One of a Kind

I was blessed to have had a special relationship with Tony Snow. He taught me more about optimism than anyone I have ever met. It is difficult letting go as the reality of losing a friend far too soon sets in. But in true Snow fashion, I kick myself with every tear, as he would have us all celebrate his life and be of good cheer in the wake of the things he tried to impart on others.

I loved Tony dearly for the lessons in character, faith, family, hope and love that he shared with me. But above all, the true lesson of Tony's life was how to live our lives: boldy, with zest for those that you love, unafraid of the challenges ahead... and smiling all the way.

My heart breaks for his wife Jill and their three kids: Kendall, Robbie and Kristi. But I take comfort in knowing what the rest of the world will tell them about who their father was and what he meant to all of us.

RIP, Tony Snow, 1955-2008.

Code Pink Armada... by Land and by Sea!!

Watch Out Obama... Code Pink is an Equal Opportunity Protester (EOP)!!

Real or Fake?

I can't attest to whether this is REAL or FAKE... but if it is real, this dude is NUTS!!

This is AWESOME!!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

The Homeless World Cup

When my friend and colleague Shannon Bream told me about homeless people from different countries around the world playing soccer against each other, I must admit... I laughed. Sounded too... well, weird to be honest!

But it's anything but weird - it's brilliant, exciting and inspiring. Go to www.homelessworldcup.org and check it out. Here's a little about it from the website:

There are one billion homeless people living in our world today.

The Homeless World Cup exists to end this, so we all have a home, a basic human need.

The Homeless World Cup is an annual, international football tournament, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever. It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 60 nations working with over 25,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year.

The first tournament took place in Graz 2003 uniting 17 national teams. At the 5th Homeless World Cup in Copenhagen this summer, 48 nations, 500 players were united for a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country. Melbourne is the host city for the next tournament from 1-7 December 2008.

The impact is consistently significant year on year with 73% of players changing their lives for the better by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and even going on to become players and coaches for pro or semi-pro football teams.

The Homeless World Cup supporters include UEFA, Nike, UN, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Ambassador Eric Cantona and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.

The national tryouts for the USA team was this past weekend here in Washington and I really hope that I can figure out how to get myself to Melbourne, Australia in Decemeber to see them compete.

There is also a movie/documentary out now about the Cup called "Kicking It." Check it out here.