The South Stander

Elwayville finally joins Tebow-Nation.

Broncos Thoughts of the Week:

Tebow-Time!

With Tim Tebow now officially named the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, fans can finally stop beating the dead horse that is Kyle Orton.

Now, I have been a Broncos fan since I was born and always root for whoever is in at quarterback to succeed. I gave my full support to Kyle Orton. I have always thought that he was a very 'smart' quarterback (he made the right reads, put the ball in the right spot...etc). But this season he was just not producing, and against the Chargers on Sunday it seemed Orton had lost his football smarts. Orton completed only 6 passes for 34 yards and one interception. Many of his incomplete passes were balls that should not have been thrown, or badly missed the receiver. I won't put all the blame on Orton though. Denver's offensive line was not giving him much protection and he was constantly under pressure and trying to force a play to happen.

Putting Tebow in at half time and naming him the starter the rest of the season is the right call for Fox/Elway/Xanders. It was time for a change in Denver and it's time for Tebow to have his audition and prove he can be a successful NFL quarterback.

But Tebow didn't do much to silence his critics. Throughout the third quarter Tebow was struggling to complete passes, missing his receivers and badly handling the snap from under center. Again, some blame should be put on the offen

sive line who did not help Tebow much, especially rookie right-tackle Orlando Franklin. Even with all the sloppy play Tebow did manage to rally his team and bring the Broncos to within 2 points. The crowd was electric at Mile High. Tebow's intangibles and leadership are impressive and I hope all the best for him. The game ended on an incomplete hail-mary to the endzone...which had Tebow's pass been caught would have caused celebrations in The Mile High City not seen for years.

For Tebow to make a positive impression on Fox/Elway/Xanders he will have to improve. Here are the Main Keys for Tim Tebow if he wants to be next season's starting QB in Denver.

1. Don't get hurt.

With Tebow's brash style of play and his will to run over any linebacker in his way, he is likely to get hurt running the ball. We saw this happen in his very first preseason game in 2010 against Cincinnati when he collided with two defense-men at the goal line and hurt his ribs. Tebow will need to learn more patience in the pocket instead of trying to make a play with his legs.

2. Complete passes from the pocket.

Tebow will have to start completing his passes from the pocket instead of scrambling outside of it if he wants to be successful and stay healthy. To do this he is going to have to really learn the plays and the receiver's routes and improve his accuracy.

3. Become confident taking snaps under center.

Tebow mis-handled and nearly fumbled three snaps from under center against the Chargers.

Much of this is probably because he was playing with the first string players who he hasn't practiced with and they were not used to his cadences. Hopefully that will improve with practice. But he also needs to improve his drop back from under center to give the offense more weapons.

I hope Tebow proves he's our QB for next season. There's no doubt he's a great leader, athlete and role model. He really makes you want to root for him. If he can prove he's the guy it will make a great story and hopefully lead to the Broncos becoming a play-off caliber team soon. If not, lets hope we get a good QB from the draft.

Where's the Defense?

With all the hoopla surrounding the change at quarterback, it seems to have gotten lost how poorly the defense played against the Chargers. The Denver defense gave up gave up 206 yards rushing and 250 passing to the Chargers and are ranked 25th in total yards allowed by NFL fantasy statistics.

With 3:10 left in the game and the Broncos trailing by only 2 points, the Chargers faced a 3rd down and 10 from their own 20. Denver blitzed everyone. Rivers threw a long pass over the middle to a wide open Flyod, who only had one safety near him. Because of this completion San Diego was able to run the clock down to 24 seconds and add a field goal onto their lead. Had the Denver defense stopped this play (and not committed a costly penalty on the next third down the Chargers faced) the offense and Tebow would have had more time to drive down field and not have to attempt a hail-mary pass. As ESPN's TMQ points out, the average NFL play allows

5 yards and had Denver played a straight defense and not blitzed it's likely they would have stopped San Diego resulting in fourth down and another Bronco's possession with close to 2 minutes left instead of just seconds.

Finally, the Broncos have more problems on D-line. Kevin Vickerson, one of the Broncos starting defensive tackles, was injured in the game and later placed on IR for the season. Our defensive line is already a weak spot on our roster and loosing Vickerson is going to cause lots of problems.

Remember back in the off season when everyone was confused as to why we were not drafting for our D-Line? Vickerson's injury is going to show our lack of depth on defense.

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Beer of the Week

This week's beer is in honor of Kyle Orton for the

effort and competition he put forth with the Broncos for three seasons which are now pretty much over. As I said earlier, there's no point in beating a dead horse...so I give you Dead Horse Amber Ale from the Moab brewery. A delicious blend of hops and malts! Next time you're in Moab, this is the place to go after a day of climbing/mountain biking/rafting!

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Drew Litton Comic of the Week:

If you are a Colorado sports fan and don't know Drew Litton, his comics are classic. Here Drew Litton nicely sums up the Denver Fan's view on Tebow! (With more apologies to Kyle...I really

did have high hopes for him once!)

