Tag: sports

It’s because he understands that the real game that matters isn’t on the football field. After the upset playoff victory over the Steelers, Rick Reilly confesses that despite his initial doubts, he has become a believer:

Remember last week, when the world was pulling its hair out in the hour after Tebow had stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 80-yard OT touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in the playoffs? And Twitter was exploding with 9,420 tweets about Tebow per second? When an ESPN poll was naming him the most popular athlete in America?

Tebow was spending that hour talking to 16-year-old Bailey Knaub about her 73 surgeries so far and what TV shows she likes.

“Here he’d just played the game of his life,” recalls Bailey’s mother, Kathy, of Loveland, Colo., “and the first thing he does after his press conference is come find Bailey and ask, ‘Did you get anything to eat?’ He acted like what he’d just done wasn’t anything, like it was all about Bailey.”

More than that, Tebow kept corralling people into the room for Bailey to meet. Hey, Demaryius, come in here a minute. Hey, Mr. Elway. Hey, Coach Fox. Even though sometimes-fatal Wegener’s granulomatosis has left Bailey with only one lung, the attention took her breath away.

“It was the best day of my life,” she emailed. “It was a bright star among very gloomy and difficult days. Tim Tebow gave me the greatest gift I could ever imagine. He gave me the strength for the future. I know now that I can face any obstacle placed in front of me. Tim taught me to never give up because at the end of the day, today might seem bleak but it can’t rain forever and tomorrow is a new day, with new promises.”

I read that email to Tebow, and he was honestly floored….

For the game at Buffalo, it was Charlottesville, Va., blue-chip high school QB Jacob Rainey, who lost his leg after a freak tackle in a scrimmage. Tebow threw three interceptions in that Buffalo game and the Broncos were crushed 40-14.

“He walked in and took a big sigh and said, ‘Well, that didn’t go as planned,'” Rainey remembers. “Where I’m from, people wonder how sincere and genuine he is. But I think he’s the most genuine person I’ve ever met.”

There’s not an ounce of artifice or phoniness or Hollywood in this kid Tebow, and I’ve looked everywhere for it.

How can you not admire that equanimity? “Well, that didn’t go as planned.” The fascinating thing about Tebow, the polarizing thing about Tebow, is that in much the same way as Jesus Christ, the radiance of his actions shines a light upon us and forces us to look ourselves and our own actions in comparison. And we react in different ways. We can be inspired and attempt to go forth and do likewise, we can simply admire him while remaining personally unmoved, or we can react with hatred and anger for the way in which he causes us to lose righteousness in our own eyes.

Tebow matters because our instinctive response to him tells us, and others, an awful lot about our hidden inner characters.

This is why a mere backup quarterback for the New York Jets, not even worthy of so much as a third-round draft pick, commands such attention. It is part of why a team with a chaotic coach and a dysfunctional locker room brought him on board. And whether he replaces the Sanchize for three Wildcat plays a game or as the starter, who isn’t looking forward to the upcoming season, where the success or failure of Peyton Manning in Denver will tell us a lot about whether it was the Denver defense that should have gotten the credit for the Broncos’ unexpected playoff run.

Speaking of Peyton Manning, Peter King provides a detailed chronicle of his decision-making process, which is fascinating in light of his otherwise inexplicable choice of Denver over a stronger San Francisco team.

I’m sure moving to New York City is going to completely reduce Tim Tebow’s media presence:

Mike Klis of the Denver Post reports that the Jets will send the Broncos their fourth-round draft pick. Additionally, the Broncos will send a seventh-round pick to the Jets and receive a sixth-round pick from the Jets.

And in other news, an entire season’s suspension for Sean Payton strikes me as within the realm of reason, but a bit on the heavy side.

Peyton Manning decides to play in Denver:

ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen are reporting that free agent quarterback Peyton Manning has told his agent, Tom Condon, to open contract negotiations with the Denver Broncos.

And barring an “unexpected snag” in contract talks, Schefter and Mort are reporting that Manning will become the next quarterback of the Broncos.

The Broncos will try to trade Tim Tebow.

Like Tiki, I am flabbergasted. Not that the Broncos chose to sign Manning rather than let it ride with The Miracle of Tebow, but that Manning chose Denver over San Francisco. Time will tell, of course, but if his goal was to win one more Super Bowl, I think it’s pretty obvious that San Francisco would have been the more certain bet.

I’d assume Denver will trade Tebow to Jacksonville; if nothing else, he’ll sell plenty of jerseys and tickets.

Mark Kruse of Grantland addresses bracketologists, for varying degrees of “address” that includes “pushing you down and kicking you in the ribs”:

The NCAA tournament is properly rated. Many think it’s one of the best sporting events of the year. That’s what it is. But the whole fill-out-the-brackets thing? TOTALLY OVERRATED. I don’t do it. I won’t do it. Because I want to be able to watch Montana beat Wisconsin or Harvard beat Vanderbilt or South Dakota State beat Baylor, and enjoy that unabashedly, without worrying about whether I “picked” them or not. You “had” Montana? You “had” South Dakota State? No. You didn’t HAVE anything. You don’t deserve to claim even the most peripheral form of ownership. Because it matters to the kids on those teams and their coaches in a way that it doesn’t and shouldn’t and could never matter to you. And because they don’t deserve to be depersonalized into pieces to be so cavalierly “picked” or not “picked” in some annual national gambling exercise. And because they also don’t deserve to be called “bracket busters” if they win. It’s insulting and selfish. The point isn’t that they’ve ruined your chances to win some dumb pool. The point is that they’ve done something unexpected, exhilarating, and empowering, for themselves and the people who know them, love them, and have invested in them. Your “pick” does not count as an investment. You say this gives you a reason to watch and to care? “Picks” make you care about the thing you’ve set up to give you a reason to care about the thing … NOT the thing itself. The thing is the thing. Your brackets are not. At stake in games over the next three weeks: goals, dreams, jobs, futures. That’s not enough for you? An interest based on brackets is an inauthentic interest.

