Category Archives: Football

Football, Positive Psychology, Sports, Uncategorized, Youth Sports

A defeat only on the score board

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

The mad rush to place blame on this player or that one in the Patriot’s second Super Bowl loss in 4 years to the NY Giants underscore’s our collective obsession with score board orrientation in sports. It is a sad lesson for our children that the only thing we seem to value is a W. I was at the NFC Championship game in San Francsico two weeks ago and in the wake of their overtime loss to the now Super Bowl Champion NY Giants, the 49er faithful seemed to forget that a year ago they had a record of  6-10.

It is as if we forget the sheer effort it takes just to set foot on NFL game turf as a player, let alone be one of two teams competing for the Super Bowl championship rings each year. What great coaches know, and what hopefully Americans will come to appreciate, is that in every individual performance are strengths to build on for the next challenge.

Consider this TED talk by Shawn Achor:

The Patriots have had only two losing seasons (1995, 2000) since Bob Kraft took over ownership 18 years ago. The Patriots have gone to seven conference championship games and six Super Bowls during that span.

Consider what the Patriot’s have to build on in the off season…

  1.  The Patriots have two first-round picks and two more in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
  2. Josh McDaniels will be the team’s offensive coordinator next season.
  3. Where can you go but up from the low rank of 31st in the league in terms of defense.
  4. Gronkowski will be healed from his injury.
  5. Tom Brady will stil the be the QB.
  6. Welker will push himself even harder next year.

 

Consider the words of Patriot’s owner Bob Kraft

When we dedicated this season to my sweetheart, I met with the players and coaches and asked them to do everything that they could do to make this season special in her honor. I think our fans were just terrific, the way they stayed with us. And, I must tell you, that the strength and spirit I saw with the team is unlike any other team I’ve seen in my 18 years in the NFL.

I think that sense of spirit also was ignited by our fans, the way they supported our team and also the way they supported our family. That’s something that I’m forever going to be grateful for. I think this was a memorable season, and one I won’t forget for a long time.

That’s it in a nutshell – gratitude for that which has just happened. No regrets for what didn’t. We should all have the owner’s perspective.

Congratulations to Tom Coughlin and his NY Giants.

 

Atheism, Daily Life, Football, Youth Sports

It’s a Miracle! Not.

The latest run of Miracle madness got started on October 11, 2011, when it was announced that Tim Tebow would replace Kyle Orton as the Broncos’ starting quarterback.

In his first start, Tebow would lead the Broncos in a come-from-behind 18–15 overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins, after being down 15–0 with under three minutes to go in the game. On November 22, 2011, Orton was waived and since the quarterback change, the Broncos went 7–4, including four consecutive game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime against the New York Jets in Week 11, the San Diego Chargers in Week 12, the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13 and the Chicago Bears in Week 14.

It should be pretty clear to football fans everywhere that Tebow is a pretty good quarter back. Just ask Ben Roethlisberger. With Tebow at the helm, the Broncos set the NFL overtime record for the fastest victory ever, beating the Steelers in 11 seconds with a quick 80 yard passing play. Where this all comes to a crashing halt is around the cult of Tebow.

Tebow seems like a nice guy. He seems to be a very positive, generous, and caring man. Terry Bradshaw even stated on Fox Sports yesterday that he hoped the Bronco’s would win because Tebow was such a positive role model for the kids of today. Or is he?

Tebow is an outspoken evangelical Christian whose penchant for last-minute heroics this season gave him a reputation as a miracle worker. He credits the Bible for informing his morality and defining his clean lifestyle. But as he is someone who holds the bible as the literal and true word of god, there is a dark side that we do not hear about.

Tebow publicly espouses the biblical virtues of kindness and forgiveness, but he also is likely harboring the dark twisted parts of the bible underneath. Tebow says he follows ALL of the bible, and regards it as the literal word and law of god. Also, like the Taliban, Tebow wants god’s law to be human law. Sharia!

My objection is not so much with Tebow, but with the mass media. Their reports of Tibow’s string of victories event as if they constituted divine intervention are, frankly, stupid. Reading the papers or glancing at the television, one could have got the impression that His Holiness the Tebow was the accepted moral tutor for the entire world.

The press has given Tebow an open mic to opine on abortion, virtue, and piety. When will reporters ask Tebow to share his views on gay marriage, the subservience of women, the power of the devil, were the dinosaurs too big for the Ark, or the age of the planet?

Tebow’s overt Christianity has resounded with the American public, most of whom claim to be Christian. The sad truth is that Tebow’s medieval, fundamentalist, demon fearing, tongues speaking beliefs are the antithesis of what most Americans believe. In fact, Tebow likely thinks YOU (and most Americans) are going to Hell.

Tebow was home-schooled, forced to memorize bible passages, and indoctrinated with fundamentalist ideology like a Wahhabi boy in a madrasas. If a guy in a robe “Tebowed” in the aisle of a plane, he would get tackled by an air marshal or passengers. He shares the same fervor and faith as women’s clinic bombers and the god Hates Fags people.

Why should we treat Tebow any different than any other radical fundamentalist?

You might be rethinking your Tebowtion but the mass media had a complete absence of critical thinking on the subject. The sense that one received from the mass media, which very often reported the “miracle” without even troubling to mention the contrary evidence, was that Tebow was a miracle worker. The best that even skeptical reports could do was to cite those “for” the miracle and those “against,” as if by quoting both sides they had fulfilled the duty of objectivity. Some devoted Denver priest says Tebow had god on his side, but this Boston priest says god loves all football players and doesn’t intervine. Who knows? We report . . . you decide.

The notable exception of presenting contrary evidence was last night’s CNN Breaking news:

From: “CNN Breaking News” <BreakingNews@mail.cnn.com>
To: textbreakingnews@ema3lsv06.turner.com
Subject: CNN Breaking News

The New England Patriots don’t give Tim Tebow the chance for a miracle in a 45-10 playoff rout of the Denver Broncos.

I wonder how it felt to face the anti-christ in the form of Bill Belichick. After all, who else has the power to thwart god’s will?