January 9, 2012
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1 Tim Tebow is officially the real deal. Yesterday's upset of Denver over Pittsburgh must go down as one of the greatest upsets in NFL history. It must also go down as a startlingly exciting game.
2 His overtime pass on the first play to Demaryius Thomas will remain one of the greatest plays of all time.
3 I was amazed at his play. I had heard tales of Tebow, but I had not yet seen Tebow play. I have been ridiculously busy these past four months, so my focus on football was primarily watching my Niners, as well as watching the Raiders.
4 I kept hearing about Tebow, but somehow couldn't catch a game. In yesterday's game, I saw him lob balls that sort of flopped gently into the hands of wide receivers who were thirty yards downfield. I didn't even know that he was a southpaw.
5 Astonishing. The NFL can still turn on the magic when needed.
6 I knew that a team that relied on one quarterback probably wasn't going to get past its first playoff game, but I tuned in yesterday anyway. I was in a mini-boycott of the rest of life as it to tried all year to take me away from my personal life. I specifically refer to the ridiculous demands of teaching this year.
7 That's another subject, however. The fact is that I decided to enjoy a game for once this year. I had been recording Niner games and watching them during flights of insomnia, fast-forwarding through commercials to shorten the time.
8 I hadn't seen Tebow. So yesterday was quite a treat. Okay, so I was still working, designing vocab lessons between plays, but I am pretty happy that I got to see one of the last bastions of incredible NFL games.
9 The reality is that the Broncos had lost three games going in, and that Tebow was likely going to be benched if he didn't perform. The Steeler's were the number one team in the NFL against the pass. So how did this happen?
10 The great answer is this: "Who knows?"
11 Tebow, known for doing a prayer to God after games, probably knows, at least in his mind.
12 Unsung hero: Inquiring sports' journalists point to the performance of Steelers' backup running back Isaac Redman as an unsung hero, replacing injured starter Rashard Menenhall, and winding up with a career high 121 yards on 17 carries.
13 I wonder what that journalist thought of the performance of the Steelers' starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who played his second big game in a row limping and in excruciatingly obvious pain? Despite that, he commandeered a comeback from a 14-point deficit to force the overtime. At times, he looked like a grizzly bear that was being taunted. At other times, he looked incredibly like Zort, the people-zapping creature in the classic 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still.
14 Ironically, Friday's DN had a picture of Zort at the top of the page. Anyway, I was amazed that Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin didn't have a contingency plan to bring in a backup. Why not?
15 It's a long, somewhat seedy story. Roethlisberger was suspended for the first six games of the 2010 season for allegedly doing bad things. He was never convicted of anything, yet new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspened him because it was the second time (the first was in 2008) such charges were brought against Roethlisberger. Goodell later reduced the suspension to four games for "good behavior". This might be why Redman donned the unsung hero status over Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger played despite having been brutally banged up by the 49ers. This begs the question: why no contingency plans on the part of Pittsburgh?
16 The Steelers' backup quarterbacks have been in question for a while now. The aging Charlie Batch spent the summer at negotiations, and Dennis Dixon was a no-show at camp. He also has knee concerns. I'm not even certain as to who is back there, since the Steelers thought of dumping both Roethlisberger and Dixon in August.
17 They looked like what they were, a limping, beat-up team with lots of old guys. They made Tebow look absolutely sensational. I'm beginning to think that he his, although he picked on a secondary that simply couldn't stop the bleeding. Tebow and Thomas repeatedly burned cornerback Ike Taylor, for example, on four separate plays.
18 To be honest, I'm no expert on other NFL teams. I did a lot of the research for this at 3 a.m., when I awakened and remembered that I hadn't yet written today's DN.
19 I was originally going to go on a bit of a diatribe about the state of football nowadays. I was particularly upset by the news telling me that if I want Niners' season tix in the new stadium, that it will cost me $30,000, or $60,000 for a pair. That was up-front, and due today. That was in yesterday's Merc News. It would also cost me $7000 per season for my two seats. And they want the money today.
20 My dad has had these seats since water was invented. He has been a devoted season ticket holder for years. He can no longer go to the games, so my sister Gayle and I have purchased his season tickets, and we have allowed our kids, nieces, and nephews to enjoy Niner games in the tradition of the family.
21 So I was not a happy camper when I saw that all of the Faithful were going to get moved out when the Niners come down to Santa Clara. It put a bit of a damper on the season, but I fully intend to enjoy this season to the end.
22 I was ready to boycott the NFL completely, and to engage myself in my high school's sports, which I fully encourage everyone else to do as well.
23 But I couldn't help watching the Steelers/Broncos' game. I saw Tebow and couldn't stop watching. I began rooting for the Broncos. I saw John Elway. I saw the tradition. I feared Roethlisberger, despite his injuries. I expected a blowout by the Steelers, although all week I mentioned to Steelers' fans that they should have a contingency plan at quarterback.
24 They didn't, but they also didn't expect this young, God-fearin' quarterback to come into town and pistol-whip them, which he did. He torched the purportedly best pass defense in football. Ol' Ben brought them back, but with four seconds left in the game, he foreshadowed his own finish when he slammed the ball to the ground, like Moses' slamming of the tablets. It stopped the clock, but it looked Biblical.
25 Who knew that the first play in overtime would result in such drama? I threw down my sports' section and screamed along with the rest of America when Tebow struck Thomas with a dart at midfield, and then watched awestruck as Thomas took off like a Lear jet. He danced into the end zone, and to me, the last great football game may have just been played.
26 It was a moment, because it is probably the last time I will feel this way. Well, if the Niners win the Super Bowl I might howl a bit, but it will be bittersweet, and for several reasons.
27 It will be bittersweet of course because of what the Niners have done to their faithful ticketholders. It will be bittersweet because yesterday I saw a team defeated not only because they were injured, but also because they were hurt by the summer negotiations. And this morning I saw where the sport of football already is (take a look at the Dallas stadium) and where it is headed.
28 This was originally a blue-collar sport for people who worked hard and who wanted to take out their work woes on a violent, in-your face turf war made up of working class heroes.
30 It's sophistication began in the eighties, yet it is now becoming a game of steroid-pumped, overpaid morons, greedy owners, and mildly funny beer commercials. It has been that for some time now, but it never really hit home until I saw that article in the paper.
31 But for one bright, incredible afternoon, it was boots-up football, as classic a game as you'll ever see.
32 I'm sure I'll see a lot more in the coming years, but I won't enjoy many. The game showed both sides of its face. It startled me to see a young upstart quarterback who was likely to be benched step up and torch the supposedly better team. It amazed, delighted, and pumped up my entire afternoon.
33 I saw hope, and youth taking over a world that seems to have given up on itself.
34 Tebow had that sort of magic yesterday.
35 Tim Tebow is officially the real deal.
36 But the NFL is also officially the real deal, and it has dealt a bad hand to its fans.
36 This last NFL season can only become more interesting. Let's see where it leads, and then I'll probably get off the bus, for good.
37 Peace.
~H~
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