First, I personally don’t think Tebow is a class act. Sure, he’s not sexting like Brett Favre. But at least Favre was doing what he does in private.

Tebow doesn’t do anything in private. He’s what the Bible calls a hypocrite. He makes his faith a public spectacle.

Think about it. Tebow believes there’s an all powerful, and all knowing, magical being that bends the laws of physics to help him win football games if he puts on a public spectacle.

As an atheist I think Tebow’s belief makes him out to be an idiot.

As someone with deep faith, I’d be outraged that Tebow believes that God is taking time out of his busy day to help him in such trivial pursuits. It’s such an ego trip. It’s like a four year old boy yelling out, “I’m important because I have a big brother who can kick your ass.” Only a lot more offensive to theists and atheists alike.

So, I do not believe that Tebow is a class act. His shtick, his spectacle, his pandering, is highly demeaning to nearly everyone. Everyone except for that minority of theists who find comfort in believing that God helps devotes win football games while letting children starve.

And furthermore, Plaschke’s piece is simply poorly argued. At one point Plaschke criticizes people who forget Tebow’s victories while focusing on his beliefs. In other words, criticizing people for focusing on the very spectacle that Tebow performs at every game.

However, Plaschke then argues that Tebow should be praised for his “strength born of faith.”

Look, Plaschke, you can’t criticize people for focusing on Tebow’s faith and then demand that Tebow should be praised for his faith.

And second of all, if Tebow’s “strength” was based on empiricism, instead being born of faith, he’d still be a quarterback in the NFL. In other words, faith doesn’t matter. Real world results do.

So, Plaschke, to answer your original question, if Tebow can’t find another quarterback job in the NFL, it will have nothing to do with his faith or the classiness of his shtick. It’ll be because he’s simply is not good enough.

Update:

And here’s the last reason Plaschke piece was asinine. He argues that Tebow is a worthy quarterback but that the NFL will not accept him. Well, he’s already been proved wrong on that. Apparently the Jets want Tebow fever. Plaschke, it makes no sense to argue that Tebow is a worthy quarterback but won’t be allowed to play. The NFL doesn’t care about a person’s faith. Only if they can win. And clearly Tebow has proved that. It’s just that Manning has more proof.

Share this:

In a nutshell, Michigan’s BCS standing dropped from 15th to 16th so the only way they could attend a good bowl game would be if some better teams lost.

The article stated that the players were watching various key games over the weekend rooting for Georgia and Oklahoma to lose.

“We watched probably every game we could possibly watch throughout the day,” said Koger, who watched the games at linebacker Kenny Demens’ house. “J.B. Fitzgerald was just so negative throughout the day.

In the end, the right teams lost and Michigan was ensured a spot to play in the Sugar Bowl.

A series of favorable outcomes ensured that wouldn’t happen. The Wolverines rose three spots in the final standings, finishing at 13th and punching their ticket to New Orleans.

Man oh man I just love this quote:

“It just kind of re-establishes what this team has been able to do and how far we’ve come, especially with the expectations we had coming into the season,” Van Bergen said.

WTF? The fact that other teams serendipitously lost “re-establishes” what Michigan has been able to do?! Michigan, you didn’t get into a bowl game based upon what you did. You got into a bowl games based on the failure of others!

Share this:

I’ve complained about this before. NFL tickets cost too much for some markets. How do I know this? Because of TV blackouts. When fans are faced with the dilemma of either buying a ticket or not seeing the game at all… and when those same fans choose not to see the game at all, the ticket prices are too high.

My favorite restaurant does not punish me when I decide to eat at home. My favorite band does not punish me when I chose to listen to their music at home. My favorite movie director does not punishment when I decide to watch his movies at home.

I realize those are not a perfect analogies, but why does the NFL feel a need to punish fans for refusing to pay their high prices? According to Simmons, the answer is greed. And if what he’s arguing is correct, it won’t be a problem for long.

Share this:

Here’s the argument in a nutshell. The NFL is socialist in three ways.

First, there is a salary cap. That means each team can only spend the same amount as any other team. That puts all teams on the same footing. In contrast, in Major League Baseball the Yankees spend $206 million per year while the Pittsburgh Pirates only spends $40 million. The Yankees will always get better players.

Second, the teams equally share TV revenues. When the Patriots play the Detroit Lions, each team gets the same portion of TV revenue. Yes, the Lions are rewarded for failure.

Third, the teams with the worst records get the best draft picks. Once again, the worst teams are rewarded, while the teams that work hard and win, get the worst new players.

Another thing the NFL does to help lesser teams is to not have any playoff series. In baseball and basketball they play multiple games to see who wins. That’s not true in the NFL.

So in the NFL it is much more likely for an underdog team to move forward in the playoffs. Everyone was shocked that the Seahawks beat the Saints in the playoffs. If the Seahawks were forced to beat them in a series, they probably couldn’t have won two games. But they were able to pull off that one win. And that was very exciting.

