Today's comes from the SEC championship, where Tebow found Himself standing before the tomb of Florida's season.

Witnesses: 11.8 percent of television households in 56 urban TV markets, the highest overnight rating for an SEC title game

Testimony:

Pertinent Scripture: John 11:35

Jesus wept.

Screenshot via

Please submit any evidence that Tim Tebow is our Redeemer to tips@deadspin.com.

As you may have heard, after a 12-game preseason the Gators' first actual football contest takes place this Saturday against Alabama. Winner gets the BCS Championship Game. So obviously Dunlap's timing is impeccable. And now his coach has an interesting decision to make. Will Urban Meyer suspend his team's leading sack maker before the biggest the game of the season? Thanks to the Brandon Spikes incident—where Meyer was lambasted for his one half suspension—he might not have a choice. Or will the importance of this game allow him to make up some sort of excuse about "waiting for the legal process to sort things out" and keep Dunlap active, thereby not punishing him at all?

What if he does suspended Dunlap? Will it matter? Would an Alabama victory (if they can even still get one) be cheapened? Something tells me Tide fans wouldn't be broken up about it. Either way, we're going to learn a little something about the Florida coach this week, although perhaps the fact that no one is totally sure which way he'll go tells us something already.

Also, falling asleep at a traffic light? That shows a real commitment to drunk driving. That's the kind of stuff that makes NFL scouts sit up and take notice.

Dunlap's Arrest Puts Spotlight on Florida [New York Times]
Gators' star defensive end charged with DUI [Journal Constitution]
Dunlap's arrest inexplicable [ESPN]

Well folks, that about wraps it up for me today. Thanks for stopping by.

And of course, thank you for your continued support of Deadspin. Barry Petchesky takes the reins tomorrow to guide you through all of the NFL action. So y'all come back now, ya hear?

I'm fairly confident you don't need me to tell you this, but there is still one whole evening and an entire day left of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Please do your best to make the most of it. Or don't. It's up to you. I'm easy like Sunday morning, man.

Best ESPN College GameDay Signs (11/28/09) [That Fan]

The first comes from a young woman named Erin Drewes, who appeared at Tebow's side in this famous photograph and who recently posed for a series of photographs that soon will be even more famous, for the simple reason that His jersey has been body-painted on her chest. Erin spoke with Playboy.com's Girlwatcher about speculation that she is His girlfriend.

Witness: Erin Drewes, via Playboy.com's Girlwatcher (NSFW)

Testimony:

I actually attended a Bucs game with my Dad and somebody said to me, "Hey, I know who you are, you're Tim Tebow's girlfriend." My Dad just laughed. As far as other people thinking it was true, they absolutely did. So let me set the record straight: I was never dating Tim Tebow, nor was I ever his girlfriend!

Pertinent Scripture: From the apocryphal Gospel of Mary Magdalene

[Peter] questioned them about the Savior: Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?

Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I have thought this up myself in my heart, or that I am lying about the Savior?

The second comes via Florida tackle Marcus Gilbert, whose knee memorably betrayed Tebow in an earlier game against Kentucky, colliding with His head and causing a concussion.

Witness: Marcus Gilbert, via the Miami Herald's Mike McCall

Testimony:

UF tackle Marcus Gilbert, whose knee collided with Tebow's head on that play, said Tuesday he still catches grief from friends for the incident.

"I got like three 'How's your knee' and like 100 'Why'd you mess up Tebow,'" Gilbert joked.

Pertinent Scripture: From the apocryphal Gospel of Judas

Judas said to him, "In the vision I saw myself as the twelve disciples were stoning me and persecuting [me severely].

ERIN DREWES IS (STILL!) NOT TIM TEBOW'S GIRLFRIEND-A Girlwatcher Special Report [Playboy]
UF's Urban Meyer makes Heisman Trophy case for Tebow [Miami Herald]

Tebow was sacked four times on Saturday, bringing His season total to 21. (He was sacked 15 times in 2008 and 13 times in 2007.) At His Monday press conference, He addressed the matter of His health.

Witness: Tim Tebow, via The Florida Times-Union's Michael DiRocco

Testimony: "Body feels good. I feel refreshed."

Pertinent Scripture: Acts 1:3

After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.

Please submit any evidence that Tim Tebow is our Redeemer to tips@deadspin.com.

Gators' Tebow refreshed and ready for stretch run [Florida Times-Union]

Witness: 10-year-old Kris Huggins, via The Florida Times-Union's Mark Woods

Testimony:

Practice wrapped up. The rest of the players were off the field. And Tebow was about to leave, too, when the officers said something to Tebow.

He trotted over to where Kris was standing, introduced himself and said, "Do you want to play some ball, buddy?"

Ask Kris if he remembers what his reaction was and he says, "It was like in the movies when someone's jaw falls the ground."

He was wearing sandals. When he left their house on the Southside, he wasn't exactly planning to run routes and catch passes from Tim Tebow. But did he want to play some ball?

