Alan Greenwood

This morning’s mission: Making it through this little essay without mentioning You Know Who (No. 17 in your program, No. 1 in his own mind) …

Tim Tebow did not tie the knot wedding hypocrisy with big-time college sports, but he certainly is a Hall of Fame hypocrite in its defense.

Last week the California State Assembly began loosening that knot. It passed a bill that would allow college athletes earn money off the use of their names, images and likenesses. In other words. The players could a get a slice of the mountainous pie that big-time schools make off their presence.

From his perch on Plane Tebow, we heard a dire pronouncement that this would the essence of college sports. “I know we live in a selfish culture where it’s all about us, but we’re just adding and piling it onto that where it changes what’s special about college football,” Tebow proclaimed on ESPN.

“… It’s about your team, about your university, about where my family wanted to go, about where my grandfather had a dream of seeing Florida win an SEC championship, and you’re taking that away so young kids can earn a dollar. And that’s not where I feel like college football needs to go.”

We hate to break this to him, but major college sports ambled down that road decades ago.

Tebow’s perception of college athletics certainly exists and thrives – in the so-called “minor” sports, and at schools in the lower divisions.

The current system treated Tebow very well. And he made enough money in the NFL to afford the delusion that he is a big-league baseball prospect despite his age (32) and his batting average (.192 this season at the Mets Triple A Syracuse affiliate).

Letting players get a taste of the billions they help churn is simply the fair thing to do.

TIME TRAVEL: Sept. 15, 1949 – “‘We had a tough afternoon,’ proclaimed high school grid coach Buzz Harvey, commenting on the Purple’s showing in an inter-city scrimmage with Fitchburg High School at the Bay State city Tuesday afternoon.

“More than slightly disappointed, the Buzzer blamed his squad’s dull performance on his charger’s reading material before the long two-hour scrimmage. ‘The boys looked like they had been reading the papers about their success against St. Clements in the Jamboree Sunday’.”

The Purple Panthers went on to a 4-5 season.

AND FINALLY: Thinking of the Patriots playing at Miami is mind-bending. For unexplained reasons, Tom Brady turns into Jay Cutler when he plays at Whatever It Is Called Now Stadium.

The current rendition of the Dolphins is so hideous, according to the sharpies who make such calls, that if the Pats don’t win by 50 points it should go down as an embarrassment. Well, with history as a guide, New England should be satisfied with any win, narrow or otherwise.

And they shouldn’t even need No. 17 to accomplish that.

Alan Greenwood can be reached at 594-1248, agreenwood@nashuatelegraph.com, or @Telegraph_ Alan.

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