Steve reached into the kitchen cabinet for a real plate, not one of the cheap paper ones that his family normally used. With a large family, paper plates were the typical go-to for any occasion, but sometimes you need the real thing to get the job done, such as heating up leftovers in the microwave.
As he eyed the stack of mid-sized plates, he paused, not reaching for the one on top. Instead, reaching down to the fourth plate, he lifted it and gently slid the fifth one in line out of its position, careful to not let the stack slam back down when he was done. With his conquest in hand he could now commence with satisfying his hunger with leftover meatloaf from last night’s dinner.
Why grab a plate from the middle of the stack and not the one on top, you may ask? The answer lies in the story of the underdog. Steve considers himself to be a champion of the underdog, that one guy who will cast his bet on the horse with the longest odds or the team that Vegas won’t touch. Okay, so why is a plate considered an underdog? That’s a fair question that Steve is more than happy to answer.
Let’s begin with dishes and how they are washed, dried, and then stacked for future use. Unlike stock that is rotated in a grocery store, dishes are usually placed on top of others in the cabinet. This means that the dishes toward the bottom of the stack might rarely if ever be used, consigning them to a life of uselessness as other kitchen objects get all the love and the glory.
Sound crazy, maybe even a bit neurotic? Steve wouldn’t blame you if you thought he was and honestly, it does seem a little bit wacky to him, too. But to understand his desire to see all people - and kitchen objects - treated as equals requires that you dig a bit deeper into Steve’s background.
Growing up in the 1970’s, there simply wasn’t an easy way to follow sports from across the country. There were no 24-7 sports channels or internet sites that gave real time scores and information. Instead, you had to rely on the newspaper or the occasional Saturday sports broadcast on the national networks. Because of that, local teams gained a much more loyal fan base since they were easily accessible. Steve, naturally, followed his beloved Demon Deacons of Wake Forest University, his hometown team.
If you know anything at all about Wake Forest University then it’s probably because you grew up near the school or you are a fan of ACC sports. With an enrollment that hovers around 4,000 students, it is one of the smallest universities that participates in NCAA Division 1 sports. And with schools such as UNC, Duke, and NC State right up the road, recruiting gifted athletes can be a most difficult prospect, leaving Wake fans to be believe that they often received the leftovers that the other big schools chose not to pursue.
Attending Wake Forest football games on a crisp fall afternoon always gave Steve a thrill, even when it was obvious that the opposing team often had more fans in the stands than Wake Forest did. And then there were the consistent beat downs received on a given Saturday. But these lopsided scores didn’t faze Steve. If anything, they endeared him even more to his beloved Demon Deacons, for with each gut-wrenching effort his boys gave on the field he could see a fierce pride in the eyes peering behind the face masks, even if victory was a far fetched proposition. As a result, Steve never saw the Wake Forest players giving up on the field so why should he give up on them?
Sure, there were those glorious days when victory was achieved and the thrill of it was sweet. Consider the 2006 football season. Picked to finish dead last - again - Wake Forest put together a season that ended with an ACC championship over Georgia Tech and a trip to the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL, which they ultimately lost to Louisville. He vividly remembers looking around at the sea of black and gold in those stands in Miami, not sure that he had ever been prouder. He couldn’t remember exactly where he had heard it, but it was said that there were more Wake Fans assembled at that Orange Bowl game than at any other even in the history of the school. Steve believed it.
Off and on for decades, Steve had experienced the highs and much more often lows of being a Wake Forest fan, and not just in football. Wake Forest basketball had long been considered the calling card for the athletic program, but even then the victories were more often overshadowed by the difficult defeats. Winning back-to-back ACC tournament titles in 1995 and 1996 with the likes of Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress at the helm were some of the most exciting times that Steve could remember, but even then the disappointing early NCAA tournament exits left an even more bitter aftertaste.
