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I don’t have the NFL Sunday Ticket, which means I’ve seen very little of what has become known as the “Tim Tebow” story. This past Sunday as I was flipping through the ESPN family searching for highlights of Tebow and the Broncos latest miracle win against Chicago, I stumbled across something much better than a Tebow highlight: a Tebow post-game press conference.
Tebow opened his conference by saying "I guess, first and foremost I'd like to thank my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.” With those words, the stampede was on. An entire section of his audience raced off in a frantic search for their Facebooks and Twitters and Blogs and Phones and Bullhorns and anything they could find to warn the rest of us that the crazy quarterback from Denver was shoving Jesus down our throats again. I wish they had come back. I have a couple of things to share with them. First, it has become apparent that Tebow is going to find a way to thank his Lord and savior, Jesus Christ every opportunity he gets. He seems unashamed at having us look in while he shares his gratitude, so if you feel a shoving sensation in your throat, I’d turn the channel. Second, be grateful you didn’t stick around. After you left, he quit talking about Jesus and started acting like him. After thanking Jesus, Tebow went on to say “and after that I just want to thank my teammates and coaches. You know, I just want to thank Coach Fox and the coaches for giving me the opportunity and believing in me for the entire game and for the defense for keeping us in it and our receivers and our offensive line, who at the end of the game made me look a lot better than I really am." Uhm, Tim, you’re doing this press conference thing all wrong. This is where you were supposed to tell us how YOU saved the day. You just wasted a lot of copy space by talking about everyone but yourself. Then one of the reporters got to the heart of the matter. It wasn't going well at all for you up until that last period. How are you able to kind of put that completely out of your mind, because you guys were moving the ball and your stats, I don't remember, were 3 of 17 or something like that? OK Timbo, you’re going to have to defend yourself here. The guy wants to know how you put it out of your mind that you were a complete disaster most of the game. As awful as you are, how do you keep your head in the game? "I don't think we necessarily get focused on the stats or what's happened in the past. Obviously, that can be frustrating. We had opportunities early and we didn't take advantage of them, so that kind of put us in a position where we were behind, which was disappointing. "But guys kept encouraging one another, defense kept encouraging offense; the offense encouraging special teams. Just try to keep believing until the very end. It wasn't looking very good, but guys kept, shoot, encouraging me, at all times, believing in me, and we kept believing, and I think that's special when you have a team that believes and a team that's going to continually fight for 60 minutes, even though it's not looking good and even though it might be frustrating. "We might have had opportunities and missed them, but we kept fighting and kept going, and the defense played phenomenal and came up with a bunch of huge stops, and we were finally able to get a drive there and score — a bunch of guys stepped up on that drive; the offensive line protected great, and D.T. stepped up on that drive; and Jeremiah and Lance and Deck, and a bunch of guys really stepped up, and we were able to get the ball back and find a way to go down there and. "Shoot, it's kind of like a blur, I don't even remember everything that happened — but you can't say enough about Prater and how clutch he is and how much he means to our team. He's a great guy and a great person and a great player, and I'm proud that he's on our team." Oh, Tim, where do I start? Not focused on the stats. Are you kidding me? We’ve got post-season awards to think about. And this isn’t your last contract, you know. How are we going to beef up your millions with numbers like yours? And this nonsense about guys encouraging each other. Tim, you’re not on the mission field anymore. This is the NFL. We don’t run around encouraging and believing and fighting for one another. Then there was this exchange: Tim, was there a wrinkle that the Bears gave you that you had a little trouble figuring out? "No sir, not really. I just think that we had some opportunities. You've got to give them credit, they are a very good defense. They came up with a bunch of big plays. Those two guys in the middle are pretty good. Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs are pretty good, and it's fun to get to go against them. First, Tim, this is the media. They are predators. Knock off the “sir” stuff. I’m not sure where you got this whole respect everybody philosophy from, but save the respect for the people who truly deserve it. That goes for the opposing team as well. This media goon gave you a chance to blame the other team for coming up with a complicated scheme that made it impossible for you to function, and you go out of your way to point out how great the Bears’ players are. Tim, when you get in front of that camera, it would help if you remember this one, simple philosophy. It is all about YOU, Tim, all about YOU. Then the following exchanges: Saying that, was there ever one time in the fourth quarter where you thought you were going to lose the football game? "At certain times in the game where I was very frustrated and disappointed. Obviously, I thought we had opportunities — we had opportunities for the lead — so it was disappointing we were down 10-0. But great things are only possible if you're under very tough circumstances. That was a great comeback for this team, and it was led by our defense and coaches and a team that constantly believes." Last week you laughed at me when I said you guys thrive in these situations. You