I don't want to enjoy the Tim Tebow Experience

Some music while reading this post. I heard Close to the Edge by Yes and was inspired. It’s my favorite song by them, even more than Roundabout or Owner of a Lonely Heart. Enjoy the song:



I’m intentionally not watching the national championship game tonight between Florida and Oklahoma for several reasons. First, I have to catch up on General Hospital. I’m behind nearly two weeks.

Seriously, reason 1a would be to avoid the unavoidable Tim Tebow love fest that will take place if they win the game (I know that this post will take place during the game so I’ll say that before the contest, I picked Florida to win for what its worth)

I read this interesting article by an excellent writer, Pat Forde, on ESPN.com about Tim Tebow and the cynicism that comes with him. It’s a good read and here’s the link, I won’t get offended if you click to it: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3812762&sportCat=ncf

OK, glanced at the article yet, really, take a look at it.

Now that you get the gist of what I’m talking about, I must place myself in the camp that really doesn’t care to enjoy the “Tim Tebow Experience.”

It’s not because I don’t like the guy. I’ve never met the dude so I have no pretense to say if he’s a good or bad guy. He plays for Florida, which does face Vanderbilt every year, but the Gators aren’t really a rival. He’s a talented player who I really think has a shot in the NFL and should stay at quarterback despite what others, including Mel Kiper Jr., are saying.

So why do I not want to enjoy the Experience? First, the only time that we should label something an Experience should involve Jimi Hendrix. Other than that, I want no part of it.

I think the reason that people are turned off by Tebow is overexposure and overreaction to expected goodness. Let me explain.

I’ve said this for the past six or seven months but this is the least amount of sports that I’ve watched in my entire life and I’m enjoying it. The reason is that I get enough sports at my job and second, if you are overexposed to something, you won’t like it. Its like pizza. Everyone likes pizza of some form but if you had to eat it everyday, you would get tired of it. Sports is my pizza.

Unfortunately, it seems like most of the time that college football is mentioned on a network like ESPN or read a publication or web site or even watch a college football game, its usually comes around to Tebow. It’s about his excellent play on the field, him talking to prisoners, him going to foreign countries with his missionary work, etc, etc, etc. Furthermore, when I watch a game that he’s playing in, the announcers are pretty much verbally making love to the guy. Tebow runs for four yards look at that toughness! Look at the passion he plays with! He saves babies and loves his parents!

You get what I’m saying?

Also, its good that he does a lot of good things off the field, but the media portrayal of it makes it seem like Tebow is the only college football player doing good things. There are probably countless other college athletes doing good things but don’t get 10% of coverage that Tebow gets. I understand that he’s in a much higher profile position than most players, but still.

Furthermore, I think that people are cynical of the guy because we have all been burned before by people who seemed too good to be true but ended up having major faults, especially in sports.

For me, it was Dwight Gooden.

My childhood sports hero was Dwight Gooden, the former pitcher of the New York Mets. I remember the first time that I met him as a little kid at Shea Stadium. My mother still has the picture somewhere in her house. I learned about him being from Florida, wanted to wear his number 16 in little league, had posters of him, and wore my uniform like him, the whole deal. Not only was he potentially the best pitcher in our generation, seriously, people forget how dominant the guy was in his prime, he was a nice guy that took a picture with me, shook my hand, everything.

However, during the late 1980’s, he started getting in trouble legally and had a drug addiction that wiped out the all-world talents he possessed. I remember watching the news and hearing about his drug suspensions and not getting how someone can do that to themselves.

I’m by no means saying that Tebow is doing anything like Gooden, but since my experience, I treat everybody, especially in sports, with a touch of cynicism.

So in the end, I’ll respect Tebow for his achievements on the field and all of that but don’t expect me to go crazy over his stuff off the field. We all know plenty of people, probably you, who do good things for our society, and aren’t given credit for doing it. I’m sure Tebow is not doing all of his philanthropy to receive attention, maybe he is, I don’t know, but I get tired of hearing about it.

Its like what people used to say about Grant Hill when he first entered the NBA. The media would say that he’s a good guy, never been arrested, speaks so well, respects others. YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT AS A HUMAN BEING!

Well, its time to continue to ignore the game, watch General Hospital and get some sleep. I would love to go into this further if you want in the future.