I don’t dislike Tim Tebow as much (EDIT: or at all, honestly) as some other bloggers I could name, but good Bieber, most of the last hour of ESPN has been an extended Tebow wank-fest, leading up to Mike Ditka saying “I can’t define class, it could be the flick a of champion’s glove, it could be the trot of a thoroughbred, but I know it when I see it, and Tim Tebow has it” (quote approximate). As I speak, they are showing a graphic comparing Tebow with Tom Brady titled “Not Far Behind”.
Tebow has an 84 passer rating despite having thrown only two interceptions. I suspect that the interception number is coincidentally low (it’s a stat that’s not a great measure for low sample sizes) and that when it comes into line with what it should be his rating will drop. A friend of mine put Tebow-mania well:
The guy does horribly the whole game, against a last-place team, but his team’s defense shuts down the opposition so he has chance after chance to put points on the board in the fourth quarter, after which he’s hailed as some sort of idiot savant who “just knows how to win”.
If there was a way to short Tim Tebow, without shorting Von Miller, who is the real reason the Broncos are winning, I would do it.
I’m almost afraid to ask, but how orgasmic is Gregg Easterbrook over Tebow?
Mack Lyons
Every time I hear or read about Tim Tebow, I hear sucking sounds. Tim’s little Tebow must be bleeding red raw right about now.
handy
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATERRRRRRRRRR!
DougJ
@handy:
I actually liked the guy in college and was rooting for him until it got out of hand with the media worship.
Wag
My entire city is worshiping this guy and I don’t get it. But then again, Denver will worship anythIng that puts points on the board. Humble? Not a bit. That would have been Charlie johnson back in the late ’70s who knew the only reason he took the team to the Super Bowl was a great offensive line that kept him out of trouble. Dedicated? No, that was Floyd Little, number 44 who set running records despite playing for a terrible team. Joyful? That was Billy Van Heusen, a punter who faked a punt and ran it back 88 yards for a TD
Tebow is a sanctamonious blowhard
handy
@DougJ:
I liken Tebow’s success to Alex Smith: journeyman talent backed by a good defense playing a soft schedule.
The hate thing is funny though. It’s not like the guy is doing Jay Cutler kind of stuff on the sideline.
feebog
Uh, I guess the kicker making field goals of 59 and 51 yards had nothing to do with the win. I like the Broncos as a team, and have rooted for them since the Rams left LA, but damn, Tebow and his praise the lord bullshit makes it hard to keep on keeping on.
Steve
It used to be a lot like this with Steve Largent, but that had a racial element that the Tebow story does not.
Shalimar
I still like Tebow. He isn’t doing anything wrong and it isn’t his fault the worship is getting so out of hand. I do root for him to fail though, just to watch the bubble burst for all the people who are ridiculously overvaluing his contribution and skills.
robertdsc-PowerBook
Without Tebow, they don’t win those games. It’s as simple as that.
JenJen
I imagine I’m entirely alone in this, but the moment the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens in round 1 this year, my worst fear was that they’d go on to win the Stanley Cup.
I’m starting to get that “what if Tebow won the Superbowl” feeling, not because of the Jesus or media hysterics, but speaking as a Buckeyes and Bearcats fan. I’m concerned.
DougJ
@robertdsc-PowerBook:
With Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees, they win those games by 20 points.
danimal
FYI–TMQ (Easterbrook) has been somewhat tepid, giving Tebow some credit for running an effective high school offense in the NFL.
If Tebow is football Jesus, does that make Marion Barber the anti-Christ?
Satanicpanic
@Shalimar: I don’t even follow football (unless my hometown team is winning which they are NOT), but I’m hoping he fails. Nothing personal against the guy, I just hate all the misplaced hero worship.
Nicole
A TB that trots isn’t going to win very many races. Analogy fail, Mr. Ditka.
Moonbatting Average
As a Broncos fan, I am confused and conflicted: (1) The Broncos are winning! (2) Tebowmania is monstrously irritating, (3) If the point of the Tebow experiment was to prove that he won’t work, it’s failed spectacularly because he not only hasn’t completely sucked, but if Elway tried to sell him high the Xtian fans would burn his house down.
The problem is regression to the mean. The Broncos have had a lucky run, and it might not happen soon enough this season to head off a full season of the Tebow-led Broncs getting destroyed playing a division-winner’s schedule next year. I am willing to take that medicine though. He’ll probably be exposed, in which case we’ll have a great defense, shitty record, and high draft pick for a real QB by the end of the 2012 season.
For now, I just avoid ESPN and hope that Tebow somehow threads the needle between being trade-able and being able to be traded.
handy
@Steve:
Largent was the epitome of sanctimony, injecting his religion into things in a more infuriating way. Like willing to walk the picket line in the 80s strike because “We shouldn’t strike because the bible says so.”
And of course he was a big time douche in Congress.
FlipYrWhig
Last year everyone got really excited about Sam Bradford. This year they’re 2-11.
Moonbatting Average
@robertdsc-PowerBook: Without Matt Prater, they don’t win the Chicago game. It’s not near as simple as you’d like it to be.
Yutsano
I’ve been trying to pin down just what bothers me about the Tim Tebow phenomenon, and I think I’m getting closer to it. He’s setting himself up for a HUGE fall should he stumble at some point in his personal or professional life. His Christianity is approaching the point of arrogance, and the Bible says that’s a no-no. The first woman (or man, it would be irresponsible not to speculate) he sleeps with will sell that story so fast it will make your head spin.
handy
Hey, Tebow’s still no Ryan Leaf. Just sayin’.
Yutsano
@handy: That hurt dude. :)
MoeLarryAndJesus
We haven’t seen any real craziness yet, but if the Broncos manage to beat the Patriots on Sunday lunacy is going to go through the roof.
My guess is that a real 2nd year superstar (Gronkowski) overshadows Tebow, but who knows, really.
