mostly Tebow, Tebow, and more Tebow

Hi. The one-year anniversary of my starting this blog was on December 12th, so this is the first post of my second year of doing this blog. I hope that you continue to enjoy my blog. I have several articles to post, so I'm going to divide them into more than one post. All the posts will include several articles on Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, a Christian, who won the Heisman Trophy last Saturday. Many of the articles I was able to find on the University of Florida page of the Total Sports Fan application on Facebook.

The first article is about the extra attention that Tebow's two brothers have been getting because of him. His brothers Peter, also a student at Florida, and Robby, the area director for The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, are both in the area and get mistaken for Tim. His two sisters, Katie and Christy, don't have the same problem, partly because they're both married and so no longer carry the last name. Also, Christy is a missionary in Bangladesh, so they don't know anything about football there. All of his siblings were able to join Tim and his parents in New York for the Heisman ceremony. Here's the article: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120707/col_223504538.shtml (originally found at: http://apps.facebook.com/sportsuperfan/teams/news/209).

Here's an article about Rockies infielder Jamey Carroll, a Christian, being traded to the Indians last week. Here's a quote from him about his time with the Rockies:

"I just feel blessed to have played here for two years," Carroll said. "I had the opportunity to play, then I had the opportunity to play in a World Series, even though we lost [to the Red Sox]. I wouldn't trade the time I shared with the Rockies in the clubhouse and with the fans for anything."

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071207&content_id=2320861&vkey=hotstove2007&fext=.jsp.

Next, an article about Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan and his wife Dana (Christians) hosting a party for local kids. Here's a quote from him about giving back:

"Dana and I have been very fortunate and blessed in life, and we are happy to be able to give back to the community in this way," Suppan said when the event was announced. "We can't think of a better way to celebrate the holiday season than to do so with a group of children here in Milwaukee."

Here's the article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071208&content_id=2321417&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Here's an article about Tim Tebow winning the Heisman Trophy last Saturday as college football's best player, including video of both his great acceptance speech and ESPN analysts talking about him getting the award afterwards. Here's a quote from Tebow's acceptance speech:

"I am fortunate, fortunate for a lot of things," Tebow said. "God truly blessed me and this just adds on. It's an honor. I'm so happy to be here."

Here's the article: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3146714&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines.

Also, another article about Tebow getting the Heisman. Here's a couple of quotes from him, the first about his role model Danny Wuerffel, a Christian who was the last Heisman Trophy winner at Florida and went on to play in the NFL:

"That means a lot," Tebow said. "When I was young, my family was looking for a good role model and we found Danny Wuerffel. He was a great role model for me and I thank for him that."

The second quote is a neat fact about the three Heisman-winning quarterbacks from Florida: Tebow, Wuerffel, and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier:

Florida's Heisman winners have something in common other than playing the same position. Spurrier's dad was a preacher, Wuerffel's an Air Force chaplain and Tebow's a missionary.

Here's the article: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1144&CID=748803 (originally found at: http://apps.facebook.com/sportsuperfan/teams/news/209).

Here's an article speculating on Tebow's chances of winning one or two more Heisman's, since he won his first as a sophomore. Here's a quote from his high school coach Craig Howard and how getting the Heisman won't change him:

"If anybody could win a Heisman as a sophomore and not let it go to their head as a junior, it's Timmy. He's so grounded," said Howard. "Winning the Heisman may be a life-changing moment, but it won't change Timmy. Tomorrow morning, he'll be in church. Tomorrow afternoon he'll be watching film."

Here's the article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/stewart_mandel/12/08/tebow.heisman.ap/index.html.

Next, a good article about Tebow originally posted last summer and republished after he won the Heisman. Here's a quote about the family's missionary work in the Philippines and other work closer to home:

In high school, Tebow spent three weeks of every summer doing missionary work in the Philippines, talking at schools and marketplaces and medical clinics with church groups. They were close to his favorite three weeks of the year, particularly the time he spent at an orphanage his father helped start in the 1990s.

"Everybody who goes, they come back different," he said. "You think you're going over there to help them, and they really in turn help you."

