and then your sophomore year rolls around, then you get that opportunity to play. So, regardless, maybe this is my coaching hat on, but I didn't play a lot my freshman year. Honestly, I played more my freshman year than my sophomore year. But then that was a reason for me to be like, I got to get better. I got to make it so that the coach has to play me because of how I perform. And so there's so much of, like, you have to put in that work. And that's the great thing at our level, you're not married to the game. It's not like you're conditioning in the morning, and then you go to breakfast and then class and then lift and then class, and then you have practice, and then you have film session. No, we have practice rules. And you have so much time to do school, to do social, but also, there's plenty of time outside of practice to work on your craft. And that's important. [00:23:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:51] Speaker A: When you're like, coach, how come I'm not shooting the ball? Well, how many shots have you gotten out of practice. I shot on my nerf hoop. That's what it is. [00:24:02] Speaker B: I mean, I remember Stevie Haran who, when he was a student here, he was always putting during the seasons. He was good. He was always putting shots up in the gym like always in there. [00:24:14] Speaker A: Always. [00:24:15] Speaker B: And the thing is, he was also super busy outside of class or outside. [00:24:18] Speaker A: He was an RA. Same. Yeah, but, yeah. [00:24:21] Speaker B: So it does take same. [00:24:27] Speaker A: Smart two, baby. [00:24:29] Speaker B: I have a Harlow two center. [00:24:34] Speaker A: That's the biggest floor, technically. [00:24:35] Speaker B: No, the biggest floor is Harlow two left is. [00:24:38] Speaker A: I thought center has usually been like the floor with the biggest personalities on the floor. [00:24:43] Speaker B: So true. I had a pretty tough. No, I mean, with all that said, if you're an athlete out there, take a look, take a look at us. [00:24:54] Speaker A: See what we can do. [00:24:54] Speaker B: You're probably going to choose a bigger school, maybe a bigger christian school, and not play. [00:24:59] Speaker A: That's where the first part of the podcast and listen to that. [00:25:02] Speaker B: Exactly. Those are the students we want. We want students. We don't just want. We don't want student athletes. [00:25:10] Speaker A: We want christian student athletes. [00:25:14] Speaker B: Exactly. We want someone that can glorify and honor the Lord on the field, on the court just as much. [00:25:20] Speaker A: How do you benefit us in student life, academically and athletically? It has to be all of them. [00:25:29] Speaker B: It's a lot. It's a different mold here, but I mean, we tell people all the time, especially you guys. [00:25:35] Speaker A: But even like within that, we've won five to five or six, seven conference championships. We've won four or five regional championships. We've been successful. Obviously, we're not winning like 100% year after year after year after year, but still, like, we've only had one year. [00:25:52] Speaker B: Honestly, not even one year with a full coaching staff. Like this is the first year with a full coaching staff, man. [00:26:00] Speaker A: Anything can happen. Good things are happening. Lord has really been blessing us lately. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Looking up from here. So that's all we really got to say. And you'll get playing time here. You'll get mentorship. More than that. [00:26:09] Speaker A: If you put the work in, you'll get playing time here. [00:26:11] Speaker B: Hey, that's fair enough. But it goes beyond the court. [00:26:14] Speaker A: Yes. [00:26:14] Speaker B: And that goes with your relationship with your players. [00:26:16] Speaker A: Yes. [00:26:17] Speaker B: So it's really cool. All good stuff, honestly, all good stuff. But we're looking forward to this weekend. [00:26:22] Speaker A: The alumni game. [00:26:23] Speaker B: Alumni game. [00:26:24] Speaker A: Go playing in it. I am playing it. Hopefully it won't break my foot again this year. It's my brother. [00:26:29] Speaker B: You're going to wear your bandana? [00:26:31] Speaker A: I'm going to have to. That's why I wore back in the day. But yeah, we have, I think 17 to 18 basketball alumni coming back for the alumni game. It's 10:00 a.m. On Saturday. [00:26:39] Speaker B: Is Nick fairly coming back? [00:26:41] Speaker A: No, he has a game that he's coaching Rockford. Yeah, sorry Nick, we couldn't move the alumni game. [00:26:45] Speaker B: But he asked. [00:26:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so. [00:26:46] Speaker B: I'm sure he did. [00:26:47] Speaker A: Sure he did. [00:26:48] Speaker B: I love Nick. [00:26:49] Speaker A: And then I think there's a women's basketball meet and greet. Okay. Yeah, because they're not doing a game, but yeah. So really excited. I mean, I think there's close to 100 alumni and family of current students coming in