I'm a Tebowliever

Let me begin with this disclaimer.

I am a huge fan of the Oakland Raiders.

Diehard.

And that’s what this team does to its fans.

It kills us.

Yes, we have won three Super Bowls.

But the last one happened when I was in high school.

And lets just say that the silver in my hair has nothing do with the Raiders colors.

Good or bad I haven’t missed a game all year.

Including last week’s disaster in Miami.

This week’s disaster in Green Bay.

And next week’s disaster against Detroit.

But we will bounce back.

We always do.

And then we will lose again.

We always do that too.

Screw the box of chocolates.

Life is like the Raiders.

You never know what you’re gonna get.

Win or lose, they are my Raiders.

And they’ve got my unconditional love.

But reality is reality.

Whatever we had going for us a few weeks ago.

Is gone.

Long gone.

The way things are going right now, there’s a better chance of me running a marathon.

Uphill.

Both ways.

Barefoot.

In a snowstorm.

Than there is the Raiders making the playoffs.

The same can’t be said for the rival Denver Broncos.

It was really cute two months ago when their lovable lefty quarterback pulled out a miracle win against the Dolphins.

But then he did it again.

Against the Raiders.

And the Chiefs.

And the Jets.

And the Chargers.

And the Vikings.

But what happened on Sunday against the Bears was nothing short of divine interception.

Ok, it was a fumble.

But you get the point.

Houdini would’ve blushed at the way this game finished.

This ending was so far fetched, I thought I was watching the Buffalo Wild Wings commercial.

Tim Tebow is far from perfect when it comes to playing a football game.

But when it comes to talking the right game, he is a Hall of Famer.

Humble.

Optimistic.

Fearless.

I could go on all day.

I’ve got thesaurus.com bookmarked.

Now as a disciple of the Lox, Eggs & Onions, I could do without all his “my lord and savior” stuff.

But when you’ve pulled out more miracles than Elijah you can praise any one you want.

There’s no question that Tim Tebow’s recent success has opened many eyes around the country.

But thanks to my friend Jon, I knew about this train way before it left the station.

Almost a decade ago Jon told me about this home-schooled high school kid in his Jacksonville neighborhood.

The next big thing.

But even after winning a National Championship.

As a freshman.

A Heisman Trophy.

As a sophomore.

Another National Championship.

As a Junior.

Being selected 25th out of the 255 players in the 2010 draft.

Tim Tebow was still considered nothing more than a joke.

But who’s laughing now.

The Broncos have won seven of their last eight games with Tebow under center.

They are locked in first place.

On the verge of making the playoffs.

Tim Tebow is as legit as M.C. Hammer.

As a Raiders fan, it’s been difficult to watch.

But thanks to my friend David, everything is getting more in focus.

Like me, David is a Raiders fan.

And like me, we both hope there’s one of them miracles ahead for the Silver and Black.

We spoke last week after the Broncos last second win in Minnesota moved them into a first place tie with our team.

When David heard the woe is me in my voice, he knew it was time to bring out some Tebow-style inspiration.

David told me that because of his undying love for the Lakers and the Dodgers.

He spent his childhood hating Pete Rose and Larry Bird.

Instead of appreciating their genius.

Now as a much more mature sports fan, he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

The Raiders are still #1 in his heart.

But instead of rooting against everything Broncos.

He is sincerely enjoying a phenomenon that we have never seen before.

And may never see again.

He is a Tebowliever.

I knew exactly where he was coming from on the whole Rose/Bird thing.

To this day, I get sick every time I think of John Elway or Graig Nettles or Jack Clark or ...

I could go on.

But the point is, what we are seeing with the Broncos right now is nothing short of ... miraculous.

And rooting against Tim Tebow just because of the color of his... 

uniform... 

...is rooting against everything that is right with sports.

Enjoy the ride.

Go Raiders!

The New York Nix

I am the Commissioner of my Fantasy Basketball league.

Have been since 1993.

When we started this league.

18 years later, we are stronger than ever.

We lasted longer than Shaq.

Even longer than Tom Gugliotta.

We’ve survived two lockouts.

We’ve had 44 owners.

And co-owners.

We have a rookie draft.

A waiver draft.

