How about that Tebow III?

On a recent NFL Total Access, The Playmaker Michael Irvin quoted the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians 1:27:  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.  Of course, this is the King James translation.  I always preferred the NIV and NASB myself.  The NASB translates it:  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.  Now wasn't that better?

The quote was sited in regard to the offense Tim Tebow is running in Denver right now.  "This offense is foolishness, but is confounding all of us analysts who think we are wise", said Irvin.

Absolutely correct.  I have no objections to that statement.  I would only ask one further question:  Where the hell were you guys back in 2006 when all of us were being confounded in Tim Tebow's freshman year?  We went through that whole toxic shock resulting from exposure to the spread-option zone-read offense back in 2006.

You know the Florida Gators won the BCS Championship that year by spanking a very polished Ohio State team?  That the first of two championships we didn't think they could win.  After they won their second championship in 2008, over a Sam Bradford led Oklahoma Sooner team, it became very clear that this foolishness works.

However, it's clear you guys missed the party back then.  The looks on your faces resemble the look I had on my face back in 2006.  I wrote about that several times during the 2010 draft.

I have always been something of a Florida fan since the days of Steve Spurrier.  I totally loved that beautiful Gillman-Coryell offense he ran back at Florida.  I was a big fan of Danny Wuerffel back in those days also.

When Urban Meyer arrived in Florida... well... hehehehe... Let's just say I was quite upset by early results.  We had a two-headed QB monster with Chris Leak at the helm most of the time.  He was the nominal passer.  The Fearless Freshman Tim Tebow would come in on short yardage situations.  They would line up with 5 wide and an empty backfield.  Tim would run the football straight up the middle where there was no hole.  He would wind up popping for 7 to 15 yards a shot when there was no gap in the defense and no room to run.  I had no idea how the hell he did it, but the fans went berserk every time he came in.  It was a love affair from day one.

I thought it was the wackiest offense I had ever seen in my Goddamn life.  I wished they would fire Urban Meyer so we could get coach Spurrier back in there and run that beautiful Gillman-Coryell offense again. The Zone-Read-Option was an insult to my intelligence.

But then Florida's BCS championship victory over Ohio State stunned me.  I had no idea how they managed to get there, much less win in such convincing fashion.  I just had to accept the fact that the system works.

Tebow grew on me enormously.  I developed quite a bond with the kid.  This was the son I wished I had sired.  I later discovered he has exactly the same Moon, Venus and Mars signs I do.  The kid's emotional composition, sense of aesthetics, and drive are the same as mine.  We have quite a score according to Sirus 1.1, incidentally.  Of course, mentioning this would annoy Tebow to no end.

Fast forward to the 2010 draft.  It became clear that my Rams were going to replace Marc Buldger, a move I did not support.  However, if we were going to replace Buldger, it had to be Tebow as far as I was concerned.  I told everybody how much I loved this kid.  I wrangled on-line endlessly with those who favored Sam Bradford.

At the time, we didn't think Tebow would go in the first round.  I wanted to use the #1 pick on Ndamukong Suh, and get Tim with the #33 pick.  As it turns out, this would not have worked.  Just imagine where we might be today if we might have pulled it off somehow...

I hate to mention it, but the Broncos have 300% more victories than my Rams do right now.  Whooopse... did I say that?  Don't take it personally, Sam.  We didn't equip you for victory his year.  We had absolute rubbish at the WR position until John Elway gave us the gift of Brandon Lloyd.  I've been shouting this at everybody who will listen, incidentally.  We'll get you Justin Blackmon in this year's draft.

In summary, Michael Irvin is quite correct when he says this foolishness is confounding the wise. Still, I wonder why you guys didn't know all this by the beginning of 2009?  Don't you watch college football?  Am I the only one?

You might say that can't work in the NFL, but it is obvious that it does.  Further, it's based on the same great principle that the Gillman-Coryell offense is:  Just hit it where they ain't.  Attack the emptiness and avoid the fullness, as Tzun-Tzu says in The Art of War.  If you always attack the weak spot in the defense, you'll always enjoy moderate success.  It's just that simple.

The one thing that really troubles me is this:  Tim Tebow can pass.  He's just not doing it right now.  He had a college QBR of 175 over his entire four year career in the SEC.  He had massive passing numbers in 2007, the year he won the Heisman.  I have seen him throw the football vastly better than he has done it lately.  I know he can pass.  I think you guys have given my boy a complex.  He's heard you say he can't throw the ball so many times, he is starting to believe it.

