March Madness

Polarizing, Proselytizing Good Guy Tim Tebow

I love March. March is far and away my favorite month of the year, dating back to childhood when a season once called "winter" used to haunt the Northeastern US each year for the few months preceding March. March would roll in punctuated with bursts of sunshine, snow would begin to melt. Lilies of the valley and crocuses would spring up along the fence that separated my grandparents' backyard from their neighbors. Woody, earthy scents replaced the smell of cold. March always signaled hope.
Although I've lived much of my adult life on the temperate coast of California, my love of March never waned. March in San Francisco signaled the end of the rainy season, the impending NBA playoffs and the beginning of March Madness.
As a lifelong sports fan who logs on to espn.go.com first thing every morning immediately after my meditation, I can safely say this is by far the most exciting March for sports fans in the history of sports. But not for the usual reasons—12th seeds upsetting 5th seeds, questionable college basketball officiating, that damn Duke. This year, football sacked basketball as the highlight of March. Football stole the spotlight.
Peyton Manning to Denver after seriously flirting with Tennessee and San Francisco and batting his eyes at Arizona and Miami. Tim Tebow to the Jets. Head coach of New Orleans, Sean Payton, suspended for an entire year over bounty-gate. The NFL created a bounty of March sports stories.
I listen to ESPN radio every weekday during my 50-minute commute to work. I loathe and dread my job; but I do look forward to my time with ESPN's Mike & Mike each morning and Doug Gottlieb each evening. This year, the only thing missing from my glee over the drama the NFL created was being able to discuss all of it with my dad. I miss my dad most when I'm wanting to talk football.
For the record: I agree with Peyton Manning's choice of Denver. 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh would blow a gasket if Manning waved off the punt team, as he's been known to do in Indiana. Even though the Niners are the closest to a championship level team out of all of Manning's suitors, Manning and Harbaugh would have hated each other. Tennessee is in the same division as Houston and Houston came this close last season to winning it all with a seventh string quarterback who probably didn't even start in high school. Denver gives Manning the best shot at success and happiness.
About Tim Tebow. I'm not a fan, but...The guy did seemingly turn his team around. The Broncos were, like, 2 and 6 or something close to that when Tebow took over as the starting quarterback. He not only got them to the playoffs (partially an indication of the weakness of the AFC West, hence Manning's desire to play there), he quarterbacked a playoff win against the illustrious Pittsburgh Steelers. Tebow holds the NFL record for most yards per completion in an NFL playoff game (32.6), most 30+ yard passes in an NFL playoff quarter, fewest passes to reach 300+ yards in any NFL game, longest touchdown pass in NFL playoff history in overtime and a dozen or so more NFL and Bronco records.
Clearly Tim Tebow is an effective NFL quarterback despite his lack of throwing accuracy. He seems to bring a certain je ne sais quois to the equation. Whatever it is, he's a winner and, quite frankly, I think he deserves much better than a fourth round draft pick (or whatever it was the Jets had to give up to get him) and portly, pugnacious, loudmouth Rex Ryan.
Lastly, bounty-gate. I'm not sure if Sean Payton's punishment was too harsh or not. I just know that anything which makes the NFL safer for its players is a good thing.