This thread just makes me glad I don't watch football.

Oh, and the worst thing about most of my career being spent working in ghetto neighborhoods is that damn..."have a blessed day" shit. People who are into their religion don't seem to understand how weird this need to make sure you tell everyone you see what you believe seems to non-believers. If anything, I generally go out of my way to not mention my beliefs (or lack thereof) in daily life. People who do the opposite just strike me as strange.

no shit, right?

I don't disagree with this. Also, I sort of enjoy the mock outrage at both Tim Tebow: the unorthodox player and Tim Tebow: the publicly religious guy, because in both cases, the people who are outraged are people who's outrage makes me happy.

Also, this would be less of a story if this wasn't the most boring NFL season in about 10 years. The Packers are fucking good is about the only legit storyline I can think of.

To each their own.
The only thing about Tebow, himself that bothers me is that he led that comeback against the Bears.

But yeah, the fact that fans would attribute any victory to God's intervention is a bit weird. But thanking God for the abilities that allow one to compete at that level is perfectly acceptable. In that case, though, I would think that the gratitude should come before every game and not just after a victory. (And, by all accounts, Tebow does. Good for him.)

The Niners turnaround with Harbaugh... if they advance the playoffs this is a good story.

Amen.

I figgered both of you cats would be reveling in the fact that The Cowboys, while possessing as much talent as nigh any squad are finding ways to lose in SPECTACULAR fashion. Last week the D basically said "go ahead - let them ninjas score."

Cowboys imploding is the new Dallas tradition, no? That's just what's expected.

Maybe it's because I'm not a Cowboys fan (although I'm not a Cowboys hater either), but I don't consider them to be overly laden with talent on the one hand, or beset by bad luck/epic chokes on the other. To wit, they seem to be (both in performance and record), about what they should be: A middle of the pack NFC team on equals with the Falcons, Lions, Bears and Giants, or more put more precisely, cannon fodder for the Saints, Packers and Niners come playoff time.

Harry, the Harbaugh story would be more appealing if he wasn't such a fucking asshole. Ditto the Lions. But I'll give you this: the league is better when the 49ers are good.

I think that's central to the story... he is an absolute dick; the shadow Tebow.

Funny Bloor, I always took you for A) a Cowboys Hater and B) a Harbaugh fan - precisely because he's an asshole.

The funniest/best part about the Tebow thing is how he addresses Reporters (and presumably everyone older than him) as "sir."

I caught his press conference and he answered questions beginning with "Yessir" and "Nosir" - of which I'm a fan.

He is incredibly respectful.

(I am a big fan of addressing people as "Sir" and "Ma'am" in part to be funny, but mostly to show respect.)

I have never understood the idea of attributing sports victories with a diety. I can't understand why there is such a double standard, with wins versus losses. Why is it that your magical invisible sky friend gets credit for helping you when shit goes well but not when it goes south? Or perhaps I do understand it, and I don't like what it says about people who would believe that, so I say "I don't understand it" instead of saying "you are an illogical, inconsistent weakling" or some such. Take credit for your own work, good or bad.

The whole "no one is curious about your religion" bit has already been covered. What irks me a tiny bit in cases like that is that he got asked a specific question about sports, and like some brainless politician, he answers with something unrelated (except in his head), a talking point. He has a message. I don't want to hear his message. The reporter doesn't want to hear his message, he wants to know how that game just went, what went well, what didn't, etc. He/she didn't ask about your new hospital in the Phillipines. Answer the question. Proselytizing (sp?) assumes that the object of your discourse 1) needs your help, 2) doesn't know any better, and 3) needs you to explain the error of their ways. It can be incredibly condescending. Congrats on your happiness, Tim, seriously. That's all anyone is looking for and you found it.

Also I have a bad habit of sounding like I care more about this stuff than I do.

Blech. For me this is like some shitty band from my hometown making it big and now everyone is talking about how shitty this band is but they're selling millions of records.

Tebow = Creed?

Basically, SEC followers have been privy to this overblown hullabaloo for years now. It's mostly just annoying.

