Armchair Laymen
A dad and his ten-year-old son talk college football, scripture, and what it actually takes to lead. Two completely different perspectives on the same three things, every week.
Armchair Laymen
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Episode description
Opening weekend is here and every team in the country is undefeated. Brian and Sam break down the first matchups, give their top three preseason picks, and each make one bold prediction.
Then the part that actually matters: 1 Corinthians 9 (NIV) on the training nobody sees, why faith needs daily conditioning rather than a download, and what Nehemiah did in the half-second before he answered a king who could have had him killed. Plus Philippians 2 on why a captain who barks orders never wins you a championship.
A dad and a ten-year-old, two completely different perspectives on the same three things.
Mentioned in this episode
Our Daily Bread for Kids by Crystal Bowman and Teri McKinley (Our Daily Bread Publishing). We were not paid for this mention and received nothing for it. Not an affiliate link.
Scripture
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
© 2026 In The Game Creations LLC
Welcome to episode one of Armchair Layman. I'm your host, Brian.
SPEAKER_02And I'm the other one, Samuel.
SPEAKER_00We're so pumped that you're joining us today. Before we jump into the show, Sam, I think we need to explain to people what an armchair layman is. Where did this term come from? I've never heard it before. Have you?
SPEAKER_02I feel like I was the one that came up with it.
SPEAKER_00Well, other than that. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So here's the idea behind armchair layman. Armchair quarterback is someone who watches a football game typically from a nice, comfortable armchair in their living room. They watch it, they say, oh man, why did he make that pass? Why did he hand it off to that guy? Lots of opinions, zero ability to impact the game. Really doesn't matter much. And they typically don't know what they're talking about. That's kind of us when it comes to sport. I mean, at least that's me, because I don't I don't get to play anymore. You, however, are still a quarterback in playing football. So at least you some of the time aren't an armchair quarterback.
SPEAKER_02Don't want to say them that high stakes.
SPEAKER_00So you're gonna hear from us a lot about what's going on, especially during the football season. We'll we'll also cover other sports in the less exciting times of the year. But the other part of it is laymen. And this term is often used to describe people who are Christians, they go to church, but they're not the pastor, they're not part of the staff, they're just people who who uh often can know a lot about scripture, they know a lot about the word, they try to live faithfully, but they're not experts. And that describes us too. We try to live our lives in a way that honors God, and you're gonna hear a lot from us about how our take on things, how we how we try to live our lives, um, how we choose to be. And a lot of that's gonna touch on leadership because both Sam and I are really passionate about leadership. So that's why we've got the name.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Anything to add?
SPEAKER_02Nope, couldn't say it better myself.
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, here's what we're gonna do every week. We're gonna bring you three things from two completely different perspectives: a dad's and a 10-year-old son's.
SPEAKER_02First up, sports, thank God. And last, but certainly definitely not least, leadership.
SPEAKER_00And right now, it's the best time of year. I mean, yeah, we had the World Cup, we had the NBA season, we had, you know, some like some exciting things happen already, but nothing like the college football season.
SPEAKER_02There's nothing like it. And it's really NFL, but that's the closest thing.
SPEAKER_00And that hasn't been happening over the summer.
SPEAKER_02Of the closed number.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So that brings us to today's episode. College football season kicking off. Stadiums are packed, people are watching scrimmages, they're watching preseason games, momentum is high. Every team in the country starts with a clean slate. And every team in Division I is convinced they're gonna go win their conference championship, they're gonna be in the college football playoff, and they're gonna win it all. So, fresh starts and new seasons. Sam, over to our sports segment where we're gonna break down opening weekend matchups and reveal our top preseason picks for the year.
SPEAKER_02Then we're looking at 1 Corinthians to talk about what it actually takes to train for your faith before game day even starts.
SPEAKER_00And to wrap it all up, we're gonna discuss what makes a real team captain, how servant leadership applies, whether you're on the field, in the classroom, or at work. Grab your favorite beverage, kick back in your armchair, and let's tackle episode one. Alright, so we got college football season opening up. First game of the year is gonna be next weekend. I think it's in Ireland, right?
SPEAKER_02Ireland, yep.
SPEAKER_00Who's that one again?
SPEAKER_02TCU, North Carolina.
SPEAKER_00That's gonna be a good one. We got a new, well, second year head coach, North Carolina. TCU, I mean, that coach has been there for a grip. They've had some good, they've had some good seasons.
SPEAKER_02It's been a little runs.
SPEAKER_00Been a little rough for them since NAL really took effect, you know. But let's turn to your top three preseason picks.
SPEAKER_02Ooh, okay. I mean, if Nick Saban, Nick Saban, uh I know that you're probably just trying to chill right now. But I feel like that if Nick Saban was still at Alabama, I would definitely put them up there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02All respect to um what's his face? The new coach?
