FanPost

On Tebow's Book, A Rant, and Captain Geech

Rodney's latest post got me thinking. There have been plenty of posts I've begun but then scrapped just because I wasn't too thrilled with them or they had become old news too quickly. Part of this post is one of those. Without much news it's tough to keep writing because naturally you just feel like you are regurgitating the same information over and over again. It's like when your favorite band goes on a four or five year hiatus and you are forced to listen to their "most recent" album for the some-thousandth time. At some point you realize that these songs were so great but there's only so much you can take before you start drifting toward Ke$ha almost in silent protest.

Naturally it is much easier to walk away from the computer, grab a few beers and waste some hours playing Call of Duty. Let someone else find the nerve to post an article on news so old it's growing a playoff beard and applying for an AARP card. Besides, nobody wants to become the next muse for Max's minsinformation post. At this point, what else do we have other than hunches, feelings, and a few extra hangovers?

But, since I'm about to sport a new hangover and I feel like blasting some Kesha and ruminating on old information I figured is there a better time to write something? Our fanpost section is beginning to get weeks old. The site moderators have been doing a standup job of giving us something new on the front page and I'll throw some props out to Max for continuing to find topics that either interest or divide us... or both. In the past week we have seen only a few new fanposts. This has to be a record in my own short time here at MHR. The offseason is getting very long indeed. I hope we aren't moving on to other activities such as water polo, crochet, purse shopping, or reading the newest Nicholas Sparks book .

Tim Tebow: Through My Eyes... through my eyes.

Tim Tebow's new book was recently released. Not sure if you knew that, but thought I'd throw it out there.

It had less fanfare on this website than I anticipated. Every Tebow opinion seems to generate more discussion than our little "real" news of the NFL lockout. Being a big reader and an even bigger Broncos fan this was the perfect combination for a Wednesday afternoon. As it turned out, Tebow's book was an incredibly easy and quick read. It was also pretty good.

First of all, this book is two things.

#1. Written to a younger audience. If you are looking for Grapes of Wrath reading level here you will be sorely disappointed.

#2. Misunderstood. I would definitely recommend either picking up a copy or renting it from your local library before making a strong opinion on it. This is common sense for any book, but with the lightning rod that is Tim Tebow it will go a long way. There's a lot of talk about the fact that he wrote a book, and very little substantial fact regarding what he actually wrote in the book.

I'm going to do my best to not give anything away, but if you have every intention of reading this book there isn't any way to explain a book without taking away some of the novelty. Keep that in mind before you continue reading. For everyone else, my goal here is to somehow convince you to at least give a thought to picking up this book or checking it out. That's my slant. I'm being upfront about it. Just encouraging you to read.

I imagine that many of the fans on this site are avid readers and have read many sports biographies before. This book is not up there when we are talking about the best sports books of all time. This isn't even like one of Tony Dungy's football books. There are some gold nuggets in this book, to be sure, but nothing like Coach Dungy's books. This also isn't like Coach Wooden's books. But you know what, this book never pretends to be anything other than what it is... and that is an easy read that simply explains the story behind one young athlete trying to find both his way in sports and his way in life. There aren't any delusions of grandeur here. Tebow knows he's young. He knows he's got a lot to prove. But he knows he's had a lot to prove in the past and that he's done well.

The biggest criticism I've heard regarding Tebow's new book has to do with his age. How can a young man who is 23 years old ever have enough to say about life to warrant an entire book? This dude must really think he's the greatest thing since 140 characters and no filter. Cynicism at its finest.

The reality, at least in my opinion, is that Tebow does have a story to tell. He's grown up differently from most of us and succeeded in a fashion that is completely unconventional. For any young athlete, especially one that is homeschooled, his story is absolutely inspirational if for no other reason than it proves that you can achieve your goals if you are willing to work hard. In many ways, I feel like this book is exactly written to that young person. When Tebow sat down with Nathan Whitaker to write this book they must have decided to focus mainly on that young generation.

Theirs is a generation that isn't quite so jaded yet. A generation that doesn't see a 23-year old young man trying to self-promote during an off-season where the expectation if you aren't sleeping, making illigitimate babies, or trying to get out of prison you need to be working out practicing with your teammates... unless of course you work out too much then you must be on HGH.