[...]

Tebow and Kris started in the south end zone, working their way toward midfield. Tebow telling him where to run. Kris running, catching the ball - he only dropped one - and then throwing it back.

"He said I have a really good arm," Kris said.

His mother has told him that before. But somehow it's not the same as hearing it from a Heisman Trophy winner. Afterward, Tebow grabbed a ball, signed it and gave it to him.

Pertinent Scripture: Mark 10:14-16

He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Please submit any evidence that Tim Tebow is our Redeemer to tips@deadspin.com.

You don't have to be a Tebow fan to appreciate this story [Florida Times-Union, via TimTeblog]

Ealey himself came out yesterday and said that Spikes did not deserve to be suspended (an entire half!) for reaching under Ealey's helmet to gouge him in the face. After all, Ealey had his eyes closed! What could possibly have gone wrong? Besides, according to both Florida coach Urban Meyer and Georgia coach Mark Richt, Spikes himself had been the victim of a cheap shot earlier in the game. So he was just taking an eye for an eye, so to speak.

Meyer said he believed Spikes retaliated after getting his helmet ripped off and eye poked earlier in the game.

Georgia coach Mark Richt said Spikes' "helmet went flying off ... and there was one time he got hit with his helmet off."

"It was totally unintentional," Richt said. "They were totally just playing ball. That might have got him bent out of shape. I don't know about all of that."

It also seems that there were other dastardly villains afoot on Saturday. Another video that mysterious did not get passed around as much as the Spikes gouge—it has even been pulled from YouTube—is one of Georgia linebacker Nick Williams leveling the one and only Tim Tebow well after a handoff. Perhaps that's why Tebow himself defended Spikes with a "these things happen" shrug of his world-bearing shoulders. As Gary Danielson aptly put it, "That type of stuff will come back later in the game."

Emotional game ... violence ... just playing football out there ... no love lost, etc. No one seems to care that these guys want to injure someone on every play, so if the SEC lets them rip each others' heads off then who are we to complain? That's what the fans would do to one another if their hands weren't covered in barbecue sauce..

Georgia running back Washaun Ealey says Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes shouldn't be suspended [ESPN]
In addition to Spikes, a Georgia player had a questionable hit on Tebow [USA Today]
Florida Turns Blind Eye to Eye-Gouge [Fanhouse]
[Photo: Getty]

Today, we have Tim Tebow's comments regarding teammate Brandon Spikes, who on Saturday against Georgia apparently tried to gouge out the eyes of a Bulldogs running back.

Witness: Tim Tebow, via Florida Today's David Jones
Testimony: "Very emotional things happened in that game in particular that were not good for either side, but the bottom line is we're Florida and he's Brandon Spikes and we expect certain things. He understands.''
Pertinent Scripture: Matthew 5:38-39 (from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount)

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Please submit any evidence that Tim Tebow is our Redeemer to tips@deadspin.com.

Tebow: Georgia did same things as Spikes [Florida Today]
Tebow Quote of the Day: Re Spikes [TimTeblog]

A few people who weren't working on the CBS crew for Saturday's Georgia-Florida game noticed Spikes giving Ealey the business at the bottom of a pile in the third quarter. The referees were also oblivious as no penalty was called, despite the fact that Spikes was not exactly subtle about the maneuver. Given the SEC's officiating record this season that's not surprising, but it will be even more surprising if Spikes actually gets benched and/or suspended for hitting a guy underneath his face mask.

When asked about the incident Urban Meyer said that if it turns out to be true (which it obviously is) then he would have a "very serious talk" with Spikes. The idiot was supposed to go for the windpipe! That soft flesh is much more exposed and also less obvious to TV cameras.

SEC should consider suspending Florida's Spikes [Journal Constitution]
Florida's Spikes has some explaining to do [ESPN]
Gators' Spikes in apparent dirty play vs. Dawgs [WTVG]

UPDATE: Spikes has been suspended for one half of one game. Against Vanderbilt. URBAN MEYER RULES WITH IRON FISTS! I assume it will be the second half once Florida has secured a 70-point lead. [AP]

Today's piece of evidence comes from Florida's sloppy 29-19 over Mississippi State, against whom Tebow threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.

Witness: Mark Long, Associated Press
Testimony: "[Tebow] is clearly getting disheartened with his team's offensive woes. He blew off his postgame interview session for the first time in three years in Starkville, Miss."
Pertinent Scripture: Matthew 21:12-17

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.

"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.

"Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?"

And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Hosannas to reader Adam

Please submit any evidence that Tim Tebow is our Redeemer to tips@deadspin.com.

Is Florida's Tebow cracking under pressure? [AP]

The first is from Tim Tebow's press conference a week ago in which He addressed the concussion He sustained against Kentucky.

Witness: Tim Tebow, via the St. Petersburg Times' Antonya English
Testimony: "I think it was very humbling because you know at any moment it can be over."
Pertinent Scripture: Philippians 2:8-9

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death-
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name

The second concerns Florida's final drive against Arkansas on Saturday, during which Tebow threw for 30 yards and ran for 22, leading to Caleb Sturgis' game-winning 27-yard field goal.

