Some More Websites: Life Action and AWM
Back in November I blogged about a few websites I helped produce. We got a few more out the door in December:
Life Action Ministries strives to bring personal revival to Christians around North America. They publish two magazines, a great newsletter for pastors, and the Infuse Podcast. From a programming perspective this was an incredibly fun project: LAM wanted to inter-relate all their content together (blog post to product, product to article, article to podcast, etc.). The final solution works well, and I think it’s a great example of why the web is such a rich medium: you can’t do that sort of cross-referencing in the real world. We also incorporated some “geocoding” technology: the site automatically finds your longitude and latitude, and shows you LAM’s nearest conferences. LAM is a great ministry to work for: they get the web, and they’re really passionate about their ministry.
Arab World Ministries works to spread the gospel among the Arab world. (see how their name explains what they do? Nice and memorable, eh? 
This was another fun project due to the international flavor: we needed to support English, French, and Dutch — and eventually Arabic as well. They’re another great group of people, and it was a pleasure working with their staff on both sides of the Atlantic.
And the winner of the Tol Bowl is…
Brian!
Brian’s Maplewood Crushers topped Amy’s Mommy’s Little Helper’s 113 to 100.
Click the image below to see the box score:
(Although, can you ever really win when you have to beat your wife to do it? I don’t think so…
It’s gridiron has been kind to Brian this year: he took the championship in his other league as well, thanks to the last minute pick up of Derrick Ward.
NFL Tol Bowl 2008
(Que Monday night football music here.)
Faithful readers, you may remember a post back in September about my decision to join a Fantasy Football team this year. My season had a rather dramatic start when my star quarterback injured himself in the first game. (Incidentally, anybody know what Tom Brady has done with all his spare time this fall?) Discouragement set in as I watched my team lose their first three out of four games. And I endured some rather heartless jeering from the other members of my league. (Ahem … I suppose my smart mouth giving sassy comebacks may have provoked just a little of the teasing.)
Anyway, enough about my sad start. If you want the whole story, read it here.
Here’s the thing: I don’t tend to give up real easy. (Somewhere, Brian is laughing out loud at this understatement.) And as the only girl in our league, I really wanted to represent well for the fairer sex. Well, and there was the fact that I kind of responded to the aforementioned teasing with some false bravado and claims that I would rise to the top of the league…
So I devised a two-prong strategy to revitalize my team. First: Ditch half my players and pick up some free agents who are actually playing well. (I know, kind of a no-brainer there… but at least give me a little credit for taking the time to find out who the good players were.) Second: Always, always play anyone who is playing against the Lions.
Well, my strategy worked and I began a slow rise from the bottom of the ranks. Week by week, I started piling up the wins. And despite some setbacks, including further injuries and a certain wide receiver who shot himself in the leg, I eventually found myself in the #1 position with a record of 9-3. Not bad for a girl who started the year with no idea what a running back does, right?
Well, Brian has also been a formidable force in our league, and in one of the last games of our regular season, he knocked me off the throne. His is the only team that I have not beaten, and I was sitting in second place as the play-offs began. By now I’m sure you’ve guessed how this is playing out: We both won our semi-final games and the final play-off game of the season will be a battle between the Tols. The first, and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime, Tol Bowl.
Now, as I wrap my Christmas presents and bake holiday treats, I’m also contemplating this momentous game. There are difficult decisions to be made: Do I play my usual quarterback, who’s been reliably mediocre? Or do I go for a poetic win by putting Matt Cassel in to finish the season started by his teammate, Tom? Do I put in my #1 running back, Michael Turner, even though he’s facing one of the NFL’s toughest defenses this weekend? Or do I put in the running back I just picked up this week - Pierre Thomas - a rising star who faces the lackluster Lions?
(Are you all in awe of the fact that I just wrote that paragraph? I sure am!)
So here’s my question for all of you who read this blog: Who will you cheer for this weekend? The sure and steady Maplewood Crushers, managed by a guy who’s played fantasy football for several years and has yet to achieve the winning title? Or the spunky comeback team–Mommy’s Little Helpers–who could potentially finish their freshman season with a fairy tale victory?
Will you root for Amy or Brian? I really want some feedback on this one!