Awesome. And here's a link to a longer one if you want more.
I'm at home in Cedar City on this beautiful Monday afternoon. The sun is shining and I've got nothing to do (yet) except flip on the tube and watch some EPL soccer in fabulous HD. We're in the 50th minute right now of a match between last year's runner-up Manchester United and an always tough Everton side. It's been a great game so far, even though it is still scoreless. There have been some great chances. Everton looks pretty impressive against perennial powerhouse Man-U, and a few players have impressed me more than the rest. My two favorite players in this match so far have been Marouane Fellaini of Everton and Shinji Kagawa of Manchester United. They both look very composed and have been, in my opinion, the best players on the field for their respective teams.
And there you have it. Everton just scored, and it was none other than Fellaini with a beautiful header off a corner kick! I told you he looked good. There have been multiple times in this match when he simply overpowered Man-U defenders, and this was yet another example of that. Fellaini is tall and he has fantastic hair. How can you stop that one-two punch?
I wanna talk a little bit more, however, about Kagawa. Manchester United just barely picked him up in the recent transfer window before the season started. He was playing for German side Borussia Dortmund before making the switch, leading them to the Bundesliga title last season. Kagawa is a facilitator. He is soccer's version of a Steve Nash sort of player. He's a pass first kind of guy. He's created some great chances in this game against Everton, including a magnificent pass to Danny Welbeck that so nearly resulted in a 1-0 lead for Man-U. He's the kind of player that everyone wants to play with, and that is a very valuable thing to have. I want to talk about the importance of a facilitator.
I guess I had to talk about it eventually. I'm sure by now you've all heard about the recent trade that sent Dwight Howard, the best young center of his generation, to the Los Angeles Lakers. Their starting line-up now includes four superstars and a bruiser (I like to think of Metta World Peace as the kind of guy that hockey teams send out to protect superstars like Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin). Kobe Bryant is Kobe Bryant. We all know his credentials, but the most important player to that team's success will be Steve Nash (he also happens to have the most MVP awards than anyone else on that team). If they play it right, it won't be superstars taking turns, it will be the best pure point guard since John Stockton controlling the game and making sure everyone is involved. Steve Nash needs to have the ball in his hands more than anyone else (including Kobe) if they want to beat OKC and Miami this coming season.
A facilitator is someone who is unselfish, who seeks others' happiness before his own. He understands that his own happiness will come from helping others. That is the kind of person that we all want to be around, and it's the kind of person that we should all strive to be. It's the kind of person that Jesus Christ was when he was on the earth. The scriptures say that he "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). The prophet Moroni in the Book of Mormon teaches that men should "lay hold upon every good thing," and any man who does so "certainly will be a child of Christ" (Moroni 7:19). Happiness comes from doing good.
Sports are amazing in their power to teach. There is so much more to them than meets the eye, so many lessons to be learned. This is why I love them so much and want to share what I learn from them with whoever wants to listen. Thanks for reading.
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