This Really Pisses Me Off To No End!

(Bonus points if you know the origin of that quote.)

Tim Tebow is coming to Montana; Kalispell, more specifically.   He's the carrot for a Christian school fundraiser in March.  He will speak of football, his life experiences and his faith.  Given his obvious charm, he will no doubts enthrall the assembled donors.  I've no problem with that.

But he is my quarterback, for good or ill.  And I'm already tired and annoyed by the attacks against Tim Tebow the person hidden within complaints against his football skill.  So lets get a few things clear, 'kay?

Tim Tebow is mostly what Christians aspire to be.  He's also what many of us wish Christians in general would be.  He is (as indicated) charming, humble, humorous, giving of himself, thankful, faithful, very hard working and committed.   There are those who've asked many times and I ask the same question:  What's not to like?  He's a good man, who may or may not ever become a great NFL quarterback.  American sensibilities have changed somewhat about what is a good man, and I think most would have been pleased if he had entered the news confab after the Pittsburgh game, muscular arms spread wide, screaming "Are you not entertained?"  (Small points if you know that quote.)

There are those who absolutely must point out that "Tebow worships a magic sky fairy ~snicker~"  Uhm, fine.  I would ask this:  Tebow doesn't deride you to accept his religion.  Why would you deride him to accept yours?

Then there are those who want desperately to believe that Tim Tebow makes them feel bad.  These are mostly the ones who just wish he would quit talking about his faith.  I see no reason why he would or he should. It's still magical thinking.  'Tebow gives credit to his God but he should make that private because somehow it will be bad - while he wins games.  Personally, I don't give a crap if he gives credit to his toilet bowl, as crazy as that would be.   Tebow followed his path and he likes it, so others want to believe that he's looking down on them because their results weren't as stellar or what-have-you.  That's mostly fear and jealousy.  If you feel bad because Tebow wears his faith in the open, then I suggest you commit to your path as he has committed to his.

There are those already who suggest that Tim's Christian piety is an act, a hustle, a grift.  Show what you know.  Tim Tebow works his ass off, and people aren't as stupid as one would expect.  If Tebow were running a hustle he would be exposed as simply as Ryan Leaf or as complexly as JaMarcus Russell.  Tebow wins games.  He competes.  If he is running a hustle to give God the credit, then all power to him.  I'm a Bronco fan.  I like the Broncos winning games.  And most high-profile wide receivers are grifters anyway ...  (So what did happen to Randy Moss and Terrell Owens? ...)

I like Tim Tebow and look forward to seeing him after 7 months of working with John Elway.  John Fox should be the Coach of the Year (though Jim Harbaugh likely has that won.)  If Tebow wants to come to Montana to raise money for schooling then good on him.  I truly don't care.  His faith is part of what makes him an exciting draw to watch.  For me, he is my quarterback.  So, bring on New England.

Comments

[Craig Moore]

Amen Wulfgar. Watching that last game and his throws, that critics say he can't make, was sweet. He is certainly an inspiration and role model. Go Broncos!

[Turner]

I don't object to Tebow, but I resent the way Jesus confused the minds of the Pittsburgh secondary so they couldn't cover Denver's receivers.

[Steve]

I must admit, that this is one of my favorite, if not the favorite post of yours that I have ever read.

But I really like Tebow for two reasons: 1. He is a very gifted athlete but a mediocre passer who wins. 2. He drives people crazy by being a nice man.

The entertainment is priceless.

[jack ruby]

Is T.O. ghost writing this blog: "Thats my quarterback..that's my team."

Denver is stuck with him now. Reality is they had three straight losses to end the regular season and backing into the playoffs without a winning record. Looked totally lost against the weak kneed Chiefs in a game they 'had to win'. Did come through with some key passes over a steelers team that was a shadow of itself. Still has no long term future at the QB position and now Denver is set back another year. I do hope they can somehow beat New England though, it would be the ultimate humiliation for Coach hoody. I was secretly hoping for the same for the Steelers. Yeah my team sucks so all I've got going in the playoffs is hating on everyone else.

[Wulfgar]

Denver is stuck with him now, and you say that like it's a bad thing. Kinda like Spiderman being stuck with a weaker super power.

NFL football is a business. I don't think for a second that if John Elway could get the kind of concessions that Oakland gave for Palmer he would hesitate at all "selling" Tebow to Jacksonville. The Jags and their new owner are so desperate to put butts in the seats that I don't doubt they'd pay the price to have Tim. Love him or hate him, he is terrific entertainment.

I love what Tony Dungy had to say about Tebow's passing. With dedication, hard work and repetition, any sufficient athlete can be an accurate passer. Tom Brady became one because his other skills were lacking. The Mannings became such because they've been doing it since they were toddlers. Tebow is more than a sufficient athlete; he's a superb athlete, kind of like John Elway. Elway's first couple of years, he threw pretty ugly too mostly on the short routes. What impressed people was that he could be dead on target hucking the rock 50 yards down field. That looks to me a lot like Tim Tebow.

