Seabiscuit, one of the most famous and beloved champions of horse-racing history, began his career quite inauspiciously, appearing to have little future as a winner.
Seabiscuit ran in 35 races as a two-year-old, including 3 claiming races.
These included three claiming races, in which he could have been purchased for $2500, but he had no takers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabiscuit#Early_days
The prognosis for Seabiscuit's future did not appear good to the experts. But ...
On August 22, 1936, Seabiscuit raced for the first time for his new jockey and trainer, in Detroit, without impressing anyone. But improvements came quickly and, in their remaining eight races in the East, Seabiscuit and Pollard won several times …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabiscuit#1936.2F37:_The_beginning_of_success
Those closest to Seabiscuit often cited his will to win as his strength, the key to his winning ways. Seabiscuit, according to his jockey, Red Pollard, performed best by laying back, where he could see his competition, sizing up the other horses before making his late-burst move. According to Pollard, Seabiscuit needed to see the other horses in front of him, which motivated him to run harder.
The similarities between Seabiscuit and Tebow, whom I call Teabiscuit, are easily realized, despite the incongruities, which rest within the fact that Teabiscuit was a proven winner coming out of college, whereas Seabiscuit was not a proven winner going into his breakout season. Both present unconventionality in their performances, but win. Both were passed over by many and viewed as having no future, yet when given opportunity, proved their doubters wrong. There is, however, one overriding similarity that I think explains the current sports media love affair with Tim Teabiscuit. Regardless of how Teabiscuit's story unfolds, the main reason for the media phenomenon that has evolved around him is the same thing that endears Seabiscuit to so many; in both stories we find inspiration. Both stories belong to troubled times with average Americans' lives settled on precarious circumstance. With hope dwindling for some, or nonexistent for many others, true stories of underdogs beating the odds, losers becoming winners, are the stuff of legend, a common thread through so many sources of inspiration.
Teabiscuit exemplifies this source of inspiration, at least at this point in his professional career in the NFL. Despite coming out of college as a repeat champion holding multiple collegiate quarterback records, virtually all pro-football talent scouts dismissed Teabiscuit as not having the physical or technical skills needed to become a successful quarterback in the NFL. Included among those evaluators of talent were some even within the very organization that drafted him. After the first quarter of the current 2011 NFL season, the Denver Broncos were 1 and 4 (1 win, 4 losses) with most prognosticators predicting no chance of making the playoffs. In the sixth game of the season, the Denver Broncos faced a 16 point deficit, so Teabiscuit was sent into the game in the second half, in which the team nearly overcame the deficit losing to the Chargers by a score of 29 to 24.
With fans calling for Teabiscuit, and the future outlook of possibly finishing last in their division, the Broncos organization moved Teabiscuit to the starting quarterback position. Since becoming the starter, Teabiscuit and the Broncos have produced a number of come-from-behind victories that rival the come-from-behind, late-burst-of-speed victories that were characteristic of Seabiscuit. For instance, in Teabiscuit's second game, Teabiscuit's first as the starter this season, the Broncos struggled for three and a half quarters, and with just over 3 minutes left in the game, faced a 15 to 0 deficit. With Teabiscuit at the helm, they tied the game in regulation time, and then kicked the winning field goal in overtime to win, 18 to 15. Including that game, the Broncos have gone 7 and 1 with Teabiscuit, up to the time of this writing for a season record of 8 and 5, the lead in their division, with most prognosticators predicting good chances of winning their division for 2011.
Like Seabiscuit, with each successive win Teabiscuit has become more and more prominent in sports media discussions. Like Seabiscuit, the fascination with Teabiscuit is fueled by the fact that Teabiscuit and the Broncos have defied the opinions of the “experts” who gave them no chance. Despite Teabiscuit's success at lower levels – high school and college – the naysayers who poo-poohed Teabiscuit's chances of success in the NFL have been, at least to this point, proven compellingly wrong. In the public eye, Teabiscuit's is the classic loser-to-winner theme, the guy with no chance who succeeds, it's Rocky Balboa beating the odds. Teabiscuit's success inspires people, as did Seabiscuit's, at a time when world events are stifling inspiration.
