In late September and early October football fans in the state of Colorado as well as distant outposts where Broncos fans reside were resigned to another year of missing the biggest prize there is for a pro football fan. Playoffs? Are we talkin' about playoffs? Are you kiddin' me? Playoffs? Well with Kyle Orton at the helm of the team, playoffs were a pipe dream. Of course waiting in the wings was a guy who everybody knew couldn't hit the broad side of a ball with a complete fully stocked barn! Work with me on that one! But when Tim Tebow entered the game against San Diego something magical began to happen at Mile High. The fans came back. Sure Denver would go on to lose that game but at least everybody for the most part felt good. And for 55 minutes against Miami the following week it seemed the Tebow experiment may end before it even got started. But again something magical happened. Of course Detroit again crushed the collective psyche of some fans but among the true believers it didn't seem to matter. Six games later Tebowmania was here to stay. But like a golfer on the verge of winning a big tournament on the back nine at the Masters the Broncos choked that big lead away like Greg Norman did to Nick Faldo. But in football and especially the whacky AFC West the other golfer i.e. team made triple bogey of their own. When the Raiders lost to the Chargers it seemed the 100 pound anvil was lifted off Tebow and his flock of overachieving Broncos. Sure it helped that the mighty Steelers were a wounded animal with their leader barely able to walk let alone guide a football team. And of course it helped that Hall of Fame Defensive Coordinator Dick Lebeau left his cornerbacks on an island allowing Tebow and his minions to carve up the Steelers proud defense. Could it be that Bill Belichick would make the same mistakes. Hopes were high when that cold forecast and winds were forecast making Tom Brady's pass happy defense vulnerable. High hopes indeed. But then the turning point occured. The Broncos deferred on the coin flip! Are you kidding me? As if to taunt Broncos fans, Brady would toss an interception to allow Denver some hope. But hope is fleeting when Sir Hoody and Giselle's hubby are at the helm. Toss in a physically imposing receiving corps that made the Broncos defenders look as large as a good high school team you had the recipe for what transpired. Now normally such a defeat that was handed the Broncos would make their fans curl up and wimper. But this didnt happen. People are inspired and truly looking forward to next season. Will John Elway and John Fox do the unthinkable and actually draft, trade for or sign a free agent quarterback? Those questions seemed to have been answered by the Duke when he stated today that Tebow has earned the right to be Denver's starter next season and that is the direction the organization would follow. Tebow will always have his detractors it seems. But make no mistake about it. No one on this planet will outwork him. Elway knows something about leadership and what it takes to take lackluster talent and carry them to great things. He also knows that to win championships you need a tremendous supporting cast much like Mike Shanahan surrounded himself with to win those Super Bowls in the late 90s. John Fox himself knows that Super Bowl appearances are possible with less than stellar signal callers. I, for one, look forward to the Tebow experiment to continue. Lets see what a complete offseason schedule of workouts and minicamps bring. Lets see what a full training camp can produce. Lets see what a couple of new young running backs with fresh legs provide an already powerful running game. And just maybe another wide receiver who can get open because we have all seen that the mighty Tim needs just a litte bit bigger window. One that is perhaps as big as the door on that barn.
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----------NOT SO CHARITABLE-----Free throws have been a big story the first half of all levels of basketball on the local scene as well as nationally in the NBA. Just last week Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard a.k.a. Superman went to the stripe a record 39 times to shatter Wilt Chamberlains previous mark of 34 set in 1962. Many have focused on this staggering amount of attempts. The real story in my mind is the big fella missed 18 of them! Critics have been quick to jump all over rookie head coach Mark Jackson and his strategy. What they should be lampooning is Howard and his inept ability to convert from the stripe. Howard's lack of touch from the line where last time I checked nobody is guarding you is but one example of terrible free throw shooting at all levels of basketball. I will focus on the local angle in pointing this out. Just last night the Denver Nuggets missed 13 free throws in their loss to Utah. And when you factor in that Danilo Gallinari was 12 for 12 it overshadowed just how pathetic the rest of the team was Nene in particular. Most of the misses coming when the game was truly in the balance. Against San Antonio a week ago a paltry 17-26 effort truly cost them in a four point loss. On the local level Colorado State University-Pueblo's womens team was very fortunate not to lose last week on the road at Western State when misses down the stretch turned a comfortable win into a battle for survival in overtime. Then against 5th ranked Metro State the Pack went 10-21 in a six point loss. In high school girls action Pueblo South pulled out a spirited one point win at Pueblo West last week. But to me the big story was South's ineptitude at the stripe going just 12-26. If they shoot a mediocre 65 percent then overtime wouldn't have been needed. Truly great teams produce valuable points from the line in crunch time when the game is on the line. When you dont hit the freebies you leave yourself wide open for upset and come from behind wins by inferior opponents. And I have heard all my life from coaches and players how hard they work at shooting free throws during the season. To me that illustrates the problem. You dont "work" on it during the season. If anything you fine tune it. The work has to be put in on a daily basis to truly be a great free throw shooter. Where is a dose of Brad Ranson when you need it.
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----------MORE NUGGETS-----It is very difficult to get a true gauge on the Nuggets or any NBA team's status at this point in the season due to the condensed schedule and the toll it is taking on teams health. Already this season Nene and Ty Lawson have missed time due to nagging injuries when playing back to back games is out of the question. Now Rudy Fernandez is suffering from a strained achilles tendon. It is only going to get worse for Denver and the rest of the Association. We are seeing many teams hold out there stars from time to time when playing five games in seven nights is totally out of the question. Getting back to Denver I think they have a nice team but now they head out on the road for five straight. We will know a lot more about them at the end of this stretch.
----------PLODDING PACK-MEN-----The Thunderwolves men's team photo is right next to the basketball definition of an "up and down" team. I have told many people that I truly believe that on any given night they can beat anybody in the RMAC or at same time lose to them. And it doesn't matter if it's home or away. Right now they are on the outside looking in at the halfway point of the conference season in the chase for the top eight and a playoff spot. Now there is the spector of losing leading scorer Arden Dennis for an extended period for what is being described now as a knee sprain. As of late the junior sharpshooter has been really coming into his own on both ends of the court. Going into this season head coach Ralph Turner was unsure of where he was going to get truly consistent scoring but as this season has rolled on Dennis was becoming the true leader. If he misses significant time the Pack will be hard pressed to finish where they want to.
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---------LITTLE SETBACK-----Coming into this season CSU-Pueblo's women's hoop team needed a lesson in being mean and nasty at certain time during games. Last year it was painfully obvious Kip Drown had a nice club. But that was the problem. They were too nice. They seemed downright neighborly allowing opponents an open door to rebounds and easy put backs under the hoop. Drown knew this had to change and brought in junior college transfer Laurel Kearsly and freshman newcomer Katie Nehf to provide a little edge to the club. Alex Evans and Jenelle Brantley have elevated their games as well to go along with the always feisty Kendall Babler to provide the Thunderwolves a noticeably tougher team this season. That is until Metro State paid a visit to Massari last Friday night. The pack reverted to some of last years niceties in dropping a 55-49 decision. Drown would like nothing more than to add a regular season RMAC crown to his trophy case to go along with all the tournament titles he has led CSU-P to in recent years. Now of course every battle in the RMAC especially on the road is fraught with danger. With that said the Pack should roll into their next real gut check against Fort Lewis at Massari Arena February 10th. It will be a true test to see if the ladies have truly captured the ability to be mean inhospitable hosts.
