By now, if have you haven't heard that Tim Tebow is saving himself for marriage, you've been living under a rock. I asked the question, explained why I asked it, and watched as the question rather than the answer took center stage. For the record, I'd ask the same question tomorrow, the next day, and the day after. I still don't understand why the question got more attention than the answer.
Y'all have been sending me links (and mostly) supportive emails since the question. So thanks for that. I've collated all those opinion pieces, both good and bad, from people that I've ever read anything from before. As a preliminary, the reason I'm using the readership standard is because I generally believe these guys and gals do a good job with sports. I don't always agree with them, but I'm aware of who they are, and I've read their columns before. Here goes.
"Since Tebow was outed, I'm going to out the questioner. He's Clay Travis. He used to work for us. I've met him once. He's written books on SEC and Tennessee football. He's a lawyer, humorist and columnist. I guess.
His latest job is with AOL Fanhouse. The site currently employs some of my favorite writers. Clay Travis is not one of them. Not now, because it sickens me to be reminded again that journalism has become a hobby instead of a vocation. Radio talk-show hosts who have never set foot in a locker room call themselves "journalists." Give an out-of-work linebacker an analyst job, and suddenly he's the "media."
Nice day at work. Rest up and come back fresh tomorrow, Clay. There will be plenty of chances on Friday to ask a player if he has herpes. I'm sure the public is dying to know if Lane Kiffin ever "read" Playboy or if Les Miles watches HBO after midnight?
...
You broke the seal, Clay. Why hold back now?
There's a setting for all this: It's called open mike night. The rest of us, we're trying to get some work done here.
First, on the "outing", I wrote about the question online, twittered about it, blogged about it, and went on the radio to talk about it. But I'm glad Dennis Dodd "outed" me. Otherwise no one would have had any clue who asked the question. As if I was hiding, please.
Isn't it the ultimate irony to write about the question (while conveniently leaving off the introductory premise that featured a. his religious background and b. the fact that he was beloved across the SEC) and then complain that "we're trying to get some work done here?"
By asking the question, I've given you something to write about. If it's not news or it was an irrelevant question, ignore it and do your "work."
Finally, I didn't think about it until after, but if I'd really had mega-balls, I would have stood up in front of Les Miles and said, "Les, Clay Travis here, Dennis Dodd from CBS is afraid to ask the question, so I'm asking it for him: Do you have herpes?" Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution:Was Tim Tebow "virginity" question out of bounds?
After our talk Tebow again showed why he is different than any other athlete I’ve covered. In a large interview room he was asked a totally inappropriate question—whether or not he is still a virgin (I am not going to mention the person’s name who asked the question or his website. It’s out there if you really want it).
Tebow was within his rights to get up and walk out of the room. He was within his rights to tell the questioner that it was none of his damned business. Instead he said “Yes, I am.” The reporters in the room—at least the ones with integrity—were clearly uncomfortable at the line of questioning. Tebow laughed and put them at ease.
He took a situation where a “reporter” was clearly out of line and made light of it. It was a move few us could have made so deftly.
There are several things wrong with this post by Barnhart:
1. I didn't actually ask whether or not Tebow was a virgin. I asked if he was saving himself for marriage. There's a fairly substantial difference between the tone and substance of the way those respective questions are phrased. But, and this is my point, the entire prelude to this opinion by Barnhart is about Tebow's off the field reputation as an angel. So he's writing about Tebow's reputation and religion, but he thinks a question about Tebow's reputation and religion is out of bounds?
2. I didn't ask Tebow the question in the "large" print/internet media room as Barnhart writes. I asked it in the small one, the radio/internet room. I could have been in either given that I co-host a radio show and write on the internet. But why is that significant? Because the radio/internet room only had about 50 people in it, vs. over 500 in the other. Not to mention that the radio/internet room wasn't being broadcast live on television and the internet.
Was it a completely intimate setting?
No.
