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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Tim Tebow is NOT Jeremy Lin
Posted by Jill | 6:24 AM
It's so breathtakingly stupid, so, well, WILPONIAN, that you almost have to wonder how a long-standing Mets fan like me can still be gut-punched by anything a sports organization does. You'd think that after nearly fifty years of watching that baseball team in Flushing make so many dumb moves, I'd be immune to sports organizational stupidity.

Maybe it's true that we in the New York area just don't understand religious people. But the only explanation for why the Jets organization decided it was a great idea to bring Tim Tebow and his thanking Jesus every time the ball leaves his hands to New York is that they looked at Madison Square Garden and saw the Knicks go on a tear the minute Jeremy Lin took to the court for the first time and either started believing that God really does micromanage sports games, or more likely, decided that wresting the back page of the Daily News every Sunday frm the classy Giants organization was worth any downside to bringing Jesus of the Rockies to the most heathen place in America.

But Linsanity was never about Jeremy Lin's faith. God didn't become a Knicks fan just because a devout Christina joined the team. Linsanity occurred because Jeremy Lin was a better player than anyone expected and because no one knew how to play against him yet. Add to that the mystique of Harvard and how there's still a fair amount of cognitive dissonance around the idea of an Asian basketball player (Yao Ming notwithstanding), and you have enough to satisfy the maw of the New York sports press. Yes, Jeremy Lin is devout, but he hasn't made it part of his public persona. He's a Book of Matthew Christian:

6:5
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6:6
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

No one hates Tebow because of his faith. If they did, Jeremy Lin would be just as reviled, and he's not. Lin's faith appears to inform his life, not define it to the near-exclusion of all else. With Tebow, you get the sense that the show -- the dropping to the knee, the praising of Jesus in every post-game interview -- is less about his faith than about creating a public persona. That may not be the case, but it certainly appears that way.

Linsanity has died down now that teams have learned how to play against Jeremy Lin. He's still a fine player, but no one's treating him like a god anymore. Tim Tebow led the Broncos to winning six games, in Denver, against crummy teams, and he became a god. The difference is that in buying into the media hype and allowing himself to become Tebow®!!!, he betrayed his own savior's words -- something Jeremy Lin has never done.

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

No. Just. No.
Posted by Jill | 5:33 AM
One of the problems with being a cynic is that you're all too often right.

In January I sat riveted in front of the Patriots/Broncos playoff game, rooting for Tom Brady and the Pats to pound Denver into the ground, just to end any idea of having to endure sportswriters insisting that it was God Himself who brought Tim Tebow this far into the postseason. I knew what I was doing was dangerous, because the gods don't like this sort of thing, and it can really come back to bite you. As a result, I approached the Super Bowl with much trepidation, certain that I would be punished for my New York sin of rooting for New England at all by a humiliating Giants defeat. When that didn't happen, I was able to exhale, certain that the gods had forgiven me, because strange pacts with the devil happen in sports fandom. Ask Joe Boyd. For that matter, ask any long-suffering Mets fan.

Perhaps the gods have just gotten their Manning signals crossed, confusing Eli and Peyton, because no sooner had the Broncos come to terms with Peyton Manning than the speculation and bloviation began that St. Timmy of the Wobbly Pass (™ Tbogg) might be coming to New York to breathe down newly-contract-extended Mark Sanchez' neck.

No sooner had this story broken when the sports press, always eager for a story no matter what the reality of what life for an ostentatious Bible-pounder (let alone the rest of us) would be among the left-wing Communist Jewish homosexual pornographers that populate the New York metropolitan area, started to simultaneously orgasm at the propsect of Jesus of the Rockies bringing The Knee to the heathen.

Matt Miselis of Bleacher Report does it by subtly implying that Mark Sanchez lacks the manliness of Christ on a Cracker -- implications that have followed the Broadway musical-loving Sanchez since he got here (despite the fact that Guy-Gods Trey Parker and Matt Stone not only love musicals, but wrote one):

Tebow, the most popular sports figure in the U.S., could ultimately win the minds and hearts of the New York Jets.

The Jets aren't saying that Tebow is an ultimate challenger to Sanchez at the quarterback position, but in reality, he will get the opportunity to do so.

He will impress the likes of Rex Ryan, who has an adoration for the hard work and passion that he brings to the game every week. He saw the dynamics of Tebow last season against his top-10 defense in the final two minutes of the game.

New offensive coordinator Tony Sparano could attempt to create Wildcat formations for Tebow. His role in John Fox's scheme led to a division title and a playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers—though it seems that defenses began finding ways to limit Tebow's explosiveness.

Yeah. Because Antonio Cromartie, who has already nade no secret of HIS view on the Spreading of the Word, is going to listen to a mediocre overly-hyped quarterback when he doesn't listen to the one he's got already. Who hires these writers?

Clark Judge at CBS Sprts has gone totally off his nut, insisting in his bizarro sportswriter universe that such a fish-out-of-water scenario makes sense:
The New York Jets reportedly are one of the teams inquiring into Tim Tebow, and it's about time. They should. In fact, they should take a long, hard look into trading for the Denver quarterback because ... well, because it makes too much sense not to.

I'm serious.

First of all, he's no threat to their starter. That would be Mark Sanchez, and I don't care what you think of him. I care what the Jets think of him, and they just made a long-term commitment to the guy. Yeah, so they flirted with the idea of adding Peyton Manning. It doesn't matter. This does: They extended Sanchez's contract by three years, guaranteeing him $20.5 million in 2012 and 2013.

That means someone believes in him, so Tebow wouldn't come in to push or challenge Sanchez. He would come in as a backup, and maybe that's a backup to the recently-signed Drew Stanton, too, I don't know. What I do know is that he could be perfectly suited for an assortment of packages designed by new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano.

Wait. So the Jets should get Tebow so Sparano can design plays just for a second- or third-string quarterback? Is that how it works? Where do they find these guys?

I mean, I'll admit that I can be a sucker for a Byronic sports hero who loves show tunes like any red-blood American female of any age who isn't dead, but even in a rational universe, Sanchez doesn't deserve to be jerked around twice in a week, first by having his team gaze lovingly at Peyton Manning, then bringing him roses and candy in the form of a contract extension, essentially telling him, "I'm really sorry, baby, this time it'll be different, you're the only one for me", and then almost immediately casting a loving gaze at Tebow.

Thank God for rational people like Daily News scribe Gary Myers, who actually understand the New York sports scene (even while getting his own dig in at Sanchez' alleged diva behavior):


No doubt Sanchez would set an NFL record for pouting when 80,000 Jets fans, clad in their new green No. 15 jerseys, begin chanting, “Tebow, Tebow, Tebow” after Sanchez throws his first interception of the season.

Sanchez needs some tough love from Ryan and needs to be to be pushed by a real NFL quarterback, but Tebow is a novelty act with limited quarterback skills. Sure, he led the Broncos to the postseason, and even won a playoff game last year with his unconventional quarterback style.

But that was a once-in-a-lifetime run.

Tebow is nothing more than a fullback. At best, he’s a Wildcat quarterback offensive coordinator Tony Sparano could work into his playbook. Still, bringing in Tebow is not worth all the collateral damage his presence would cause.

Damn right. Except for the part about the 80,000 Jets fans calling for Tebow the minute Sanchez throws an interception. Jets fans may be boorish, but while they may not love Sanchez, I'm not sure that turning MetLife Stadium into a tent meeting is going to work for them either.

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