Left field

Which quarterback would you want to be your president?

Feb 2011 Reuters Ipsos QB Poll Topline (020312)

Tebow time makes way for Manning mania even outside U.S.

The Tim Tebow fairytale is over but NFL provided more drama with Super Bowl champions and previously imperious Green Bay being unceremoniously dumped out at home by New York Giants.

Over here in Europe, interest in NFL has grown markedly this year if Twitter trends are taken into account. Maybe the annual game in Wembley has boosted UK interest along with better live coverage on satellite TV but the players themselves deserve credit.

Undoubtedly the story of Denver Bronco’s quarterback Tebow has captured the imagination of fans around the globe. It’s not just his religious beliefs, it was his style of running and the fact he seemed to throw the ball all wrongly but still produced results.

The England Patriots, surely now the hot favourites for the title , ended his remarkable run in the divisional playoffs this weekend but Eli Manning’s nerveless performance for the Giants as Aaron Rodgers and the weak Packers defence fell apart means NFL’s new viewers may still be tuning in come next weekend’s Conference championships.

Manning looks a little unusual like Tebow. His helmet and shoulder pads seem way too big for his surprisingly small frame but his unerring passing accuracy and calmness under pressure at Lambeau Field, where teams are not meant to win, was remarkable.

The fact it’s the San Francisco 49ers aganst the Giants next week may also mean the worldwide NFL fanbase stays hooked. Along with the Cowboys and the Packers , the 49ers and the Giants are arguably the most well-known NFL teams outside the U.S. and the west/east coast fight adds to the allure.

The only shame? The game is being played in California. For European audiences that means a very late start. That will test the diehards.

from Photographers Blog:

The Tebow phenom

By Rick Wilking

Do a Google search on this new celebrity and there are 299,000,000 results. Brad Pitt? No, he only has 187 million. I’m talking about the newest phenom in the world of sports – Tim Tebow.

Being a Denver-based photographer where Tebow plays starting quarterback for the Broncos has kept me in the vortex of the Tebow storm. Going back to his first start late last season and then training camp in August, we’ve been focusing on his young career. Would he start this year or would he not was the hot topic back in late summer. Kyle Orton was eventually chosen as starter but when the team went 1–4 Tebow got the nod and Orton was out. Then the fun really began.

Tebow was a superstar in college at the University of Florida (first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, won not one but two NCAA National Football Championships) but how would he do in the big leagues? He was a first round draft pick in the NFL meaning many had high hopes for him to succeed. But the NFL game is so much different than college there’s no guarantee a player will repeat. Scrambling around on the field can only go so far in the NFL before getting tackled repeatedly by much bigger and faster players will destroy you. Being a rookie in the league with a great pedigree means extra attention to start with but then add this element: religion. I don’t think a sports writer out there can remember any athlete starting most press conferences with “First and foremost I have to thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”

Growing up the son of active Christian missionaries Tebow has always been devout, and very public about it. Now that he's on the biggest stage in American sports he’s not about to clam up. In fact he has said he uses the attention to spread his beliefs whenever he can.

The Lineman: Week Eight NFL picks

Back on track with a combined 9-3 record over the past two weeks which means I head into Week Eight on Halloween weekend showing no fear for what lies ahead.

Yes, it’s Halloween and the Lineman would never let it go by without all kinds of frightening references. Record: 23-19; Last week 4-2; Pick of the Week: 5-2

PICK OF THE WEEK

Detroit Lions (5-2) at Denver Broncos (2-4) (Lions minus-0.5)

OK, you got what you wanted Mile High City, Tim Tebow is calling plays but be careful what you wish for Broncos fans. The Tebow love-in is in full bloom in Denver, Bronco faithful hailing Timmy Touchdown as the second coming of Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway after he pulled out an unlikely 18-15 win over the Dolphins last week. But a win, like a good Halloween costume, can hide many warts and Tebow was covered in them until his late game heroics.

For 55 minutes, the game featured “Tebow the Terrible” until “Tebow Terrific” arrived and I have to admit the guy finds a way to win. But sorry Tebow fans, there is no way this week as the ornery Lions are coming to town.

Jaguars have some roar left in them yet

The NFL has a history of team owners packing up – sometimes in the middle of the night – and moving cities, leaving behind their fans, taking their history, trophies and name to another city.

It is one of those differences with soccer’s traditions that leaves Europeans scratching their heads but the truth is, most Americans don’t like it either. Fans look back with some bitterness on how Cleveland or Baltimore lost their teams (later to regain them in different forms).

Sport flourishes upon romance, upon an emotional attachment to a team or upon blind loyalty to a hometown and when cold business decisions are made – such as moving a team to a city that is offering a free, publicly-funded stadium or has a greater potential for ticket sales – that romance is lost.

If there is a team in the NFL that is currently at risk of being moved then it is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last season they were 30th out of 32 teams in home attendance (ESPN) and their failure to sell out their stadium meant that the league’s local tv blackout rule was enforced for all but one game – a ‘lose-lose’ situation for all involved.

The rumor mill has floated the idea of the Los Angeles Jaguars, the Orlando Jaguars and even the London Jaguars replacing the North Florida city. Whatever the truth of those suggestions, there is no doubt that the Jags are seen as the weakest link in the chain.

On Sunday, I made the five and a half hour drive north up the coast from Miami to see the Jaguars’ opening home game of the season against the Denver Broncos.