The orphanage, called Uncle Dick's Home for a friend of the Tebows who helped sponsor it, began when a mother in the area died in childbirth and the father ran away. Her grandfather took the baby and threatened to throw it in the river because he didn't want it.

When Bob Tebow heard about the impending tragedy, he set in motion a long, complicated process that ended in the orphanage opening several years later. That baby, named Queenie, was the first resident. She is in college in the Philippines after graduating No. 1 from her high school class. The orphanage has grown to 50 kids."

The stuff they've gone through is unimaginable and just heartbreaking," Tim Tebow said. "They are satisfied with what they have and are thankful for it. Material goods are not what make them happy. It puts things in perspective. Every day you can get caught up in little silly things, worrying about this and worrying about that. But when you think back about being with them, they have nothing and they never complain about it."

Although he has not done any fieldwork in the Philippines since arriving at UF in January of 2006, Tebow says his experiences there help his performance on the football field. Why would he get rattled in front of a 104,000 fans at Neyland Stadium when he realizes life has bigger issues?

"I want to win so bad, but at the same time you realize there are things more important than sports," he said. "That really helps keep me focused and allows me to not get too discouraged when bad things happen on the field."

He didn't leave his good works behind in the Philippines. Tebow likes to visit hospitals in Gainesville to talk to kids, and he used Florida's open date last October to comfort a dying child in Jacksonville.

Here's the article: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=748732 (originally found at: http://apps.facebook.com/sportsuperfan/teams/news/209).

Here's a good article about Tebow, his family, and his choice to play at Florida over Alabama. Here's a quote from his mom Pam about Wuerffel, part of the reason why Tim decided to go to Florida too:

Tim became a huge fan at about the time Danny Wuerffel started playing quarterback for the Gators (1993) and Pam tried to make sure Wuerffel, a humble star and devout Christian, would be looked up to as a role model by her youngest son. It worked. Wuerffel was and is Tim's favorite Gator, Pam said.

"Danny Wuerffel taught him a lot about humility," Pam said. "He always deflected the praise and he never acted like he was better than other people. Those are the kind of things we taught our boys. Danny Wuerffel was a hero for Timmy.

"Danny spoke at our church (First Baptist in downtown Jacksonville) a couple of times, and Timmy got his autograph. He was a wonderful role model and he never disappointed us."

Here's the article: http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20071210/NEWS/71209024/1016 (originally found at: http://apps.facebook.com/sportsuperfan/teams/news/209).

Next, another article about Tebow, and a couple of quotes from Tebow, the first one is about him being Superman:

"No, I'm not Superman," he confirms. ". . . I'll always just be Timmy Tebow."

The other quote from him is about his sister Christy, a missionary in Bangladesh:

... His sister Christy is a missionary in poverty-stricken Bangladesh. On the night before the Heisman, Tebow seemed more excited about his sister showing up than he was about the award itself.

"Christy has always been a leader for me and my brothers and sisters," Tebow says. "She's extremely talented and extremely bright and could have been very successful in any number of professions, but she chose to give all that up to go to Bangladesh and serve. What an inspiration she's been."

Here's the article: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/gators/orl-bianchi0907dec09,0,2072154.column (originally found at: http://apps.facebook.com/sportsuperfan/teams/news/209).

Here's a good article about East Carolina fans buying tickets to their bowl game at the Hawaii Bowl and then dontating them to members of the miliarty stationed in Hawaii because not many East Carolina fans can go the game theirselves: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3148094.

Also, an article by IU kicker Austin Starr's trip to Orlando for the College Football Awards show where he was nominted for the Lou Groza Award as the country's best kicker, which he didn't win unfortunately. Here's a quote from him about his trip with his parents:

Having my parents with me Sunday through Friday was a blessing and I appreciate the sacrifices they have made.

Here's the article: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120907aaa.html.

Lastly, an article including a quote of the first part of Tebow's Heisman Trophy acceptance speech from the Christian Sports Blog:

"Thank you. I'd just like to first start off by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave me the ability to play football and he gave me a great family and a support group and great coaches, and everything around me."

Here's the article: http://www.christiansportsblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/tebow-acceptance-speech.html.

That's all for now! More tomorrow probably.