Satanicpanic
Didn’t the media learn from Tiger Woods? Or did they just learn that you can sell good-two-shoes profiles on the way up and evil skank chaser stories on the way down? They get us going and coming.
mcd410x
@DougJ: Mike Ditka is the same person who mortgaged the Saints future for Ricky Williams. Someone tell Mikey the way we define success in sports is with statistics — not the cut of one’s jib. Call me in five years, and we’ll talk.
Or put another way: If I’m the Saints or Packers, do I want him over my quarterback? Uh, no.
handy
@Yutsano:
How do you think the Chargers felt? They actually paid that guy.
KG
@DougJ: I doubt it… The Broncos receivers are terrible. Sure, Tebow was 3/16 in the first three quarters but they dropped 6 passes ncluding one in the end zone. There was Al’s at least one in the fourth that hit the receiver in the hands. I also think it has to do with the play calling, very conservative in the first three quarters and then they open it up in the fourth.
Personally, I think it’s fun to watch all this play out. He’s started 11 games now, and if you compare his numbers through that many starts to Elway, Aikman, or Steve Young, he doesn’t look tht bad. I also really like the fact that so many analysts have taken the “ah hell” approach
KG
@KG: Typos due to iPad
dead existentialist
John 3:16.
(Whatever that means.)
The prophet Nostradumbass
This post from LGM is pretty funny. Some of the comments are pretty hilarious as well, including some from a former regular commenter here.
FlipYrWhig
@Yutsano: He’s actually pretty good about _not_ being arrogant, IMHO. He shrugs off the credit and includes everyone else. I think that it’s true that, as one of he ESPN love-fests said, we make it all about Tebow, but Tebow doesn’t make it about Tebow.
Far more annoying is the language of “having faith” and being A Good Person, which ESPN has been wallowing in ever since he was in college. If there isn’t exactly a racial component per se, nonetheless i feel like he’s been being held up as the utter antithesis of the “flashy”, “entitled” athlete — and those are code words, even when they’re not literally spoken.
butler
A young running QB taking his team on a miraculous run of close victories helped by a strong running game, amazing defense, weak schedule and boneheaded mistakes by his opponents?
I liked the original better, but I guess “Vince Young-mania” just isn’t as catchy.
greylocks
I pretty much hate any guy who wants to take away my abortion rights. As far as I’m concerned, it’s misogyny. If he hates women, why should I like him?
Tebow made the Super Bowl commerical. AFAIK, other NFL players, regardless of their views on the subject, have not felt it was their public duty to agitate against women’s reproductive rights in an ad that linked to a far-right hate site. People, especially men, seem to have forgotten that.
Also, too, doing circumcisions on young boys (not infants). That’s just sick, weird and disgusting. It ought to send shivers up everyone’s spine, but instead we’re talking about his passer rating.
Yutsano
@handy: The word from a couple of my friends lately is after his fall from grace he did some massive soul searching and figured out he was pretty much an asshole. They say he’s a lot more personable and approachable now. I don’t have any direct personal evidence of this yet.
Brachiator
@DougJ:
This too shall pass.
Pun intended.
By the by, in light of the Van the Man thread title, sympathies for Morrison’s recent loss. Can’t link well from the iPad, check out the Daily Mail and other UK sites.
Jc
It’s all very predictable. He HAS come from behind, many games now, people DON’T pay attention to defenses like they should (examples – Willis got hurt on SF – if he hadn’t been hurt, there is no way Fitzgerald would have had the game he had, and the cards would NOT have scored 21 points. Another example in Pittsburgh – Troy Polamalu – the effect he has on them game is a 7 point ‘burg shift), he’s a clean shaven big smiling charismatic guy. And the 4th quarter comebacks are dramatic, so people remember them.
No reason to hate on the kid. I hope he continues to get better, and stays grounded, but more likely the adulation plus his improving skills will swell his head, make him another Favre,but not as skilled.
Happy to be wrong though.
The Dangerman
It’s a nice run, but it can’t last; someone said it above, the law of averages will catch up to him (or regression to the mean, if you prefer).
I don’t get the Tebow hate, though; dude has a right to his opinion or belief. I may not agree with him on all things, but I’m not going to root for a Joe Theisman to happen to him.
Moonbatting Average
@FlipYrWhig:
You’re goddamn there is a racial component.
@butler: Remember when “Vince Young just wins football games!” That was pretty recent.
@greylocks: This. Thanks for the reminder.
Mac G
Counting last years playoffs, the Green Bay Packers have won 19 straight games. They need 6 more wins to become first undefeated team since 72 Dolphins and the first 19-0 team ever. Aaron Rodgers is playing the position of QB at arguably the highest level ever and ESPN wants to know if a QB with a 7-1 record for the 4th best team in the AFC is a bigger story than the Packers.
They want a “debate” and it is just absurd. I like Tebow, his overt religion does not bother me like it does other but his style of play is not sustainable for long term success. They are running the Fn option in the NFL. QB can not take these hits without eventually getting hurt.
He is at his best when scrambling around and making plays. I still have not seen him be able to convert 3rd down throws in the pocket at a high enough rate. Starting NFL QBs’ must do this or they fail. I will admit that he has improved over these games and WRs do drop a tun of balls.
Tebow magic and Tebow time has gripped the country. I have never seen anything like it before in my life following sports. And it has no signs of subsiding either.
butler
@Moonbatting Average: Yes indeed. I wonder if Tebow’s career will follow a similar arc:
“Tim Tebow just wins football games”
“Tim Tebow just backs up 40 year old journeymen QBs”
“Tim Tebow just had a nervous breakdown”
“Tim Tebow just kills coaching careers”
“Tim Tebow just got cut”
handy
@The Dangerman:
I still get the heeby jeebies when I see that clip. That and the McCallum play.