SPEAKER_00To what's his face? Caitlin De Boer, coach DeBore. Calen DeVore. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He's a coach graph.
SPEAKER_00All respect to what's his face.
SPEAKER_02Okay. All respect to Caitlin DeVore. Um he's been a good team. I just feel like they stumbled a little bit like when they faced Indiana.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Last year. That was Indiana. Um I feel like since we got Alberto Mendoza, I'm gonna have them as like number one.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so you got Indiana up there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, because you can also take lessons from his older brother.
SPEAKER_00And obviously, you still got Coach Signetti, so it's a it's gonna be a good team.
SPEAKER_02Mr. No Smile.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like it's his job. All right, so who do you have at number two?
SPEAKER_02Texas.
SPEAKER_00Okay, Texas, number two. I mean, I'm I'm kind of there with you. I wanted to I I want to believe it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But we but we also believed it last season, right? Like it was gonna be Arch is big coming out.
SPEAKER_02Then we got cheated, though, like for the playoff committee.
SPEAKER_00Well, okay, but we the bottom line is we went into Florida and lost. And if we'd won that game, we would have been in the playoff. So, regardless, now by the time we hit the end of the season, I think the Longhorns would have beaten a lot of the teams in the playoff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I feel like they should have been there. But we didn't do the work early that we needed to. And it kind of all hinges on the offensive line play. Hate to say it, but once we made some switches, the rest of the season was a lot better.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And we're gonna find out a lot when we play Ohio State too. Yeah. Alright, so who's your number three?
SPEAKER_02Georgia.
SPEAKER_00Georgia.
SPEAKER_02I hate to say it, but Georgia.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, that is always they're always the team to beat. I heard someone say until someone beats them consistently, they are the team to beat in the SEC. And if you're the team to beat in the SEC, you have a pretty good shot.
SPEAKER_02You gotta take the good teams.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Question for you, Sam. If you were a college head coach, you're heading into week one, what is your number one team rule?
SPEAKER_02You I would say hustle. Like you're coming back from summer.
SPEAKER_01Hustle.
SPEAKER_02You still have practices, but you're coming back from summer, you're kind of rusty. If you hustle and the other team is literally just lounging around, you got the win.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But don't take any snap for granted. Yeah. Don't don't take any step on your route for granted. Everything, you better hustle.
SPEAKER_01Yep, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Practice. On your way to practice, when you're getting yourself ready for the game, all that. I like it. Alright, so let's do some bold predictions. What do you think?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So we're gonna both share one bold prediction for the college football season. You got yours ready?
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_02Can you?
SPEAKER_00Okay. Alright, I'm gonna go. My bold prediction is that the Air Force Falcons are gonna win the Mountain West Conference Championship.
SPEAKER_02That's not a bold prediction. I'm almost certain it's gonna happen. Well, we did really badly last year. Yeah. Rising up from the air.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. That's my bold prediction.
SPEAKER_02Okay. My bold prediction has something to do with the Heisman.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02I think that Cam Coleman could come as a wide receiver to at least be a candidate.
SPEAKER_00As a Heisman player? I like it. So Cam Coleman's gonna be in New York.
SPEAKER_02In New York.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Cam Coleman's gonna be in New York. I like it.
SPEAKER_02Not necessarily holding up that trophy, but definitely in New York.
SPEAKER_00Okay. I mean, there's a lot of competition for sure. So all right, I like it. Cam Coleman. Oh, right, right, right. Okay, let's do it before. Okay. Alright. So Sam, when when did I mean we're talking about the season about to start? But really, for most of these teams, when did the season start?
SPEAKER_02It pretty much started the second someone won the national championship.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Because while the rest of us are drinking hot cocoa, eating cookies, whatever, in January, right? Deciding not to follow our New Year's resolutions anymore. No, we're usually like inside, warm, right? If it's cold out, we're like, eh, I'm gonna stay inside. Meanwhile, these football players are out there and they're cranking and they're hustling and they're lifting weights. And they're doing, and I wish you can see Stan's face straining against that weight of air. Yeah. So, I mean, they call it air pressure for a reason, right? So the point is it takes a long time to get ready, right? It takes a really long time, and there's a lot of work that goes in before game day. There's a lot of work that goes in for someone to even get put into the practice session, right? As a one or a two. And faith is very similar, right? We can't just snap our fingers and hope that everything's gonna be okay. And when we're saved, we don't experience this all boom, all of a sudden we get a download from God and we know everything in the Bible, right? So faith requires daily conditioning, daily preparation. So I'm gonna share from 1 Corinthians here, chapter 9, verses 24 and 25. Says, run in such a way as to get the prize. These athletes do do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. So how do athletes prepare for game day?