for this spring alumni weekend. [00:27:04] Speaker B: That's going to be fun. [00:27:04] Speaker A: It should be a lot of fun. [00:27:05] Speaker B: I love it when people return to campus. [00:27:08] Speaker A: It's the best. [00:27:09] Speaker B: New faces, old fall. [00:27:10] Speaker A: When we had like 300 people come back, that was insane. Insane. That was wild nuts. [00:27:15] Speaker B: Every time you turned you're like, there's someone that you know. It was great. [00:27:18] Speaker A: And it's fun since we're recent ish alumni, seeing friends that come back from when we are students that aren't local, that's always fun and exciting. [00:27:28] Speaker B: I love it. Is it too late to sign up for that? [00:27:29] Speaker A: No, I don't think it is. [00:27:31] Speaker B: Yeah. So if you're alumin listening, you had no idea this was going on. [00:27:33] Speaker A: Get in the car and drive here tomorrow at go to our website. Nine or ten. [00:27:38] Speaker B: Our website is easy to navigate. [00:27:39] Speaker A: Chapel starts at ten, so be there. [00:27:40] Speaker B: By chapel time or even just look on the website. Find the right people to email in time for dinner, contact us, comment on this. Really super easy ways to get in contact and find out more information about the alumni weekend. So please register for that. We would love more people to meet new people as well as to bring. [00:27:59] Speaker A: Your prospective children students. [00:28:03] Speaker B: There we go. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Come check out what your alma mater was. [00:28:06] Speaker B: Well, besides that, we also had Winterfest. Winterfest last weekend, which went super fantastic. Was really fun. Really great. We haven't really had a full Winterfest for a while. We haven't a lot to do with. [00:28:23] Speaker A: COVID And finally they brought back live skits. [00:28:25] Speaker B: So the past three years. [00:28:29] Speaker A: Thank you, Joel. [00:28:30] Speaker B: Dude, you always interrupt me. The past three years we had videos like a hybrid. I don't think they really decorated the halls too much or at all. They only decorated a classroom. But this year was good. I participated in the Winterfest a little bit this year. Mostly just going to skits and watching the games and yelling at people. So that was always fun telling people what they're doing wrong, but you're not like actually playing, so it's great. No, what was I saying before? It was a good stepping stone to the old winter. To the old winter fest. Honestly, we haven't really scratched the surface yet. But I think a lot of the freshmen I was talking to, they had very low expectations. They thought it was going to be super dumb and not fun at all. They had no idea what was going to be. And I remember when I was a freshman and everyone, when they talked about Winterfest, they hyped it up. My expectations were high when I was a freshman. So it's really sad to see that all these freshmen had low expectations. And I'm like, man, just the dynamic has shifted so much. And a lot of it has to do with just traditions dying, or not necessarily dying, but just shrinking in a way because of COVID and other things. [00:29:45] Speaker A: But they're rejuvenating. [00:29:46] Speaker B: They are. And it's so encouraging to see that this year with the freshman class and how involved they are. [00:29:50] Speaker A: Yeah, this year the participation amongst the entire student body was up so much last couple of years. Yeah, it's been kind of like, meh. But this year was like, I mean, seeing two thirds of the students participated. [00:30:04] Speaker B: And then student government just be more involved as well as Joel's leadership there of knowing the community, what it was kind of before, a little just, it had a spike in Winterfest and it was really awesome. It was really great. Bringing back the live skits, the decorated hallways. [00:30:17] Speaker A: Mr. Jim O. Jim Oscar again sometime soon. [00:30:21] Speaker B: He's always like acting in it. But the theme this year was Jumanji. So if you don't know what the. [00:30:25] Speaker A: Winterfest is, I think Winterfest, side note, I think if I recall correctly, I'll probably get fact checked later. But I'm pretty sure that they've been doing Winterfest since the late eighty s. [00:30:37] Speaker B: Yes, I think so. [00:30:37] Speaker A: I think that's how it's been going every year since 1986 or something like. [00:30:42] Speaker B: That because there was a blizzard and the students were snowed in and they didn't know what to do. So the student government put on activities. [00:30:49] Speaker A: And then they called it Winterfest. [00:30:51] Speaker B: And it used to be like a week, I think. And then they shortened it to just two and a half days. [00:30:57] Speaker A: Because I'm trying to remember when we were students because I think my freshman year, it was like Thursday and then Friday night, it was Thursday night, Friday night and all of Saturday. But now it's