Dirk Gently
To state that he plays horribly is being really unfair to a young QB who’s only 11 starts in and had no offseason. He’s made some REALLY clutch plays, has not turned over the ball much, and his passing, while still well below average, has improved remarkably over a short period of time–he went from embarrassingly awful misses in the Dolphins game, to not making any throws that I would judge to be errant against the Bears. Seriously, if you look only at the stats, you miss not only the 6 dropped balls, but also the ones he had to throw away because he was under pressure or the receivers weren’t open (and yeah: he has two second year players and a second tier journeyman to throw to–not exactly pro bowl talent). He did not play all that well until the fourth quarter, but his play was also not “bad”, and if he were any other young QB who wasn’t described as “anointed”, his progress would seem just fine.
All that said, the media hype is nauseating, and I would *never* want him to date my daughter–he’s an earnest, humble, good-character guy, but he is also a fundie wingnut. I admire almost everything about Tebow as a human being and as a competitor, but when it comes to non-football stuff, I would prefer that he STFU.
butler
@Mac G:
Hey now, the Packers might be a hell of a lot “better” than Tebow, but are they “More Now?” These are the hard questions that only ESPN will ask (because no one else is dumb enough to think of them).
Moonbatting Average
@butler: Possibly. Here’s the nighmare scenario:
“Tim Tebow just wins football games”
“Tim Tebow isn’t a viable QB, but makes it as a TE/FB/SS”
“Tim Tebow has a halfway decent NFL career at his new position, retires”
“Tim Tebow runs for Congress in FL”
…you can see where this is going
The prophet Nostradumbass
@Dirk Gently:
Why?
See the greylocks comment above.
bonkers
@dead existentialist:
We could ask the dude who made “John 3:16” a household phrase in the 1970s and 80s, you know the guy with the rainbow afro, but he’s serving a life sentence now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DVDy33FDoU
Roger Moore
@greylocks:
Some of us haven’t forgotten, or forgiven, that either.
butler
@Moonbatting Average: Sadly he could retire tomorrow and still get elected as Congressman from Gainseville.
I guess my only consolation is that the combined hatred of Noles and Hurricanes fans could be enough to keep him from winning statewide office.
Hunter Gathers
Tebow’s a gimmick quarterback. In the NFL, you can ride any gimmick for a year and get results. The problem is that the following year, the league makes the adjustment and the gimmick no longer works. Anyone remember the Wildcat? Ask ex-Dolphins head coach (as of today) Tony Sporano about how effective his gimmick offense is now. Tebow is going to ride his stout defense to a winning record and the playoffs (the AFC West this year is shitty, shitty, shitty) and will get the shit kicked out of him in the playoffs. The Broncos will suck ass next year as Tebow will regress big time as the league adjusts to his style of play. No one who throws like he does can last long in the NFL. Perhaps 30 or 40 years ago he could have survived, but coordinators these days snuff out gimmick players and systems. When he crashes, it will not be pretty.
Suffern ACE
This just isn’t a defense year. But the MVP talk is a bit strange. It does make me feel a bit for Aaron Rogers. Yeah, the sports media like him, but if he loses a game and goes 15-1, the media who votes on the MVP wants to hand the award to Tebow? What does Drew Brees have to do to get into the conversation? Houston is 7-1 in the past eight weeks, and no one asked their 3rd string quarterback to make a commercial before he had ever started a game.
Joel
Please do a YouTube search of Brady. First hit.
Loviatar
@Moonbatting Average:
THIS.
I’m willing to put up with the Teblowing for this season because I know their limited success along with the fans/ESPN hero worshiping will cause Elway and Fox to have to play Tebow for at least another 2-3 years. The fail that will be the Denver offense the next few years is well worth the sanctimonious crap that is being spewed this year.
.
Long game BEOTCH!!!
———-
@Steve:
There is a racial element to the Teblowing, I’ll give you one name Charlie Ward; similar to Tebow he was an inaccurate running quarterback from the state of Florida, who also won the Heisman trophy, and also won a College Championship. By the way, he is also a sanctimonious Jesus freak who was/is in your face with his Christianity, yet for all of that didn’t even get drafted by the NFL and I’ve yet to bobbing on Ward jr. by ESPN or any others.
.
Charlie Ward
Yutsano
@Suffern ACE: Aaron has a good-looking younger brother, talent and otherwise. But Tim has a cute puppeh. So he can’t be all bad.
William Hurley
The Broncos and the team’s mystique will collide violently with reality this weekend. That collision with reality will be delivered by the numbers 75, 50, 51, 83, 25, 87 and of course 12.
Lysana
Y’know, I like my QBs to be guilty at worst of pitching fits on the field, not agitating for my uterus to be government property because he thinks his god told him to say that. In short, Brady over Tebow every day of the week and twice on Sundays, and he’s not even at his best this year.
pattonbt
As long as he wins, he stays. And this improbable run (which has had some serious assists, if not leads, from his defense, his special teams and his opponents idiocy) has been interesting to watch.
The NFL is a quarterbacks league, so the QB gets the glory or the goat – and Tebow took over a bottom dweller who is now leading the division. Hence the glory.
But Tebow was a unique story before he was drafted, so the focus on him is a bit more intense, so the accolades and hate are a bit more intense.
People have projected onto Tebow for a long time. On the pro-Tebow side, I think some of it has a “white pride” racial component as noted above (code language “nice solid young man”, “bucking the odds”, “old school”, “polite”, etc.), some of it is religious (with a racial component) and some of it is Horatio Alger stuff (always beating the odds).
On the hate side, some of it is racial (Tebow gets special treatment / breaks / coverage a black “great non-pro college QB” kid wouldn’t – see Tommy Frazier or the usual “they should make him into a Tight End” comment at draft time), he is a “great non-pro college QB” in a demonstrable way (crappy mechanics, etc.) and he’s corny in a “mans” game (they don’t buy the “aw shucks” act).
So people were polarized on him way before he started. Add in improbable winning run to go from worst to first, and viola, Tebow-mania!
M-pop
Coming to you from the city where Tebow went to university, this is about the only thing Gator fans have left to be thrilled about, now that the Gators get to go to the Loser Bowl. So I’m happy if the Gator fans are happy projecting their dreams of a Gator victory onto the Broncos. Tebow is making it a lot more bearable for us non-football fans. Thank you, Timmy!
cokane
Easterbrook is pretty realistic about Tebow. He mocks them as being a “high school offense”. But he also praises Tebow as being a decent qb.