Shake it off, Tim.  Remember who you are.  Don't listen to the bullshit.  You threw the ball just fine back in college.  Do what you did back then.  Just make your decision and throw with confidence. If you get your passing confidence back, the Broncos can run the table and go 11-5.

Have a look at Tim Tebow's natal chart

So, just for fun I decided I would have a look at Tim Tebow's natal chart. As dedicated and committed Baptist, he would not approve of this, but I thought I would give it a shot anyway.

The look is pretty stunning. Two things jumped out of the HTML and bit me on the nose right off the bat. My first reaction was "look at 'dem triangles!" My second reaction was FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

If you didn't already know it by now, Tim is one fiery guy. He is a quadruple Leo (cardinal fire) a triple Aries, and a double Sagittarius. He has multiple planets in all three fire signs, the most dominant being Leo, the leadership sign.

Naturally, this yields some amazing aspects. having so many planets in these compatible signs, all of the same element leads to zero confusion in the kids mind. He's got purity of intend and purpose without a lot need for analysis to figure out what he wants to do in life.

The kid has Venus in Leo and Mars in Leo, just like me. He's also got Moon in Aries, just like me. No wonder I feel a great paternal feeling for this kid. Any prospective wife better watch out. This kid is a fiery Lion. He may be keeping it bottled up right now, but just wait for the damn to break.

My advice to you Tim: Seek a triple Scorpio woman. She needs to have her Sun, Venus and Mars in Scorpio. That's about the only creature on God's Earth that's going to be able to keep pace with you.

Name: Tim Tebow

August 14 1987

12:00 PM Time Zone is AWST

Manila, PHIL

Rising Sign is in 20 Degrees Scorpio

You tend to be quiet, reserved, secretive and, at times, quite difficult to understand. Others notice your deep emotions and feelings and wonder how to draw you out. Stubborn and tough, you fight for any position you believe in. You are very resourceful and formidable when you become angered or upset about something. You enjoy living life at the cutting edge -- for you life must be experienced intensely and totally. Quite courageous, you are willing to take calculated risks. Easily hurt by others, you often strike back with bitter sarcasm. Sensitive and curious, you are concerned with the deeper mysteries of human psychology. Once you have become interested in any subject, you pursue it with total fanaticism.

Sun is in 20 Degrees Leo.

More than a bit of a showoff, you love to be the center of attention! But others do not usually mind because they tend to enjoy your genuine warmth and affection. Very spirited and willful, proud and self-important at times, you demand your own way. You are quite honest, however, and the respect of others is very important to you. You never compromise yourself and you pursue your goals with persistence and dedication. Your regal presence and demeanor draws you to positions of leadership and authority. But beware of being overly hardheaded, domineering, ostentatious or patronizing or you will lose the goodwill and admiration that you enjoy. Very theatrical, you live life on a grand scale wherever and whenever possible. Your strength and energy vitalizes those who come in contact with you.

Moon is in 24 Degrees Aries.

High-spirited and courageous, you are a fighter when your emotions are aroused. The degree of force and drive that you can bring to any effort sometimes surprises others. You have hair-trigger reactions to specific stimuli and tend to "let it all hang out." You sometimes act before you think and do things on the spur of the moment, and that sometimes gets you into trouble. Your moods change quickly -- you have quite a temper, but you don't hold grudges. Very independent, with an extremely strong and forceful personality, you are known for being impulsive, careless, reckless, foolhardy, rash and daring.

Mercury is in 14 Degrees Leo.

You are usually quite convinced that your own ideas are correct and you enjoy persuading others that they are. At times, you are very stubborn and proud of your beliefs and principles, and you get very defensive when they are challenged. You appreciate truth and honesty -- you practice it yourself and expect it in others. You have good talent for organizing, directing and planning. You delight in being asked for your advice and counsel.

Venus is in 18 Degrees Leo.

You have a striking, regal appearance and demeanor that attracts others to you. Your friendship is highly sought and you tend to take friendships quite seriously -- you remain loyal and true to those to whom you are attached. For you, love is mixed with pride and respect. Relationships are over when you lose respect for your partner. Be careful of a tendency to relate only to those who make you look good -- the powerful, important and influential. This can lead to arrogance and selfishness, and neither of these qualities becomes you.

Mars is in 24 Degrees Leo.

You are a very proud person. Strong, bold, courageous and self-possessed, you love to be the one to initiate significant actions. When people expect a lot of you, you respond positively and will work hard in order to maintain their respect. But when your dignity or pride is threatened, you tend to become sarcastic, arrogant and domineering. Try not to take any challenge or resistance that you meet as a personal affront. You are very stubborn about your right to live your life according to your own principles.