Thursday night. Classes are canceled. Friday all day Friday and then Saturday. Yeah, something like that. Anyway, back to what you're saying, but no. [00:31:15] Speaker B: So Winterfest is a time for the mayasume body to come together. And it's very campy. [00:31:21] Speaker A: And I love kind of like homecoming. It's kind of like our home. [00:31:23] Speaker B: I guess so. Yeah, a little bit. So what it is, is Friday classes are canceled. And Thursday evening, the upper Commons doors will open to the awkward hallway and the classroom hallway. And you walk the hallway to a bunch of decorations. [00:31:42] Speaker A: And the fun part is they keep it a secret. Not until the door is open. When you have an idea of what it might be. [00:31:47] Speaker B: Yeah. So Winterfest is all circulated around a theme. This theme will, I guess. What's the word? I guess be the foundation to the skits, the decorations, the games, et cetera. [00:32:01] Speaker A: The teams, the special winners meal. [00:32:03] Speaker B: Yeah, the meal. [00:32:04] Speaker A: Glad they brought that back. [00:32:05] Speaker B: They got rid of that. So you'll walk down the hallways. It'll be decorated. Oh, I wonder what the theme is as you go through the hallway. And eventually, the further you go, they're like, okay, I know the theme now. I know the theme now. And then the classrooms are sometimes decorated. And then the auditorium is decorated. And then there's a skit. There's three skits. [00:32:26] Speaker A: And I love Thursday night. [00:32:27] Speaker B: Friday night, Saturday. [00:32:28] Speaker A: Faculty are so heavily involved. [00:32:32] Speaker B: Depends on a year, but, yeah, it. [00:32:33] Speaker A: Depends year by year. [00:32:34] Speaker B: But they do come to the. [00:32:34] Speaker A: They do come or they do be a part. I know when it was live skits, it was always staff. Exactly. When they went to recording, it was more like the students. But I just love that they're involved. [00:32:46] Speaker B: It's awesome. [00:32:46] Speaker A: It's so cool. [00:32:47] Speaker B: Everyone's involved. [00:32:47] Speaker A: Your favorite professor. Be hilarious on stage. [00:32:51] Speaker B: It's a good. [00:32:52] Speaker A: Like a Mr. Broke dance today during. [00:32:56] Speaker B: That was weird, but no. So this year, yeah, the skits are awesome. Then there's games usually afterwards. And then the whole student body is separated into four teams. Each team having a name that connects with the. [00:33:09] Speaker A: Welcome to Jamanji. [00:33:11] Speaker B: Thank you. And then those four teams compete against one another for the ultimate prize of bragging rights and a winner's meal. The winner's meal is usually either catered or a very nice meal from the Emmaus kitchen. [00:33:26] Speaker A: What was this year? [00:33:27] Speaker B: So what they used to do is they would have a winner's meal Friday night and Saturday night. But that prevents the winner of Saturday night to not get a winner's meal if they weren't winning prior. Yeah, makes sense. So now they're doing a third winner's meal. Sunday night. [00:33:42] Speaker A: That's nice. [00:33:43] Speaker B: So the first winner's meal this time around was. [00:33:46] Speaker A: That's like motivation right there. Sunday night is usually like soup and sandwiches. So they have a winner's meal Sunday night. That's kind of motivated. [00:33:52] Speaker B: That's good. So Friday's meal was Olive Garden. Saturday's meal was Chipotle, I believe. And then they had Chimichurri steak for the ultimate winners meal. Jumanji was a good theme. It was great. [00:34:10] Speaker A: The first or the second? Jumanji, it was kind of the video. [00:34:13] Speaker B: It was a video game. Yeah. But we kind of want to mention real quick, I mean, time's almost up. But just like some previous Winterfest themes that we really adored, that we loved, my freshman year, we did Narnia. And Narnia was awesome. And Narnia was actually supposed to be Harry Potter. [00:34:28] Speaker A: Games were pretty awesome. Yeah. The guy that was in charge of games was pretty. [00:34:32] Speaker B: Were you in charge of games for Narnia? [00:34:33] Speaker A: I might have been. [00:34:34] Speaker B: What were you playing? So, like, Narnia was supposed to be. [00:34:37] Speaker A: Actually, it was. Well, actually that year and then the year before, actually, Rachel had a really key role in games. Your wife. Because of Twin Lakes games, there were a lot of twins Lake games that came in and were a part of the Winterfest. [00:34:49] Speaker B: No, that's good. [00:34:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:50] Speaker B: Twin Lakes Biblecamp always had some great. [00:34:53] Speaker A: Games, but we had to be. It was Harry Potter, but then it changed to Narnia after winter break. After winter break. [00:35:00] Speaker B: So, yeah, Harry Potter still has yet to be a theme. I think it should be one of these days. [00:35:04] Speaker A: It should be. [00:35:05] Speaker B: But either