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Garbage in Equals Garbage Out
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About Media Talk 101
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Garbage in Equals Garbage Out by CJ Hitz
If I asked you to tell me who Hakeem Olajuwon is, what would you say? How about Michael Jordan? And finally, Sam Bowie? Routinely, I'll ask audiences to raise their hands if they've heard of these three men.
If I asked you to tell me who Hakeem Olajuwon is, what would you say? How about Michael Jordan? And finally, Sam Bowie? Routinely, I'll ask audiences to raise their hands if they've heard of these three men.
Usually about half the hands go up for Hakeem Olajuwon, 100% of the hands are raised for Michael Jordan and rarely do I see more than one or two hands being raised for Sam Bowie.
So what do these three guys have in common?
They were the top three picks in the 1984 NBA draft. The first pick went to the Houston Rockets who selected the seven foot Olajuwon out of the University of Houston. He would go on to have a stellar career as one of the greatest centers in NBA history and eventually lead the Rockets to two championships. The second pick would go to the team in my home state of Oregon that I grew up cheering for, the Portland Trail Blazers. They selected 7'1" Sam Bowie out of the University of Kentucky. More on him later. And finally, the third pick went to the Chicago Bulls who went with 6'6" guard Michael Jordan out of the University of North Carolina. Do I really even need to mention Jordan's accomplishments other than to say he's considered the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball? His nickname "Air Jordan" should give most folks insight into his incredible abilities.
Why have most people never heard of Sam Bowie? Worse, why have so many people once familiar with this high school & college All-American now forgotten about him altogether? It wasn't that he lacked talent, skill or size. It wasn't due to a lack of coaching. The reason Sports Illustrated listed Sam Bowie as the biggest draft bust in NBA history is that he never lived up to the high expectations placed upon him. Sam never reached his full potential. And the reason is quite simple…
Injuries.
His college career was interrupted with severe injuries to his shin bone after his sophomore season causing him to miss the next two seasons. This wasn't enough to deter the Trail Blazers from pinning their championship hopes upon him by making him their 2nd pick. While Olajuwon and Jordan would both go on to have Hall of Fame careers, Bowie would barely manage to play a whole season without injury. He would break his legs three times in his first five seasons and play a mere 62% of all the games in his mediocre ten year career.
As you can imagine, this series of leg injuries baffled the whole organization and Sam began to undergo tests to find out why his bones were breaking so often. After this series of tests, doctors were astounded to find the primary cause…
Poor diet.
What? How could something so preventable happen with a professional athlete making hundreds of thousands of dollars? How could this have slid under the team radar? You see, what many didn't realize is the amount of junk food Sam was consuming on a regular basis. He was practically surviving on Twinkies, Ho Ho's and soda pop. Sure he was eating some healthy meals here & there but he was woefully deficient on things like fruits & vegetables among other things. Sam Bowie had a serious sweet tooth and as a result, his 7 foot 1 inch 240 lb body wasn't able to sustain the rigors of an 82 game season. His diet was actually causing his bones to become weak & brittle. By the time doctors found the problem, most of the damage had already been done.
Garbage In = Garbage Out
Did you ever hear your parents or grandparents saying those words to you? Whether it's what we eat, what we watch on TV or what kind of music we listen to, this little phrase continues to be passed on through generations. It merely echoes what we read in Galatians 6:8…
"For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." (NAS)
The Amplified version puts it this way…
"For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
Decay…Ruin…Destruction.
These are words that could easily describe Sam Bowie's playing career but they also describe many people's lives on a spiritual level. Sadly, many who profess Jesus as Lord also experience the effects of decay and ruin due to a junk food media diet that simply cannot be sustained for very long before injury occurs. By 'injury', I'm referring not only to our individual relationship with Jesus, but to the Body of Christ as a whole. When we choose to live day by day on spiritual garbage, the whole Body suffers as we withhold our true potential.