I’m kind of with him on this one. I don’t bother with brackets, I just want to see upsets and Cinderellas and 15 seeds beating 2 seeds.

The last time these two teams met in the Super Bowl, I was torn. I liked New England, Belichick, Brady, and Moss, but the combination of the Belicheat taping scandal and the arrogance of the 19-0 threat made me cheer, however reluctantly, for the New York Football Giants. And it turned out to be a great game in the end, a much better one than I had expected.

Since Belichick and Brady are rapidly approaching the end of their historic run together, I think I’d like to see them close it out with another Super Bowl victory. But can they do it? At first glance, they’d seem to have the most meaningful advantages on their side; the team with the better coach and quarterback usually wins, especially in the playoffs.

But Tom Coughlin is actually 3-1 against Belichick and is a more formidable gameday coach in his own right than most NFL observers seem to recognize. He hasn’t survived as long as he has in the league’s most brutal media market by being mediocre, and for all that Eli Manning often appears to be almost clueless about things, his nonchalant unawareness of the moment seems to serve him very well in big games. Where other quarterbacks strut, swagger, and eventually crumble before the pressure, Eli just keeps blithely throwing the ball as if it is the preseason and he’s already thrown four touchdowns, not two interceptions.

The Giants defensive line and wide receivers are definitely quite a bit better than their New England counterparts and it is said that the Patriots haven’t really beaten anyone this year. On the other hand, the Giants managed to lose to the Seahawks, the Redskins twice, and they were blown out by the Saints in Week 12, while the Patriots always kept it close, didn’t have any trouble with the Redskins, and even blew out the Eagles, who split their season series with the Giants.

In the end, I think the experience and determination of Belichick, Brady, and Wilfork is going to overcome the happy-to-be-there vibe that the Giants are giving off. The Super Bowl has not historically been kind to the team that is openly enjoying the experience. Unless the Giants manage to rip apart the vulnerable New England secondary and its wide receivers turned part-time cornerbacks early, the Patriots should be able to exploit what is really a dreadful Giants secondary with Welker and their two-headed rookie tight end monster, Gronkandez. Everyone has been talking about how the Patriots pass defense is ranked 31st in the league, but they appear to be forgetting that the Giants pass defense is ranked 29th and has intercepted fewer passes while giving up more passing touchdowns than the Patriots.

So, I expect New England to win today, with a score on the order of 31-27. Playoff record: 8-2.

There are rumors abounding that the Colts have decided to pass on the contractual option they possess on Peyton Manning for the low, low price of $28 million. There is an amount of sturm und drang about it, but the reality is that the Colts aren’t going to compete with or without him year, they paid him $26 million to do nothing last year, and the history of NFL players with neck fusions is not a salubrious one.

I think Manning’s best bet is probably to retire with his health and legacy intact, even though three-quarters of the teams in the league will be interested in him. The neck issue is just too dangerous. But regardless of what he chooses to do, I know the Colts will be wise to let him walk, which I’m anticipate they are planning to do regardless of what Jim Irsay is tweeting these days.

It seems astonishing that it was only two years ago that the Vikings were going into the Superdome and I was reasonably confident that they would walk out having taken another step towards for a very winnable Super Bowl. We all know how that ended up, thanks to the usual voodoo.

In the AFC game, I think the Patriots will beat the Ravens without too much trouble. Although they’re playing well, the Ravens defense is getting older, they don’t match up well with Hernandez and Gronkowski, and Belichick+Brady > Harbaugh+Flacco. I thought Houston actually looked like the better team last week and likely would have won without that dreadful decision by Jacoby Jones to try to field a punt better left untouched.

On the NFC side, it feels like the 1980s again. But the 49ers don’t have Montana or Young and I think the Giants will beat the 49ers in a more competitive game than the AFC championship. The 49ers defense is fearsome and hard-hitting, but the Giants offense isn’t a high-precision machine and won’t be disrupted as easily. He may look stupid, but Eli Manning’s apparent inability to recognize pressure becomes a big plus in the playoffs. He takes Barry Sanders’s “act like you’ve been there before” philosophy to new heights; when everyone else is celebrating a big, timely touchdown, he’s looking as if he’s wondering what the fuss is all about.

And looking at it from the conspiratorial angle, you have to think that the league would love to push the REVENGE angle with a Patriots-Giants Super Bowl. It was pretty obvious that the Packers were supposed to make it, but their meltdown was so complete that not even blatant assistance from the referees made any difference.

Last week 3-1. For the playoffs, 6-2.

UPDATE: Make that 8-2.

Or, if you prefer, six for seven. That being said, I was VERY impressed with the Houston performance against Baltimore. A third-string rookie QB playing on the road without their best defensive player and the Ravens still needed old school performances from Ray Lewis and Ed Reed to get the win. They will almost certainly be in the mix next year.

And Jermichael Finley, don’t overcelebrate making a catch for a first down, especially not if you’re going to drop the next one that hits you in the hands.