"With all of the negativity in the world, if people could just spend five minutes with Tim Tebow..." - Fox announcer Thom Brennanman.
OK, Florida beat Oklahoma 24-21 to claim the B(C)S title. I get that. It was a good game until the 4th quarter, when Oklahoma tired and Florida's speed took over. I get that. Urban Meyer is one of the best coaches, and has one of the most innovative offenses in the world. Yup, I'm still with you.
So why are we having to hear over and over again about the greatness that is Tim Tebow?
We've been down this road before replacing "Tim Tebow" with "Vince Young". It's almost as if sports writers don't get their gold-plated laptops until they slather the star du jour with superlatives. How bad has it gotten? I've heard rumor that the blind and lame are converging on the University of Florida campus just for a chance to touch Tebow's wristband and be healed.
What this illustrates is the relatively poor bench depth in sports writing. If you can't write or say something constructive on the game (say, how Oklahoma shot itself in the foot in the first half, how Percy Harvin was the difference maker, or question why Bob Stoops ran the ball so often for example) then the fall-back is to slather the star QB with superlatives like a giddy High-school freshman cheerleader twirling her curls with her finger and looking up with hopeful doe-eyes at the star player.
"There is no greater a leader in College Football history than Tim Tebow" - Kirk Herbstreet, ESPN
Granted, Tim Tebow is probably the player most representative of today's College football which utilizes spread offenses requiring a mobile quarterback with simple pass-routes ran by lightning fast recievers. He's got a football resume that's second to none (1 Heisman trophy, 3rd place in the Heisman voting the next year, 2 National Championships), and he's relatively free of scandal. By all accounts, he's a nice guy. But why the need to deify the guy? Isn't it enough that he's a good quarterback and a good team captain without tripping over yourself in an effort to see who can perform the most blatant act of over-the-air, verbal intercourse with the guy?
Florida is standing astride history with their second B(C)S title in three years because Urban Meyer is a great coach. They won the first title with Charlie Batch calling the signals. Tebow came in and did his patented "jump pass" (which made NFL offensive coordinators cringe) for a touchdown and a star was born. Last year Tebow had the greatest statistical year ever by a quarterback, and his team was beaten in the Capital One Bowl by an average Michigan team (known previously for a humiliating home loss to Appelachian State earlier in the year).
Missing from the Capital One Bowl? Percy Harvin. The real battery that powers the Florida offensive engine. Oklahoma had no answer for Harvin, who many say was on the field at less than 100%. When Harvin touched the ball, good things happened for Florida. On the Gators second touchdown, after Tebow had failed twice to punch the ball across the line, it was Harvin via a direct snap that plunged in. Tebow threw two interceptions that gave the Sooners field position, and Florida's defense rose up and pulled the Gators out of the fire. Yet all the announcers wanted to talk about was Tim Tebow's Spring missionary trip to perform castrations on young boys in the Philippines. It was that bad.
Now granted, sportswriters have never been ranked high in the annals of watchdog reporters. Ty Cobb was given a free pass for his boorishness as was Pete Rose. The notoriously "tough" NY press overlooked scores of Yankee scandals throughout the years, including the alcoholism of Babe Ruth and Micky Mantle. ESPN self-promotes and attributes news broken by other outlets to their own beat writers, often ignoring media reports that broke several hours prior. Local sports columnists are even worse, a mixture of hopelessly biased homers or out of touch elitists who view themselves as the moral compass of the games they cover. (Yes, I'm looking at YOU Skip Bayless) There's often a tendency in sports writing to try and make history instead of just reporting on it. "Game of the decade/year" is thrown around like candy, sometimes before the first quarter/inning/half has played out. Some bold reporters even attempt to classify a game for the ages before its even been played. (Hi Chris Berman!)
Because of this its only natural for those with lesser talent to attempt to their subjects to rediculous heights. This has been a common practice since Howard Cosell gained fame through his association (and fawning coverage) of Muhammed Ali. The problem? Ali was a flawed man. A great champion, a great boxer, and a good man, but a flawed man with many of the same internal demons tormenting him that we all face daily. What he could do is box better than almost anyone else before or since. History, not Cosell, has determined this to be true.
History might reveal the same thing about Tebow. He might go down as one of the greatest College Football Players ever. We'll only know the answer to that in time, attempts by the media to deify him notwithstanding. They tried the same thing with Vince Young and its looking more and more like they were wrong. Just as VY could go down in history as a good college QB who didn't have the skill set to become a good NFL QB, its still possible that Tim Tebow could find himself in the same boat. If that's the case then he'll join VY and a host of other College QB's in a pretty high-rent district. Sure, its not curing cancer or recieving the Holy power of Divine healing, but its probably the most accurate placement for Tebow in the long run.
Unless he comes back for his Senior season and improves his passing that is....
