From there:

You have become a man ruled by selfish and perverted desires, a man defined by his daily choices repeatedly to feed that selfishness and perversion. You chose to pursue your wickedness no matter what it cost others and the opposite of what you have done is for me to choose to love sacrificially, no matter what it costs me.

In our early hearings. you brought your Bible into the courtroom and you have spoken of praying for forgiveness. And so it is on that basis that I appeal to you. If you have read the Bible you carry, you know the definition of sacrificial love portrayed is of God himself loving so sacrificially that he gave up everything to pay a penalty for the sin he did not commit. By his grace, I, too, choose to love this way.

You spoke of praying for forgiveness. But Larry, if you have read the Bible you carry, you know forgiveness does not come from doing good things, as if good deeds can erase what you have done. It comes from repentance which requires facing and acknowledging the truth about what you have done in all of its utter depravity and horror without mitigation, without excuse, without acting as if good deeds can erase what you have seen this courtroom today.

If the Bible you carry says it is better for a stone to be thrown around your neck and you throw into a lake than for you to make even one child stumble. And you have damaged hundreds.
The Bible you speak carries a final judgment where all of God’s wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.
I pray you experience the soul crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me — though I extend that to you as well.

Throughout this process I have clung to a quote by CS Lewis where he says,

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of unjust and just? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

Larry, I can call what you did evil and wicked because it was, and I know it was evil, and wicked, because the straight line exists. The straight line is not measured based on your perception or anyone else’s perception, and this means, I can speak the truth about my abuse without minimization or mitigation and I can call it evil because I know what goodness is.

And this is why I pity you, because when a person loses the ability to define good and evil, when they cannot define evil, they can no longer define and enjoy what is truly good. When a person can harm another human being, especially a child, without true guilt, they have lost the ability to truly love.

Larry, you have shut yourself off from every truly beautiful and good thing in this world, that could have, and should have brought you joy and fulfillment. And I pity you for it. You could have had everything you pretended to be. Every woman who stood up here truly loved you as an innocent child. Real genuine love for you and it did not satisfy.

I have experienced the soul satisfying joy of a marriage built on sacrificial love, and safety, and tenderness, and care. I have experienced true intimacy in its deepest joy’s and it is beautiful and sacred and glorious and that is a joy you have cut yourself off from ever experiencing and I pity you for it.

You really should read the whole statement in full. There is a reason Judge Aquilina praised Ms. Denhollander for opening the floodgates…[and said] “You are the bravest person I have ever had in my courtroom”–KSH.

We already knew he’d get life behind bars bars. What we didn’t see coming at the start of this hearing was the sheer strength these women showed. #Nassar

It all started with this woman Rachael DenHollander. pic.twitter.com/43XrzvpRIP

— Rajini Vaidyanathan (@BBCRajiniV) January 24, 2018

36 years of age. 20 Grand Slam titles. Still winning five-set battles.@rogerfederer beats Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to win the @AustralianOpen 🏆 pic.twitter.com/wsX0yol98R

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) January 28, 2018

The New England @Patriots are headed to #SuperBowlLII after defeating the Jacksonville @Jaguars 24-20 🏈 pic.twitter.com/63UR0JoYQv

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 21, 2018

ALL 3 times #Eagles  played in Super Bowl 🏆 Eagles BEAT Vikings at home in the Playoffs Along the way!

✅ 2017 Conference (38-7)
✅ 2004 Divisional (27-14)
✅ 1980 Divisonal (31-16)#MINvsPHI #vikings#SuperBowlLII #skol  #eagles  #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/jI7BVlpRns

— Jeff Skversky 6abc (@JeffSkversky) January 22, 2018

The Archbishop of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, will be the lead runner in a race designed to raise awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) next month. Archbishop Stanley will take part in the Gender Justice Run as part of the 16-Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The international 16-Days of Activism campaign begins tomorrow (Saturday 25 November) and runs through to Human Rights Day on 10 December.

The run, at Mengo Senior School in Kampala, begins at 6.00 am EAT (3.00 am GMT) on Saturday 2 December; and follows the successful Run to End FGM mini-Marathon, which was held in Sebei on 16 September this year.

The Run to End FGM was established by the Diocese of Sebei as its response to the Church of Uganda’s campaign against female genital mutilation, which is sometimes called female circumcision (FGM/C). The Church’s campaign began in 2015 in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Uganda’s Ministry of Labour and Social Development, and district teams.

Read it all.

I have thought a lot about Kristol’s essay in recent weeks, as one American institution after another has found itself beleaguered, besieged, crippled, and delegitimized. We may be richer and healthier and safer in the aggregate than our predecessors. But the parade of ugliness we face bears more than a passing resemblance to theirs.