I think Tebow is overall a slightly above average QB for this year. His passing skills are probably slightly below average, but his running ability ups his value overall. Plenty of mediocre QBs on decent teams out there: Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, Jay Cutler. He’s about in that class imo. Btw his current passer rating has him #11 in the league.
Kola Noscopy
Artistically speaking, Tim Tebow has an awesomely classic Roman nose, a titanium jaw, and a tree trunk neck flowing into shoulders for days…
…all this and a killer ass too.
For these reasons alone I am able to overlook some obnoxious bible beating.
TBogg
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t hate Tim Tebow; he could date my daughter as long as he didn’t try to convert her… which would be hilarious to watch, I might add.
But he is not a long term answer for Denver and if they don’t either draft another quarterback or sign a good old stand-by veteran for after the fall (a Kitna-type spare) they’re going to be hurting. The best thing Elway could do would be to trade Tebow (to Jacksonville) for their first round pick and then use that one and their own and see if Indy will give up the first pick and thus Andrew Luck. That might even give the Tebow-humpers in Denver pause…
MikeJ
I’m not a football fan, but I do know that skittles help you win.
patrick the pedantic literalist
I am a Bears fan who hasn’t seen Tebow before Sunday’s game. I liked some of what I saw, particularly not doing panic throws and taking his sacks (5) against a good defense. He wasn’t as terrible of a passer as I have read, but still the Denver Broncos only scored 10 points, not enough against most teams.
The Bears essentially gave away a touchdown with the deep zone they were playing at the end of the game. That is just so frustrating to watch.
We will know more this week when the Broncos play the Patriots who actually have a uninjured starting quarterback.
gwangung
@cokane:
His decision making and avoidance of too many serious mistakes, too. That’s not something to be ignored.
It’s not something to be praised to high heaven, either.
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Heh. My brother texted me “Skittles” tonight seemingly out of nowhere. Since this is the name of my old cat (still living but with my mom) I texted back, “What about him?” He then called me and berated me for not knowing the significance. Asshole. :)
@gwangung:
I saw what you did there.
Mack Lyons
@pattonbt:
It’s moments like these when you read something like this, then go back to your own comment and feel like you need to slink out of the room in silence.
I was thinking about Tebowmania from a pure media standpoint, namely how it has a think for lionizing clean-cut white quarterbacks…aw crap.
Trip
Quickest way to end the Tebow hype? Put him on the cover of Madden ’13.
MikeJ
@Yutsano: If pousse-cafés weren’t such a pain in the ass to make you know some enterprising bartender in a Seattle sports bar would be serving a “skittles shooter: taste the rainbow.”
Yutsano
@MikeJ: Apparently it’s doable. At a speed patrons would expect, probably not so much.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@patrick the pedantic literalist:
Dude can’t throw the quick out. I’ve seen him attempt it twice- once last year in an early appearance (and in the red zone, around the 5) and once against the Lions this year- and both times the play turned into a pick-six. You can’t, in the long run, be a good QB in the NFL if you can’t throw passes in the flat.
patrick the pedantic literalist
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
Not enough velocity, or what?
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@patrick the pedantic literalist:
Looks like a combination of strength and passing motion. Same problem that Matt Leinert has. They were both “reach” picks. It’s a flaw you can hide in college because most cornerbacks you see at that level need to play 5 or 6 yards off the receivers. In the pros, every corner has the speed to run with the receivers, so they play right up close.
As a few others have said up-thread, I think the league figures Tebow out next year, and he’ll crash and burn.
moderateindy
As a a Bears fan I have to say that Tebow is a really crappy NFL QB. The Bears pass rush in the second half was non existent. Any QB with that much time would have picked apart any D. Until the Bears went into the prevent, the kid was horrible, not that his receivers were helping much. He depends too much on his running ability and takes way too many hits. I don’t think that improving his throwing mechanics will make a difference, he just doesn’t have much of an arm, strength or accuracy wise. He might have all the intangibles, but skill matters. Right now he’s riding the coat tails of his defense, and a horseshoe that seems to be firmly planted in his rectum (she nearly killed him).
Seriously, all Marion Barber had to do was fall down in the field of play, and the Broncos would have lost that game. That may have been the single stupidest thing I have ever seen by a veteran football player.
AA+ Bonds
I don’t like Tim Tebow because he and his surgery-addict wife try to invade women’s bodies all over the world, is that good enough
AA+ Bonds
As in, it would be a benefit to women worldwide if Jesus called him home
AA+ Bonds
I realize that a lot of NFL players are right-wing Protestant fascists, but Tebow is perhaps the fascist-est
AA+ Bonds
@Mack Lyons:
Well it is actually true that Tebow is doing great in the press because he’s white, the White Man’s white man, a contemporary colonialist of sorts, only he’s conquering women’s uteruses across the globe
pablo
Who’s that Elway guy in the suit on the sideline?
DanielX
Media huckster before interviewing Tebow:
Is my Preparation H lipgloss on straight?
Samara Morgan
olbos, khoros, hubris, ate.
longtime mile higher here.
the litany of my childhood was Broncos win at home, lose on the road.
this years schedule was dumpster diving, the Bronocos only faced good teams at home where they have the altitude advantage…
that said, Tebow is a dick. Prancing and braying in the public square.
His epic crash will be all the sweeter.
Samara Morgan
and if Denver beats the Patriots next sunday, Tebow shouldnt be thanking Baby Jeebus, but increased erythropoietin (EPO) levels and red cell count.
Maxwel
None of these idiots have mentioned the obvious: Denver’s schedule is as soft as charmin. They play bad teams frequently without their best players. It will be very different next year.
BryanS
It’s not Tebow that bothers me, although the truth is he has flaws as a QB and he has never bothered to fix them, it’s the media and the fans who proclaim him Gods Chosen QB.
But you have to wonder if Elway is thinking “Son of a bitch, if I had this defense playing for me, I would have had 5 Superbowls.”
