ESPN reports that Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow became the U.S.’ favorite athlete in their monthly poll. And media coverage reflects this popularity. Many stories are simply about his amazing game last Sunday or his works among the community. But many others deal with religion. And some of them more successfully than others. If you need a refresher for why we’re talking Tebow and religion this week, Cathy Lynn Grossman explains in her piece headlined “It’s Tebow time: Denver quarterback inspires nation” for USA Today:
Why are some reverends not reverends?
Warning: The following post is picky beyond belief and focuses on an issue in Associated Press style.
God Bless and Go Broncos
Tim Tebow just won the most exciting game of football I’ve seen in a while. And he did it by passing (yes, you read that right — passing!) for 316 yards. Brendan O’Hare, a columnist at Bleacher Report, wrote:
Does your Tebow hatred know no bounds?
Thank God that the Broncos lost on Sunday. And we better hope they keep losing if only to save us from the horrors of Tim Tebow Derangement Syndrome. Rabbi Joshua Hammerman wrote a piece so bigoted against Christians that Jewish Week pulled it. Here was a favorite portion:
Pod people: Albert Pujols, Macy's firing
On this week’s Crossroads, host Todd Wilken and I talked about one of my favorite subjects: baseball. Toss a strong religion theme in there and you’re in business.
What's next, sports guys? RG3-ing?
At this point, everybody knows what “Tebowing” is. Right? I mean, I sports fan or generic news consumer would have to be living on Mars not to have noticed the Tim Tebow media storm.
Do you believe in Tebow?
I bleed Orange and Blue, which means that I’m having a great year. My Denver Broncos, who were completely out of the running just a few games in, somehow managed to tie for first place in the AFC West last week. And this week we — yes, I’m a key component of the team’s success — had another amazing win in overtime to get first place on our own. I had already psychologically prepared for this week’s loss. We were behind 10-0 with just minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. Unbelievable.
Evangelical Pujols to the highest bidder?
That was my immediate question this morning to my GetReligion colleague — and St. Louis Cardinals uber-fan — Mollie Ziegler Hemingway as news broke that superstar first baseman Albert Pujols will sign a 10-year, $254 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. MZ, alas, remains out of wifi and Internet range — although this story may reach her through some psychic or spiritual ripple in the universe.
Religious conversion and athletes - Israel Folau
Reporting on sports and religion is a messy business. When these worlds collide in a news story, the finished product is often filtered through the reporter’s prism of beliefs and prejudices. The advocacy journalism common to European newspapers, but restricted to the op-ed pages of most quality American papers, tends to run riot.
