Gravitating to Tebow's goodness

Perhaps you've been reading the sports stories about Tim Tebow's games with the St. Lucie Mets.

Normally, minor league baseball games don't command as much attention as they have lately. But the St. Lucie management changed all that when they signed Tim Tebow.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson admitted early this summer it was more than Tebow's athleticism that led the Mets to sign him. He said Tebow was signed "partly because this is an entertainment business."

And they rightly calculated Tebow would be a major draw.

The former NFL quarterback is drawing record crowds wherever he plays.

I live near the home field of the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Whenever there is a game there, we locals grumble as traffic is backed up near the stadium.

We warn each other to take a different route when we know a Stone Crabs game is in session. Unfortunately, there aren't many alternate routes and we have to use all our patience during a game day when our main highway becomes more like a parking lot.

But two weeks ago, when record crowds filled the Port Charlotte stadium, we smiled when we sat in traffic. I know I did.

That was because Tim Tebow was in the house. Although I don't normally go to the Stone Crabs games as many of my friends do, I was sorry I couldn't make it when the Mets played there.

Like more than 7,000 others who crowded the stadium, I wanted to see the legendary Tim Tebow in action.

No one was disappointed.

Tebow delivered a heartwarming moment as well as great game action. When he was taking warm-up cuts, Tebow noticed a young boy trying to get his attention.

You and I both know most athletes ignore fans. But that's not Tim's way.

Nine-year-old Seth Bosch has autism along with neurofibromatosis that causes tumors to grow on nerve tissue.

His mother says Seth can't play sports but he desperately wanted to meet Tebow, so he went down to the field level and tried to get Tebow's attention.

What happened next was pure Tebow. The athletic went over to the boy, said hello and shook his hand through the netting. Young Seth cried tears of joy and the crowd roared its approval.

When Tebow immediately then took his turn at bat after his encounter with the child, he hit a three-run home run that thrilled the crowd. From the looks of a video shot by Seth Brosch's mother, I think the little boy was happier than Tebow himself.

One thing is certain: no matter how many games the youngster goes on to see, he will never forget that encounter with Tebow. Luckily, his mother recorded everything, including the whopper of a homer.

My friend Dave, who is an avid Stone Crab fan, says that doesn't prevent him from cheering for Tebow when the Mets play the Stone Crabs. I think that's because regardless of our loyalties, we all gravitate to goodness. Dave says he appreciates how Tim lives up to his Christian values.

He doesn't know what pleased him more - Tebow's big homer or his big-hearted gesture with the autistic child.

As for me, I love it when Tim Tebow makes magic on the field. But I love it even more when he makes a different kind of magic by showing us genuine goodness in action.

At a game a few days later, according to news accounts, Tebow joined in singing "God Bless America" with a woman with cerebral palsy.

I'm not someone who can rattle off the sports statistics about Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner for the Florida Gators. I'll tell you this: They never stopped loving him in Florida and followed him when he went on to play for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

Some say they will never forget his magic moments on the field; others will say he couldn't cut it as a quarterback.

None of that is important to me. I will say flat-out I am an unabashed Tim Tebow fan because he represents the best of what we all should strive for - whether we are athletes or not.

I look up to the kind of man he is. And I think it's safe to say he has so many fans because of his character.

Even his detractors can't say he ever compromised his Christian values.

We need more of his kind, especially after the kind of nasty notoriety we've seen this year in some athletes.

I contrast the goodness of Tebow with Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest. Although he says he changed his mind this year, Kaepernick refused to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country he thinks oppresses black people. He encouraged other players to "make a stand by sitting down."

I have news for those who refuse to respect our flag. While they are refusing to stand while making their millions, there are tens of thousands of veterans who can't stand.

They can't stand because of catastrophic injuries they suffered while fighting for our flag.

I prefer to ignore ingrate athletes and their ill-advised protests. But I sure do want more feel-good Tim Tebow stories.

Now, more than ever, we need to be reminded of the goodness of people.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.