Tuesday, January 10, 2012
I was going to blog about Tim Tebow last week. It was going to be full of things like “can’t play,” “last game as a Bronco,” and “most overhyped player of all time.” Good thing I didn’t write that because following Sunday's game that would have been kind of embarrassing. I did not write last week’s Tebow blog in deference to my good friends who are Bronco fans, particularly Susan who not only is a lifelong Bronco fan, but has been a big Tebow fan for years (he went to high school St. Augustine, Florida where she has lived for the past nine years, so she has been cheering him on to championships for a while). In light of his struggles, I decided not to pile on.
As most people know, I don’t really like the Broncos very much. The longer I lived in Denver, the more I came to dislike the hold the Broncos have over the city. Everything in town, from the Rockies and other sports teams, to the news, to politics, crime, etc. takes a back seat to “how did the Broncos do?” I came to find Bronco fans, and their sophomoric chant of “in-com-plete” to be annoying. At this point, I actually like to see them lose. (I suppose this dates back to a particularly obnoxious and arrogant Bronco fan I worked with in the past whom I came to intensely dislike.)
I don’t really have much use for Tebow either. Not that he is a bad person, everyone who knows him says he is a great person. But I am unhappy with how is faith has become his defining quality. I don’t really care what religion anyone practices, if any, but I am put off by those who choose to make their religion their overriding trait. That Tim Tebow is extremely religious is fine, but that he chooses to make a point of telling us that all the time is what I am uncomfortable with. Putting biblical reference on his eyeblack in college, knowing that the tv cameras will be focused on him for much of the game, was basically proselytizing (after all, he couldn’t read it). Tebow has now created a strong following based, in large part for many of his fans, solely on his evangelism.
Obviously, not all Tebow fans support him because of his religious fervor. They, like Susan, just enjoy watching him play. But as long as Tebow wants to take his sideline praying from a silent devotion to a public spectacle, I will not be a supporter. Many athletes, past and present, had strong faith, but very few use it as a calling card. When I watch football, I only want football. So I was relieved to think, like most observers, that Tebow had pulled out his last miracle, that the league had figured out how to hold him in check, and that Mark Schlereth was right—Sunday would be Tebow’s last game as the Broncos’ starter.
In deference my friends who are Bronco fans, however, and fully expecting that they would suffer severely while watching their team lose to Pittsburgh, I decided to leave Tebow and the Broncos alone. You can imagine my shock, then, watching Sunday’s game unfold.
I thought there might be a slim chance the Broncos could take advantage of the Steelers’ injuries and make a game of it, however, I never, under any circumstances, thought the Broncos would win on the strength of Tebow’s arm. But there he was throwing long bomb after long bomb and finding open receivers all over Pittsburgh’s secondary. The Broncos actually had a 14-point lead, heck they never had one of those when they won six in a row.
When Pittsburgh came back to tie the game and send it into overtime I thought for sure, there would be no Tebow time, although a voice in the back of my mind, and on the other end of the phone as I was talking to Susan at the time, kept telling me this is what he has done all year. But I refused to believe that Pittsburgh, the league’s supposedly-best defense, would allow Tebow to beat them in overtime.
And then, bam. First my eyes were assaulted with the incredible sight of Demaryius Thomas breaking free and scampering 80 yards for a touchdown; then my ears were filled with the joyous shrieks from a Bronco fan jumping up and down in a living room in Florida. This was not a pleasant way to spend a Sunday evening. I watched the game to see them lose. Instead, the legend of Tebow grows. What now? I expect babies are being named things like “Tim O’Leary” and “Tebow Jones” all over Colorado. I have no doubt that high school in St. Augustine will be renamed “Tebow High.” Heck if he can beat the Patriots, the town council will probably rename the entire town. “St. Tebowstine?”
As most people know, I don’t really like the Broncos very much. The longer I lived in Denver, the more I came to dislike the hold the Broncos have over the city. Everything in town, from the Rockies and other sports teams, to the news, to politics, crime, etc. takes a back seat to “how did the Broncos do?” I came to find Bronco fans, and their sophomoric chant of “in-com-plete” to be annoying. At this point, I actually like to see them lose. (I suppose this dates back to a particularly obnoxious and arrogant Bronco fan I worked with in the past whom I came to intensely dislike.)
I don’t really have much use for Tebow either. Not that he is a bad person, everyone who knows him says he is a great person. But I am unhappy with how is faith has become his defining quality. I don’t really care what religion anyone practices, if any, but I am put off by those who choose to make their religion their overriding trait. That Tim Tebow is extremely religious is fine, but that he chooses to make a point of telling us that all the time is what I am uncomfortable with. Putting biblical reference on his eyeblack in college, knowing that the tv cameras will be focused on him for much of the game, was basically proselytizing (after all, he couldn’t read it). Tebow has now created a strong following based, in large part for many of his fans, solely on his evangelism.
Obviously, not all Tebow fans support him because of his religious fervor. They, like Susan, just enjoy watching him play. But as long as Tebow wants to take his sideline praying from a silent devotion to a public spectacle, I will not be a supporter. Many athletes, past and present, had strong faith, but very few use it as a calling card. When I watch football, I only want football. So I was relieved to think, like most observers, that Tebow had pulled out his last miracle, that the league had figured out how to hold him in check, and that Mark Schlereth was right—Sunday would be Tebow’s last game as the Broncos’ starter.
In deference my friends who are Bronco fans, however, and fully expecting that they would suffer severely while watching their team lose to Pittsburgh, I decided to leave Tebow and the Broncos alone. You can imagine my shock, then, watching Sunday’s game unfold.
I thought there might be a slim chance the Broncos could take advantage of the Steelers’ injuries and make a game of it, however, I never, under any circumstances, thought the Broncos would win on the strength of Tebow’s arm. But there he was throwing long bomb after long bomb and finding open receivers all over Pittsburgh’s secondary. The Broncos actually had a 14-point lead, heck they never had one of those when they won six in a row.
When Pittsburgh came back to tie the game and send it into overtime I thought for sure, there would be no Tebow time, although a voice in the back of my mind, and on the other end of the phone as I was talking to Susan at the time, kept telling me this is what he has done all year. But I refused to believe that Pittsburgh, the league’s supposedly-best defense, would allow Tebow to beat them in overtime.
And then, bam. First my eyes were assaulted with the incredible sight of Demaryius Thomas breaking free and scampering 80 yards for a touchdown; then my ears were filled with the joyous shrieks from a Bronco fan jumping up and down in a living room in Florida. This was not a pleasant way to spend a Sunday evening. I watched the game to see them lose. Instead, the legend of Tebow grows. What now? I expect babies are being named things like “Tim O’Leary” and “Tebow Jones” all over Colorado. I have no doubt that high school in St. Augustine will be renamed “Tebow High.” Heck if he can beat the Patriots, the town council will probably rename the entire town. “St. Tebowstine?”
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