Jupiter is in 29 Degrees Aries.

The way that you grow and develop is by being an uncompromising individualist. You have a great need to be yourself and to explore your latent talents and abilities. Do not be afraid to let yourself go and develop self-confidence and pride in your accomplishments. But try not to become so self-centered that you ignore the needs of others. Also, you may have to build up your self-discipline in order to focus your energies properly.

Saturn is in 14 Degrees Sagittarius.

Basically quite conservative, you respect traditional authority figures and are very thankful and supportive of the laws and institutions which govern your life. You learn and accept new ideas only after having very thoroughly examined them. Ideals and abstract concepts are important to you only if they can be used in some practical fashion. You are so practical and so orderly that you have natural skills in planning, administrating and organizing.

Uranus is in 22 Degrees Sagittarius.

You, and most of your peers, have the tendency to think that all ideas, customs and traditions from the past are outmoded and irrelevant. You are attracted to radically new ideas, philosophies and religions that will, hopefully, cause sweeping changes throughout the world.

Neptune is in 05 Degrees Capricorn.

You, and your entire generation, will idealize work, practicality and the ability to attain reasonable goals. But, because you will also stress the need to be selfless and giving, you may find it difficult to attain your goals unless you have lowered your expectations on all fronts.

Pluto is in 07 Degrees Scorpio.

For your entire generation, this is a period of intense research and discovery in areas that were heretofore considered mysterious, remote or taboo. The root causes for many complex occurrences will be unearthed due to the intensity and thoroughness of the search.

N. Node is in 03 Degrees Aries.

You're at your most comfortable when involved in group activities outside of your immediate family circle. You delight in getting involved with others in neighborhood civic or political activities, especially if you can be a part of the leadership of the group. Your zeal and overabundant energy bring out your real creativity when you can work toward tangible results -- things that will immediately benefit those around you. You have a real gift for getting the most out of charity drives and community benefits. Take time out between projects though, because you tire out easily and your effectiveness becomes greatly diminished when your energy is depleted. Also, don't even think of trying to get involved at a peripheral level -- you need a total commitment to feel personally fulfilled. Let others bake the cookies and set up the chairs -- you should be the one to tell everyone what to do and when to do it!

Tim Tebow 2.0 on NFL Path to the Draft

Well, well, well, sonofabitch in hell... Hehehehehehe! All the jealous losers in the SEC, Big 12 and Big 10 are really going to be upset when they view the video of today's episode of Path to the Draft on the NFL's main site.

Mike Mayock, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on Path to the Draft, declared that todays proceedings were a big success for Tebow. He has made strides. His delivery is more compact and efficient. His footwork is much improved. His receivers caught every pass. Mayock conducted a strawpoll of the NFL GMs in attendance, and the consensus is that Tebow helped himself greatly. They believe he has put the conversion talk to rest, and raised his stock as a QB.

Thus spake the official mouthpiece of NFL Films concerning the draft.

For a contrarian view of today's events, you can read Pete Prisco. A senior writer at CBS Sport, Prisco took one of his most audacious stabs at Tebow yet. You can read it here. He makes it clear that he thinks Tebow won't make it in the NFL, and that he should be a 5th rounder. Even he admits that he was contradicted... er... corrected by the lone NFL GM he queried.

Charles Davis and Bucky Brooks believe Tebow has solidified his position as a 2nd round draft pick now. You shouldn't be too surprised. I am not. I've been thinking 2nd for some time now. I thought we might get a real bargain in the 3rd, but alas, the kid showed his metal. In the 2nd, he's still a bargain.

But are the Rams at all interested? There is not one sign that either Devaney or Spagnuolo were in attendance at the University of Florida's ProDay. To the contrary, they were deeply engaged in social events last night in St. Louis and thereabouts. If a Ram scout was present, it was a junior scout. At such an event last night, Devaney declared that there were four candidates who had distinguished themselves over rest of the field. Sam Bradford was the first name he mentioned.

Personally, I am shocked that the Rams high commanders were not present at the UF ProDay. This is dereliction of duty. 10 Gators may go in the first three rounds of the draft. There were a ton of candidates to see there today.

It is looking more and more like the Rams will select Bradford. The Rams have no viable QB under contract. The Eagles are asking too much for Michael Vick. The Rams have made it pretty clear that they have no intention of giving up the #33 pick for Vick's services. There are no other viable veterans who can function behind the Rams offensive line. No, Fraley doesn't change things. Starting a rookie #2 pick behind our line would be worse than starting a veteran.

Yet starting a rookie #1 overall pick, with a $70m contract, is somehow a better notion? One who has a surgically repaired right shoulder? One who is slower afoot than Tebow? I guess you are expecting the sweet motion delivery to work in 1.2 seconds flat on every play. You better be praying that no defensive lineman will take liberties.

I don't know folks... Right now Devaney's thinking eludes me. I have read blurbs where Devaney declares that he expects the Rams' OL, as it is constituted now, to be solid this year. I think he is crazy. Unless these guys simply weren't willing to work for our QBs last year [in which case we should flush them all] I don't see how the miracle will be accomplished.

Let me give you a small reason to get excited about the 2009 Rams Season

Meet Phil Trautwein.

Phil was the starting Left Tackle for the National Champion Florida Gators. The Rams signed him as an undrafted rookie free agent on 4/30/2009. Yep, those two sentences belong in the same paragraph together, no matter how unlikely that might seem. How the fuck did that happen? Let me make this seem just a bit stranger to you.

He was elected the first team all SEC Left Tackle. That means he beat out Andre Smith of Alabama for the honor. The guys who watched both of these Left Tackles most closely inside the SEC thought Phil was better than Andre. He was elected 2nd team Sports Illustrated All-American Left Tackle. He was given 100% grades against Kentuky and the Citadel. I saw him play many times. I remember being impressed with him and wondering where he would wind up in the NFL

So why the fuck wasn't Phil a 3rd round draft pick? ...at worst? Well... that isn't easy to explain. The experts focused on the fact that he was not the blind-side protector at Florida. Remember, my boy Tim Tebow is left-handed. Tim faced Phil in the pocket. They focused on the fact that Phil is a converted Tight End (so too is Jason Smith, 2nd pick overall). They focused on the fact that he missed most of 2007 with a stress fracture in his right foot.

It doesn't make any sense. Phil should have been drafted in the 7th at the very least. Every year there about 20 guys, who are great players, who are absolutely overlooked in the draft. Need I remind anybody about Kurt Warner or DeMarco Farr? These guys wind up starting in the NFL. It happens every year to nice guys, with no criminal record, who are smart, and work hard. This proves that nice guys start last, although they may finish first eventually. Non-flashy guys just don't get noticed, and they fly under the radar. You just forget about them come draft time. Its stupid.

I had no idea he was on the roster. I discovered him in a bizarre fashion. I was watching the 1981 America's Game documentary about the 49ers. They were talking about the massive impact Hacksaw Jack Reynolds made on the 49er defense. Jack wore #64 through his entire career with the Rams and 49ers. I wondered which bum was wearing Hacksaw's number these days in camp. I was wondering if anyone worthy of the number would emerge this season.

Much to my shock, I discover that #64 has been issued to Phil Trautwein, rookie free agent Left Tackle from the National Champion Florida Gators. The guy who covered my boy Tim Tebow... The very quarterback I want the Rams to draft in 2010.

I studied him quickly. I am excited. If we cut him, we are beer-league organization. If we don't start him at Left Guard, we are missing a serious opportunity to upgrade our offensive line.

Those who know me know I have been bitching about our offensive line for two straight years now. I was excited about the acquisition of Jason Brown. Bulger shouldn't get hit in the face by blitzes up the middle on a simple 3 step drop anymore. I was totally fired up over the acquisition of Jason Smith. Maybe we have the successor to Orlando Pace, or Jackie Slater. It is unclear whether Jason Smith will be the Left or Right tackle. Right now they have him penciled in at Right. Phil Trautwein makes 3 solid acquisitions in my mind.

They say bums off the highway can play guard in the NFL. I deny that categorically. Unfortunately, the Rams frequently staff the team as if they believe in this theory. If you believe this theory, there is no reason why you shouldn't pencil Phil Trautwein in at the starting Left Guard. Just give him the job. He is certainly better than a bum off the highway.

I am starting to relax about the line for the first time in about 30 months. I think we might have 4/5ths of an offensive line. I think we might just be able to make a go of it now. Usually, the line begins to harden at 80%. The other four solid men can cover for one weak link, who will almost certainly be Ritchie Incognito.

I should mention, in passing, that I was shocked when I saw that Marshall Faulk did not rate Steven Jackson in his list of the top 5 running backs in the NFL. I have no idea how that happened. Some of the bums he put on that list aren't strong enough to carry Steve's toilet paper.

If we have the line I am beginning to think we have, Marshall may have some explaining to do at mid-season.