Many people, including me, are put off by Teabiscuit's overt religiosity and evangelizing, the manner in which he wears his religion on his sleeve. The controversial nature of Teabiscuit's religiosity adds to the media interest, as controversy always adds interest to public figures. Like many people, I quickly grew tired of hearing about Teabiscuit, often changing channels or muting the TV, and I still find myself frustrated by the inordinate amount of media coverage he receives. Regardless, I find myself enjoying his journey of beating the odds. I find something refreshing in his style of quarterback play that is somewhat a throwback to another era when quarterbacks were not so overtly protected and the passing game was not so prominently favored by rules that disadvantage defenders in pass coverage.
Teabiscuit's current winning streak will likely come to an end this weekend against Tom Brady and the Patriots, but whatever happens, we should just enjoy the ride and see where it leads. Since there aren't a lot of positive things happening on the world stage these days, Teabiscuit might serve as a nice distraction.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Beth Winegarner
SnippytheGrammarDog
Paul Nevins
Chauncey DeVega
Belinda T.
Erica K
Salon.com
Comments
Today's match-up against Brady and co. should be a good test for the entire Broncos team. Regardless of how it turns out, the "experts" have once again been exposed, at least to some degree. I remember many years ago they said Emmett Smith was too small, too slow, and probably not durable enough to make it in the NFL. Jimmy Johnson was quoted as saying, "He looked pretty good to us; every time we saw him he was scoring touchdowns!"
I think this is the primary appeal of Tebow to the sports media; he's defying the odds.
I didn't know much about Teabow's record and stats, but if they suggested he couldn't cut it in the NFL, we can say that tangible intangibles sometimes exist. He's more than the sum of his parts, for whatever reason. Time will describe it as harbinger or fluke.
I find celebrities commenting on politics or religion off-putting in general, but when they walk the walk as well I respect that. Sean Penn in a boat plucking victims from flooded New Orleans, for example. In Teabow's case, he seems to live his religious conviction, so when it appears in his football it isn't an example of pandering hypocrisy. He's a missionary who happens to be a quarterback. What would the Dalai Lama say if he could consistently scramble and gain yards?
Like most viewers whose state has no NFL team, my simple concern is that I see a close game with a cliffhanger finish. T's story is compelling, so it'll be interesting to see how it works out today.
The boy should get laid more.
r
Thanks for posting. I'm actually surprised this post held any interest for you. In fact, the only reason I posted it at all was because of a conversation I had with my wife when she asked me, “What's the deal with this Tebow guy?” She kept hearing his name in various settings, so I explained who he was, and spontaneously delivered my Seabiscuit analogy because, while she's not really a football fan, she is a lover of horses. At that point, she suggested I write up a little blog and post it.
You expressed my own view that he does “walk the walk”. For me, that's not enough, of course, because I figure he could do his good deeds without believing in the imaginary friend, which I view as a form of normalized insanity. But I still find his journey in the NFL up to this point to be a bit of novelty, so it's an interesting story line, even if overplayed in the media. But one of the interesting aspects of his story is WHY the media has played it up so much.
And, you're right, I did chuckle about your rewired spelling of TEAbow's name. ;-)
toritto,
I might agree, although I don't know how often he gets laid, so …
...but I'm with you on the religion thing.
Thanks for reading it, then. I only posted it because my wife thought it might be a fun topic for some people. I have found the media fascination with Teabiscuit an intriguing phenomenon, one which I can't fully understand.
I agree with you about normalized insanity applying to many things, and, yes, perfectly to Congress, and I think the insanity we see there reflects back to those who continue to send the same people back there; a reflection of the question, "Why do so many people vote against their own best interests?"