Tim Tebow

For starters, if you don't like this guy, you are literally an idiot.

This weekend ended Tim Tebow's fairy tale, Disney-style season with the Broncos. I've never been more emotionally torn over a football game because although my team is the Patriots and I enjoyed watching them play so well, I hoped for a more competitive game and wanted to see Tebow perform well, win or lose.

But after the game ended, I realized that win or lose, football really isn't the reason we like Tim Tebow. Granted, the dramatic come-from-behind victories were always exciting and the touchdown pass in OT against the Steelers was beautiful, but that isn't why we like him. He was voted "Americas Favorite Athelete" this year. He beat out, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and various others who you have to admit  are better "athletes" on the court or field. So why do we like him?

BECAUSE HE'S THE MAN, in every sense of the word. He's a stand-up guy, through and through. He's nice to everyone, even his opponents. It's almost weird, but it puts a smile on their face. He brings out sick children and their families to watch him play and meets them before or after games to ensure they're having the time of their life. Non-religious people can't help but like him because he's a great guy and shows that men and athletes can still show moral excellence and be a valuable asset to humanity as a whole.

Christians, including myself, absolutely adore this guy. I used to joke (half-joke) that I wish we could make a new title for Christians besides "Christian" because I was sick of crazy people in the media making the title of "Christian" look like a bad thing. But for once, there's a Christian being showcased in the media who isn't being a psycho, walking around with "Thank God For Dead Soldiers" signs and being a judgmental hypocrite. The guy walks the walk, 100%, all the time, and have you heard him judge or condemn anyone for not living like him? Nope, and I'm pretty positive we never will. When Jesus was asked in Luke 10 what the greatest commandment was, he answered "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." That is how Tim Tebow lives, and the results speak for themselves. He is truly an inspiration to me as a man, a Christian, and yes, even as a sports fan.

So yes, although his 2011-2012 football season is over, this is by no means the last we'll hear of Tim Tebow. I have confidence he'll continue growing as an athlete and a quarterback, but I'm more excited to see him grow as a man of God who is, in all senses of the phrase, letting his light shine on the world.

One of Ghandi's most famous quotes on Christianity is "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians." I don't think he could have said that about Tim Tebow.

Girls and Sports

For centuries, men have been trying to balance out their love of sports and their love of the opposite sex. We love sports, we love our teams, but we love THE LADIES as well. Yes, the girl pictured above has earned some extra hot points for rocking the Red Sox shirt at a game, but some girls think they have us all figured out and that the way to our heart is talking sports. While there may be SOME truth to that, there's a few rules and guidelines you women folk should be following. Here they are:

1. Don't Insult My Team
As a Red Sox/Celtics/Patriots/Bruins fan living in Connecticut, I'm constantly caught in the Boston/New York rivalry. You can't escape it. Yes, I have met plenty of attractive Yankees fans and believe it or not, it's not a "deal breaker". But it can be if you push it! After the Red Sox failed to make the playoffs this year, a "friend" of mine who likes the Yankees thought it would be funny to tease me on Facebook messenger. (Side note: I hate Facebook messenger no matter what we're talking about.) I took the first jab in stride, but after the second one, I deleted her. For real. And no, I haven't added her back, nor do I plan to. I can take a little harassment, but don't push it!

2. Don't Argue Sports If You Don't Know What You're Talking About
A fellow man once gave me the Five Player Test: When a female says "I like the *sports team*!", you, as a man, have the right to ask her to name five players on that team. If she can't, she is not allowed to talk about sports. Ever.

3. Don't Be a Dude
I'm pretty emotionally invested in my teams of choice. When the Red Sox lost to the Orioles to lose the A.L. Wild Card, I was in an emotional slump for the rest of the night. But I'm a guy. That's what we do. I like girls who act like girls:

-Be feminine.
-Make us late for our date because you can't pick what shoes you want to wear.
-Cry over a dumb chick flick.
-Spend way too much money on fashion accessories.

I don't need another guy in my life. I have guys. They're called "the guys". Yes, I'd love for you to watch the game with me and let me pick you up and spin you around when we win or rub my back while I sulk after a loss, but if you're screaming at the TV louder than I am, yeah. That's not gonna work. If your favorite part of going to Fenway with me is having an excuse to buy a Red Sox shirt and wear eye black, I'm more than ok with that. BE A GIRL. Don't be a dude.

Yes, a girl who likes sports is cool, but it's not going to make us love you any more if you know more about our favorite team than we do. That's like dating a girl who's taller than me, which I'm also not ok with.

Sports are cool. Girls are cool. Don't be a dude.

Sorry girl, all the Red Sox apparel and cute animals in the world won't make me fall for a middle-aged woman with braces.

Don't Tell Me My Favorite Teams Suck

Above is the magically wonderful, the one and only, FENWAY PARK, home of the Boston Red Sox, AND I'M GOING THERE TONIGHT! WOOHOO! Can't wait. The Red Sox are my favorite sports team, hands down, followed closely by the New England Patriots, the Boston Celtics, and the Boston Bruins. Why Boston? I'm from Connecticut. We have no pro sports teams for ourselves so we share Boston with the rest of New England: Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. (There's some quick geography for ya). Although I was only a causal supporter of sports up until my senior year of high school, my passion for my teams has grown more and more to the point where if you insult my teams, I'LL PROBABLY KILL YOU.

There are some people who LOVE having long, in-depth conversations about why YOUR team is a "bad" sports team. I don't get it. Do you really think after a simple conversation I'm gonna say "Yeah, you're right. My team's awful and yours is great. I'm clearly an idiot."? No. It's stupid. Love the teams you love and let other people love their teams too...except for the Yankees (because they're evil), the Cowboys (because they're evil), the Heat or the Lakers (evil evil evil), or the Padres (They just suck. Trust me, I've seen it. They are not good at baseball. They should give up and spend all 9 innings playing Cornhole in the parking lot with the fans.) KIDDING. I'm trying to prove a point that if you're a sports fan, you're gonna love the teams you love and hate the teams you hate no matter what, so arguing is pointless. I recently had jury duty and had an awesome conversation with a Yankees fan about how both of our teams were doing this year. No "Yankees suck" or "Red Sox suck" talk at all, just facts and stats about the season. It was a great, intelligent conversation with a fellow sports fan. You guys should try it some time.

In conclusion, let me summarize this post with a few key points:


1. My Team is awesome
2. Your Team is not awesome
3. My Team will beat your team every time we play each other
4. Your Team will never beat my team, even when they actually beat my team
5.  My team is awesome even when we suck, and your team sucks even when they're playing great.


"Dean, these points make no sense."- Casual reader of this Blog. They don't have to!!! This is what makes sports so great. You love your team through thick and thin with more bias than a girl telling you how hot their best friend is. That's the way it should be. Now go in peace, my brethren, and love your teams with all thine heart, and speak not against the teams of thine fellow man. AMEN AND AMEN.

Thanks again for listening and... GO SOX!!

PUPPYYYYYY!!!!