CBS' decision to air an anti-abortion ad funded by Focus on the Family was so terribly wrongheaded.(Edge of Sports)
In our 5,000-channel, tweeting, shouting culture of constant distraction, there are precious few annual events that unite the national gaze. In fact, there is really only one: the Super Bowl. Over the last two decades, ratings for everything from the World Series to the Olympics have stumbled - but the NFL championship gets stronger with age, with Super Bowl Sunday becoming a de facto national holiday. The cultural power of the big game cannot be overstated, and that's exactly why CBS' decision to air an anti-abortion ad funded by Focus on the Family was so terribly wrongheaded.
The ad features Heisman award-winning Florida quarterback and staunch evangelical Christian Tim Tebow alongside his mother, Pam, speaking out against abortion. Pam tells the world how she ignored a doctor's advice while on a missionary trip in the Philippines and decided to have her fifth child, Tim. She was suffering from a serious tropical illness, the story goes, and doctors thought that having the child would kill her, but she "chose life" for her child and the result is an All-American quarterback.
There is something sketchy about this story - given that abortion is illegal in the Philippines, carrying a six-year prison sentence. It seems highly unlikely the procedure would be recommended to an evangelical missionary. But this isn't about truth in advertising. It's about Tim Tebow continuing his self-proclaimed goal to use football as a "missionary." After a college career wearing eyeblack with Bible verses stenciled in, it's the next step in raising his platform as the most outspoken evangelical this side of Sarah Palin.
To be clear, we should absolutely support Tebow's right to state his political beliefs loudly and proudly and we should soundly reject the concept that jocks should just "shut up and play."
But there are other things we should soundly reject as well. We should reject the utter hypocrisy on display by CBS in airing this ad. The network has long stated that it has Super Bowl rules against "advocacy ads." In 2004, the network rejected a Super Bowl ad from the United Church of Christ in which a church is shown opening its doors to a gay couple. The network has also refused ads from PETA, MoveOn.org and many others. This year, it even rejected a humorous commercial from a gay dating site called mancrunch.com. And yet, the network takes money from Focus on the Family - which, according to People for the American Way, is "anti-choice, anti-gay and against sex education curricula that are not strictly abstinence-only."
Focus on the Family's guru is the infamous and recently retired James Dobson. Dobson is a frightening fellow, choosing the second night of Passover last year to say, "The biggest Holocaust in world history came out of the Supreme Court" with Roe vs. Wade. Dobson's other pet project, the Family Research Council, has connections to white supremacist organizations like the Council of Conservative Citizens. In 1996, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list.
The idea that this organization is acceptable to CBS - while MoveOn or PETA or the United Church of Christ are too radical - actually adds up to a right-wing assault on free speech. We could also point out the irony that this year, like all others, ads for the U.S. armed forces will be omnipresent, but that's not considered advocacy, either. I doubt there would be equal time for Iraq Veterans Against the War, even if it could pony up the millions.
The other thing we need to reject is the sports media's love affair with Tim Tebow's "courage" in being a part of this ad. People like CBS' Jim Nantz and Sports Illustrated's Peter King are like tweens at a Justin Bieber concert when it comes to Tebow, with King recently writing, "What I heard from Tebow was the voice of a kid with convictions, who doesn't shrink from what he believes - even if it might hurt his draft prospects."
Wrong: The fact that Tebow has massive accuracy problems and can't take a snap from center without fumbling is what is going to hurt his draft prospects.
Moreover, it rankles that Tebow is being extolled for his courage while athletes who have spoken out against militarism (Carlos Delgado and most famously Muhammad Ali) or racism (Josh Howard) are called crazy and tiresome.
Let's hope that the next time an athlete speaks out - even if it's in the service of a left-wing cause - the media remember their praise of Tebow and cut him or her some slack. And let's hope that the next time CBS gets an ad query from a group with an agenda diametrically opposed to Focus on the Family's, it gives it equal time.
Hosting the Super Bowl ought to be considered a privilege. And CBS has already failed the test.
[Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing
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El Bronx, NY: There is nothing like winning and New York fans love nothing better, especially when one of our teams wins a Cinderella game 17-14 triumph over the Chargers in their divisional round playoff game at Qualcomm Stadium.
