Virginia college sophomore Danny Foley just wanted to be part of his school's men's basketball team—even if that meant faking his way onto the court. Danny noticed that all of his team's assistant coaches wore the same suit with a bright orange tie. So before Virginia's conference championship game against Duke on March 16, 2014, he and his friends went searching for some cheap knockoffs. He found everything he needed at Walmart—a suit jacket, suit pants, dress shoes, dress socks, a white dress shirt, and the orange tie.<\/p>\n\n
The next morning, he bought $30 nosebleed tickets just to get in the door and headed to the game. During a TV timeout, Danny made a move, confidently marching past an usher and onto the court. Danny said, "'I walked right behind the cheerleaders and onto the court and joined the [team's] huddle on the court."<\/p>\n\n
Following his team's big win, he went for an even bigger thrill. When the game's final buzzer sounded with Virginia defeating Duke 72-63, Danny joined his "teammates" in the handshake line. As the confetti fell around him, Danny got to shake hands with "Coach K," the legendary coach for Duke. Photos from the end of the game show Danny wearing a championship t-shirt over his suit and smiling in the middle of the confetti-covered arena.<\/p>\n\n
After celebrating with coaches and players, Danny was caught by a member of Virginia's staff, but he quickly climbed the railings and disappeared into the stands.<\/p>\n\n
Possible Preaching Angles: This story focuses on a relatively harmless college prank, but is it possible that we're attempting something much more harmful by faking our way through the Christian faith? Have we just bought the suit and tie without really joining the team? Are we a new person or Christ, or are we the same person with just a new tie?<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[405,411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3369,3469,3663,3689,3826,4199,4264,4363,4639,4805,4919,5302],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-42253","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-accepting-christ","tax_ctp_tags-backsliding","tax_ctp_tags-confession","tax_ctp_tags-conversion","tax_ctp_tags-double-mindedness","tax_ctp_tags-hypocrisy","tax_ctp_tags-integrity","tax_ctp_tags-lent","tax_ctp_tags-pharisaism","tax_ctp_tags-repentance","tax_ctp_tags-self-examination","tax_ctp_tags-worldliness"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n