It’s clear why the NFL does this. If the NFL followed MLB’s system, the vast majority of teams could never go to the Super Bowl. For example, how could the Green Bay Packers, which is located in a city of only 100,000 people, compete against the New York Jets?! Under the MLB’s system, the Packers would never have a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Much in the same way the Pittsburgh Pirates will never go to the World Series.

Share this:

Well, two NFL teams, including my home town losers the Lions, have decided that maybe I’m right. They’re actually lowering ticket prices.

I’d guess that after you add up the ticket prices for your family, pay for parking, replace the radio stolen from your car, and the glass that was broken to get the radio, plus pay for the ridiculously over-priced food at the stadium, it’d probably still be cheaper to take your family to Hawaii for a week.

But it’s still nice to know they’re making some effort. That’s more than we can say about the effort they’re making on the field.

Share this:

That didn’t happen last night. When Brett Favre entered Lambeau Field the Green Bay fans booed him. At that point I wanted Minnesota to win.

Brett Favre did not quit the Packers. He was essentially forced out. I have no problem with the Packers’ decision. No matter how great Favre is now, they needed someone long term, and that someone was and is Aaron Rodgers.

Still, Brett gave the Packers 15 years of his life. He never missed a game in all of those years and started every single one. He didn’t even miss the game the day after his dad died. He took the Packers to the Super Bowl twice, one of which he won. And for that he’s booed.

Nearly the same thing happened to former Packer kicker Ryan Longwell back in 2006. He played for the team for 8 years and was their all time leading scorer. Yes, he did more for the team than any other player in the franchise’s history. So when his contract was up he asked for more money. He was shown the door. And for that he was booed.

How many people in the stands who booed Ryan or Brett work for less than they deserve solely because of some duty and loyalty owed to their employer? To those Walmart greeters in the audience, did you forgo wage increases because you owe it to the Walton family to be paid less? To those former factory workers in the audience, did you thank your former employers for taking your job overseas?

Sure, when you play for a team you have to have loyalty. But that loyalty ends when the team no longer wants you. It’s asinine to expect someone to give loyalty to a team when the team refuses to give it back. And it’s simply beyond mean-spirited to boo someone who gave their all and best to you and your team.

Share this:

There’s also a childlike meanness to the rule. Like the fans need punishment for not doing what they’re supposed to be doing. “If you won’t play my way, I’m picking up my toys and going home!”

The best case example in support of the NFL’s blackout rule would be a successful team with a winning record that still cannot sell out games. The players and team think, “God what else can we do? We’re winning games, why won’t people come and see us play?”

But even in that best case example, which I’d guess rarely happens, if ever, there is simply no reason to punish your fans. No one does a hobby or enjoys entertainment because they’re forced to. The minute you’re forced to do something, it becomes a chore.

It also ignores that the ticket prices in the NFL might be too high. However, instead of lowering prices, the NFL would rather punish its fans for spending its money on food, clothes, and mortgages. Is that how you build a fan base?

It also ignores the fact that by making it difficult to see games, the next generation of young people growing up will not be exposed to your team. So any short term benefits earned from the blackout BS will kill the support for your team in the long run.

Let’s face it, the vast majority of football fans do not go to see the games in the stadium. But yet they’re still fans. They still watch the game, listen to the game, and buy team merchandise.

If a team pulls its local coverage, so that the vast majority of fans cannot follow the games, how long will they remain fans? And because the children of these former fans did not grow up watching the local team, they’ll have no emotional tie to the team. So those future fans will be lost too.

I’m sure plenty of you are thinking that the blackout rule has been around for a long time and it has not killed any teams yet. But it has. Every time a team moves due to lack of local support, e.g., the Browns moving to Baltimore to become the Ravens. Or the Jacksonville Jaguars and five other teams considering moving to Los Angeles.

And the team I’m most concerned about is the Detroit Lions. They completely suck. Their suckage is legendary. Based upon the massive amount of suck, the Lions simply do not deserve any fans to go and watch them play. The whole “fair weather fan” criticism is complete bullshit. Fans should ignore teams that suck. Exactly what incentive is there for a team to do better if they’re selling out all of their games despite their losing record?

And think about this, would you consider buying your favorite fast food if it started tasting like shit? Would you buy CDs from your favorite musician if his music completely sucked? Would you continue seeing movies from your favorite actor, even though they completely sucked? And would you continue buying and drinking your favorite beer if they added horse urine as an ingredient? No of course not. When something sucks you stop supporting it.

And that’s why the Lions are in so much trouble. Right now there is no reason to go to the stadium to watch them. So the games are blacked out, so any remaining fans cannot watch. That means over time there will be fewer fans. Eventually the team will reach a tipping point where nothing will be able to save it and the team will be forced to leave the state and change its name.

Wait, maybe that’s a good thing!

Share this: