Does God care if Tim Tebow wins?

I've wanted to do a post on this topic for awhile and now seems to be as ever an appropriate time to do so.

The question I'm phrasing is does God care if Tim Tebow (or fill in the blank here) wins?  Is God a fan of the NFL?  Or of professional sports at all?  I've come to the conclusion that the answer to all of this is no.  Why?  Keep reading.

To think that the Creator of the universe would care about the outcome of something so trivial as a sporting event is silly - but not all believe that.  Just look at the headlines or what seems to be trending on Twitter and other places online and you'll probably get a different answer or belief.  I even saw an article today entitled "Why Tim Tebow just might be the second coming of Jesus".  Ridiculous.  What is not ridiculous has been his play on the field and how he seems to have inspired his teammates.  He is proving to be a true leader not only off the field.  I do get a little tired of his teammates and coaches not getting much credit as while one man can make a different it takes a team effort to win in the NFL.  As glad as I was to see coach John Fox leave Carolina I can say it's kind of nice to see him winning games again.

Here are a few verses of Scripture that I pulled out that I think are relevant. 

1 Chronicles 29:12
Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.  In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 

Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Philippians 4:13
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

What I don't get is why is Tebow catching so much flak over his faith?  I don't remember people "crucifying" other players who wear their faith on their sleeve that play professional sports like this.  Did people mock and ridicule Kurt Warner when he and the Cardinals won Super Bowl XLIII?  Former NFL QB Jake Plummer has recently come out stating that Tebow should "Just shut up".  If you don't like what he or any other player for that matter is saying then turn the channel or hit the mute button.  I'd rather see a player pointing to the heavens when celebrating in the end zone after scoring a touch down than some of the things I see happen each and every Sunday afternoon.  Maybe I'm a little biased here, but I seriously don't get why a lot of people are so up in arms about this.

I for one think it's a little refreshing to see this attitude being so prominently displayed, especially in professional sports.  Too many times do I see players' ego's swell up so big that they can't focus on reality.  Or we hear news of some professional athlete getting into all sorts of trouble away from the game.  So what if someone kneels to pray before or after a game.  Heck even during the game!

Thankfully not all of the media is giving Tim and his faith a hard time.  Here is short, but well written article by Marlo Thomas.

If you've been reading my blog for anytime now then you'll probably know that I'm a Christian.  Look at some of the players that I collect on cardboard and you'll probably notice a trend.  I collect Christian athletes.  So of course Tebow was added to the list when he made his debut in the NFL last year.  I guess I should have taken advantage last year of Tebow's "stock" being so down and picked up more of his rookie cards as now a lot of them have really taken off thanks to his play and partially because of this "controversy".  Maybe I can score some cards off of these sour fans who are avoiding him like the plague?!  Time will tell I suppose how all of this works out - in both sports and in the hobby.