At the beginning of the NFL season most of my friends and family members were not too optimistic about the NY Jets. Most of them are NY Giants fans, and we New Yorkers love to wear our NY logo like the Giants and Yankees have “NY” on their helmets and hats. Thus, I understand why I know more Giants fans than Jets fans. For me personally, I always had a soft spot for the Giants since the Giants once played in the Bronx at the old Yankee stadium and Blue is my favorite color.
The Jets remind me of the comparison between the Yankees and the NY Mets baseball team. They are like the other team, the “B Squad” of New York football. This began to change for me when the Jets made an Omar Minaya type move and traded a few players to have the 5th first round pick for Mark Sanchez in the 2009 draft. Hey a Latino quarterback in the NFL, in New York, I’m in, “Let’s Go Jets!”
However, we all know how the season turned out. The favorite NY football team, the Giants fizzled out towards the end of the season and the underdog NY Jets team with the rookie quarterback that everyone had written off is one win away from a trip to Miami and playing in Super Bowl XLIV.
The Chargers are asking themselves, what happened, how did this shocking loss occur? The answer has two major parts. One is Mark Sanchez the rookie quarterback who completed 12 of 23 passes for a trivial 100 yards, 1 touchdown and one interception, not outstanding, but enough to make his mark and show that he is on track and has what it takes to be a great quarterback for this franchise. The other key factor for the Jets win was their blitzing defensive team who held the high scoring and offensive packed Chargers to their first sub-20-point game in the last 23 games.
Coach Rex Ryan probably telling Mark Sanchez: "OK kid we got this, just stay cool," or telling him, "Tranquilo."
You also have to give credit to First-year head coach Rex Ryan. He ran a great playbook from start to finish. Though the Jets were held scoreless in the first half for the first time in 46 games and it seemed that they could not even get a first down in the first half, he adapted his plays to stay steady and keep the game close for the Jets to come back and win. You saw his leadership grit when it finally came down to this: Fourth-and-a-foot, 1:09 left. The Jets decide to go for it. That play sealed the victory for the green machine.
The Jets are on their way to Indianapolis to play for the AFC Championship.
Next Sunday many New Yorkers will stop everything and fix their eyes to their TV screens, or ears to their radios at 3 PM. Next Sunday New Yorkers will forget the team differences, the team colors and the allegiances and do what we do best, root for anything from our Big Manzana (Big Manzana) and celebrate hearing Jay-Z’s/Alicia Keys, “A New York State of Mind”
NUEVA YORK – Muy parecido a los Jets, la fuerza del ataque de los Bengals esta temporada ha sido el juego de corredores.
Cedric Benson, que parece un minitanque, fue el arma principal. Marcó 1,251 yardas por tierra, el quinto mejor total de la conferencia Americana. Benson no jugó en la semana 17 contra los Jets, pero espera estar entero para la revancha en el partido de primera ronda, la de los equipos comodines, el sábado en el estadio Paul Brown de Cincinnati.
“Posee gran visión, es muy ágil y sabe hacer buenos ajustes”, dijo el guardia nariz Sione Pouha, que como sustituto del lesionado Kris Jenkins sumó 59 paradas esta temporada, el segundo mayor número en la línea defensiva verdiblanca. “No por nada es un buen corredor. Ha hecho su cosa y se ha ganado respeto”.
Alabama's Mark Ingram Jr. made history Saturday, winning the closest Heisman race of all time while becoming the first Crimson Tide player to take home the honor.
NEW YORK – The five top vote getters in the annual Heisman Trophy election were invited to New York City to take part in the 75th anniversary of the award that goes to the best football player of the season Saturday night.
Twenty-six winners of the extremely prestigious award were on the stage of the Nokia Theater in Times Square to support the latest recipient of the trophy. Mark Ingram, a sophomore running back at the University of Alabama, was named the winner over second place finisher Toby Gerhart of Stanford University in the closest vote in the history of the award.
Aside from some solid play by Thomas Jones (No. 20) in the backfield, the Jets offense struggled in another tough loss Sunday. PHOTO BY BILL MENZEL / LSV
East Rutherford, NJ – So much for the bye week for the New York Jets. Hoping the extra time off would turn their season around, the Jets picked up right where they left off after their last game.
Another loss that could have easily been a win.