Was the Florida Gator media relations staff ever going to let me have a one-on-one interview with Tebow this year?
No.
So if I thought the question was relevant, which I obviously did, I had to ask it publicly at some point. This is the the most "private" I could get to ask the question before the season started and actual football commenced.
3. Not naming me, really? On Rocky Top is currently sitting at Mr. Barnhart's house after he passed along his address for an early copy. I respect Barnhart's work, it's why I'm very interested in what he thinks of the new book.
I mocked Dodd a bit above for "outing" me, but at least he got his facts correct and quoted (albeit shortened) from the exchange. Barnhart did his readers a disservice by not taking three minutes to actually get the facts before he opined. Or at least linking the above video.
It goes without saying that Tebow is the most visible college athlete in the country, maybe one of the most visible college athletes of all-time. And, yes, he's been very outspoken about his Christian faith and some of his mission work.
But asking about his virginity? Come on.
That's nobody's business but his own.
The story here, though, is how Tebow handled himself, how he kept his composure and how he had the guts to answer an impossible question.
1. Chris should know all about "impossible questions." Such as when he ran with the story about South Carolina recruit Alshon Jeffery accusing Kiffin of saying if he went to play for the Gamecocks he'd wind up pumping gas for a living as a front-page lead on ESPN.com. That same story led SportsCenter. All before Low got around to asking Tennessee's Lane Kiffin whether or not he'd ever said it. In my mind the only "impossible question" to answer is one that never gets asked.
Again, even eliminating the opening to my question, I asked "Are you saving yourself for marriage?"
There are two easy answers.
Yes.
or
No.
In neither case is the response impossible. The question and answer doesn't even require that sex be involved. If you answer, "No," it doesn't mean you've had sex, it could just mean that you aren't waiting for marriage but are still a virgin.
2. Doesn't it defeat the entire premise of your position to have a headline that involves virginity? Especially when I didn't even use the word "virgin" in the question?
So your company deems the virginity angle worthy for headline purposes, but you don't deem it worthy as a single question at three days of press conferences? This goes for the AJC and ESPN by the way. Irony defined.
There were more giggles. This is what it had come to for a player who has hit the star stratosphere like few college players ever.
"I think you're all stunned right now,” Tebow smiled. "I was ready for the question. Ya'll weren't."
So there you go, Tim Tebow is a virgin and he's proud to admit it. Apparently people ask all the time.
He was fine with the question and wants to let everyone know that not even the coeds in Gainesville could break him of his commitment to Christianity. And if you've ever strolled through the UF campus, you’d know Tebow has just redefined the word "devout."
Forget preaching to prisoners, circumcising children on third world missionaries or giving impassioned speeches after losses to Ole Miss. The legend of Tim Tebow may have just peaked. At this point, just about anything this guy does would seem believable.
"The No. 1 way you minister to people is through your actions,” Tebow said. “They see how you act, how you treat people, how you love people, how strong your relationship with Jesus Christ is.”
It's worth noting that Dan Wetzel was the only national columnist who was actually in the room when the question was asked. I think that allowed him to do a better job of grabbing the context. It's not like bedlam ensued and the Florida SID came out and tried to strangle me. The room died down after much laughter and Tebow answered another five or so questions before leaving.
For some reason, Tebow's chastity admission -- which came at SEC media day on Thursday when Clay Travis of AOL's FanHouse.com asked if he was a virgin -- has caused great debate in the sports world.
Should we care that the most popular athlete in college football hasn't gotten his freak on?
Was it an appropriate question?
Should Tebow have even answered?
Yes.
Yes.
And, yes.
Asking Tebow about his virginity wasn't out of bounds, and his answer was more important than people realize.
Tebow has used his enormous platform to promote his Christian beliefs. He utters the words "Jesus Christ" almost as often as "spread offense." At media day, he spoke in detail about ministering to prisoners, and he's been praised considerably for doing missionary work overseas.