Still, Steve was not going to ditch his team in spite of inconsistent performances and years where the rains never seemed to quench the parched land. He had followed the Atlanta Braves during their brutal seasons in the 1980’s for goodness sakes, refusing to jump on the bandwagon of other more successful teams. If it meant that cheering for his beloved Demon Deacons meant that he would be championing a perpetual underdog year after year, then so be it.
Unbeknownst to Steve, this devotion to a team that he knew would have more of its share of losses than wins would cause a shift in how he viewed people as well. The changes were subtle at first but over time they became a habit that never faded away. For instance, there was Edward, the guy in high school who didn’t wear fancy clothes and whose glasses were held together by tape in at least two places. As the other guys mocked and jeered at him, Steve stood up for Edward. He often spoke to him when he saw him in the halls, learning that he was a whiz at math and science and that he had a chance to attend the North Carolina School of Science and Math his junior year. When his acceptance letter came, Edward sought out Steve first to share the good news. While the rest of his crew of friends look on perplexed, Steve was busy giving Edward high fives along with a roar of approval. Here was a guy, one of whom most people thought very little, going off to do great things in his future. Chalk one up for the underdog.
And then there was the softball team at his church that Steve played for. A gifted hitter and fielder who was able to track down almost any ball in the outfield, Steve was a sure lock to play for the gold team, the adult church recreation team that almost always won the coveted county trophy each year. But Steve didn’t want to be just another good player on a team of good players. Instead, Steve chose to play on the youth coed softball team, positioning himself in center field and allowing his female teammate in right field first chance at catching fly balls that came her way. There was no doubt that he could have shagged every fly ball that came within fifty yards, but Steve was more satisfied offering encouragement to his teammates, giving them praise when they made a good play and backing them up when they dropped the ball. Although they didn’t come close to finishing in first place, the coed team was able to win a few games and he saw the flame of confidence burning brighter in several of his teammates. Once again, chalk one up for the underdog.
Where did Steve’s passion for seeing the little guy do big things come from? Perhaps this view was first formed in him from his first days of Sunday School, where he learned about a man named Jesus who gravitated towards those who were less fortunate or whom the world seemed to care little about. Jesus was a man who could have commanded the best seats at any of the most prestigious banquets, yet He preferred to invest Himself and His time in those who had very little if anything to offer to Him.
“Hey Jesus, want to join us on the A-list for this weekend’s big party?”
“Nah, I’m okay. There’s this widow that I want to visit and then there is this guy who used to be a tax collector who wants me to come to dinner with him and some of his other ex-tax collector buddies. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Time and again, Steve heard stories from the pages of the Bible of how Jesus would go to the “least of these” and do whatever He could to not only meet their needs, but also to show them how much worth they had in God’s eyes. These stories fascinated and motivated Steve, causing him to see others in a new light. Suddenly the “dorky” kid at school who nobody wanted to eat lunch with didn’t seem so dorky to him when they were eating a sandwich together. And the girl who always sat in the corner by herself during recess? Steve began to invite her to play four square with the rest of the kids, in the process finding out that she was really good at playing the piano and singing. How cool!
One phrase spoken by Jesus seemed to stick with Steve more than any other. In the New Testament in Matthew 9:12, Jesus was confronted by a group of religious critics who couldn’t understand why He spent to much time hanging around “sinful”people who obviously didn’t have their acts together. His response to them was amazing to Steve: “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” In other words, Jesus came for the underdog, not for those who believed they had it all figured it out.
It was words such as these that led not only to Steve’s own personal faith in Jesus but also to a life of serving all the underdogs that God might put in his path. This is why he chose to volunteer with students in the youth group at his church. Steve’s love of the underdog also prompted him to get more involved in his community, giving his time to his elderly neighbors when they faced challenging household projects as well as serving as a mentor and a tutor to several underprivileged kids at the local elementary school.
Today, everywhere that Steve goes, he looks for those whom the world has stopped having faith in or has simply forgotten altogether. And while this shift didn’t happen overnight, it has taken Steve down a path that has led to more joy and real friendships than he could have ever imagined. This is also why Steve chooses a plate in the middle of the stack instead of the one on top, because he believes that every underdog deserves a champion.