This loss however to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-22, dropped their record to 4-5 and put a serious dent in their chances to make the playoffs. The pattern has been all too familiar for a team that started the year winning their first three games. Since then, they have lost five of their last six. Turnovers leading to opponent’s points and the inability of the defense to come up with a stop with the game on the line. Head coach Rex Ryan, who gave his squad six days off after their last game implored the fans once again to come out and support the team in full force. It didn’t take long before the fans began shaking their heads.
A lot is resting on the shoulders of Jets rookie Mark Sanchez. And a lot of it goes beyond football. PHOTO BY BILL MENZEL / LSV
NEW YORK – The New York Jets made rookie quarterback and third-generation Mexican-American Mark Sanchez available to the Spanish media Wednesday in a very tell-all conference call.
Sanchez spoke candidly about everything from his upbringing to Gang Green’s recent trade for wide receiver Braylon Edwards. The conference call was held in English, but Sanchez continues to improve on his Spanish-speaking skills. He has conducted several interviews in Spanish of late, including one TV spot. He said he hopes to improve to the point that he could do both equally as well.
Acquired from the Browns last week, newest Jet Braylon Edwards address the New York media at practice for the first time Wednesday. He will make his Jet debut tonight on Monday Night Football against Miami.
Sent packing to New York by way of Cleveland, troubled but talented wide receiver Braylon Edwards makes his Jets debut tonight in prime time as Gang Green marches into Miami for an AFC East showdown with the Dolphins.
New York’s new wideout won’t be the only Jet getting his first taste of the rivalry with new coach Rex Ryan and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez looking to guide New York to a 4-1 start following last week’s defeat to New Orleans. While the Dolphins are only 1-3, much has been made about New York’s physical defense matching up with Miami’s potent rushing attack.
East Rutherford, NJ – Eli Manning has made an art out of eluding defenders in the pocket, dodging injury in the process, but one of his missteps may keep him from the field this week.
The Giants quarterback injured himself in last Sunday’s 27-16 win at Kansas City and has been held out of two straight practices heading into the team’s week 5 home matchup with Oakland. Since taking over the starting job in 2004, the former Super Bowl MVP has made 82 consecutive starts – the third-longest streak among active QBs.
With Manning nursing plantar fasciitis, that streak is in jeopardy. Undefeated Big Blue (4-0) may turn to backup David Carr Sunday against the lowly Raiders (1-3).
The Jets are hoping for more celebrations like this one last Sunday when they travel to New Orleans this weekend. PHOTO BY BILL MENZEL / LSV
Florham Park, NJ – No one has been able to slow Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints through the first three weeks of the NFL season.
Not Detroit. Not Philadelphia. Not Buffalo. Along the way, the league’s No. 1 offense has torched their three opponents to the tune of an NFL-best average 40 points per game – the most through the first three games since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
But we’re not talking about the Lions, the McNabb-less Eagles, or the Bills in Week 4. We’re talking about the undefeated New York Jets, the league’s No. 3 ranked defense, the AFC East’s top team and the NFL’s best trash talking crew under the never understated Rex Ryan.
Which leads us to the big question: Can Gang Green’s powerful defense contain Brees – the league’s top QB – Sunday in New Orleans, as the two teams duke it out for 4-0?
The Jets will need more from Thomas Jones and their offense come Sunday in New Orleans. PHOTO BY BILL MENZEL / LSV
Florham Park, NJ – The New York Jets have not tried to fool any of their first three opponents when they send their defense on the field. In two of their first three games, they won the coin toss and elected to kick off, instead of sending the offense on the field. It would have been it three out of three except they lost the coin toss last Sunday against Tennessee. They have consistently pressured the opposing offensives with a variety of blitzes from every angle. Linebackers blitz one time, cornerbacks the next.
Safeties blast through the middle at unexpected times when the formation shows otherwise. They were so successful putting pressure on Titans quarterback Kerry Collins from every angle last Sunday in their 24-17 victory, his last 13 attempts were incomplete. The defense has been established and for the most part consistent. Head coach Rex Ryan is waiting for the offense to get just as consistent. When that happens, it will take the team to another level.
In their opening victory over the Houston Texans, the Jets had the ball for 11 offensive possessions. Five times they went three and out. The first three times they scored, they gave the ball back to Houston on their very next possession. In fact, they never put together back to back scores.