way, my four years, we had Harry Potter. Sorry, Narnia, and then we had Ebi, which is like an FBI theme. [00:35:12] Speaker A: Emeus president, boom, got kidnapped. We had to figure out either who kidnapped him. [00:35:16] Speaker B: We had to figure out who kidnapped him. And then with a bunch of other games, they made it really easy. So whatever. Third year of Star wars and fourth year was Indiana Jones. [00:35:26] Speaker A: Which Indiana Rowley, you mean. [00:35:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Indiana Jones had the greatest introduction ever. [00:35:34] Speaker A: It literally did. [00:35:35] Speaker B: They set up a ball at the top of the auditorium and it rolled down inside the auditorium, but at the top of the stairs that rolled down after Indiana, after JJ running down and rolling on the stage. And it was epic. It was the greatest introduction to Winterfest, opening skit, opening theme that you could have. So it was great. Besides those, I am a little biased because I was hard on work for hands on work with the EBi my sophomore year. But even with, I think my bias aside, I still think that was the best year. [00:36:17] Speaker A: Best one? Yeah. [00:36:17] Speaker B: Narnia was really good, too. [00:36:19] Speaker A: Yeah. I would say my freshman year was survivor. That was amazing. That was so good. It snowed, and so there were a lot of survivor themed games outside, and that was really cool. And then my sophomore year, which was the year before your freshman year, it was roman empire. Kind of clueish. So there were four sons and there were four of our professors, and one of them assassinated the emperor, who was Dr. McLeod. [00:36:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:48] Speaker A: And so we had to figure out who the assassin was. But I've heard. So those are really fun. [00:36:52] Speaker B: Those are fun. [00:36:53] Speaker A: I was team leader in one of them because I was an ra that year, but I've heard, like, a couple of years prior they did clue. [00:36:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:00] Speaker A: And that was really good. And then I heard they did Lord of the Rings. I don't remember what year it was, but I think it was middle 2010s. But I heard the costumes for that year were just. And the decorations were just amazing, and everyone loved it. [00:37:16] Speaker B: So Winterfest used to always. [00:37:17] Speaker A: Mr. Manny was Gandalf. [00:37:19] Speaker B: Really? [00:37:19] Speaker A: Of course. Yeah. [00:37:21] Speaker B: But Winterfest used to be, like, always top notch, like, Broadway production. This was, like, legit. [00:37:27] Speaker A: Honestly. [00:37:27] Speaker B: It was like a thick script of so much content, so many lines for the actors, and it's gotten just, like, watered down. Watered down. But this year was a good year to kind of bring it back, to let people know. [00:37:42] Speaker A: These are like, this is what it actually is. [00:37:44] Speaker B: This is what it is. But the bar has always been high for some of us. [00:37:49] Speaker A: I'm glad for this freshman group. Like, the bar was set at where it was. [00:37:53] Speaker B: Let's succeed it, let's break it. So it's really awesome to see that, man. [00:37:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:00] Speaker B: Ebi was awesome. What I really liked about Ebi. So you explained a little about Romans, Ebi? My sophomore year, which is the FBI theme, we had an interactive hallway. [00:38:09] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:38:10] Speaker B: It was tough decorating a hallway because it was like, FBI. Like, oh, what do we do? So the classroom hallway was normal, but the rooms were different. All three rooms. One was President Boom's office. Just, like, ransacked paper everywhere, broken things. Second room was the vice president's office, and that was Shayla, who was the. [00:38:28] Speaker A: President at the time. Student body president. [00:38:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So she was on the phone looking frantic. The third office was like a police investigation room where we had actors. So we had actors in hallways. So we had police actors, police officer actors that were, like, sitting around a table eating donuts. [00:38:45] Speaker A: They were students and or staff professors. [00:38:47] Speaker B: And they had donuts off to the side for all the other students to pick up. But there was a big board of who did it or with the lines that connected. [00:38:55] Speaker A: Pretty cool. [00:38:55] Speaker B: All the suspects, and they were just yelling at each other and everything. I didn't know what was going on because I was behind stage. It was pretty entertaining, but I heard it was like. It was like, super interactive. The first hallway was like, cool. The first hallway was like a street. So they opened up the doors to the marble chapel and you could go inside a little bit. [00:39:14] Speaker A: Yeah, that was pretty. [00:39:15] Speaker B: Eric Robinson