Tag: sports

Inside the NFL concludes that the Tebow hate is nothing more than anti-Christian bigotry:

”Inside the NFL” analyst and former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth concluded that much of the hatred against Tebow was based on his religious beliefs. Responding to a question from fellow host James ‘JB’ Brown, Collinsworth showed his disgust for Tebow’s treatment: ”It’s unbelievable, though, JB, that one of the best kids – just pure kids that’s ever come into the NFL – is hated because of his faith, because of his mission work, because of the fact that he wears it on his sleeve, because of the fact that he lives his life that he talks about….”

Brown and Collinsworth concluded that much of the hatred against Tebow was based on faith. Brown pointed out: ”There’s a number of guys who come into the league with a big marquee, fat paychecks, a lot of attention, and folks don’t seem to hate them with the same intensity that they hate Tim Tebow.” Collinsworth concurred with Brown: ”I couldn’t agree with you more. And it’s kind of a sad commentary, that, you know, if someone is out carousing every night, the Joe Namath thing, or whatever, they’re American heroes, and Tim Tebow, who’s working in missions in Asia somewhere, is a guy that we’re going to vilify.”

Now, I don’t think much of Tebow’s chances to be a star quarterback in the NFL. I wouldn’t completely count him out because I wouldn’t completely count any quarterback prospect out. I do think he was probably drafted too highly, the “mechanics” metric is overrated, and that if the coaches and analysts had the position down to a science as they would like to pretend, we wouldn’t see first round draft busts every single year.

Maybe he does have an odd throwing motion. So does Philip Rivers. Perhaps he’s not a proper pocket passer. Neither is Michael Vick. The thing is, it is readily apparent that Tebow is a better quarterback when leading his team on the field in an actual game than Kyle Orton. The fact that his head coach has serious reservations about him is almost entirely meaningless considering how long Fox kept starting Jake Delhomme once he had turned into an interception machine.

At 1-5, it would be absurd for Denver to refuse to accede to the Denver fans wishes, start Tebow, and see what he’s got. They are finally doing so two games later than the fans would like to see, but then, the same thing is happening in Minnesota with Christian Ponder. Most Vikings fans wanted McNabb benched at least two weeks ago; I wanted to sit the wormburner down in favor of Joe Webb after Week Two although I thought it was reasonable to give him one more shot in Week Three just to be certain he was done.

But it is absolutely bizarre how many people in the media are actively cheering against Tebow. This, of course, just strengthens his support, not only among those who have cheered the man since his days at Florida, but among people like me who otherwise couldn’t possibly care less about the Broncos or the fate of their second-string quarterback.

They should have done this after Week Three:

Christian Ponder is in and Donovan McNabb is out in Minnesota. Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier has chosen Ponder as the team’s starting quarterback, Jason La Canfora of NFL Network reports.

It may not be enough. It probably won’t be enough. But at least we’ll find out what we have in Ponder and McNabb certainly wasn’t working in even the modest capacity that everyone envisioned for him. Hand off and throw a few passes to convert the occasional third down was all that was expected, but he couldn’t even manage the latter half of the equation.

85 Greenfield Grizzlies (4-1-0)
54 Bane Sidhe (1-4-0)

72 Green Reverends (3-1-1)
48 GroverBeach Quixotes (2-3-0)

70 MS Swamp Spartans (3-2-0)
60 RR Redbeards (2-2-1)

53 Bailout Banksters (2-2-1)
43 Moundsview Meerkats (3-2-0)

65 Macau Marauders (2-2-1)
57 Cranberry Rhyneauxs (1-4-0)

This is your weekly NFL open post.

102 Moundsview Meerkats (3-1-0)
64 Bane Sidhe (1-3-0)

79 Greenfield Grizzlies (3-1-0)
60 MS Swamp Spartans (2-2-0)

79 RR Redbeards (2-1-1)
79 Macau Marauders (1-2-1)

73 GroverBeach Quixotes (2-2-0)
42 Bailout Banksters (1-2-1)

66 Green Reverends (2-1-1)
59 Cranberry Rhyneauxs (1-3-0)

Arian Foster is back! And with Michael Turner and Beanie Wells performing at a high level, the Meerkats now have an effective running game to go with the lethal passing of Aaron Rodgers. The matchups predict wins for both the Meerkats and the Grizzlies; a pair of 4-1 starts would put both old school teams in position to make playoff runs. The defending champion, meanwhile, appear to be struggling and Andre Johnson’s injury isn’t going to help.

This is your weekly open NFL thread.

“Raiders owner Al Davis, whose NFL legend as a pioneering rebel began 60 years ago as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts and was punctuated with a 1992 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in Canton, has died at 82.”

Someone has to win in this week’s epic remake of Super Bowl IV, right? The question is which is the more immovable force, the Kansas City offense or the Minnesota passing offense.

With both Foster and Colston back from injury, I’ve elected to start the former and sit the latter. We’ll see how that goes.

Nate and the WB conspired to beat me up in the first two weeks of the season. My RB1 and RB3 are both Q and RB1 may as well be O. My TE, and WR1 are both O. If the key to championships is remaining injury free, I would appear to be in trouble.

This is your weekly open NFL thread. With regards to which I am curious as to whether the Vikings will find a way to choke in the second half against the Lions or if they will simply get blown off the field by Megatron, the Ndominator, and company.

103 MS Swamp Spartans (2-0-0)
70 GroverBeach Quixotes (0-2-0)

73 RR Redbeards (2-0-0)
52 Moundsview Meerkats (1-1-0)

80 Greenfield Grizzlies (1-1-0)
62 Macau Marauders (1-1-0)

104 Cranberry Rhyneauxs (1-1-0)
69 Bane Sidhe (1-1-0)

92 Bailout Banksters (0-1-1)
92 Green Reverends (0-1-1)

Thanks to the combined efforts of Arian Foster, Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blounte, the Meerkats somehow managed to lose again to their bete rouge, the Redbeards. It was particularly bad when Williams had a TD taken off the board thanks to an illegal shift penalty, since I couldn’t even take solace in what should have been a Vikings victory.

How is it possible that the special teams coach doesn’t tell his kick returners to take a knee when it’s a three-point game and there are only six minutes left? Sure, a decent return would be helpful. But even more helpful would be NOT STARTING ON THE NINE-YARD LINE!

This is your weekly open NFL thread. After listening to Kurt Warner opine on the NFL Network, I am convinced that there is still some hope for Donovan McNabb, his proclivity for throwing at the receivers’ shins notwithstanding. I am concerned, however, that the real problem may be the offensive coordinator. Warner said that after reviewing every single passing play, he concluded that there were only three (3!) called passing plays of more than 10 yards. One game in, the 2011 Vikings offense is making Childress’s infamous Kick Ass offense look like 1998’s Three Deep.

I also thought it was interesting that part of Cam Newton’s historic performance was credited to the brief window in the lockout when coaches were permitted to contact players. Apparently, Carolina got him a playbook and Newton used the summer to get the terminology and a large percentage of the plays down. This tends to bode very well for Newton and indicates that he is no Michael Vick/Aaron Brooks who is content to skate on talent, but is rather more in the vein of a Tavaris Jackson, albeit considerably more talent.

Don’t get me wrong, Seattle fans, the Experiment will never be more than NFL backup material. But he is a good guy who works extremely hard. If Newton combines Jackson’s work ethic with Vick’s talent, he could become the first genuine elite running quarterback since Daunte Culpepper’s glory days.