2010 U.S Transplant Games - Day 4

After, my update yesterday, Joy and I spent the evening watching Team Tennessee play basketball. They defeated Team Philadelphia convincingly in their first game 16-8. However, in a wild and exciting second game, they were defeated by Team Nebraska 34-26 and eliminated from the tournament.

Today, we drove over to the University of Wisconsin campus to watch the track and field events. However, no parking was available, so we did not stay because we realized time was running out on us before the Donor Recognition Ceremony. Before leaving the campus, we snapped this great picture looking out over Lake Mendota.

We were unable to attend the Donor Recognition Ceremony at the 2008 Games in Pittsburgh so we wanted to make sure we made it to this one. The ceremony is designed to honor not only the thousands of organ and tissue donors across the country who have given the gift of life to so many and improved the lives of others, but also to honor the donor families. Personal testimonies were given by both organ and tissue recipients but also by donor family members. There were not many dry eyes afterward. Songs were sung and a poem was read by actor and liver recipient Larry Hagman.

As I wrap up for today, I just want to briefly go back to the bowling competition from yesterday. I said yesterday that the the bronze medalist, which was Team Wisconsin, had bowled an 1156. That was incorrect. We learned today that they only bowled a 1039 which was only 119 pins better than what Jim and I did. It was the gold medalists, Team Philadelphia, that bowled the 1156. That being said, it does appear that we may have let an opportunity get away from us again. I have mixed emotions about that. On one hand it is disappointing because if we had bowled better in game 1 of our 3 game series, we might have had a shot at it. On the other hand, it makes me feel even better than I did yesterday about the fact that we didn't lay down and quit after the bad game 1. We kept fighting and actually made a pretty good run at it. We at least "skeered 'em" and made them work for it.

If I can add a bit of humor, also. When I looked at the results today, I noticed that we finished 6th out of 13. In 2008, we were 5th out of 6. So, we beat a bunch more teams this time !! I also got to thinking about Kent and Jack. I can imagine they were watching yesterday and cheering their heads off. Both of them were HUGE University of Tennessee football fans. Yesterday, Jim and I beat Team Kentucky by over 70 pins and Team Florida by over 230. We didn't just beat Florida - we smoked 'em !! I guess you could say Tennessee finally beat Florida and I bet Kent and Jack were thrilled.

Tomorrow, Jim and I bowl again in the singles competition at 9 AM. We will be up against many of the guys we competed against Sunday. It will likely be the last time we will compete in a Transplant Games event. We want to bowl much better tomorrow and know we have to if we want to win. Jim can do it. However, I know that on my own, I cannot. I am not a good enough bowler. However, with everyone's prayers and God's help, I can.

I can imagine Kent and Jack already getting the popcorn and ice tea ready to watch the games tomorrow. Something tells me they're saying something to the effect of, "Lay another beatdown on Florida and Kentucky, but this time include those other teams, too."

Lord willing, that's exactly what we'll do.