Samara Morgan
@Maxwel: zactly.
but this great white xian hope bulshytt sells seats and media.
its the free market in action.
Samara Morgan
@BryanS:
haha, truedat.
My father and brothers worshipped Elway.
He carried the team– Now the team is carrying Tebow.
Samara Morgan
However this year ends up, next year will be very interesting, because #1 in the West will get a more “challenging” schedule for the Broncos.
If Tebow gets benched, focus on the family will burn Elway’s house.
Interesting times.
Neil
I don’t follow the hype– I try not to read sports blogs/websites or watch sports related commentary on TV. So maybe my perspective on TIVO er TEBOW will be different.
So far, I’ve only seen his comebacks on Redzone. being on the east coast I typically don’t get a chance to see full Denver games. That having been said, those 4th quarter comebacks have been electrifying to watch. I’ve only heard third hand about how much his passing sucks the first three quarters, but by god does he look good during the 4th.
And yes, next week we’ll probably see them get blown out and the high hopes deflate when the Patriots go up 38 to 3 at the end of the third and Tebow can’t run up 5 touchdowns in the last 4 minutes to save the day, but it was fun while it lasted.
If you can’t watch the end of the Chicago game or the Miami game and get excited, you have no soul. Comebacks; rooting for the underdog… last minute clutch plays… that’s what makes sports great. And by that Metric, the last 5 games have been epic.
Samara Morgan
@Neil: /yawn
the last five have been against awful teams.
its the way the schedule is supposed to work.
Cassidy
There isn’t much gray area with Tebow; you like him or you don’t. OTOH, people(s) need to be honest why they don’t like him: he’s charismatic, athletic, good looking, comes across as a pleasant person…in other words, what we don’t want our Xtian fundie opposition to be.
Samara Morgan
@Cassidy: hes a jackass prancing and braying in the public square.
Pardon, but those arent the xian signature trats– ostentatious piety and hypocrisy are. If Tebow was humble he would say a little prayer on the qt, not his showy kneeling.
Which is why he gets mocked.
Cheryl from Maryland
Sports media are ALWAYS fascinated by running, scrambling quarterbacks. Remember Fran Tarkington, Randall Cunningham, young John Elway etc? They make the announcers job easy because there is a level of excitement about if the QB is going to run. Tebow is a flash in the pan like all running QBs.
That being said, his ostentatious piety nauseates me. God has better things to do. His use of his football stature to press again women’s rights nauseates me.
And he takes away from the real rookie QB story, Cam Newton. Where’s the Cam Newton love, announcers? The guy is phenomenal.
Ben Cisco
From a purely football standpoint, Tebow is a big meh. His mission to Occupy the Uteri – blows; unless he has one, it ain’t his business. But the current situation puts the sanctimonious, Amway-infused, fellow botherer John Elway on one very large hook, and that works for me.
Cassidy
@Samara Morgan: Quit it dear. He gets you “warmed up” and it pisses you off. Problem is, he doesn’t fit the stereotype that we have of the other side. That’s the source of the hate. He’s likable to a group of people who really want to dislike him.
I’m not saying that some of the criticism isn’t legitimate.
Unsympathetic
If Tebow was half as good as his supporters THINK he is, he wouldn’t have been behind the whole game. Consistency is more important than “fourth quarter comebacks.” When Denver doesn’t have a dominant D, Tebow will lose – badly.
If all it takes is for Tebow to decide “And now let’s go” — why wouldn’t he decide to believe that for the entire game? Face it: He’s just not good.
Newton would receive the hype, but his record is the example of what will happen to Tebow without a D backing him up.
Ron
“Not far behind” Brady? Ugh, that makes me want to hurl. I’m no Brady fan-boi, but Tebow is nowhere near there. I’m not saying he had no part in the win over Chicago, because obviously he had some, but there were a lot of other factors. 1)Barber for no good reason runs out of bounds when Chicago is trying to run out the clock. 2)They kick a 59-yard field goal to tie it. 3)Barber fumbles when they are in field goal range in overtime. 3)They kick a 51-yarder to win it. I’m not a fan of his religious views, but that’s not what really bugs me. He’s a mediocre QB getting hyped up way beyond what is deserved. Some reporter apparently claimed they’d rather have Tebow than Rodgers in the last 2 minutes of a game. This reporter should never be allowed to talk football again.
Samara Morgan
@Cassidy: haha, i like braaaaaaaiiiiins…not xian meat puppets signing on for repeat concussion syndrome.
Tebow doesnt even register on my hot guy meter.
He totally fits my stereotype of xians– not too bright and ostentatiously and publically pious– ie Augustinian prancing and braying in the public square.
Samara Morgan
@Ben Cisco: haha, now Elway was a splendid athlete AND a hypocrite, but not so much a PUBLIC godbotherer.
He divorced his wife.
Corey
Easterbrook is surprisingly reality-based (if a little glib and obnoxious) about football; I doubt he shares the Tebow hype.
Steve2
@Loviatar:
Uhh…your Charlie Ward story makes no sense.
Ward demanded to be picked in the first round of the NFL draft or he’d go to the NBA instead… Teams were scared off by the possibility he’d go into the NBA.
Projections had him going later because of his height and even then, the Chiefs wanted him after he went to the Knicks.
lonesomerobot
You almost got there, Doug. Tebow IS the Justin Bieber of the NFL. Many people hate him, and those that love him act like 13 year old girls about it.
Cacti
I’ve always found Tebow’s Joe Jesus, Jr. routine annoying, along with the constant braying by announcers of how “humble” he is, every time he drops down to a knee for a look-at-me prayer in front of 70,000 people.
I’ll go out on a sturdy limb and suggest that if a muslim player dragged out a prayer rug, and turned toward Mecca every time something good happened, not many football fans would find it “humble” or endearing.
Cacti
I’ll also predict that the first time Tebow gets benched for any reason, the christianists will start crying persecution.
lonesomerobot
Oh yes and incidentally as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan I LOVE Tim Tebow for the Broncos. Any time a conference foe is forced to make this serious an error in personnel judgement, it is a good thing.