As he eyed the stack of mid-sized plates, he paused, not reaching for the one on top. Instead, reaching down to the fourth plate, he lifted it and gently slid the fifth one in line out of its position, careful to not let the stack slam back down when he was done. With his conquest in hand he could now commence with satisfying his hunger with leftover meatloaf from last night’s dinner.
Why grab a plate from the middle of the stack and not the one on top, you may ask? The answer lies in the story of the underdog. Steve considers himself to be a champion of the underdog, that one guy who will cast his bet on the horse with the longest odds or the team that Vegas won’t touch. Okay, so why is a plate considered an underdog? That’s a fair question that Steve is more than happy to answer.
Let’s begin with dishes and how they are washed, dried, and then stacked for future use. Unlike stock that is rotated in a grocery store, dishes are usually placed on top of others in the cabinet. This means that the dishes toward the bottom of the stack might rarely if ever be used, consigning them to a life of uselessness as other kitchen objects get all the love and the glory.
Sound crazy, maybe even a bit neurotic? Steve wouldn’t blame you if you thought he was and honestly, it does seem a little bit wacky to him, too. But to understand his desire to see all people - and kitchen objects - treated as equals requires that you dig a bit deeper into Steve’s background.
Growing up in the 1970’s, there simply wasn’t an easy way to follow sports from across the country. There were no 24-7 sports channels or internet sites that gave real time scores and information. Instead, you had to rely on the newspaper or the occasional Saturday sports broadcast on the national networks. Because of that, local teams gained a much more loyal fan base since they were easily accessible. Steve, naturally, followed his beloved Demon Deacons of Wake Forest University, his hometown team.
If you know anything at all about Wake Forest University then it’s probably because you grew up near the school or you are a fan of ACC sports. With an enrollment that hovers around 4,000 students, it is one of the smallest universities that participates in NCAA Division 1 sports. And with schools such as UNC, Duke, and NC State right up the road, recruiting gifted athletes can be a most difficult prospect, leaving Wake fans to be believe that they often received the leftovers that the other big schools chose not to pursue.
Attending Wake Forest football games on a crisp fall afternoon always gave Steve a thrill, even when it was obvious that the opposing team often had more fans in the stands than Wake Forest did. And then there were the consistent beat downs received on a given Saturday. But these lopsided scores didn’t faze Steve. If anything, they endeared him even more to his beloved Demon Deacons, for with each gut-wrenching effort his boys gave on the field he could see a fierce pride in the eyes peering behind the face masks, even if victory was a far fetched proposition. As a result, Steve never saw the Wake Forest players giving up on the field so why should he give up on them?
Sure, there were those glorious days when victory was achieved and the thrill of it was sweet. Consider the 2006 football season. Picked to finish dead last - again - Wake Forest put together a season that ended with an ACC championship over Georgia Tech and a trip to the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL, which they ultimately lost to Louisville. He vividly remembers looking around at the sea of black and gold in those stands in Miami, not sure that he had ever been prouder. He couldn’t remember exactly where he had heard it, but it was said that there were more Wake Fans assembled at that Orange Bowl game than at any other even in the history of the school. Steve believed it.
Off and on for decades, Steve had experienced the highs and much more often lows of being a Wake Forest fan, and not just in football. Wake Forest basketball had long been considered the calling card for the athletic program, but even then the victories were more often overshadowed by the difficult defeats. Winning back-to-back ACC tournament titles in 1995 and 1996 with the likes of Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress at the helm were some of the most exciting times that Steve could remember, but even then the disappointing early NCAA tournament exits left an even more bitter aftertaste.
Still, Steve was not going to ditch his team in spite of inconsistent performances and years where the rains never seemed to quench the parched land. He had followed the Atlanta Braves during their brutal seasons in the 1980’s for goodness sakes, refusing to jump on the bandwagon of other more successful teams. If it meant that cheering for his beloved Demon Deacons meant that he would be championing a perpetual underdog year after year, then so be it.