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Colorado Outdoor thoughts of the Week:

With the weather getting colder and snow appearing on top of the Indian Peak's my thoughts have been turning to my favorite winter sports of ice-climbing and skiing!

The Wolf Creek Ski resort opened this weekend with 44 inches of powder at the beginning of October! Wolf Creek became the second resort in the country to open, with a resort near Vegas opening just minutes before to claim the unofficial title of earliest to open. Though Wolf Creek had 35 more inches of snow and much better skiing! So I give them the prize.

I hope I can make it down there this winter and become a better skier in the process!

So far in this post I have written about skiing and football, two of Colorado's fondest past-times.

This article from the Elwayville column of Elevation Outdoors sums up nicely the two sport's relationship in Colorado. Of Powder and Pigskin.

I also enjoyed an article about a ski boot from the Mountain Gazette. Sometimes a piece of gear really does open new worlds and new selves up for us. I felt that way about my ski boots I

got last year. I hope this year they get more use! Behold the Ski Boot.

And the crazy climber award of the week goes to these guys, who run (or crab walk) up the Flatirons in record time. Seems to me if one person slips, everyone below them might just be screwed. I love climbing, but this is too much risk for me.

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Rapids Thoughts of the week:

The Colorado Rapids are ending their regular season home schedule with the second leg of The Rocky Mountain Cup this Friday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park! The Rocky Mountain Cup is between the Rapid's and their bitter rivals Real Salt Lake who will come in to town and try to prove they are the 'kings of the Rockies'. The Rapids lost the first leg in Salt Lake 1-0 on a stoppage time goal they gave up. For the 'Pids to take the cup home this season they will need to score at least 2 goals more than RSL in the game. The Rapids have been playing well at home recently with a draw to San Jose and a win over FC Dallas. It will be important to finish off the game strong and not allow an equalizing goal in the final minutes of the game, which has been common all season long.

RSL lost their most recent game to a not very good Vancouver team, by a score of 3-0. the game before that they lost the L.A. Galaxy on the road. RSL is hungry for a win, hoping to finish the season on a strong note before the playoffs. It will be key to keep the pressure on Nick Rimando, the RSL goal keeper, through out the night to keep RSL's confidence low.

On top of winning the Rocky Mountain Cup, the Rapids can also clinch a playoff spot with a win over RSL and little help from around the league! Make sure to be there, it will be an exciting game!

The supporters BBQ and activities before the game will be one of the best of the season! Class VI is hosting a pig-roast with some great kegs of local beer to enjoy! There will also be a supporters soccer game on Field 6. Lets make sure to cheer on our fellow supporters as they take on the RSL fans!

Make sure to cheer loud and join in the songs and chants with the rest of the Class VI Supporters in section 108! Finally, If the Rapids are only winning by a single goal this Friday as the clock ticks down - "SCORE US ANOTHER GOAL" will be the message we need to send!

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Cheerleaders and public health thoughts of the week:

The Broncos cheerleaders wore pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As did many of the players on the field. I always think it's great that the NFL does these big awareness campaigns and I hope that it helps to make the fans more aware of the benefits of regular screenings for cancer. It also serves as a great reminder for women to get regular mammograms every October because you can't watch a football game this month with out noticing all the pink! Hopefully it also prompts men to remind the women in their lives to get screened.

The Broncos Cheerleaders put on an emotional halftime show by telling the stories of many survivors of breast cancer and the difficulties they went through. As I said, it's a good reminder for everyone. Make sure you're having regular checkups!

I am curious how effective this campaign by the NFL and Susan G. Komen Foundation is though. I've tried to find research on it, or evaluation write ups and can't find anything documenting the influence this campaign has on breast cancer screenings! NFL, if you're reading this I would love to help with your evaluations.

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My other thoughts from around the NFL:

I think the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills may be the most exciting teams to watch this season. Having spent the last decade in the NFL's basement their fans are excited to see their teams finally winning again. Detroit's stadium was rocking on Monday Night against the Bears and their fans sure deserved it! Detroit also lit up the Bears with a couple big and exciting touchdown plays, and the stadium sounded like it was the playoffs already.

As for Buffalo (#BillsMafia), I think that Ryan Fitzpatrick's rise to success is one of the best stories of the season. He's a smart QB drafted in the 7th round from Harvard who really understands the game. Plus he's a great member of the community and wants to make a life for himself in Buffalo. What would Denver fans do if Tebow hosted a BBQ for his neighborhood every week after the game?

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Who I like in the MLB Championship Series':

Milwaukee and Detroit. Both teams have such great character and are exciting to watch. I'm hoping Detroit wins their series against Texas, but it's not looking good for them after giving up a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning of game 2. Can you imagine how crazy Detroit would be if the Tigers were in the World Series and the Lions were still undefeated? What world are we living in! I take the Brewers in 6 games in The World Series.

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Hockey?

Apparently the NHL season started while I wasn't looking. The Avs beat the Stanley Cup Champs on the road in a shutout win. Our new goalie looked great and so did some of our rookies. Here's hoping they start improving this season.

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