Similarly, Romo for the Cowboys. These are guys that just will not bring home championships.
Brewzor
Lifelong donkey fan here, I hate the tebow hype,but what can people do we just got to wait and see. Several people have commented on the pats game as going to be a blowout, but I think its about even. As good as people say brady is, he is really only good against weak secondaries,the Broncos secondary is the best in the league. The pats D-line is fuckin terrible,both factors in favor of the donks. From this analysis I put the game at a near tie, giving the broncos finisher a chance. Heres a question though was Brady hype or Tebow hype worse to bear?
Cacti
@Brewzor:
The MVP talk is starting to push Tebow into Brady-esque annoying territory.
apocalipstick
@danimal:
It makes Marion Barber the embodiment of Jeff Stillson’s old punch line:
“I was totally going to score the winning touchdown until Jesus made me fumble. God hates our team!”
lonesomerobot
@Brewzor: Actually, currently the best secondary in the league (in terms of passing yards/game) is the Pittsburgh Steelers, thank you very much – http://www.nfl.com/stats/team.
I never in my life thought I would see this day.
lonesomerobot
@Cacti: At least Brady is actually good. I mean, I don’t like his personality but he’s a winning NFL quarterback that has proven he has the skills. Tebow is just a flash in the pan who is getting a lot of credit that isn’t due.
Samara Morgan
@Brewzor: agree with your analysis, plus Denver has altitude advantage.
hopefully, Tebow will get traded to the bible belt where they will still luff him even after he starts failing.
Steve
@Loviatar: To be clear, I didn’t say there was no racial element to the Tebow worship. Of course Tebow gets more attention because he is a white Christian. But the main reason people wouldn’t shut up about Steve Largent was not just because he was an outspoken Christian, but because he was a white guy excelling at a black guy’s position. That’s the part that is thankfully missing in the case of Tebow.
Samara Morgan
@Cacti:
and burn down Elways house.
;)
The Moar You Know
Even by Mike Ditka’s standards this is idiotic. Tim Tebow throws a football like he’s a pissed-off housewife throwing a coffeepot at her husband.
Karen in GA
@greylocks:
I’m extremely late to this, but yes. A thousand times yes. I can’t stand the way people say “It’s just the hype around him making people dislike him, he’s actually nice.”
No.
He thinks pregnant women facing life-threatening complications should risk death rather than terminate the pregnancy. Women are here to pound out babies; otherwise, we’re disposable.
He publicly aligned himself with a group headed by a man who advocates whipping toddlers.
And the circumcisions — WTF?!
That’s a pretty fucked up definition of “nice.”
kd bart
I remember a 40+ George Blanda coming off the bench for the 1970 Oakland Raiders and doing very much the same thing, pulling games out in the fourth quarter, as both a QB and a kicker. Meanwhile, TJ Yates has won two straight as a starting QB doing pretty much the same thing for the Houston Texans and I don’t see any Yatesmania out there.
Svensker
Sweet lady of the night!
One of my favorite songs ever in the whole universe, DougJ. Thanks for a great earworm.
Also, too, watching Tebow win against the Bears Sunday afternoon was something like I imagine having hot metal splinters thrust under my fingernails.
kd bart
Main reasons for each of the last 3 Bronco wins:
San Diego-Norv Turner, who could possibly be the dumbest coach in the NFL, basically plays for a 50 yard FG in OT by calling 3 straight running plays from between the 30 and 35 despite the presence of a high power passing game and the fact that his kicker had missed a FG of slightly shorter length in the 4th quarter.
Minnesota- Viking rookie QB Christian Ponder throws an awful interception deep in his own territory with less than 2 minutes left to set the Broncos up for an easy FG at the end of regulation.
Chicago- The mind boggling going out of bounds error by the Bears’ Marion Barber III with under 2 minutes left and the Broncos having no timeouts left. Saved the Broncos 35-40 seconds. Instead of getting the ball back on their 20 with about 20 seconds left, the Broncos got it with 56 seconds. Which was plenty of time against a soft prevent Bears’ defense to get it barely over mid field and into the range of an excellent kicker like Prater especially at altitude with no wind. His 59 yarder would’ve been good from 65. With 20 seconds left, there probably wouldn’t had been enough unless they hit a big play down the sideline or there was a pass interference penalty. Barber then compounds his blunder by fumbling in OT as the Bears were driving toward a chance for the winning FG. Tebow moves the Broncos just enough, about 15-20 yards, for Prater to kick a 51 yard FG to win the game. The real hero is Prater for making two 50+ yard FGs under that kind of pressure. Misses either won and the Bears win.
BruceK
Actually, Easterbrook on Tebow this week could probably be categorized as “guarded praise”. In short: Tebow’s got talent, his teammates have talent, they work well together, but TMQ gives a lot of credit to a heavy running offense that wears down the opposing defense and makes it easier for the late-game headline-grabbing stuff to be pulled off.
daveNYC
Dude has an 84 passer rating, that’s not a steaming pile of suck, but I wouldn’t be looking to get him on my fantasy team. Plus I have a major dislike of running QBs. It’s nice to be able to move and scramble, but the NFL is a fast game, so you need to either focus on passing or focus on running. Try and split the difference and you end up with crap, and eventually a blown knee.
The only Jesus fanboi QB I didn’t loathe was Kurt Warner, but he always came off as being pretty humble. And he had a hell of an arm.
Mr Stagger Lee
@Samara Morgan: Then John Elway escapes to Cleveland in exile.
MBunge
1. I didn’t realize the extent to which NO ONE is allowed to have something other than the politically correct view of abortion. Apparently even expressing the opinion “Hey, I think abortion is bad and women shouldn’t have them”, even if that’s the total extent of your anti-choice agitation, is enough to be considered a crime against humanity.
