Tim Tebow Tim Tebow Tim Tebow Tim Tebow.....

I don't have a DVR at my house.  Otherwise I'd go back and count the number of times FOX broadcasters Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis and Chris Myers mentioned Tim Tebow in the three hours they called the BCS national championship game.

Honestly, I'd guess his name was mentioned a few hundred times.  And not just when he dropped back to pass or took off to run.

They mentioned him literally every play of the game.  They showed him on the sideline after every play.  It was almost as bad as the camera devoted to Derek Jeter's every move on national telecasts of Yankee games.

This was the best comment of the night:  when Tebow was given an unsportsman-like conduct penalty in the waning moments of the game, Thom Brennaman remarked, "That was the worst thing Tim Tebow has ever done in his life."

My friends and I watching the game together broke into laughter.  What about the two interceptions he threw in this game?  Weren't those worse?  I'm just going to go out on a limb here and suggest Tebow has gotten into trouble worse than an unsportsman-like penalty at some point in his perfect life.  It's not like he's an angel from heaven.  Although I felt like the FOX BCS crew was trying to convince me otherwise.

Listen, I understand Tim Tebow is a great player.  He won the Heisman Trophy a year ago and he has now won two national titles with the Florida Gators.  He's an outstanding runner and a decent passer, and he's got a lot of heart.  But he's not a saint.  Let's relax.

They made this speech seem like the Gettysburg Address:

It was a theatrical speech that showed a lot of passion.  That's something you have to like about Tebow.  He does play with tremendous passion that makes him a likable player in college football.  He's so religiously devout, he's not getting into trouble like other college athletes.   But still, let's take it easy with the Tim Tebow love.

After all, if he decides to go pro, ESPN's Todd McShay says he probably wouldn't be drafted in the first couple of rounds, or maybe even the first day.  He's a nice story of a good looking guy who has a squeaky clean image and has had great success playing college football.

But how is his story that different from other great college quarterbacks of the past?

FOX had a football game that lacked tremendous intrigue, so they used Tebow as their lead story throughout the broadcast.  But at some point, you have to call the game and stop making love to a player on the air.  

We get it.  He's good.  Call the action.

At least the college football season is over.  Now I can stop hearing about Tim Tebow.

That, Was College Football

If you're feeling underwhelmed after watching the BCS Championship, don't worry, most of us are feeling that same way.

This game, now for the third straight year, has been uninspiring and uninteresting.  Despite efforts to make Tim Tebow out to be the next Mother Theresa (good for him that he does all of these wonderful off-field activities) the game just didn't have much juice. 

There weren't many players in the game that you'll likely be hearing much exciting news from on Sundays.  There weren't many big plays (only 7 or 8 by FOX's count).  There wasn't that game-defining drive.  And, the two main players in the game, Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow, displayed their weaknesses.  Tebow's being the inability to throw the ball consistently, Bradford's being the same, only his difficulty came when under pressure.

There was a lot of running, a lot of option play, and a lot of heart.  I hate to use that phrase, but, how else do you explain an entire team rooting together while standing on the bench?  Ever seen that in the NFL?

Clearly, this isn't the epitome of college football.  This game isn't the best that it can be, but, more accurately, it's what it more than often is.  Good, go-and-get-em, determined football.  Sometimes extremely (read:  NFL) talented.  Sometimes not.

Tim Tebow likely won't be playing on Sundays in the future.  And if he does, he almost certainly won't be doing it from behind center.  

Tebow's a college quarterback, at least in this generation, through and through.  He's big, he can run, and he can make a throw when he needs to.  

That option Florida runs where Tebow can either take it himself, pitch it to a back on the outside, or shovel it to another back on the inside simply wore out Oklahoma.  And while Tebow seems to have gathered many detractors (namely because nearly everyone doesn't see him as an NFL QB, not that I argue the point, but still), credit should be given where credit is due. 

In that second half, he ran the ball like a man possessed, taking on hits like he was the safety, and not the quarterback.  Then again, at 6'3" ,240 lbs., he practically is.  He hooted, he hollered, he got his fans into the game.  Save that one awful INT he threw basically into the chest of an Oklahoma linebacker, he played a real nice second half.  No complaints.

However, it wasn't spectacular.  It wasn't season, or legacy defining.  And, for the third year in a row, you were left, if you watched this game, feeling like something had been forgotten.  

The SEC has now won three straight BCS Championships, two of which were absolute beat downs.  Not since that memorable Rose Bowl, with Vince Young and Reggie Bush, did you really felt like you got your money's worth.  But, then again, sometimes, that's college football.  Running quarterbacks and undersized backs trying their hardest, knowing that nothing other than immediate glory lies in their futures.  There is no NFL, there might not even be a place in fans memories.  But, there is that championship on the line.

Sometimes that's enough.  But, more often than not, it just isn't.  And when that happens, you're left where you find yourself now.  Waiting for next season, praying for a miraculous tournament, and at least hoping that next year's better than this year.