I liked the guts it took, and the insight it required, to ask that question of that athlete. He's not just an athlete. He's the most famous Christian athlete in the country, and he's walking on a campus -- I went there -- teeming with temptation. Are you saving yourself for marriage? is the wrong question to ask every athlete but one in college football. But it's the right question to ask Tebow. He's The One.
Tim Tebow is a big boy. If he thought the question was inappropriate, he certainly could have answered it with something like, "That's a private matter." But as you might expect, Tebow came through in the clutch and handled it perfectly -- with humor and honesty --- and now the whole world knows he is a virgin who is saving himself for marriage.
Good job, Clay Travis.
Good job, Tim Tebow.
Tebow is not just a football player, he is a cult figure whose story has always encompassed more than just his sport. His faith and spirituality are a bigger part of who he is than his ability to convert on 3rd-and-1. That's why I think the question was appropriate.
Travis asked a question that everybody has always wondered and Tebow answered a question that further solidifies his legend as not only a great football player but as a decent God-fearing human being.
Open Mike commends Tim Tebow for getting that message out.
And I commend Clay Travis for allowing him to get that message out.
On its face, whether Tebow has been some sort of Greek god of studliness or saving himself for marriage seems like a ludicrous issue to be talking about at a football conference, even in the SEC.
But Tebow has always been about more than football -- necessarily been about more than football.
Tebow's career -- on and off the field -- has been about mythology. Not in the "Clash of the Titans" fictional way, but about myth-making. So as not to confuse people, I try to use the word "mythic," because it means "as if a myth...," the implication being "...but very much real."
I think that's a representative sample of national voices.
And, finally, for some levity that I guarantee you'll love, check me and Chris Vernon, radio show host from Memphis who created Colonel Reb is Crying, on the Paul Finebaum show here.
Click on: Was Verno Right? I guarantee you'll be entertained.
Travis has become enamored of several objects, phrases or events which he frequenly references in the column. Among the most frequent:
'Bama Bangs - a term coined by Travis to refer to southern men's hairstyles that feature prominent bangs for no apparent reason. Brodie Croyle and John Parker Wilson are oft-cited violators of 'Bama Bangs rules.
Read More...
When Clay Travis, acclaimed author of Dixieland Delight, decided to spend the 2008 season up close and personal with UT football, he—and every other college football aficionado—thought he was in for a rollicking ride with one of the leading contenders for the national title. After all, when the Vols kicked off the season on September 1, the defending SEC East champions were ranked 18th in the country. As head coach Phillip Fulmer prepared for the game, he reflected upon a coaching career that included an astounding 147 victories, two SEC championships, and a national title. With 34 years at UT under his belt as both a player and coach, the Tennessee native had just signed a contract extension that projected to keep him at the university long enough to become the winningest coach in program history.
Read More...
There is no college ball more passionate and competitive than football in the Southeastern Conference, where seven of the twelve schools boast stadiums bigger than any in the NFL and 6.5 million fans hit the road every year to hoot and holler their teams to victory.
Read More...
The newly favored man is not really a man at all, but a hairless, effeminate, germ-fearing, non-meat-eating, exfoliating, wristband-wearing woman of the worst order. We as men are told that we must embrace the sacred feminine in ourselves, even if it doesn't actually exist, and become the very quintessence of woman, plus penises. This situation is untenable. This trend must stop.
Read More...
Clay Travis is the only former student manager in the history of college athletics to marry an NFL cheerleader. He managed to pull this off despite an irrational affinity for the television shows Dawson's Creek and My Super Sweet 16. While being raised in Nashville, Tenn., Travis developed a healthy obsession with college sports and Alyssa Milano. As a teenager his greatest accomplishment was taking a doo-rag wearing Luke Duke (balling as Tom Wopat) to the hole at the Nashville YMCA.
In the midst of a stellar legal career during which he specialized in rewarding the unjust and punishing the oppressed, Travis began writing for CBS Sports's SPiN section in September 2005...
Read More...