2. Before bemoaning the Tebow hype, let’s recognized that it’s somewhat in reaction to the Tebow hate. His critics didn’t say Tebow wasn’t very good or that he’d never be more than Vince Young or Kordell Stewart. They said he can’t play the game. They said he’s so horrible he should never even have a chance to get on the field. They said he’s so awful that even when the Broncos were 1 and 4 and looked liked crap, they were still better off playing Kyle Orton.
Mike
The Moar You Know
@MBunge: Keep fucking that strawman, Mike. No one here gives a shit what you think about anything.
Bubblegum Tate
@Hunter Gathers:
This, this, this. A million times this. Good for him and all that, he’s making things fun for Broncos fans, but the media fellatio for a guy whose career trajectory screams “perfect mediocrity” is more than a bit unseemly.
Samara Morgan
@BruceK: yup. the last minute saves are because the defense has just worn down the opposing team. Altitude advantage plays a part, either home or on the road, and the broncs “charmin” schedule plays a part too.
The broncs defense is stellar…right naow… but pretty soon the other teams will figger out a counterstrategy, and Tebow will head straight to the dustbin of history. Unless Tebow can get better– hes a rookie, yah know.
Samara Morgan
@MBunge: you dont have any say because you dont have a uterus.
stfu.
Jerzy Russian
I have been a Broncos fan since the 1970s, and at this point I am happy they are 8-5. I don’t watch or listen to the games live, so I miss a lot of the Tebow worship.
It would be nice to be in a situation where those 4th quarter comebacks are not needed. Elway in his early years had a lot of those, but in the late 1990s when they won a few superbowls they did not need to come back since they came out early and kicked ass.
Perhaps Elway can teach Tebow how to throw in the offseason.
Jerzy Russian
@Cacti:
I would totally pay money to see this in person.
kd bart
A few years ago, the Wildcat, direct snap to a running back, was quite effective for the Miami Dolphins and help win them several games. To the point that other teams around the league copied that offense. Soon after, defenses figured how to play against the Wildcat and while it is still run around the league, it’s not nearly as effective as when the Dolphins first started using it.
rea
@kd bart: While you’re right that wierd happenings have contributed to most Bronco/Tebow wins, and that it isn’t Tebow’s on-field skills that are making the difference–well, that just makes the case that it’s all divine intervention stronger, doesn’t it?
Cassidy
@Samara Morgan: In that vein of logic, no female on here better criticize Newt, or any other politician, for their affairs, porn, etc. You don’t have a dick, so you don’t get to criticize where it gets put. STFU.
Mbunge is actually right. ESPN’s fellatio is a mea culpa. They said everything negative thing about Tebow they could. He was completely discounted as a no-talent QB. Yet, him and the Bronc’s have somehow managed to win. Is it all him? No. And he says that. You will never hear him take sole credit. And yes, he’s a nice guy. His parents are shits, but it seems their son actually believes all the Jesus stuff they put in his head.
Cassidy
@rea: I think a lot of people are missing what he brings to the Broncos: it’s the Micheal Jordan effect. Tebow has charisma, a genuine sense of sportsmanship, and is very competitive. Add all that to a good attitude and it’s very infectious. He doesn’t have to be great. But the other players are playing better because of him.
rb
@Karen in GA: Let me second, third, and fourth all of this.
On the football side, Tebow’s obviously got some skill. But the Denver D is on a tear, their schedule has been cake, they’re running a gimmick offense, and their opponents are cooperating (calling stupid TOs or going out of bounds when clock needs to run, shackling their own offenses worse than the worst brand of Marty-ball). Every single time this happens, the 2nd year is abysmal (see also: wildcat offense, this year’s Rams – with a QB that’s objectively better at the pro game than Tebow, cordell stuart, etc etc). Despite the NFL’s neutering of defense (something that needed to be done, sadly), the coordinators in NE, Pitt, Baltimore, etc etc are going to have a field day with Tebow next year.
But honestly, it is very disappointing that the sports media simply ignore the litany of strangeness that Karen highlights here. I mean you don’t have to go on and on about his fascist-curious tendencies, but enough with how much of a saint (heh) the guy supposedly is.
butler
Ah, but you forget that TMQ hates “First Round Glory Boys”, which Tebow most definitely is, being selected in the first round and all. This probably balances out his urges to praise Tebow as humble, clean cut, gritty, Christian, God fearing, etc, all the things that TMQ loves.
Remember, this is a guy who claims that the Packers success is because they have 5 undrafted free agent tight ends on the roster, and has nothing to do with the historically amazing play of Rodgers, their first round draft pick QB.
Now if Tebow also happened to be an undrafted free agent the Greggasm would probably be audible from coast to coast.
FormerSwingVoter
For fun and profit: See what your friends and family think of Tebow, then compare to how they felt about Mike Vick when he was still in Atlanta. Oddly enough, many people who wank over Tebow were of the “he’s a good runner, but that’s not enough to QB in the NFL – he’s doing it wrong” persuasion when it was Vick putting together those highlight reels.
Samara Morgan
@Cassidy: WTF? one of these things is not like the others.
Against abortion?
Dont have one.
end of discussion.
and Tebow is just another jackass prancing and braying in the public square.
kneeling is just his version of a touchdown dance. If he really was a “nice” guy hed keep it in his pants or his church.
He deserves to mocked. And he will be.
rb
@MBunge: “Hey, I think abortion is bad and women shouldn’t have them”, even if that’s the total extent of your anti-choice agitation, is enough to be considered a crime against humanity.
Nah, it just makes you sound like you’re in league with the misogynist and anti-health nutters. Blame them for polluting the airwaves.
You could modify this phrasing to something sounding more like a Human Being from Planet Earth. For instance: “I’d like to prevent unnecessary, invasive surgery, so I think we should make it easier to prevent unwanted pregnancy.” This has many advantages in that (a) it is a lot more pro-woman, pro-family, pro-science and pro-public health, and (b) does not make you sound like everyone’s clueless boor of a creepy uncle.
Not saying you are that, just that it’s better for everyone involved if fundy dogwhistles are avoided, so there’s less confusion.