A pre-season auction.

International players.

Development league players.

Performance raises.

Three websites.

We play head-to-head.

And overall.

I could keep going.

But here’s the point.

As the Commissioner of this league, I take this thing very seriously.

We.. take this thing very seriously.

That’s probably why we’ve lasted this long.

We do everything we can to run our “fantasy” league exactly like the NBA runs its “real” league.

If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe our eight-page rulebook.

FOR A FANTASY LEAGUE.

I’ve had more than a bundle of tough decisions over the years as the Commish.

But the goal is always to do what’s in the best interest of BART.

The Basketball Association of Rotisserie Teams.

I would imagine that NBA Commissioner David Stern tries to rule his league the same way.

Whatever is in the best interest of the NBA.

Well the NBA owners.

That’s why they locked out the players for 149 days, right?

Well as I type this here blog, Mr. Stern is submersed in a flaming hot whirlpool of controversy.

Or is it conspiracy?

Yesterday about this time, the story broke that the Los Angeles Lakers had made a trade.

A blockbuster trade.

A fantasy league trade.

They had acquired Chris Paul, the great.... young... STAR point guard they had been longing for.

To get him they gave up two very good players.

Very tall players.

Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.

And by moving Gasol and Odom, the Lakers had depleted their lineup of a bunch of their bulk.

Some might even say they made their team worse.

This was certainly not a trade that guarantees them anything.

But clearly they felt that the combo platter of Paul and Kobe Bryant is exactly what they needed.

And who am I to argue.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 11 championships.

My Dunkin’ Donuts have only won eight.

But something funny happened on the way to this deal getting done.

The NBA Commish stepped in from the home office in Manhattan.

And before the ink was dry, David Stern threw down the kibosh.

That’s yiddish for nix.

Veto.

Declination.

Pick a word.

The bottom line is this done deal was undone.

According to an NBA Spokesman not named David Stern:

“The league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons.”

Basketball reasons?

Not sure what that exactly means, but the good people on twitter sure had fun with it:

@5joeclines

Next time someone's credit isn't good enough to buy a car I'll deny them for basketball reasons. #NBA

@russbengtson

BREAKING: David Stern blocks Dwight Howard trade that hasn't even been proposed yet. For basketball reasons.

@ShinaBina3

I'm not going to work tomorrow for #BasketballReasons

@caliretheory

Got pulled over and refused to give my license to the cop. He asked why I was refusing. #basketballreasons

@HousefromDC

Developing Story: NBA Commissioner David Stern vetoes Christmas. #basketballreasons

You can rest assure that the NBA hasn’t heard the end of their new catch phrase.

Like Charlie Sheen will never hear the end of... WINNING.

In fact, you can already buy a t-shirt to celebrate the moment.

And to make this worse for Stern, the reports came out, quickly, that this veto was all about peer pressure.

Apparently a handful of NBA Owners went sprinting to Stern to complain about this trade.

They were a little miffed that the first move after the let’s all have more competitive balance lockout was...

BULLY STEALS LUNCH MONEY & SUPERSTAR GUARD

And supposedly these owners demanded that this trade goes away.

Right effing now.

But the NBA quickly squashed that theory.

Or at least tried to.

“It’s not true that the owners killed that deal.”

Said the same NBA Spokesperson not named David Stern.

Oh, ok.

So much for that theory.

End of story.

...

What?

yahoo got a copy of...

an email.

From Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to Stern.

The same Gilbert who watched his franchise player take his talents and his franchise to South Beach just last year.

Well the email read as such:

Commissioner,

It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.

This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.

Yada yada yada.

I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen.

I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.

When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?

Please advise….

Dan G.

Oh no he didn't.

He went Washington Generals on the Commish?

That’s just dirty.

True.

But dirty.

I suppose the NBA Spokesperson not named David Stern might’ve been wrong.

Well no matter the reason.

The done deal was undone.

This is not the first time a Commissioner has nixed a trade.

Probably won’t be the last.

But it certainly can change history.

My father worked for the Raiders all the way back in 1983.

This young whipper-snapper of a quarterback named Elway was coming out of college.

Stanford.

But he didn’t want to play for the Colts.

The Baltimore Colts.