I know firsthand what it feels like to have godly appetites spoiled by the world's junk food. As a former "chief of media sinners", I saw my desires in the following areas diminish:
…had a strong, healthy body
…been one of the greatest big men the game of basketball has ever seen
…led the Portland Trail Blazers to championships
…been inducted into the Hall of Fame
…realized his full potential
…prevented the decay
Instead, we'll never really know
How's your diet?
So what do these three guys have in common?
They were the top three picks in the 1984 NBA draft. The first pick went to the Houston Rockets who selected the seven foot Olajuwon out of the University of Houston. He would go on to have a stellar career as one of the greatest centers in NBA history and eventually lead the Rockets to two championships. The second pick would go to the team in my home state of Oregon that I grew up cheering for, the Portland Trail Blazers. They selected 7'1" Sam Bowie out of the University of Kentucky. More on him later. And finally, the third pick went to the Chicago Bulls who went with 6'6" guard Michael Jordan out of the University of North Carolina. Do I really even need to mention Jordan's accomplishments other than to say he's considered the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball? His nickname "Air Jordan" should give most folks insight into his incredible abilities.
Why have most people never heard of Sam Bowie? Worse, why have so many people once familiar with this high school & college All-American now forgotten about him altogether? It wasn't that he lacked talent, skill or size. It wasn't due to a lack of coaching. The reason Sports Illustrated listed Sam Bowie as the biggest draft bust in NBA history is that he never lived up to the high expectations placed upon him. Sam never reached his full potential. And the reason is quite simple…
Injuries.
His college career was interrupted with severe injuries to his shin bone after his sophomore season causing him to miss the next two seasons. This wasn't enough to deter the Trail Blazers from pinning their championship hopes upon him by making him their 2nd pick. While Olajuwon and Jordan would both go on to have Hall of Fame careers, Bowie would barely manage to play a whole season without injury. He would break his legs three times in his first five seasons and play a mere 62% of all the games in his mediocre ten year career.
As you can imagine, this series of leg injuries baffled the whole organization and Sam began to undergo tests to find out why his bones were breaking so often. After this series of tests, doctors were astounded to find the primary cause…
Poor diet.
What? How could something so preventable happen with a professional athlete making hundreds of thousands of dollars? How could this have slid under the team radar? You see, what many didn't realize is the amount of junk food Sam was consuming on a regular basis. He was practically surviving on Twinkies, Ho Ho's and soda pop. Sure he was eating some healthy meals here & there but he was woefully deficient on things like fruits & vegetables among other things. Sam Bowie had a serious sweet tooth and as a result, his 7 foot 1 inch 240 lb body wasn't able to sustain the rigors of an 82 game season. His diet was actually causing his bones to become weak & brittle. By the time doctors found the problem, most of the damage had already been done.
Garbage In = Garbage Out
Did you ever hear your parents or grandparents saying those words to you? Whether it's what we eat, what we watch on TV or what kind of music we listen to, this little phrase continues to be passed on through generations. It merely echoes what we read in Galatians 6:8…
"For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." (NAS)
The Amplified version puts it this way…
"For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
Decay…Ruin…Destruction.
These are words that could easily describe Sam Bowie's playing career but they also describe many people's lives on a spiritual level. Sadly, many who profess Jesus as Lord also experience the effects of decay and ruin due to a junk food media diet that simply cannot be sustained for very long before injury occurs. By 'injury', I'm referring not only to our individual relationship with Jesus, but to the Body of Christ as a whole. When we choose to live day by day on spiritual garbage, the whole Body suffers as we withhold our true potential.
I know firsthand what it feels like to have godly appetites spoiled by the world's junk food. As a former "chief of media sinners", I saw my desires in the following areas diminish:
- Reading & meditating on God's Word
- Spending quality time in prayer
- Being in fellowship with other believers
- Serving those in need
- Having a burden for those without Christ
…had a strong, healthy body
…been one of the greatest big men the game of basketball has ever seen
…led the Portland Trail Blazers to championships
…been inducted into the Hall of Fame
…realized his full potential
…prevented the decay
Instead, we'll never really know
How's your diet?
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