Bad sports, good sports: Denver fans putting up billboard in support of Tim Tebow

Posted on September 19th, 2011 by Alan Spoll

The football fans in the city of Denver have me baffled. Despite a miserable performance in training camp that was so bad it relegated him to third string, Tim Tebow continues to be the recipient of the adoration of many Broncos fans. This time, a group of fans are planning to put up some billboards with the intent of convincing head coach Jon Fox to start Tebow rather than Kyle Orton or Brady Quinn.

The amount of attention Tebow gets is truly astonishing. I am guilty of contributing to this myself, as this is the eighth time he has been mentioned in my column. He is certainly a compelling figure, for one reason or another, but the calls for him to start really confuse me. Granted, the Broncos had a pretty awful season last year, finishing 4-12 and in last place in the AFC West. Looking at the numbers, though, it would be tough to put that all on Orton, who threw for 20 touchdowns against only 9 interceptions, compiling a very respectable passer rating of 87.5. Despite that, the fans in Denver have never really embraced the Purdue product. The team actually considered trading Orton to Miami during training camp, but chose to keep him when Tebow looked so awful in practice and the early preseason games. Brady Quinn, the one-time Cleveland Browns quarterback who joined the Broncos last season, clearly outplayed Tebow in camp and has been serving as the backup since. Despite all that, these fans are determined that Tebow should be the guy, and are willing to spend a bunch of money to tell the coaching staff so.

I really don’t know if this is a product of the previous coaching staff spending a first round pick on Tebow last year, or if it’s more closely related to the general mystique around this guy that causes him to receive a level of press coverage that dwarfs any actual accomplishments that he has managed since entering the league. I know that a group of guys are about to be out a decent amount of money for something that is certain to be a wasted effort, and I am pleased at that self-imposed punishment for stupidity.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Former Major League Baseball player Manny Ramirez was jailed this week after allegedly hitting his wife during an argument. It’s good to know retirement has not changed the train wreck that is Ramirez.

3) Cleve Bryant, the associate athletics director at the University of Texas, was fired this week for sexual harassment of a female former football department employee.

4) Los Angeles Lakers forward and all-around head case Ron Artest has decided to change his name to Metta World Peace. OK. Whatever.

5) This one is a terrible story. Jacob Rainey, a quarterback at the Woodberry Forest School in Virginia, was injured last week during a scrimmage. A main artery in his leg was severed, and he ended up having to have the leg amputated.

6) It is tough to actually find this shocking, but there was a bunch of controversy after the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight on Saturday night. In the fourth round of a fight that Mayweather was clearly leading, Ortiz head-butted Mayweather. Ortiz was then penalized by the referee. As they prepared to resume, Ortiz bizarrely leaned in and kissed Mayweather on the cheek. Then, just as the ref stepped back, Mayweather threw a quick punch at Ortiz for which he was clearly not ready. The shot that followed it ended the fight. Some people feel that Mayweather jumped the gun, and that his punch was against the rules. The people that count disagreed.

Good sports:

1) Sebastien Janikowski, kicker for the Oakland Raiders, tied the NFL record for the longest field goal in league history last week, kicking a 63-yarder as time expired in the first half of Oakland’s game against the Broncos.

2) Several Michigan fans sprang to the aid of a Notre Dame fan who had a heart attack during the first half of the game between the two teams at Michigan Stadium last weekend. The man is expected to recover.

3) When I was 16, I spent much of my time in my friend’s basement trying to be a rock star. Lexi Thompson, a 16-year-old golfer on the LPGA tour, has managed to accomplish a bit more than I did at the same age. On Sunday, she won the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama, becoming the youngest person to ever win an LPGA tournament.

Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02