WHAT’S YOUR IDENTITY?
Sports teams are identified by their names. I remember being present when the Montgomery Minor League Baseball team name was announced. The name chosen was “Montgomery Biscuits.” There was disbelief when the crowd heard it, but it’s turned out to be a great name. I understand that the Montgomery Biscuits are number one in merchandise sales in Minor League Baseball!
Sherrie Myers, who owned the Biscuits, had one team in Michigan named the Lugnuts and another team in the Midwest named the Isotopes. She was part of a trend where more minor league teams adopted attention-getting names. They also created zany merchandise-friendly logos. You now have the Hartford Yard Goats and the Savannah Bananas!
Some of the new names are hard for people to imagine. Some Double-A Baseball names are the Binghamton Rumble Ponies – the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp – the Florida Fire Frogs. One Triple-A team is the New Orleans Baby Cakes. I love a college summer team which is the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders! The Staten Island Yankees have changed their name to the Pizza Rats only for home games played on Saturday.
The name Washington Redskins has always been controversial. One of the cuter statements I’ve seen lately, which says a lot about people’s confidence about what goes on in Washington, said, “The Washington Redskins have finally dropped the offensive part of their name. Henceforth they will simply be known as the Redskins.”
A name can be tricky. Bill Moseley was from Alabama. In August 1945, just after World War II ended, Bill was serving out his military commitment at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He discovered that some other servicemen were on the University of New Mexico football roster. So he signed up for a class and joined the Lobo team. He was concerned about eligibility because he had a football scholarship waiting for him at the University of Kentucky when he finished his military service.
On New Years Day 1946, Bill Moseley caught two touchdown passes in the Sun Bowl. When interviewed, the reporter mistakenly called him “Dick Moser.” Bill didn’t want to do anything underhanded but didn’t correct him. He said, “I wanted to play it safe. If my identity got muddled, so much the better.”
It’s the only time that a Lobo football player caught two touchdown passes in a bowl game! The player whose name is listed in the record books doesn’t even exist!
Bill Moseley went back to Kentucky and played for Bear Bryant. He then came to Sidney Lanier in Montgomery and coached Bart Starr. His son, Willie Moseley, said, “We wish he hadn’t done the name change, but he just didn’t know about potential eligibility concerns. Receiving the wrong name from a reporter kept him eligible, but made it difficult to enjoy an important football record.”
Don’t let your identity get muddled! Your name may be mispronounced or mistakenly changed, but your identity should be in Jesus Christ. Don’t ever let some accomplishment, mistake, or “attention-getting” gimmick muddle your identity in Christ!
Here is your real identity – “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12) “And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Galatians 3:26)
What’s your identity?
