Phil's NFL Spills

image from larrybrownsports.com

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Shortly after Tim Tebow knelt and prayed after his team defeated the Miami Dolphins earlier this season, a fan created a website for people to participate in the “Tebowing” phenomenon.

Jared Kleinstein purchased the domain name, Tebowing.com, for $10 after Tebow’s spectacle mesmerized him, said a Houston Chronicle article from Oct. 29.

Users on Kleinstein’s website can post photos of themselves kneeling and praying.

Kleinstein’s collection of photos of people Tebowing has included fans in bowling alleys and on boats, children getting ready for ballet and even a soldier in Afghanistan, the article said.

Students at Bowling Green State University had mixed opinions about Kleinstein’s website, Tebowing.com.

A few BGSU students said that they thought this now-popular phenomenon could be problematic.

“I think the website was made in poor taste, ultimately,” said Brad Corfman, 20, a history major from Cincinnati, “You don’t want to mock someone who expresses their faith.”

However, Kleinstein, in the article, said he wanted to make it clear that he isn’t mocking Tebow but only that he is supporting his religious beliefs.

Joe Ostendorf, 18, of Dayton, Ohio, who is majoring in sport management, said he felt that Kleinstein’s website was kind of ridiculous and that “Tebowing” has become another stupid trend people follow, just like planking.

However, Ian Brittain-Mynes, 19, said that he didn’t feel that the website was quite as bad as others thought.

Brittain-Mynes, an athletic training major from Kettering, Ohio, said that the website gives Tebow exposure, and that if people don’t agree with Tebow’s expression of faith, then they are biased against the athlete’s views.

A few students had mixed opinions when asked how they would feel if someone made a website for people to post photos of themselves performing their everyday rituals.

Brandon Perry, 17, whose major is undecided and is of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., said that he wouldn’t have a problem with it as long as it was a joke.

Anthony Alford, 19, said that he wouldn’t have a problem with it either.

“My only issue would be what is the underlying, intended message,” said the sport management major from Maple Heights, Ohio.

Here is a link to Kleinstein’s website: http://tebowing.com/

Also, here is a working link to the article that appeared in the Houston Chronicle on Oct. 29: http://www.chron.com/default/article/Tebow-inspires-phenomenon-called-Tebowing-2241663.php

This video shows photos of people “Tebowing”. All credit goes to searchPersonhoodTV on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLPkzvEtTts

~ by Phillip Martin on November 15, 2011 .