clearly played better again today when it was the toughest situation to be in. "I think my teammates make me look a lot better than I am. They really stepped up and came up with some huge plays, and I'm so proud of them. And the way D.T. stepped up on that last drive. You know, just good for him. I'm very proud of those guys. "I think that is a character quality of a good team. When it is clutch and you need competitive greatness, you have to step up and you have to make those plays. If you're able to do it when it really matters, usually you can find a way. We've just got to get better at doing it for four quarters." Were you frustrated by some of the dropped passes? "I've just got to do a better job and just improve with accuracy and put it on my receivers more. They come up with a bunch of big plays, so I was just proud of their effort." Regarding Tebow Time, do you think the clock needs to be readjusted a little bit? When you look at it, each game keeps coming down to the end and when you look at the first 3 ½ quarters statistically it's not pretty. How do you get this so you can do this a little earlier? "I don't think it's 'Tebow Time'; I just think it's 'Bronco Time,' and the team steps up as a team. We play for one another and continue to trust one another, and I think that makes all the difference in the world." Ok Tim, you’re on your own from here. I mean, you’re taking this Jesus thing too far. I think it’s a nice touch to thank him and all when the cameras are on, but you’ve got to turn the Jesus routine off when the thank yous are all delivered. I mean as a bible thumping quarterback you should know better than anyone what Jesus said about those who follow him. They are going to be persecuted. And I know he said you should rejoice and that your reward in heaven will be great when they persecute you in his name, but Tim, this is the NFL. You need to think big picture. You need to think about TIM, not Jesus. The reporter then asked a great closing question: How does the story end, Tim? "That depends who's writing it. "I think this has just been a great season, and I'm proud to be on a team with a bunch of guys who are high-character, coaches that are high-character, and however it ends I know I'm that I'm going to proud of all those guys and proud of the effort we put forth." Amen Tim, Amen.
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12/10/2011 0 Comments Here Comes ChristmasThe holidays and an endless list of other obligations have made life busy lately and curtailed my writing time. So it feels good to be starting this update. I’m doing it on a borrowed computer, which feels odd. Our laptop is in the shop for repairs, if indeed it survived the experiment and can be repaired. What experiment, you ask. Well, thank you for asking. Katie and Ian worked together to determine if a laptop computer continues to function at normal levels after consuming a small glass of wine. And yes, the subject of the experiment was the computer, not the operator. The experiment began with Little Ian bouncing a ball around the kitchen. It wasn’t an ordinary ball, but one of those oversize rubber balls that some people do sit-ups on. I’m not sure what people use it for in our house when Ian isn’t bouncing it around the kitchen like Michael Jordan, but it isn’t sit-ups. Ian dribbled the ball ever closer to Katie, who was sitting at the kitchen table using the laptop to work on something, with a small glass of wine sitting nearby. I heard Katie caution Ian a couple of times to be careful. I wasn’t too concerned. How much damage could a small boy do bouncing something not much larger than the planet earth in a confined area? “Ian!” The shout filled the air in imperfect harmony with the sound of wine glass and Hewlett-Packard crashing together. As if she was responding to the crack of a starter’s pistol in a 100 yard dash, Katie raced across the kitchen grabbing as many paper towels as she could carry back to the wine-soaked keyboard. Ian stood staring. The big bouncing ball lay still beside him. I wondered very quietly to myself what might be added to this story if Ian suddenly grabbed the ball and started doing sit-ups. The Best Buy Geek Squad is performing field sobriety tests, and we’ll hopefully know very soon if our version of the Big Bang was fatal – to the computer, not Ian. We record most of the boys’ television programming. It makes it easier for us to control what they are watching. It has had a downside, though. Every time a commercial comes on, one of the boys is yelling for me or Katie to come fast forward through the commercials. Last weekend I had put on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for them. I was in another room doing something when I realized a half hour had passed and I hadn’t heard a single scream for fast forwarding. Curious, I went to check on them. I arrived in time to see a commercial with a young boy wielding a large, plastic machine gun that was spraying nurf-like bullets around a room in his nowhere to be found family’s house. I grabbed the remote and fast forwarded to Rudolph. As the show started back up, Ian looked up at me and said, “Daddy, we want one of those.” It’s true. Our boys have become commercialized. They have learned those magical two words that ignite the Christmas spirit in children: “I want.” I don’t worry about it too much. I was a commercialized child. I wanted and I got. As time goes on, though, I can’t remember much of anything I got, but the memories of family gatherings and holiday traditions grow stronger each year. As I watched Ian smile with excitement hanging ornaments on the tree, and as I hear his demand each morning to fire up the lights that wrap between those ornaments, I am hopeful our boys too are having memories created that will one day stand out above anything they “got.” The commercialization isn’t completely worry-free, though. I can’t help but wonder if Ian can bring down Hewlett-Packard with an exercise ball, what on earth will he do with a machine gun?     |