Bottom line for me is that TeGar's Jebus stuff if way down my list of reasons to hate him mostly behind:

1) Being a Florida Gator
2) Insert whatever here.....

I'm not an SEC follower and my eyes + ears have been raped by his image and voice for years.

When you spend your entire life rooting for a (mainly) shitty franchise, you can either hate every other team in the league or sort of appreciate the greatness of whoever is great at any particular time. I've mostly done the latter. So I appreciated the Cowboys when they were good and they have been mostly out of sight out of mind ever since--they also haven't played a meaningful game against the Falcons since 1980 which helps them to remain mostly innocuous whereas I hate a team like the Eagles with a passion because they've knocked us out of the playoffs twice and been mostly a burr in the side for the past few years.

As for Harbaugh, I'm not even sure how I feel about him; I haven't even seen the 49ers play this year. I know he's held the belt of the meanest man in America for a while and I like that, but I was referring more to the public perception of him as to why he's not getting more play. Also, as opposed to say, Rex Ryan, he's not a loudmouth in addition to being an asshole, and doesn't coach in New York.

too bad dudes, football is pretty awesome

Tebow was raised by Evangelicals and is a meat-head. He knows no better, and he'll never question his faith. The media sucking on his balls has been going on since he was a Freshman at UF, and probably before that on recruiting shows.

It's annoying as hell, but I try to tune out. Both my Titans and Falcons are mediocre this year, so it hasn't been a great NFL year for me. That leads to me not tuning in much.

And this is how I know that there's no God, or he wouldn't let my ex's team win the bowl, and then also have a season like this.

Someone let Tebow know he can stop acting now, for real, because there's proof positive.

Proof positive? You mean, The Tebow breaking up Lindsay Vonn's marriage?

Fuck, am I the only person who admits to hating Tebow just for his constant christian nonsense? There's too much religion in the world and I don't want good things to happen to some guy who can't stop talking about his. Fuck it, I said it. The sooner we all stop acting like Christianity is normal, the better off we're all gonna be.

I am in the camp of hating "Tebow" (along the lines of what Harry wrote), but not really Tebow.

I posted on my FB the other day something about "Despite what's preached from the pulpit, Tebow is not actually the Second Coming". Responses varied but most were just along the lines of: "dude, just wins football games. Must be God".

I find the whole scenario ridiculous and indicative of our culture more so than any providential interaction. Pardon the sweeping generalization, but the average American Protestant Christian is so far lost in fallacy and half-truths about their belief system that they take any instance of self-proclaimed Christians succeeding as incontrovertible evidence of God. In many ways, I don't think that they actually believe that God is causing Tebow to win games; I think they're using it to try and push away the doubt that they have about their own faith. "See, God must be real and I must have the right beleifs, because random famous guy is saying exactly what I've been taught my whole life and espouses the same thing I believe to be true. Thank God. Now I don't have to do any real processing on my own. God forbid I ask a question! All the answers are manifest through Tim Tebow!"

I am still struggling to formulate a clear, concise response to why the people that rave about him and how it is God bug me so much. So, in that way, I will just say that I think harry nailed it for me.

I couldn't care less about Tim Tebow. I hope that he is honest in his faith. I hope for him that he is right and that the huge turn around is something more than just blind, god-given talent randomly working together for Denver's benefit. But, I also know plenty of people who've removed the bulb from the limelight and dedicated their lives to living "The Gospel" and making a difference in people's lives through service to others. Where's their recognition? Why aren't they held up to be anything of significance? Oh, I know why, because Christians in this country think that if they are obedient to their God that they will be rich, famous, and have an easy life. I've always found that viewpoint to be perplexing. If you accept the basic premises (that I know many of you think are ridiculous in the first place) and assume that the 12 disciples/apostles were doing things "right" after Christ's (mythical) ascension, do people not realize that a good number of them were actually martyred for their beliefs? I guess 21st Century Jesus wants us all to have 6 cars, a million bucks, and a hot wife.

I am indifferent to Tebow, but man, I am tired of hearing about how he is the 21st century quintessential Christ-follower. Anyway, rambling over. Sorry for the potential incoherence.