Riots and the suppression of freedoms on campus, drug addiction, deadly clashes between white nationalists and left-wing radicals, increasing numbers of hate crimes, mass shootings, bitter arguments over the national anthem resulting in declining ratings and support for the National Football League, a cascading stream of allegations of sexual impropriety against figures in entertainment and in politics, the slow-motion disintegration of our major parties—it’s as if America itself has been thrown into the midst of a demolition derby, with every one of our prominent figures and major institutions targeted for destruction by Monster Truck.

Beginning with the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, and carrying on through our ambiguous interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the financial crisis, the rollercoaster ride of the Obama and Trump presidencies, the comeuppance of the elite media and political class in the 2016 election, and the racial and sexual and class-based chaos of today, the temporal and spiritual authorities to whom we once looked for guidance have been subverted, disestablished, exposed. And all the while the erosion continues of the civic-bourgeois culture to which Kristol referred….The slightest glance at political, entertainment, and business headlines demonstrates that the bourgeois virtues of restraint, frugality, reticence, self-control, self-discipline, and fidelity are not only absent in our public life. They are denigrated. Nor is this a mere political phenomenon. The liberation of the sovereign self transcends race and creed, religion and party. It has bloated our waistlines along with our national deficits, tossed families into a spin cycle of disorientation and breakdown, and endangered and addled children.

Read it all; also cited by yours truly in the morning sermon (my emphasis).

Bruce Arena will always be the coach who took the USA past Portugal and Mexico and into the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup. He’ll always be the coach who launched so many legendary careers at the University of Virginia and who managed MLS’s two great dynasties in D.C. and Los Angeles. He’s among the most pivotal people in the history of U.S. soccer. He’s on its Mt. Rushmore.

Christian Pulisic is 19 years old. He’s the face of the American game’s new era, which is now kicking off a bit earlier than most would’ve preferred. Pulisic wasn’t yet born when Arena coached D.C. United to the first two MLS Cup titles, and he probably doesn’t remember those giddy days in South Korea a few years later. That temporal disconnect highlights the strain Arena’s legacy now faces following his failure to qualify the USA for next summer’s World Cup.

The sport has grown. American soccer isn’t what it used to be, and that’s not only a good thing but a testament (in part) to Arena’s contributions. But the years are flying by, and the number of people reading about Arena’s accomplishments eventually will surpass the number of people who remember them. Charlottesville, RFK, Jeonju and Carson will fade away, while Tuesday’s nightmare in a place called Couva, Trinidad, will resonate. That’s the unfortunate, uncompromising nature of sports and an inevitable consequence of the passage of time.

Read it all.

Everything began unraveling when [Joe] Maddon pulled Lester with two outs in the eighth after Murphy singled on his 55th pitch instead of letting the lefty finish the inning. Reliever Carl Edwards Jr. proved ineffective again, wildly walking the bases loaded. Then Maddon’s decision to bring in closer Wade Davis with a 1-0 count backfired when Taylor became the unlikeliest of villains with a 393-foot home run into the right-field basket.

“That ball had to be absolutely crushed,” Maddon said.

Crushed also describes the way Cubs fans felt seeing the Nationals celebrate. Faith still exists in Game 5 starter Kyle Hendricks, who will oppose either Roark or Gio Gonzalez, but the specter of Max Scherzer also looms.

“We’ll be fine,” Maddon said, smiling.

How fitting that a Cubs season full of so many fits and starts, amid so much inconsistency, now comes down to an outcome impossible to predict.

Read it all.

Total Agony–How the #USA men Missed the #WorldCup, Minute by Minute https://t.co/1OoMR1VHFU #worldcupqualifiers #usmnt #worldcup2018

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) October 11, 2017

Rafael Nadal captured his 16th Grand Slam title and third U.S. Open by defeating Kevin Anderson on Sunday. https://t.co/5rWqKdgFyu

— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) September 10, 2017

Sloane Stephens became first woman in open era to "clinch" #USOpen title with a 6-0 set since Chris Evert in 1976 against Evonne Goolagong. pic.twitter.com/W2yyEIeP8a

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 9, 2017

In Iraq, football is the country’s most popular sport, but a room full of Manchester United supporters in Baghdad is not what you would expect to see.

BBC Persia’s Nafiseh Kohnavard visits the official Manchester United Fan Club in Baghdad, where members say football is used as an escape from violence which is part of their everyday life.

Watch it all.

Well played @JordanSpieth, congratulations on a magnificent achievement. Make sure you take care of the Claret Jug! 🙏 #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/IWUtQR19ba

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 23, 2017

Read it all.

"This is a dream come true – to be in the semi-finals at #Wimbledon makes it even more special"

– Sam Querrey pic.twitter.com/Yhzv6lYSGM

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2017

15-13 in the fifth. A match for the ages.

