suck it steelers

ok so that was my picture from yesterday, but i think it still applies!  its so funny that of all things to get people fired up about religion, its FOOTBALL!!  cracks me up.  i won't go on and on about tim tebow, altho i will say we loved him when he played at florida, and was often talked about not only as a role model on the field, but off it as well.  as a parent of 3 athletic boys, it was great to see an athlete that got attention for doing the right thing.  not that there aren't a great many wonderful professional athletes out there, but the ones who garner attention, usually have it for the wrong reasons.  fast forward a couple seasons and you now have the same athlete, who was once held in very high regard not only for his style of play, but for his ethics off the field being lambasted by the press and all the lovely naysayers int he world because he is not shy about his faith.....oh, and he's not good enough to be an NFL qb either.  we are such a ridiculously JUDGEMENTAL society, it's not even funny!  i mean really?  who cares if he kneels in the end zone or on the side line?  how many baseball players cross themselves at the plate before EVERY FREAKIN PITCH?  and is it somehow more offensive to see someone KNEEL after making a good play, than to see a booty dance or an obscene crotch gesture??  our priorities are so ass backward as a society.

here we are in the middle of an admittedly onerous, yet very significant in the grand scheme of things, republican primary and you KNOW that all of the attention on the news, Facebook, twitter and chat rooms tomorrow will be about TIM TEBOW!!  maybe he should run for PRESIDENT as our republican nominee - clearly he'd get the vote of the christian right!!!

this really wasn't going to be the topic today, but i found myself watching an entire football game for the first time in years (other than the Super Bowl).....really cheering for the broncos.  it doesn't hurt that i absolutely detest the steelers (and let's not forget their charming misogynist quarterback - definitely a better role model there), but i find myself really pulling for tebow.....thru all of this controversy and upheaval and attention, he has stayed TRUE and focused, and just plain NICE!!  i love his intensity, and i admire his faith.....i may not totally understand it, but i love that HE DOES and somehow seems to be able to block out the noise surrounding him.  if he never throws another touchdown or wins another game, i will always be a fan - because he is someone i can point out to my boys and say - he has CHARACTER.....and he thinks for himself.  how easy would it be for him to renounce his faith, or play it off - it's just something i do....instead he's is honest about it, and how it defines him.....good for him.

also, it takes big giant balls and a sense of humor to allow your teammates to cut your hair into a friar tuck :)  so really, what's not to like?



seriously tho, isn't that all we really want as parents?  we want our kids to THINK FOR THEMSELVES!!  be loyal, be honest, be SMART, and take it all with a grain of salt, right?    as long as you are confident in yourself, you can do, be or overcome anything....how many of us are bulldozed along in life?  i'm sure my anti-media thing will come up fairly often, but i think a large majority of people go along with the story they are told.....and usually a good part of that story comes from a major news outlet....he who has the most money gets the most "press"....its sad, but true.  i'll digress back to my politics for just a second, but seriously the amount of money being funneled into TELEVISION ads for a PRIMARY is sickening.  some millionaire just donated another 5 million to newt to "revive" his struggling campaign - basically so he can buy more AIR TIME......when did we stop doing research?  or thinking for ourselves?  i think the reason that obama was so successful (among others) is that he reached out and seemed to connect on a PERSONAL level....now it hasn't done him a whole lot of good in terms of getting things done, but his CAMPAIGN was enormously successful....you WANTED to like him, so you listened to his message - and it was a good one (in my opinion).  i feel the same way about jon huntsman this year....he is so SMART and he has phenomenal credentials and he's running a grassroots campaign.  why don't i think he'll be successful?  well first of all he's way too direct - anyone that uses the words "sucks" in a campaign ad is first in my book, but I'm not sure my mom would feel the same way....and secondly, he's fighting the MACHINE in a way that obama didn't have to.....the sheer amount of money being thrown at this primary is nauseating.....when so many people are struggling to make ends meet, we are STILL going to be influenced by these assholes who are spending money that would be much better spent elsewhere because they can AFFORD face time.  again, tim tebow is getting it for free.....can anyone say tim tebow for president?  maybe we can just get HIM to ENDORSE a candidate....how much free air time would that be worth?

see, it's all a game designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator.....and how offensive it that?  our whole system is predicated on the idea that people don't WANT to think for themselves - they want someone else to do it for them.  and sadly, we usually let them.

clearly, my mood from yesterday isn't totally gone :) .... a quiet, stewing day usually brings about a good rant....but yesterday's mood really led me to this question:  is it easier to be positive or negative?  because it seems like negative energy is easier to come to the surface.  is it harder for some people to be positive? when i say you get to choose to have a good day, maybe i'm the only one that has to.....do some people just wake up positive and happy?  and if so, are optimistic people more "easy" in their faith?  or does having faith make them more positive??  tim tebow sure seems positive....i'm just saying....

Tebow: “He reminds us that strength comes in many forms & some people have what can be described only as a gift for winning, which isn’t synonymous with any spreadsheet inventory of what it supposedly takes to win. This gift usually involves hope, confidence & a special composure, all of which keep a person in the game long enough, w/enough energy & stability, so that a fickle entity known as luck might break his or her way. For Tebow that state of mind comes from his particular relationship w/his chosen God & is a matter of religion. For someone else it might be understood & experienced as the power of positive thinking, & is a matter of psychology. Either way it boils down to stubborn optimism & bequeaths a spark. A swagger. An edge.” ~ Frank Bruni of the New York Times.