was a homeless man. He ended up getting like $5 from walking around begging. He didn't have a shoe on either. But then we had, like, 711. We had like a grocery store. So it was super interactive and legit. Normally when you go through the hallways, you're waiting outside the auditorium for 20 minutes there. No one was out. They were doing cool stuff ten, five minutes before. So everyone was just taking their time, like, seeing everything. [00:39:38] Speaker A: But the greatest winterfest moment was from that year. It was our basketball game that year. We were playing the Moody Central Christian College of the Bible, who just played. And that was the year that Stevie scored 42 points. That was the year that we ended up winning. I can never remember the final score, but it was like 130 something to 65. [00:40:00] Speaker B: Dang. [00:40:01] Speaker A: Dang. And Stevie and I combined for 60. [00:40:03] Speaker B: I remember that. I was yelling at you. I was telling you, shoot the ball. [00:40:05] Speaker A: I think it was an amazing game because I think him and I both, we combined for 19 threes that game. It was just because you were hot. [00:40:14] Speaker B: In the first half. [00:40:15] Speaker A: Yeah, it was so funny. Yeah, because I always joke like this. I said, I hit seven threes in the first half, and Stevie said, hold up. So he hit eight threes in the second half because he also hit four in the first a. I think you. [00:40:27] Speaker B: Had like a buzer beater in the first half. [00:40:28] Speaker A: Yeah, I pulled up from, like half court. You did? [00:40:30] Speaker B: I told you to shoot it, too. You remember that? [00:40:32] Speaker A: I do remember that. I remember you hearing Shane shout out. But, yeah, it's always fun with Winterfest, being around basketball game and everybody goes, yeah, everyone. Even here. There's so many fun signs. And it was packed. [00:40:48] Speaker B: So it's always a fun time of just connecting the events with the student body and the whole faculty staff and centered around the basketball game. A little bit of just the student section is huge. Super fun. [00:41:01] Speaker A: It's great. [00:41:02] Speaker B: So that's just a little taste of the community here at Emmaus. Something that I think Matt and I could literally have like, we could probably talk for another 40 minutes about Winterfest just because from memories and being active and involved in the community and just looking back and laughing at friends and memories. [00:41:21] Speaker A: Great stuff, man. [00:41:22] Speaker B: It's such a great time. Winterfest is in the center of the year because it's the biggest event of. [00:41:30] Speaker A: The year, of the second semester. Yeah. [00:41:32] Speaker B: Oh, I always look forward to it. [00:41:33] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, me too. [00:41:34] Speaker B: It's a great time and it's just a little taste of the community here and what you can have at EMa. And if you're alum or a friend of the school and you know about. [00:41:42] Speaker A: It, then let us know some of your favorite winter fest. [00:41:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:41:44] Speaker A: 100%, please. [00:41:45] Speaker B: I've seen some old videos. You know you got the Winterfest linebacker. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Yes. I can't remember his name, but he's Jesse. [00:41:56] Speaker B: Jess Huebner. [00:41:57] Speaker A: Jess Huebner. Yes. The Winterfest linebacker and greatest video of all time. [00:42:00] Speaker B: Look it up on YouTube. It will make your day. [00:42:04] Speaker A: It is hilarious. [00:42:04] Speaker B: The EBC Winterfest linebacker. Look it. I'm going to watch it after this episode. It is an amazing video. [00:42:11] Speaker A: It is. [00:42:12] Speaker B: We won't even tell you about it. [00:42:14] Speaker A: They can't remake it. [00:42:15] Speaker B: This is like the one video I. [00:42:16] Speaker A: Won'T let anybody remake because it's so good. [00:42:18] Speaker B: It's so good. But I guess with all that said, we'll be changing that sign behind us next episode. Thank you, Matt. [00:42:24] Speaker A: Yep. [00:42:24] Speaker B: Gosh, golly, man. But thank you for making us a part of your day, everyone. We appreciate it. We love you guys. We love the support, like comment, share, subscribe. Make sure to tune into concerning him and the other podcasts that are going to be coming out. Stay in touch with our social media, the athletic social media, as well as just the Emmaus one and admissions. Admissions. [00:42:44] Speaker A: Follow our admissions page on instagram. [00:42:46] Speaker B: We're doing some fun stuff. We just dropped a fun video from Winterfest actually interviewing students about trivia. So check that out. I'm in it. I like it. It was pretty fun. But yeah. So like subscribe. Thank you for listening to everyone. We appreciate you guys. You have a great day. [00:43:02] Speaker A: Great day to be an eagle. [00:43:04] Speaker B: There we go.