Marathon man Muller outlasts Nadal for win of his career: https://t.co/FmQJ242ybf#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/src3Q4hNjf

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 10, 2017

The Penguins answered every challenge to do the unthinkable — repeat https://t.co/VnIyQ0omhi pic.twitter.com/3XHrogVWCw

— Post-Gazette Sports (@PGSportsNow) June 12, 2017

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

The King of Clay does it again 👑

Rafael Nadal beats Stan Wawrinka in straight sets to win his TENTH #FrenchOpen title#RG17 pic.twitter.com/RkqHoI0FSe

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 11, 2017

RECAP + VIDEO: #MUFC is headed for the #UEL final, though a red card hurts their already thin back line https://t.co/cD7iwq4lCe

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) May 11, 2017

In November, young boxer Amaiya Zafar traveled from Minnesota to Florida to fight her first competitive bout.

But before Zafar even had her gloves on, officials called off the fight – they told the 16-year-old she had to remove the hijab she wore or forfeit the match. A devout Muslim, Zafar refused, and her 15-year-old opponent was declared the victor.

USA Boxing, the sport’s national governing body, has dictated that athletes fight in sleeveless jerseys and shorts no longer than the knee. Zafar adds long sleeves, leggings, and a sporty hijab to the uniform.

The organization appears to be shifting its policy, and…[later] it granted Zafar a religious exemption to compete wearing the hijab so she…[could] fight…in Minneapolis.

Read it all.

Security at this year’s Champions League final will be aided by facial recognition technology.

Police will be able to match soccer fans’ faces against a database of known offenders in real-time, according to a contract worth 170,000 pounds ($210,000) posted on the U.K. government’s website.

“The UEFA Champions League finals in Cardiff give us a unique opportunity to test and prove the concept of this technology in a live operational environment,” South Wales Police Chief Superintendent Jon Edwards said in an emailed statement, adding that it should provide a basis for further use of the technology by police.

Read it all.

The Arnold Palmer of Europe was Seve Ballesteros, who was very, very good when he hit his drives straight and even better when they went crooked. In 1980, three months after Sergio García was born, Ballesteros won the first of his two Masters titles.

Like generations of American players who loved Palmer, García grew up wanting to be like the swashbuckling Ballesteros, whose influence on García’s golf and his life was immense. Nearly six years after Ballesteros died of brain cancer, on what would have been his 60th birthday, García conquered Justin Rose, Augusta National Golf Club and his demons — not necessarily in that order — to win the 81st Masters.

It was García’s first major title in his 74th start, and perhaps fittingly, he had to go an extra hole to secure it after missing a seven-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that would have ended the tournament in regulation. When his ball steered clear of the hole, it might have conjured memories of the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie, where García also had a putt for victory at the 72nd hole, missed it and then lost in a playoff to Padraig Harrington.

Read it all.

Sergio García won the Masters in a playoff, taking his first major 18 years after he burst on the scene as a teen https://t.co/RX0GnhqXWz

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 10, 2017

On a personal note, my wife Elizabeth kindly got me tickets to this Saturday’s Manchester United game (a surprise for my birthday). Since I have never been to Old Trafford, this is a big deal for me. My son Nathaniel is coming to meet me and today we fly to the UK for a little over a week. Blogging will be catch and catch can during that period–KSH.

We return to Old Trafford when we host @WBA this weekend – read more in our @PremierLeague preview: https://t.co/iuR2fdGt1m #MUFC pic.twitter.com/Dxmt3oly2q

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 30, 2017

He’s a native of Miami who was a self-described terrible player in high school. She’s from Philadelphia and one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. But once they arrived at South Carolina, Frank Martin and Dawn Staley each started from the same place: The bottom.

Staley’s home debut as women’s head coach was a loss to Clemson played before a few thousand people, the beginning of a 10-win season in 2008. Martin arrived four years later to run the men’s team and won 14 games before crowds so small he could clearly hear conversations in the stands.

In SEC play, the numbers were far worse: Staley won two league games her first season, Martin four, and in each case the attendance numbers dwindled as those debut campaigns wore on.

Read it all.

Enjoy it all.

GAMECOCKS WIN!! The Gamecocks are on to the #FinalFour SCORE: 77-70! Good game! pic.twitter.com/OkBaU92jJH

— Live5News (@Live5News) March 26, 2017

After shooting just 20% in the 1st half, the #SouthCarolina Gamecocks shot better than 70% from the field in the 2nd https://t.co/ryweoNB1Cx

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 20, 2017

Duke, universally admired and despised, found itself engulfed by Carolinas — North and South — at the sold-out Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., on Sunday. Cheers and jeers cascaded down on the Blue Devils as they fell to South Carolina, 88-81, in a rare upset in this N.C.A.A. tournament.

The Blue Devils, the second seed in the East Region, had a 30-23 lead at halftime after the seventh-seeded Gamecocks missed 20 of their last 22 field goal attempts before the break. But as cold as it was in the first half, South Carolina was just as hot in the second.

Read it all.