"He Sure Is Fun To Watch"

In the middle of the Falcons-Giants snoozefest I decided to hang out at the Mos Eisley Cantina for the Denver-Pittsburgh game. I knew the Colonel would be at the Tavern for a drink and NFL games but to my surprise he was sitting at a table by the big screen instead of sitting at the bar counter. I was surprised by this because the Colonel almost never sits at a table.

"Why are you sitting here?" I ask.

"Because I want to sit in front of the TV for this game," says the Colonel.

The way the bar is set up is that there are three TVs by the counter. Two on each end and one in the middle. Then there's a big screen in the right corner of the bar near the counter and tables set up by that TV. The Boz also hired a new waitress who shall we say is a little top heavy. And she was serving the Colonel's table so I think there were two BIG reasons why the Colonel wasn't sitting at the bar counter.

Tebow started the game in typical Tebow fashion; terribly. Overthrown balls, Pittsburgh stuffing the run, and the Broncos offense looking way too conservative. And then something snapped in Tebow in the 2nd half. Tebow became a different QB.

Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas on a couple of long passes, threw a touchdown to Eddie Royal, and ran for a touchdown himself. The Broncos actually looked, gasp, competent on offense. The Donkeys would go into halftime with a 20-6 lead with Tebow looking like John Elway.

The Colonel like a lot of people are fascinated by Tebow. The Colonel thought isn't fascinated by Tebow because of the press or the religious factor. He's fascinated with Tebow because of all the scorn Tebow receives from fans and analysts.


"Have you seen a player who receives as much scorn as Tebow?" asks the Colonel.

"I would say Tyler Hansborough," I say. "But he's actually lived up to his expectations as a role guy in the NBA, so no."

"Exactly." says the Colonel. "I root for Tebow for one reason only. So many people root against him. They root against him because of the media fawning or because of his religion. Then there are the analysts who root against them because they are certain Tebow will be a bust because he doesn't throw the ball like Dan Marino."

"So I root for Tebow," says the Colonel. "I know I'm not the only person rooting for Tebow but those are my reasons."

Pittsburgh would make their eventual comeback. Even with the refs help, I think everyone knew the Steelers were going to comeback in this game. It was expected and it happened.

What isn't expected is that Tebow is going to win the game in overtime on the very first play of the game with a 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas. Amazing. Spectacular. Unbelievable all rolled into one play.

"I feel like Tebow is the only person that could have happened to," reflects the Colonel.

That is one of the allures of Tebow. Only certain things can happen to him and his team. Marion Barber fumbles setting up the game-winning drive? Only can happen to Tebow and the Broncos. Winning on the first play of overtime on a 80-yard pass? Only can happen to Tebow. So I watch Tebow because it feels like only certain things can happen with Tebow on the field that can't happen to anyone else.

"I'll also say this about Tebow," says the Colonel. "He sure is fun to watch. You never know what is going to happen."