Unbeknownst to Steve, this devotion to a team that he knew would have more of its share of losses than wins would cause a shift in how he viewed people as well. The changes were subtle at first but over time they became a habit that never faded away. For instance, there was Edward, the guy in high school who didn’t wear fancy clothes and whose glasses were held together by tape in at least two places. As the other guys mocked and jeered at him, Steve stood up for Edward. He often spoke to him when he saw him in the halls, learning that he was a whiz at math and science and that he had a chance to attend the North Carolina School of Science and Math his junior year. When his acceptance letter came, Edward sought out Steve first to share the good news. While the rest of his crew of friends look on perplexed, Steve was busy giving Edward high fives along with a roar of approval. Here was a guy, one of whom most people thought very little, going off to do great things in his future. Chalk one up for the underdog.
And then there was the softball team at his church that Steve played for. A gifted hitter and fielder who was able to track down almost any ball in the outfield, Steve was a sure lock to play for the gold team, the adult church recreation team that almost always won the coveted county trophy each year. But Steve didn’t want to be just another good player on a team of good players. Instead, Steve chose to play on the youth coed softball team, positioning himself in center field and allowing his female teammate in right field first chance at catching fly balls that came her way. There was no doubt that he could have shagged every fly ball that came within fifty yards, but Steve was more satisfied offering encouragement to his teammates, giving them praise when they made a good play and backing them up when they dropped the ball. Although they didn’t come close to finishing in first place, the coed team was able to win a few games and he saw the flame of confidence burning brighter in several of his teammates. Once again, chalk one up for the underdog.
Where did Steve’s passion for seeing the little guy do big things come from? Perhaps this view was first formed in him from his first days of Sunday School, where he learned about a man named Jesus who gravitated towards those who were less fortunate or whom the world seemed to care little about. Jesus was a man who could have commanded the best seats at any of the most prestigious banquets, yet He preferred to invest Himself and His time in those who had very little if anything to offer to Him.
“Hey Jesus, want to join us on the A-list for this weekend’s big party?”
“Nah, I’m okay. There’s this widow that I want to visit and then there is this guy who used to be a tax collector who wants me to come to dinner with him and some of his other ex-tax collector buddies. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Time and again, Steve heard stories from the pages of the Bible of how Jesus would go to the “least of these” and do whatever He could to not only meet their needs, but also to show them how much worth they had in God’s eyes. These stories fascinated and motivated Steve, causing him to see others in a new light. Suddenly the “dorky” kid at school who nobody wanted to eat lunch with didn’t seem so dorky to him when they were eating a sandwich together. And the girl who always sat in the corner by herself during recess? Steve began to invite her to play four square with the rest of the kids, in the process finding out that she was really good at playing the piano and singing. How cool!
One phrase spoken by Jesus seemed to stick with Steve more than any other. In the New Testament in Matthew 9:12, Jesus was confronted by a group of religious critics who couldn’t understand why He spent to much time hanging around “sinful”people who obviously didn’t have their acts together. His response to them was amazing to Steve: “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” In other words, Jesus came for the underdog, not for those who believed they had it all figured it out.
It was words such as these that led not only to Steve’s own personal faith in Jesus but also to a life of serving all the underdogs that God might put in his path. This is why he chose to volunteer with students in the youth group at his church. Steve’s love of the underdog also prompted him to get more involved in his community, giving his time to his elderly neighbors when they faced challenging household projects as well as serving as a mentor and a tutor to several underprivileged kids at the local elementary school.
Today, everywhere that Steve goes, he looks for those whom the world has stopped having faith in or has simply forgotten altogether. And while this shift didn’t happen overnight, it has taken Steve down a path that has led to more joy and real friendships than he could have ever imagined. This is also why Steve chooses a plate in the middle of the stack instead of the one on top, because he believes that every underdog deserves a champion.