Tim couldn't be in a better situation than he is in Denver. He has a coach that is committed to power football, and a quarterback could do bunches worse than have John Elway as a mentor with a vested interest in the young man's success. I don't think we're really going to know Tebow's future until the draft. If he isn't traded for first round picks, and the Broncos pick a power running back (like MJD or Willis McGahee), then I'd say Tebow's future in Denver is pretty secure. It won't take Elway that long to figure out whether or not Tim is salvageable. And John already knows that he's profitable.

Turner, it wasn't Jesus confusing the defensive backfield. It was Dick Lebeau. If you drill your Corners on preventing the option run, they will let a rocket like Damarius Thomas get behind them.

[Wulfgar]

Also, jack ruby, the real loser in the Broncos-Chiefs game wasn't Tebow or the Broncos. It was Kyle Orton. That was his interview for another starting job, facing the rep of not being able to score touchdowns. The interview went - poorly.

[jack ruby]

Orton is terrible. If he somehow migrates to Miami in the offseason I might have to swear off football and start doing something constructive on Sundays.

[Pete Talbot]

I'm not sure that Kalispell needs more Christian-right, fundamentalist furor. I wish he were going to the Flathead to raise awareness for decent public school funding, not to raise funds for some school whose values include revised history, anti-evolution and selective tolerance.

I've got no problem with Tebow as quarterback, and wish him and the Broncos well. I certainly can't respect the guy for advancing more right-wing religion and politics in the Flathead. It's just what they don't need up there.

[Eric]

I just wish that my RAIDERS had gotten the job done against the Chargers and that they were in the playoffs.

[Craig Moore]

Pete, just where in the summer reading lists is there a right wing political agenda: http://www.stillwaterchristianschool.org/domain/174

[jess kidding]

I've hated the Broncos since Elway jilted the Baltimore Colts. But I have been rooting for the lately because of... Wesley Woodyard! ...

There's just too much good mockin to be had with Tebow. It's not going to stop. Makes for a great story just as it did for four years of SEC football.

Most football insiders think he can't be the long term solution. We fans might think otherwise, but I'm guessing Elway thinks that too.

So I'm rooting for Tebow and putting the Byrds on the ipod for the 4th quarter...jesus is just all right with me, jesus is just all right, oh yeah!

Anybody who beats new england is just all right with me!

[Pete Talbot]

Ah Craig, I love it when you lob one in there nice and slow ...

Did you happen to notice what Stillwater Christian School DOESN'T want you to read?

Door in the Wall -- Dickens
Johnny Tremain -- Forbes
Across Five Aprils -- Hunt
Legend of Sleepy Hollow -- Irving
Out of the Silent Planet -- Lewis
Call of the Wild -- London
Rascal -- North
Treasure Island -- Stevenson
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry -- Taylor
The Hiding Place -- Ten Boom
The Hobbit -- Tolkein
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- Twain
Tom Sawyer -- Twain

This sort of subversive literature will certainly corrupt those young minds, especially that miserable American writer Mark Twain.

[Craig Moore]

Pete, right back at ya. Your claim is that they promote a right wing agenda. Look at the suggest books. Which of those books do that as oppose to recommended books written by Alcott, Dickens, Kipling, Hemingway, Hansberry, C.S. Lewis, Harriet Beecher Stowe and others.

I took the phrase "*Please avoid reading these classroom novels" to mean these books may be covered in the classroom.

[Pete Talbot]

Sorry about disrupting the football thread, Rob, but yeah, right, Craig. Those books will be "covered in the classroom." C'mon, it's called censorship. Man up.

[Craig Moore]

Pete, you made the claim. As you suggest, "Man up!" Support your statement.

[Wulfgar]

Pete, no problem. As I indicate, I love the argument.

Craig, he did "man up". He posted a banned reading list that leans way right. Quit pretending it doesn't, because it really does. Censorship of 'bad thought' is not a real value for the left. If you want to argue that it is, then that's a whole lot different from what you've argued here.

[Craig Moore]

Wulfgar, the list Pete posted is the request to forgo for summer reading as they are "classroom novels". Funny how a school would attempt to not overlap summer reading with session work. And some of the authors, like Dickens, Tolkein, Lewis, and Twain are on both lists. One of the recommended HS SUMMER books is Steinbeck's "The Pearl." Not exactly supportive of capitalism. Wulfgar as to your statement that Pete's list leans way right, perhaps you should reconsider. Pete was making the opposite argument.

[Wulfgar]

Craig, that was kinda my point. You guys are talking past each other. Pete points out that SCVS doesn't want people to read certain books without the proper spin put on them. You arfgue that that was not a right wong objective. It truly appears it that it was.