NEWS FEED

Column: Just another bandwagon fan

Written by Michael Turlington, Sports Editor

Ever since I began to follow sports, it felt like the only news that I ever heard was bad. Sports stars like Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress were in the news because of the crimes that they had committed. Joe Paterno’s career as the head coach of the Penn State football team collapsed when the news about Jerry Sandusky broke. During this time, I began to wonder why I even kept up with the sports world.

This year, I realized why, in spite of all the bad news, I continue to follow sports. I watch sports because of players like Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin. You will probably think that I am a bandwagon fan because of this, and you are probably right.

Most of the news concerning these two players is about their religious beliefs. This makes me respect them more as people, but it has no effect on how I see them as athletes.

When I first began to hear about Tebow, I was not a big fan. Even though he won two national championships in college, everyone agreed that he would not make a good NFL quarterback. However, Tebow was still drafted, and he began to win games when he was made the starting quarterback for the Broncos.

The reason I jumped on the bandwagon was because Tebow was not supposed to win. His throwing motion was not conventional, and the Broncos did not have any offense in the first 55 minutes of the game. And yet, Tebow would always seem to come away with a victory. Tebow made football games exciting and fun to watch.

Jeremy Lin also brings excitement to games, but he caught my attention for another reason. When I think of Harvard graduates, I think of someone exactly like Lin. The only difference it that Lin plays in the NBA. It is amazing that someone who graduated from Harvard and spent so much time on academics would be able to play professional sports.

These two athletes are not the only ones who make me enjoy following sports, but they do represent everything that I care about in athletics. Sports would not be the same without the underdogs who pull out huge upsets. However, what I respect the most about the Lins and Tebows is that when the game is over, they go out in the world and make news for doing good.