SPEAKER_02Pretty much start out with your regular warm-ups. I'm pretty sure. Uh you got a little um speech from your coach.
unknownMm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02You should uh pep talk.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, you can do colours.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, a lot of teams have something like that. Yep. Typically. Um for the horn, for the long horns, they they put their horns on the actual bull statue's horns, right? Usually when they're going out, they'll just tap it.
SPEAKER_02Um and then they pretty much do some warm-ups like on the field. Like the kickers will kick from like midfield, see like try to see if they can do that. Quarterbacks will throw cross field, stuff like that. Not exactly across, but like pretty short. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I think some other things you see stretching.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Right?
SPEAKER_00Because these guys don't want to go out there without stretching and potentially pull a hamstring, pull a hammy.
SPEAKER_01Hammy.
SPEAKER_00You know, and then another thing you see a lot, these a lot of these guys are listening to music. Right? Whatever, whatever that looks like for them, they might be somebody might be listening to Post Malone. Someone might be listening to Metallica, you know.
SPEAKER_02K-pop.
SPEAKER_00K-pop demon hunters, maybe John Legend, you know. We don't know. They're listening to whatever makes them feel good, like whatever the whatever gets them in the flow. And then I think something that's exciting that you see a lot more and more is a bunch of athletes, like I mean, when we went to the last Longhorn game, it seemed like half the team went down and knelt in the end zone and prayed. Yeah. Right? Because guys are trying to get get their mind right. So, with all that in mind, what are some ways that you at your age can prepare yourself spiritually every day?
SPEAKER_02First of all, a good way that you can do that is by praying and reading. Reading just like The Hobbit or No, like reading the Bible, sorry.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Um, like there's actually quick product placement. There's something called Daily Bread for Kids. It's uh 365 little bytes. And it's by Crystal Bowman and Terry McKinley, I think. It is so good. Just check it out real quick.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we'll put it in the show notes. And we're not getting paid, but that's okay.
SPEAKER_02It's good. Um, no copyright to please.
SPEAKER_00That's a nickel's worth of free advice right there. Yeah. That's what that is.
SPEAKER_02Um stuff like that. And a daily brand is good because it's like devotional and you have to like commit to it. That's why it's called devotional.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02Um, but you can also be like, let's say you're going to play with your friends at school or something. You can try to do that to use your you can use your actions to glorify God.
SPEAKER_00I like it. So I think a lot of what you talked about there was about setting your perspective right. So, like the thing that happens when you read a devotional and when you read scripture is you're reminded of God's story. You're reminded that you are a small part in God's story. And that you're thinking about how how am I gonna be a blessing to my friends, right? That that puts you in a frame of mind that you're now looking for those opportunities. Where if you didn't think about that at all, you'd just be thinking about old numero uno Sam all the time, and you'd miss out on all these opportunities to bless people, right? I like I love that. And then the other big thing is prayer, like when well anyway, so someone someone was talking to the king, and and the king asked them what was troubling them, and he paused and said a prayer, and then he said, I want to go build the wall of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_02That was Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00Nehemiah, okay. So in the Bible, the story of Nehemiah, right? He was he was working for the king, he understood the authority of the king, and back in those days, you could literally have your head lopped off on the spot if you said something the king didn't like. They didn't have due process, there was no trial, it was just the king doesn't like you anymore, you're dead. But Nehemiah saw that there was this trouble that the is that the the Jewish people were going through and knew that the wall of Jerusalem had been completely torn down. And when the so he was he was sad about this, right? He was troubled by it. And when the king saw that he was troubled, he asked Nehemiah to explain what happened. And the Bible says that he stopped and prayed before he responded. And that to me is a good picture of how we as Christians need to live our lives. Prayer isn't just something that you do once a day or you do before you eat a meal or you do at church, it's something that should be constant, right? Pray, see, pray without ceasing. That's good.
SPEAKER_02And it's like talking to your friend, like you want to do that as much as you possibly can, but you don't want to disrupt that. God's always available.
SPEAKER_00That's right. And we should have a relationship with Him.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00So another another key point here, um, you're gonna have days where you don't read the Bible, right? You're gonna have days where you don't get that devotional in. You're gonna have days where maybe you you sit down at the end of the day and you're like, oh man, I haven't prayed at all today. When that happens, it's not like you're no longer God's son or daughter, right? You're still loved by God. The point is that spiritual discipline is not about perfection, it's not about trying to check off everything every single day. Like you said, it's about that relationship and it's about staying connected to God. And as we grow over time, we should get better and better at it through practice, just like a wide receiver is gonna get better by going out there and working on the Jug's machine, right? Or practicing his routes. Alright, so let's transition for the last section here into talking about our leadership concept. So, what's the difference between a bossy player and a true leader in your mind?
