Like more than a few, I’ve spent the past few months rediscovering the thrills and fulfillment of television, one Tim Tebow moment at a time.
Last Sunday, approximately 78 percent of Denver area TVs were tuned to CBS affiliate KCNC as the region (and most of the country) watched 24-year-old Tebow lead his team to an unlikely victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. As reported by The Post’s Lindsay Jones, this same percentage of local TV owners tuned in to last year’s Super Bowl (which the Steelers also lost).
Watching Sunday’s game — and Demaryius Thomas’ climactic 80-yard touchdown, specifically — I was just relieved to be “in on the action.” I sat with a Bud Light in one hand and my iPhone in the other, scanning tweets. I rose inches from my chair in conjunction with every yard that Thomas crossed, eventually standing and cheering when he threw that Heisman Trophy stiff-arm on his way to the end zone.
The mere act of “winning” did not (alone) make the day worthwhile; it was the collective sharing of a great sports moment as it happened live before our eyes. It was reminiscent of Sept. 8, 1998, when Mark McGwire clocked his 62nd home run over the left- field wall — Sammy Sosa looking on from right. Or Sept. 6, 1995, when Cal Ripken Jr. ran the perimeter of Camden Yards giving high-fives after his 2,131st game became official by league standards. You didn’t have to be there in the stands reaching out to touch Cal’s hand; watching his victory lap at home on TV was enough.
While the Broncos’ moment on Sunday won’t likely reach that sort of canonical status in the years to come, it was surely one not to miss.
And I almost missed it.
For 15 months after relocating to Denver, I lived and breathed sans TV. It was an expense and a burden that I thought I had outgrown, at least for a while. I thought I was simply better off — spending more of my free time reading, biking and crate-digging (for LPs) than succumbing to the familiar glow of the set. In actuality, it was much more than merely a familiar glow, it was a way of life.
I used to be severely addicted to “The Wire.” No, not in the way “Gleeks” look forward to their hour of escapist musical jubilation every Tuesday night. No, it was more the watch-every-episode-of-all-five-seasons-at-least-five-times-in-a-period-of-six-months sort of way.
I was not unlike the show’s protagonistic junkie, Bubbles, consistently crawling back for just one more hit moments before planning to leave the old crew behind. And it wasn’t just “The Wire.” It was “The Simpsons,” “Seinfeld,” “The Office” and, in mornings before elementary school, “Saved by the Bell.” All of them, over and over and over again, for hours on end, usually alone, in silence.
It was lonely, but it wasn’t. Television was a much-needed security blanket during times of familial stress. Closing the door of the “TV room” and eating dinner with an animated yellow family was often better than sitting down with my own. Schadenfreude or not, the act of watching the dramas and absurdities of other families was almost therapeutic.
Closing that chapter of daily life, if only for 15 months, opened my eyes to the current role of TV in a world where the Internet reigns supreme.
In the moments following Sunday’s game-winning touchdown, Twitter marked a new record of sports tweets per second with an astonishing 9,420. Twitter and live television became intrinsically interlinked last year, with everything from the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show to cult movie titles like “Superbad” and “Pineapple Express” becoming widespread trending topics during their evening broadcasts.
Indeed, social media has made the notion of shared television experience exponentially more apparent in a fragmented, niche-driven industry. And even as reformed watchers like myself forgo the cable box in lieu of a digital antenna and on-demand streaming through Hulu or Netflix, it’s clear that everyone still wants to see the touchdown happen when it happens — not on SportsCenter’s highlight reel or YouTube moments later.
For better or worse, television feels more relevant than ever, even if you’re still the one watching “The Shawshank Redemption” for the umpteenth time on a dreary Saturday afternoon. For me, being “the guy without TV” is no longer a thing of pride so much as it is a thing of judgment. And while I’ll certainly be watching Tebow’s rematch with Tom Brady come Saturday night, I’ll have a close eye on Twitter for a more rounded view of the game. Then, when it’s all said and done, maybe some “SNL.”
Once a junkie, always a junkie.
John Hendrickson: 303-954-1785, jhendrickson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/John_Hendy
“AFC DIVISIONAL ROUND.” Six days after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in a Hollywoodesque overtime win, the Denver Broncos head to Foxborough, Mass., to take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Winner advances to the AFC championship and, possibly, the Super Bowl. Saturday, 6 p.m. MST on KCNC-Channel 4