Witnesses: Get The Picture and SEC Corner
Testimony: Via ESPN's play-by-play: "2nd and 9 at ARK 27 Tim Tebow rush for 9 yards to the Ark 18 for a 1ST down," the end of which is pictured here.



Pertinent Scripture No. 1: Matthew 17:1-2

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

Pertinent Scripture No. 2: Matthew 14:25-31

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

And lastly, reader Wade M. dips into his Old Testament and submits the following:

Witness: Bob Tebow, father of Tim, via ESPN.com's Pat Forde
Testimony: "I'm not worried."
Pertinent Scripture: Chronicles 28:20

David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

Please submit any evidence that Tim Tebow is our Redeemer to tips@deadspin.com.

Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow says concussion a lesson in humility [St. Petersburg Times]
The fix is in [Get The Picture]
SEC Officiating [SEC Corner]
Risk not worth the reward for Florida [ESPN]

Melanie Sinclair, a nine-time All-American and three-time All-SEC gymnast for the Gators, was busted yesterday after her boyfriend—21-year-old Bud Williams—told police that she knew the stuff was stolen. Williams himself was busted two weeks ago after cops got a tip that someone was selling guns out of the apartment complex and while they were staking it out, he was seen strolling across the complex with a loaded 12-gauge shotgun. He later told police that Sinclair not only knew about the loot, she was "playing" with the guns and he tried to give her a necklace that he found in the safe.

Oh, and if that wasn't damaging enough, police taped a jailhouse phone conversation (yes, they can do that) between the two where Williams instructed Sinclair to lie to the police. It sounds like he's not the best boyfriend in the world. Or the best criminal.

Sinclair, who has three perfect 10.0s on the uneven parallel bars in her career, has been suspended from the team indefinitely. (Gymnastics season begins in January.) It's too bad she missed her mandatory 15 minute appointment with the school quarterback, because her life would have been better for it.

Standout UF gymnast and her boyfriend arrested [Gainesville Sun]
UF gymnast arrested for storing stolen goods by [Orlando Sentinel]
Gator Gymnast Behind Bars [Video @ WCJB]

Today brings us two items, both from the aftermath of top-ranked Florida's 13-3 victory over No. 4 LSU, in which Tebow, in His first game back from a concussion, completed 11 of 16 passes for 134 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Witness: Urban Meyer, Florida coach
Testimony: "Courageous is a great word. Toughness. Team-first mentality. Competitor. I could go on and on, but it's all of the above. ... He's different. He's different than all of us."
Pertinent Scripture: John 1:10.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

Witness: Glenn Guilbeau, Shreveport Times
Testimony: "Several LSU players congratulated Tebow after the game. Some LSU players even waited for Tebow to finish some postgame interviews in order to shake his hand and hug him. Tebow routinely checked on injured LSU players throughout the game."
Pertinent Scripture: Luke 8:40-48

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

"Who touched me?" Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."

But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

Please submit any evidence that Tim Tebow is our Redeemer to tips@deadspin.com.

Tebow and Gators Defense Leave Tigers Dazed [The New York Times]
LSU defense plays well, but Florida's 'D' is better [Shreveport Times]

•Fed up with the Ducks' — and LeGarrette Blount's — performance on opening night, one Oregon alumnus sent coach Chip Kelly an invoice for his ticket and travel expenses. He received a personal check from Kelly for $439. Getting a refund for an awful product? I hope Jerry Jones has $1.3 billion in his checking account.

•Do you know there are 1-year-old children who've never seen the Yankees make the playoffs? New York rectified that, clinching at least a wild card spot with a 6-5 win in Anaheim. And if Derek Jeter is so valuable to his team, why couldn't he will them to the playoffs last year without Sabathia and Teixeira?

•The dreaded swine flu is running rampant through Gainesville; six more Gator players and an assistant coach have come down with H1N1. Expect Tebow to lay his hands on them, and cast the disease out into a herd of pigs, who drown themselves in the Galilee.

•Zack Greinke shut down the Red Sox, and somehow lowered his ERA. Anyone who says he doesn't deserve the Cy Young should be dragged out into the street and shot. He's never going to have a chance to win anything ever again.

•Curt Schilling announced on "Joe Buck Live" that he won't run for Massachusetts' vacant Senate seat. Expect him to show up on election day with a bloody petition that puts him on the ballot.

•Perhaps after seeing Kim Clijsters win the US Open, former no. 1 Justine Henin will be making her return to tennis. She's missing something though. If only she had read every single goddamn article about Clijsters she would know that having a baby during her time off was a key component of her comeback.

•Thanks to SportsbyBrooks for bringing this to our attention: in America, crazy drunken fans run across the field. In Canada, they climb the goalposts. I believe that's called a rouge and is worth 2½ points.