The team with the first pick in that draft.

So he demanded a trade.

A trade that the Colts worked out with the Raiders.

Only NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle had a problem with Elway going to the Raiders.

Or someone not named Dan Gilbert had a problem with Elway going to the Raiders.

Or a problem with the trade.

Or a problem with Al Davis.

But the bottom line is Rozelle put the kibosh on that deal.

Most of the specifics have left me in last 28 years.

My dad left me nine years ago.

So we aren’t going to get more details than that.

But the bottom line is instead of Elway wearing Silver and Black into the Hall of Fame.

Elway was traded to a team in the Raiders division.

The Broncos.

Where he (eventually) won two Super Bowls.

At age 26, there’s still a good chance that Chris Paul may reach that Elway-esque status.

But it’s anyone’s guess what uniform he will be wearing.

Just Joshing

It feels so good to be right.

It doesn’t happen very often.

To me.

But when it does...

WOO-HOO.

April 22, 2010.

Josh McDaniels was right.

Oh so right.

That was the day McDaniels made Tim Tebow the future of the Denver Broncos.

A year and change later Tebow is the hottest quarterback in the NFL right now.

McDaniels wiggled his way into the 25th overall pick in that 2010 draft.

He traded three precious draft picks to do so.

And he selected Tebow.

A winning quarterback who did everything wrong.

Everything.

He runs instead of throws.

Throws left instead of right.

Praises God, instead of making it rain.

The football world couldn’t believe McDaniels would put his faith in a no-talent nothing whose only quality was his faith.

Brian Baldinger, who played 13 years in the NFL and is now an analyst for the NFL Network, said...

“It’s a move that puts the Broncos behind five years.”

CBS Sports National Columnist Mike Freeman wrote:

Denver wasted a valuable first-round pick on a player who will do nothing for years unless they move Tebow to fullback or make him a missionary and have him snip foreskins. 

ESPN, who broadcasts the NFL draft, gave the Broncos a grade of F for taking Tebow.

But even with all the jokes, McDaniels got his guy.

And he couldn’t have been happier.

“He’s been a winner and you could see why,” McDaniels said.

“Tim’s a player that’s capable of doing different things.  He gives you an opportunity to create some packages.”

“You can get creative.”

That was April 22, 2010.

Just 592 days ago.

McDaniels was the head coach of them Broncos.

The man put in charge of returning this great franchise to glory.

Owner Pat Bowlen had given McDaniels the keys to his car.

And McDaniels was taking that car for quite the spin.

From the moment he arrived, the 160-pound McDaniels threw his weight around.

He got into a public spat with star quarterback Jay Cutler.

Two months later, Cutler was gone.

He got into another public spat with star receiver Brandon Marshall.

Within a year, he was gone too.

McDaniels was doing it his way.

Dammit.

Some thought maybe the altitude in Denver was causing McDaniels head to swell.

That was never confirmed.

But what we did know is that this guy finally got a seat in the big boy chair and he was calling the shots.

All of them.

At the ripe old age of 32, McDaniels was the third-youngest head coach in the history of the NFL.

But he didn’t get this job without some good credentials.

Eight years under Bill Belichick as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots.

Where he was the voice in Tom Brady’s helmet.

When they won three Super Bowls together.

McDaniels was the real deal.

And he paid instant dividends for the Broncos.

Six of them.

He became the fourth rookie coach in the history of the NFL to win his first six games.

Hall of Fame, here I come.

(RECORD SCRATCH SOUND)

Not so fast.

Out of nowhere, something went wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Like two wins in their last ten games of that 2009 season wrong.

Three wins in the first 12 games of the 2010 season wrong.

And poof, McDaniels was gone.

Just.

Like.

That.

Fired, with an F.

Exactly one year ago today.

Happy Anniversary!

Now a firing is never a good thing.

Especially these days.

But in the case of McDaniels you can put aside the kleenex.

The Broncos still owed him $7.5 Million when they let him go.

Which he will collect in full.

And after losing that job, he found another one.

As the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams.

Granted -- one of the worst teams in the entire league.

But McDaniels still has a future in front of him.

It will just be the past that haunts him.

A past where he was right.

When everybody said he was wrong.