CHOCOBASTIC

Tim Tebow fans won't like it, but true Broncos fans have to be intrigued at the idea of Peyton Manning coming to Denver if he's medically cleared to play.  It would be the second time the Colts' saw their first pick QB go to the Mile High City.  Last time John Elway sealed it with back to back Super Bowl Championships.

Peyton Manning would have a great offensive line to protect him with Ryan Clady actually being back to protecting a QB's blindside again.  Outside Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker lead a young receiving core.  Broncos fans wouldn't have to watch Tebow struggle through another season of tons of ugly offensive football.  It's the only QB option the Broncos have for next year that wouldn't cause a QB controversy, as everyone, except the extremely disturbed, would see Peyton as the clear number one.

Tim Tebow was an enormous NFL star before he took a single snap for the Broncos.  A two time champion at Florida with a Heisman Trophy to boot, not to mention an enormous following of fans of his faith.  Ultimately the Tebow story is an enigma.  Tim is a winner because the Broncos are winning with Tebow as their signal caller.  All the fans that swear up and down that they always knew Tim was a winner are right.

Tim is also a frequent disappointment during long stretches where the offense doesn't do much of anything.  Tim doesn't "look" like an NFL QB.  He doesn't have sweet footwork and mechanics that can drop passes on receivers all over the field in stride.  That obviously doesn't bother Tim's devout fans.  These same fans don't understand where Boomer Esiason and Merril Hoge and the many other for players turned commentators are coming from with their criticisms of Tim.  Maybe the answer is in analyzing the list of QB's that have won Super Bowls, particularly multiple Super Bowls, in recent years:

2011 - Aaron Rodgers
2010 - Drew Brees
2009 - Ben Roethlisberger
2008 - Eli Manning
2007 - Peyton Manning
2006 - Ben Roethlisberger
2005 - Tom Brady
2004 - Tom Brady
2003 - Brad Johnson
2002 - Tom Brady
2001 - Trent Dilfer
2000 - Kurt Warner
1999 - John Elway
1998 - John Elway
1997 - Brett Favre
1996 - Troy Aikman
1995 - Steve Young
1994 - Troy Aikman
1993 - Troy Aikman
1992 - Mark Rypien

Championship teams in the NFL have almost exclusively had talented drop back pocket quarterbacks.  People might think the Broncos can get there with conservative mistake free football from Tebow and defense, but that is a really challenging road.  As good as the Ravens 2001 and Bucs 2003 defenses were, they each had one Super Bowl shot that they pulled off with non-Hall of Fame caliber QBs.  The QB position is truly the most important in all of sports and Tebow misses way too many passes right now, and I'm not talking about the drops that are an issue too.  The Broncos are feasting on teams with offensive issues right now, but ultimately Tim won't be the long term solution unless he makes vast improvements in consistency.  The Broncos cannot continue to lead the league in three and outs and expect for games to stay close enough for a 4th quarter comeback each week.

A lot of Tebow critics have started to back-pedal.  The results on the scoreboard have them wondering if this is a viable way to build a champion.  Well, the Broncos were 6 and 0 just two years ago just in time to turn some heads that snapped back the other way as the season tanked.  Where does this leave the Broncos?  Well Tim is on the second year of a five year deal in Denver, so the Broncos certainly don't need to up to a huge contract right now and get stuck in a Michael Vick, Kevin Kolb, Matt Cassel, or Ryan Fitzpatrick mess.  The Broncos can stay the course with Tebow as long as he's winning and hopefully improving.  Draft picks or free agency signings for a Rob Gronkowski style tight end, a WR, a running back, and some support for the defensive secondary would be a good plan.  If a talented young QB is available well after the first round then you draft him and put him in competition for the Broncos future QB.  Even with the nice record as a starter this year, the Broncos need to leave their options open.  The John Elway era is off to a nice start as Von Miller looks better by the week, Champ Bailey continues to make plays, Elvis Dumervil is actually on the field to play and the offensive line is opening up holes for Willis McGahee to gash defenses.

At the end of the day, Tebow and Broncos fans have had a lot to cheer about over this run.  Tebow critics should recognize the great contributions he's made.  The low number of turnovers have kept the Broncos in the game and Tim has clutched up in a big way at the end of games.  Tebow lovers should also recognize that the Broncos management is trying to win Super Bowl.  Tim doesn't look a thing like the last 20 years of NFL Super Bowl Champion QB's.  That's a concern, becuase great pocket QB play isn't a trend its a law.  If anyone can break the modern laws of football it would probably be Timothy Richard, but the Broncos need to be prepared to move on if this experiment blows up.  The real answer is, Tebow time will last as long as W's keep going up in the record sheets.

When Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov were rumored to be arranging talks with Carmelo Anthony this week, it seemed a foregone conclusion to many writers around the nation that a deal to send the Nuggets' star to the Nets was all but done.  Yesterday when Prokhorov announced that the Nets would no longer pursue "Carmela" it should have been a time of rejoicing for the Nuggets faithful.  The Nuggets handled the Thunder last night thanks in large part to another huge performance from Carmelo Anthony.  What was the celebration after the game?  A chorus of boo's raining down on him during the post game interview.  As Melo walked from the court idiot meatheads yelled at him with anger on their faces.  The negative treatment towards Carmelo is sheer stupidity.

Let's break this down for all of the idiots in Denver that would cut off their noses to spite their faces.  The Nuggets were a bad franchise from the time Dikembe Mutombo left in 1995 all the way until the day Carmelo Anthony arrived in 2003.  The Nuggets won 17 games the year before Melo arrived and won 43 with Melo starring as a rookie.  Carmelo led the Nuggets to more playoff appearances than LeBron James led the Cavs to, and the Nuggets had to compete in the much more competitive Western Conference of the 2000's. 

Carmelo signed a five year contract at the end of the 2006 season with a player option that Melo could choose to excercise at the finish of the current season.  What exactly do Nuggets fans feel Melo owes them?  It's his player option that he could pick up for next year or he could sign an extension in Denver if he wants to stay.  He has not demanded a trade.  The Nuggets have looked to get value for Carmelo by trading him in the middle of this season in part because of the massive criticism they fear if they get left "empty handed" like the Cleveland Cavaliers did.  If the Cavs had it to do all over again to you really think for a second that they would have traded away LeBron James during the middle of last season?  Even as everything played out, the Cavs got to the Conference Semi-Finals and sold a heck of a lot more tickets and merchandise than they would have without LeBron.  Nothing they could have traded for would have made them an instant contender again.  In fact, the smartest move for Cleveland may be to get the most lottery balls and hope you grab a number one pick in the draft again.

The Nuggets best chance to return to the Conference Finals again is with Melo on the court.  The Nuggets have no history of success without a single title ever coming to Denver, so the chance to compete for a championship is a rare and golden opportunity.  Keeping Melo is the only option that Nugget fans should want to see.  It may only be a relationship that only lasts for another half a season plus playoffs, but it will be worth it.  The Nuggets have no obligation to trade their star forward, they are doing this to themselves.  This emergency "player-dectomy" is almost certain to kill the team.  The Nets were the only team to offer real prospects and not just bad contract salary dumps.  The Nuggets will have an automatic salary dump if Carmelo leaves, Kenyon Martin doesn't get picked up, and Chauncey Billups either leaves or re-ups to a smaller deal.  That's almost $60 million that would come off of next years books without even considering the new collective bargaining agreement. 

Losing Carmelo could set the Nuggets back seven years to the time before Melo, but trading Carmelo Anthony will set the Nuggets back almost as much.  The Nets are out.  The draft picks and real prospects are gone.  The obvious choice is to keep Melo and take your chances with what he will do at the end of the season. 

So what's the point?  Don't boo Carmelo.  He's done nothing but pour his heart out for the Nuggets his entire NBA career.  He doesn't deserve it and until he actually moves there is always the possibility he will stay in Denver.  If you follow the stories closely you will see that Carmelo has indicated that leaving town isn't a foregone conclusion.  I admit that odds are he will land in a Knicks jersey as soon as the impending labor dispute is resolved, but no matter what he decides Melo deserves love and class from the fans of the Mile High City.

I think Denver has a lot smart fans that understand the players and teams that entertain us year round.  That being said, there are also a ton of dummies around here.  The people who crucified Jay Cutler and got behind Josh McDaniels were complete morons.  How is that working out with the Broncos at 4-12, Josh McDaniels working for Kroenke in St. Louis, and Jay Cutler and the Bears a game away from the Super Bowl.  You know who you are and I wouldn't be surprised if you are a lot of the same people booing Melo.  Class it up people and to all the true fans let's hope that Melo sticks with the Nuggets through the end of this year and that good things happen.