by Terrie Lynn Bittner | Mar 26, 2013 | About Mormons
The media is often fascinated by young Mormon athletes. Not only are many of them recognized for living healthier lifestyles and engaging in fewer risky behaviors, but many also leave their college teams for two years to serve as volunteer missionaries for their church.
Two such Mormon athletes were recently written about in the media. Tyler Haws was recently featured on ESPN.com. Although his accomplishments had been overshadowed by teammate Jimmer Fredette at BYU, he was racking up remarkable stats for a freshman. A shooting guard, he started in 33 of 35 games and he made 91.7 percent of his free throws. Despite his success, he applied for an unpaid missionary service opportunity and was sent to the Philippines. Missionaries agree to go anywhere they are sent. To his surprise, he learned that people there love basketball. Nearly every day, someone would ask to him to shoot a basket for them. Of course, he wasn’t there to play basketball, so other than these random shots, he played only casual pick-up games on his one day off each week.
Many people feel serving a mission will harm an athlete’s future in sports. Haws demonstrated there is no truth to this. He returned home and again began to play for Brigham Young University, the Mormon-owned university in Provo, Utah. He demonstrated his break hadn’t hurt a thing—he scored more than twenty points in six consecutive games. He is BYU’s second sophomore to ever break 1000 career points and is on track to break the school’s record for most points ever by graduation. (more…)
by janm | Dec 30, 2012 | Meet Some Mormons
Manti Malietau Louis Te’o, (born January 26, 1991) a linebacker for the University of Notre Dame, is the son of Brian and Ottilia Te’o. Siblings include sisters BrieAnne, Tiare, Eden and Maya and one brother, Manasseh. He is of Samoan descent but grew up on the island of Oahu Hawaii, where he was one of the most decorated high school athletes in Hawaii’s history. In 2008, Te’o won the inaugural high school Butkus Award, while also being named Sporting News High School Athlete of the Year.
Te’o has been outspoken about the important role of faith in his life. As an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon or LDS), he has openly explained how he depended on prayer to select the right college from the 29 college football teams trying to recruit him. Much to his surprise, he received the answer that he should choose Notre Dame University. (more…)
by Terrie Lynn Bittner | Dec 20, 2012 | Mormons in the News
Paul Lamarr, also known as Cactus Jack, has created a Christmas musical that is capturing hearts in Utah. “A Time of Forgiving” is a musical about a man who has left his family. It is Christmas Eve, their anniversary and their daughter’s birthday. The wife depends on everyone thinking her life is perfect—and it’s about to become obvious it isn’t. Their daughter is going to learn about forgiveness whether or not there is a happy ending. And the husband will learn that he has to take responsibility for his own problems. Despite all the programs this family faces, the musical is uplifting and warm.
Many aspects of the program come from Cactus Jack’s own life. He was born in Utah, but moved to Australia in 1988, where many feel he became entirely Australian. Two years ago, he decided to sell everything he owned, return to Utah, and start carrying out his dream of writing and performing music. He rented a cabin in Park City and created a music studio for his guitar, grand piano, and violin, all of which he had taught himself to play long ago. On December 1, 2011, he took his first CD, a Christmas album to Deseret Book, which is Mormon owned. Lamarr is also a Mormon. They gently explained that it was too late to start selling his Christmas music this year. It took too long to get into the system, distributed, and promoted. He went to nearby Temple Square, the home of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah, to sooth his sorrow and to reflect on what to do next. While there, he received a call from executive Debbie Simmons, an executive at Deseret Book. She had just listened to his CD and fallen in love with it. She asked for 2000 copies of it immediately. The CD became a Deseret Book best-seller, topping the chart in the number one position. They happily purchased his next CD as well and he began touring. (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Dec 4, 2012 | Black Mormon, Meet Some Mormons
Without mentioning their last names, when people hear the names Jabari and Ziggy, the first thing that may come to mind is that they are two popular rap or hip-hop singers. However, such is not the case, at least not in this particular case. If the names Jabari and Ziggy are mentioned on the campus of Brigham Young University, sports fans immediately recognize that the persons being spoken of are Jabari Parker and Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah. Both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and both are sports legends in their own right – Jabari Parker being well known in the world of basketball, and “Ziggy” Ansah being well known in the world of football. Jabari is finishing high school in Chicago and “Ziggy” is a senior at BYU in Provo, Utah.
Ezekiel Ansah, the son of Edward and Elizabeth Ansah, was born in Accra, Ghana. His favorite food is fufu and peanut butter soup. He excels at FIFA soccer. He speaks Twi and Fante, two local Ghanaian dialects and surprisingly enough his favorite athlete is LeBron James, the one to whom Jabari Parker is compared with as for his basketball skills and talents. He is majoring in actuarial science with a minor in mathematics. He enrolled at BYU in 2008 and participated on the track team in 2009 before joining the football team in 2010. [2] (more…)
