It’s Clay’s World
Matthew Pickut
Monday April 5, 2004
How well do you think you’d do in the world of Firebirds kicker Clay Rush?
Think about it…
For example, take next Sunday for me as a pastor in Clay’s world:
It’s the near the end of the service… It’s been a good service, but something is missing. It’s the biggest crowd of the year—Easter Sunday—and it all comes down to this: the Benediction.
Blow it and they may start looking for a new pastor. Nail it and you’re a hero.
It’s all on the line.
You look up to see someone in the congregation looking at their watch. You’ll have to be quick or you’ll lose them; you don’t have much time left.
The choir is finishing their song. It’s go time, and you start to rise, but NO! The choir director ends the cantata with a prayer. You’ve been iced!
Now the pressure is really on—can you take it? What will you do? It’s all riding on this blessing!
For two straight weeks, Firebirds kicker Clay Rush has lived up to the pressure and put the final touches on a Firebirds victory, first against Grand Rapids and this week against the Colorado Crush. Both games ended on Rush’s kick by identical scores of 45-42.
“That’s why Clay is kicker of the year,” said head coach Mike Wilpolt after Rush’s first game-winning kick of the year against Grand Rapids. “It’s his job to make game winning field goals.”
“It’s just another kick,” said Rush of the game winning attempts. “I’ve been in this league long enough to know that you’re only as good as your last kick. It could be in the first or the last kick of the game; that’s how I take things.
“After the game-winning kick, everybody is like ‘great kick,’ but I have to give credit to my linemen. Penright had a good snap and Brett had a good hold. We’ve been struggling with that the first part of the year and now we’re just working hard to get better at it.”
The difference in the Firebirds record is the difference between what they have now, a chance to claw back to .500 after starting the season 0-5 and being 2-7 and looking forward to a long second half of the season. It’s the kind of thing you train for and hope that you’re ready for when the time comes.
The hands are up in blessing position, voice steady, and here comes the line: “May the Lord bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you.”
It’s good, and the congregation goes wild!
-Insert Rob Blackmon impersonation here-
It’s right down the middle and the Methodists win! Methodists win! The Methodists win the service!
Welcome to Clay’s world.
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
