You'd Understand Tebow If You Just Watched Wrestling

Every time I talk to people about Tim Tebow, they (mostly) say they don't like him.  But they don't know why.  And every time commentators postulate on the negative feelings fans, or even they themselves, have towards the Broncos quarterback, they come up empty.

But that's simply because they look at Tebow as a man.  He's well mannered, well spoken, handsome, well educated, a winner, a good teammate, says the right things, does the right things, goes on mission trips to help the less fortunate.  How could you not like a person like that?  How could you not want that person to be your friend, your brother, the guy your daughter brings home?  Because he's not a person.  Not to us, the fans and commentators.  He's a character.  And for all the accolades he holds as a human being, he is a shitty character.  And that's why we hate him.

Just look towards professional wrestling.  Pro wrestling can answer so many of the outside the lines issues in sports.  Because, as much as the small minority of people out there who love sports but hate pro wrestling want to say they don't, pro wrestling and "real" sports are nearly the same thing.

They've, over the years, come to dub things like the WWE "sports entertainment."  But how is pro football, and the other major sports, not sports entertainment?  You have a 24 hour network dedicated to it, which frankly spends more time on the sensationalized stories surrounding the sport rather than wins and losses, you have outrageous players, who have shows on the E! network (guess what the E stands for), and a fan base obsessed with twitter posts and post-game interviews.

That being said, if you are a football fan, you care just as much about players, teams, and events that happen off the field as you do if your favorite team scores more points than the other team on Sunday.  You're invested in everything around your favorite teams and players leading up to those contests.  Just like a WWE fan's interest in storylines leading up to big matches.

Which brings me to Tebow.  Great guy.  Horrible storyline.  It's just to simple.

Wrestling fans, as much as non-fans want to marginalize them at times, are, for the most part, just people.  And they are not on an island.  They, like any other segment of the population, can show overall trends in their behavior.  Bring in the "Attitude Era" of pro wrestling.  A term that describes the wrestling era, particularly in WWE (then still WWF), from the mid-90s through the early 2000's.  You went from your superstars being Hulk Hogan (say your prayers, take your vitamins) to Stone Cold Steve Austin (drink your beers, flick off your boss).

And honestly I don't think it means we're worse as a society.  It just means we've matured as an entertainment audience.  And I think that comes from exposure.  With so much entertainment to choose from, we have become more discerning consumers of it.  We don't want bad guys to win now.  It's just that the line between villain and anti-hero is a thin one, and we prefer the latter.  Not because he's dark or mean or bad, but because he's more complex.  And it's a more complex, and ultimately rewarding, emotional ride to root for someone that your not always sure you should be rooting for.

And that brings us to now.  Tim Tebow is John Cena.  John Cena is the ultimate good guy.  Doesn't cheat in matches, wrestles hard, loves the fans, smiles for the camera, throws his shirt and hat to the crowd, does what's right.  But as of late, when anti-hero superstars have emerged to challenge him, he gets booed mercilessly.  Is it because wrestling fans are bad people?  They don't like nice people.  Good people.  People that respect them.  No, it's because they are paying to watch entertainment, and the smiley faced, do right guy winning it all at the end is so fucking done and so fucking boring.

People don't boo Cena the man...a man who does plenty of charity, especially through orginizations like the USO...they boo one of the most plain, one-note, static characters in recent WWE history. Sports fans don't hate Tim Tebow.  They're just bored to pieces by him.  And they are angry that that storyline is pervasive in their premier choice of entertainment.

I think wrestling is the perfect parallel, for the reasons I listed above, but you need only look at entertainment in general (which, forget the "sport" part, is what football and WWE are) to see that we've become more discerning viewers.  Dexter, the serial killer who kills killers, Mad Men, the man all men want to be who treats his wife despicably most times, Breaking Bad, the terminally ill man who sells meth and murders so his family can have security.  We don't like these sometimes dark, disturbing, and controversial shows because were bad people.  We just want some complexity.  Something to think about.  Hell, by the end of the most recent season, season 4, I started to really not care for Walter White, the main character of Breaking Bad, but my love for the show was not hurt (and in fact may have increased).

So, it's ok Tebow.  We don't hate you.  We just hate that you being in the league is making us watch shitty TV.

And he'll be fine.  Like Cena.

Why is Cena still around.  He sells t-shirts.  Kids like him.  Parents of those kids like him.  Casual fans will probably tend to be drawn to him because he gets a push from the higher ups.

Just like Tebow.

So, I don't like you Tebow, but don't stop being you.  Keep selling youth sized jerseys.  Keep helping people in 3rd world countries.  And hell, if you can, keep winning.  As Tupac would say, "I ain't mad at cha.  Got nothin' but love for ya, do your thing boy."