wow

I did not get much time this weekend to watch the NFL's wild card playoff games, mostly because I have 2 kids playing the great sport of ice hockey. This time of year, that means we run like crazy each and every weekend, shuttling them to 4 games and a practice over what used to be our 48 hours of non-stop partying-till-we-puked boogies.

Well, actually, we never had wild and crazy weekends before kids, so.......I embellished that last part.

But hey, speaking of wild, how about that Denver-Pittsburgh finish last night? I figured that the Steelers D was going to ruin Mr. Tebow's playoff run with ease. On my way home from my daughter's hockey game, the magic of the iphone informed me that the Steelers were somehow losing the game, 20-6. I got home in time for the beginning of the 4th quarter to see the Steelers assert themselves, tie the game, and set themselves up for the inevitable win (the amount of non-calls in the 4th quarter of that game was atrocious, the Steeler D really got away with quite a few obvious penalties). At 23-23, like most of you, I expected the Steelers to pull the game out and roll into Foxboro ready to steamroll the Patriots.

And then....a bit of a miracle. I was actually stunned. That's the power of a good game, it can grab you - 2500 miles away - and have you sitting in your living room in silence thinking "did I just see what I think I saw?"

I don't get the Tebo hate. The kid's all of 24 and he's a vocal proponent of his religious beliefs. He's hardly alone in the NFL, unless you've missed the conversions of Deion Sanders or Michael Irvin, to name only two. Players routinely praise the Lord for their victories when presented with microphones and cameras.

I agree with those who say it's silly to think that God cares about what happens on a 100-yard patch of grass. Such thinking trivializes cosmic powers beyond our intellect. I don't think God cares who wins or loses, or what "message" is sent by yet another Yankees WS win. Sports, at their best, can inspire and unite....and mostly serve as a diversion from our more mundane talents (like writing bad blogs, just for example).

I don't know Tim Tebow or what he believes or even what he's gone on record yapping about (I didn't look it up). He's become known for affecting a position of prayer after scoring - something a couple of my hockey players have been doing after scoring goals, saying "Coach Bob, I'm Tebowing." Ok, so he's become a verb, now.

And....what's wrong with that? My opinion on it all is that if Mr. Tebow is using his star status to say "hey, I recognize I'm a lucky schmuck of a QB to be playing well enough to win these games, I know I'm not the best QB or the smartest ....I'm not Brady or Manning....but thank you for this, it's fun." An athlete recognizing his good fortune is a good thing, better than the "look at me" crap we're all used to.

Of course, what if Tebow's using his celebrity to simply affect the same "look at me, I'm Super-Christian, Captain Jesus of the Christ Brigade"? Well, in that case, he's no better than Stevie Johnson, and might as well shoot himself in the leg.

Oh, that's been done.

He seems like a good guy, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt - he's a kid after all. And that was one hell....I mean heck...of a finish last night.