Samara Morgan
@Cassidy: i wonder what his teammates actually say about him.
whats in this for you? you are obviously trying to sell Tebow to BJ.
Hes no different than the rest of the WECs.
rb
@MBunge: “Hey, I think abortion is bad and women shouldn’t have them”, even if that’s the total extent of your anti-choice agitation, is enough to be considered a crime against humanity.
Nah, it just makes you sound like you’re in league with the misogynist and anti-health nutters. Blame them for polluting the airwaves.
You could modify this phrasing to something sounding more like a Human Being from Planet Earth. For instance: “I’d like to prevent unnecessary, invasive surgery, so I think we should make it easier to prevent unwanted pregnancy.” This has many advantages in that (a) it is a lot more pro-woman, pro-family, pro-science and pro-public health, (b) it would actually, you know, prevent abortion, and (c) it does not make you sound like everyone’s clueless boor of a creepy uncle.
Not saying you are that, just that better for everyone involved if fundy dogwhistles are avoided, so there’s less confusion.
pragmatism
pretty good article by chuck klosterman on timmy. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7319858/the-people-hate-tim-tebow
satby
Just put me down as a person who hates all the public Xtian wanking in sports, especially in Nascar and Tebow. The supreme arrogance of people who publicly proclaim that the Almighty is invested in their success over someone else’s is just nauseating.
butler
lonesomerobot
@MBunge: It wasn’t just expressing the view, it was taking a Super Bowl commercial spot to have his mother lie about the circumstances of his birth. Kind of goes beyond a little innocent opinion-giving when someone is funding a commercial to the tune of seven figures.
Samara Morgan
@MBunge: just for you.
Against abortion?
Don’t have one.
works for SSM too.
Against gay marriage?
Dont have one.
Samara Morgan
@butler: why is Cassidy such a rabid Tebow fanboi?
closet christofascist?
NobodySpecial
I think this shirt sums up Tebow best.
butler
@Samara Morgan: Any number of reasons need be considered. Jesus fan. Bronco Fan. Gator fan. SEC fan. Fan of *ahem* gritty players who manage to have success through their scrappy grittyness and thus aren’t *ahem* “flashy”. Contrarian.
Any of these could lead to Tebow fanboi status.
jake the snake
I don’t know what it is with the Tebow fanboism.
This is not a new thing. I would be meh about him,
if it weren’t for the media mancrush. Living where I
do in SEC territory, it got really embarrassing.
When he was at UF, you could be watching a game that
had nothing to do with the Gators, but the announcers
would say something like, “That play looks like something
Tim Tebow would do.” And mean it as the highest praise.
I called it the “thick White Boy effect:” because you would
get a lot of the same vibe from sportscasters about Tyler Hansbrough at UNC.
HyperIon
TBogg haz sad.
kc
That’s OK. I dislike him emough for both of us.
LongHairedWeirdo
Well, I suppose you rooting for him to fail doesn’t hurt him any, but that still strikes me as a bit of a nasty attitude to take. You want him to suffer because you don’t like other people?
(Then again, he’ll be “suffering” while while earning a bit over six mill a year. Geez, I feel old; when *I* was a kid, our Six Million Dollar Man was cool!)
Samara Morgan
christians just set themselves up for stuff like this.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Cassidy:
The difference being that Jordan was a scoring freak on an otherwise bad team at this point in his career. And Jordan had an upside.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@FormerSwingVoter:
The difference between Vick and Tebow as quarterbacks being that Vick could actually throw great passes, though he tended to make iffy reads, and he’d start running when he couldn’t find his primary receiver. Vick grew out of that through experience. Tebow won’t grow out of his bad passing mechanics and average- at best- arm strength.
Cassidy
@Samara Morgan: What’s in it for me? I just like messin’ with you.
Seriously, though, I’m from Jacksonville, Fl. I’m a Gator fan. I know the type of people Tebow came from. And honestly, just personal opinion here, he is very different from our homegrown fundies. Secondly, and anecdotally, I know people who went to UF when he was there (one tutored him) and they’ve all said he is a nice guy. I also know athletes and competitive, “Alpha” types. His teammates probably make fun of him, but they are superstitious enough to not be serious. You don’t mess with a streak.
In the end, though, like I said, I am very familiar with my fundies here at home, and he is not like them. You don’t have to believe that, so take it for what it’s worth.
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): I’m definitely not comparing talent. Jordan has no equal. But they do share some intangibles that are important in sports. Most notably, the ability to cause everyone else around you to be better. You remember Scottie Pippen right? Would you if there had been no Jordan?
REN
Here in a nutshell is my opinion of Tebow’s religion. Written by Richard Dawkins.
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction, jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive blood-thirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic,homophobic,racist,infanticidal,genocidal,filicidal,pestilential,megolomaniacal,sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
Christianity in its proper historical context.
Cassidy
@REN: Well hell, if you’re gonna get biblical, Chrisitanity comes from the New Testament.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Cassidy:
You’ve got it ass-backwards here: It’s the Bronco’s defense that’s allowing Tebow to look better. The offense isn’t scoring much at all. The guy would have been a really good QB for the 1963 Bears, but, 50 years later a championship-level QB needs a much better skill set than Tebow brings to the table.
I think that a more accurate comparison, of sorts, would be to Jeff George. George had all the skills and none of the charisma required to be a successful starting QB in the NFL. Tebow is the anti-George. But the opposite of the middle is…the middle.
Intercalation
@Cassidy: And if you’re going to get pedantic, then please know what in the fuck you’re talking about.
Cassidy
@Intercalation: Are you disputing that Christianity is from the New Testament? You’re not that retarded are you?
p
@pattonbt:
I agree with the first paragraph but not the second. There is very little if any angst about Tebow due to race. In particular he was discussed as moving from QB to another position because he’s an NFL caliber athlete but not passer rather than an anti-white QB agenda.
moderateindy
@apocalipstick: Favorite line ever my brother and I quote it all the time!!!!!!!!!!
Paul in KY
@AA+ Bonds: I think that’s his mother…