Randall Murphree
AFA Journal editor
January 2008 – Do you remember the time when you ran across someone who thinks like you do, even expresses ideas like you do – someone wise and articulate and personable? It’s always encouraging to discover that somebody else sees the world as you do.
Even at AFA that happens occasionally when we learn how others are taking a stand for righteousness. A couple of recent examples come to mind.
In the activist arena, David Smith and Illinois Family Institute (www.illinoisfamily.org) have mounted a campaign petitioning the National Football League not to accept indecent commercials during televised NFL games. Of course, television commercials have frequently been the subject of AFA activist projects.
In the private sector, we’ve just met Nick Logan, an Atlanta businessman who bought the Hula Bowl after the 2006 game (www.hulabowlhawaii.com). Nick is president and CEO of Cornerstone Bancard, but the Hula Bowl is a separate business. Soon after the purchase, Nick announced that he would allow no offensive or suggestive ads on the telecast and he would position the bowl in a family-friendly context.
Because of that stand, Nick has had to decline sponsors who would not eliminate provocative statements from their commercials. He is still seeking reputable sponsors for the 2008 game. “I’d rather bear the brunt of lost revenues than to compromise,” Nick said.
Consequently, the January 12 Hula Bowl telecast will feature commercials that contrast with those aired on many of the recent college bowl games.
Not the regular bowl game which pits two university teams against each other, the Hula Bowl features some of college football’s top prospects for the pros playing in an East vs. West matchup. Gridiron greats such as Fran Tarkington, Mike Ditka, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Danny Wuerffel have played in the post-season showcase. Nick said there may be as many as 40 first-round draft picks in this year’s game.
“Our goal is not to be one of the all-star bowls to watch, but to be the bowl,” Nick said. “You’ll see a lot of family-friendly events around the bowl.” His motivation is rooted in personal experience.
Nick said that while he and his family (He has nine children, ages 6-24.) watched a great football game one Saturday last fall, he had to keep changing channels to avoid sleazy commercials. That experience reinforced his resolve to make the Hula Bowl broadcast family-friendly.
“I am passionate about it,” Nick said. “Football is a great sport and there’s no reason to have commercials that are blatantly offensive. It is time to take a stand. We will effect change in what is broadcast only when Christians say they have had enough, and turn off the garbage.”
We need more men like David and Nick, men willing to use their platform and their influence to restore sanity and decency to our culture. 