SPEAKER_02Bossy player wants everything to go his way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Like literally wants the ball to go his way sometimes.
SPEAKER_02Um a true leader thinks that they are equal, they just are helping. They're not leading, they're helping.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02A botchy player, if they want to be a leader, they think that they're just above everyone.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's good. Sorry, I just wasn't sure if you were if you had anything else. Yeah, and I think what you're what you're hinting at there is this concept of servant leadership. And we're not the first ones to talk about it, obviously. Jesus himself taught about it. Apostle Paul in Philippians describes how we as Christians should behave towards one another. And it's basically this idea from Philippians 2, 3 to 4 that we should consider one another better than ourselves. Like you said, even the, you know, even someone who's a team captain or a head football coach, do they have authority? Yes, absolutely. Does that mean that they should bark orders at everyone or think that they're better than everyone else? No. People are not dumb. And if you treat them like that, they're gonna realize that you don't care about them and they're not gonna be as motivated. They might still do what you ask, but they're not gonna go win you a championship, right? And that's what, as a leader, that's what we need to do, is find those opportunities to show other people that we care about them. I mean, it could be as simple as picking up trash in the locker room, or being the one kid in a class that raises your hand and answers a teacher's question when everyone else is just sitting in silence. Or it could be sitting next to the kid at the at the cafeteria that doesn't have any friends with him, right? So, what are some other things that you can think of better ways that you could show servant leadership?
SPEAKER_02Um, it can be by like it this is kind of like sitting in the cafeteria, but it can also be either playing with someone that's alone or doing what the other person wants to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I definitely experienced that a lot. At school, there've been a couple times where we can't decide on what to do. So um I just decide like, hey, it's this person's special day because it's their birthday. Let's have them choose.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Stuff like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. That's good. I think for myself, I would kind of summarize it as approaching other people with curiosity. Whether that's at home, dealing with you, dealing with your mom, or if it's at work. A lot of us have an initial reaction when something goes wrong, or when something somebody says something that's hurtful, or when um, or you know, just when when someone cuts us off in traffic, right? Our assumption is that is a horrible person. Why would they ever do that? And it's when you start like that, when you're spring loaded to think that way, I mean, yeah, they might be a horrible person. Sure. Like that that guy that cut you off might just be a jerk. Someone at work might have said something insulting about you because it just really wanted to embarrass you and hurt your feelings. But there's also a chance that they actually didn't know it was going to be hurtful. Maybe it was accidental, and that's been the case more more often than not in my marriage. And whenever I thought that my wife said something that she to me it was hurtful, she didn't mean it that way, right? And same thing with you. I've had so many times where I assume the worst about something that you did, and then when I confront you about it, you say, Oh, well, I was thinking this, this, and this, and I say, Oh, well, that makes a lot of sense. And now I feel like a jerk because I came down on you so hard. So I think a lot of it is just approaching situations with curiosity rather than an assumption of wrong. Does that make sense? Yep. Alright, well, it's been a really good talk today. I know I could sit here for hours and keep talking with you, but we gotta find a stopping point somewhere. So, before we sign off, we don't have any sponsors yet, so we don't have you know any any uh ads to to say, but I know you wanted to tell everybody about something, right, Sam?
SPEAKER_02Yep. Um, I'm making a superhero uh named Crinal. Basically, it's uh big fantasy that this actually carries out, but um get it because it's fancy. Um I just want to tell you you guys about it. I'll be bringing you updates every time we go right before the sign-off. Um so yeah. Just want to let you know about that.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing you continue to develop that and hear more about it. Alright, so before we go, let's let's have our armchair pick of the week. So we gotta pick one favorite game result, or maybe maybe something that's non-sports for the week. So here's mine. Texas School for the Deaf Rangers have a home game on Thursday night. I'm picking them to 45 the other team in six-man football. All right, so what's your pick?
SPEAKER_0245.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Wow. Okay. Um, I'm going to non-sports win. I'm picking my contact lens. I'm gonna get both in on the first try tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. So for those who don't know, Sam just switched from glasses to contacts. Yeah. And he really didn't want to do it day two. He didn't want to put him in, but he overcame his fears, pushed through it, and now he's basically putting them in on the first try. Um, so that's really exciting for him.
SPEAKER_02I'm putting them in, like, I I cannot have anything get close to my eye. I can't water touch my eye.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And now I pretty much went.
SPEAKER_00No problem. Yeah. Love it. Alright. Well, that wraps our show for today. So until next time, keep your heart on God. It's the end of it.