Theirs is a generation that has yet to see a Comcast bill, get screwed over by Just Brakes, and who are just trying to make junior or varsity while dealing with facial hair and a voice like Destiny's Child. To them, the experience of Tim Tebow I imagine would be inspiring and perhaps even an interesting read outside of Harry Potter. It could be that push they need to aspire to be greater.

For the rest of us that have had enough years in this world to become jaded and cynical, well, this book I'm sure will be exactly like what you expect. If you think Tebow is a young person of great character with a fantastic story to tell and you are interesting in hearing it, that's exactly what the book will be like. I'm also very sure that if you feel like Tebow is on a money-making self promotion spree every sentence will reek of self-promotion and aw-shucks naivete that is blinding the world. If you feel like the latter, you probably have zero interest in touching this copy and would rather be seen checking out the entire Gilmore Girls DVD series than be caught buying this book. I get that.

However, the NFL is hurting for new information and Tebow is one of the few athletes doing anything newsworthy. The other alternatives are Plaxico Burress and whatever Rashard Mendenhall is tweeting this week. Thus, news on Tebow is in very high demand and he's simply giving the fans what they want. There have been so many stories about Tebow and his development that it only makes sense that he tell his own story. I guess if you want to know the true story, right from the man himself, then you owe yourself the few hours needed to read this short book. Well, at least as true as a man telling his own story can be.

This book really is just about Tebow, though. Like the ESPN special, the Broncos aren't much more than a short few pages at the very end. If you are looking into insights between Tebow's relationships with him and his teammates you won't find it here. He generally avoids the NFL altogether and speaks only to that which he knows... Gator football and faith.

For whatever it's worth, I thought it was worth it.

General Ranting

I'm slowly approaching the Tim Lynch level of opinion in regards to the QB issues here in Denver. It almost isn't worth arguing... except that is so much fun. I did want to say this about it though... this QB situation isn't nearly as bad as it is being made out to be. It's not so much as a QB situation as it is a QB choice. The dating equivalent of choosing between Mandy Moore or a Kardashian. We got choices.

There are plenty of teams out there that don't have a choice because they don't really have a QB period. You got to at least be grateful that whenever next season starts at least we'll have some kind of acceptable QB option. Sure it's the one thing we all want to get figured out right now, probably almost as much as the lockout mess, but in the end when the Broncos take the field we'll have workable options and for a team that struggled like we did last season it's the last of my worries.

Are any of you getting tired of these workout updates? I literally do not care who and when and where players are working out. Never before during an offseason do I remember bloggers and media personalities taking roll call for player organized workouts like they are doing this year. Do I think players need to be working out? Sure. It makes me nervous that somewhere Knowshon Moreno might be drinking a Mike's Hard Limeade while playing shuffleboard on a VH1 cruise ship, singing along to the latest hit by Lifehouse while traveling with Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters to film the sequel to the worst selling movie of all time... Weekend at Party Pier. Moreno instead needs to be in the gym every day working that hamstring.

It makes me nervous that we have a group of new rookies that are unable to talk to any coaches to get so much as a cheat sheet to understand the playbook... a playbook which, by the way, has yet to see the green of a football field for our players. I can't decide if I would be more surprised to see our rookies out on the field training with B. Dawk or starring in the next Diddy music video. Who knows how they are going to prepare for this next season.

It makes me nervous that Tim Tebow is out there signing 300 books a day. He's going to get beat by carpal tunnel long before he gets to take a legitimate snap from under center.

I'm just like you, I have nightmares about these things. I just can't believe that loyalty to a team is being determined based on workout hours. In some ways, it's actually completely ridiculous. Aren't workouts one of the things the players are fighting against? Don't they want fewer OTA's and fewer mandatory team workouts during their offseason? Aren't they fighting for the right to enjoy mojito's in Belize in June or be a U2 360 tour groupie for three months? If this is one of the things they are fighting for shouldn't they be making a universal stand against organized workouts? What a mess.

If Kyle Orton wants to spend his offseason throwing to his receiver and working out with his team whenever Tebow isn't in town, that's fine. If that's what it takes to keep him sharp until real workouts start than that is great! More time to grow a glorious neckbeard and perfect his karaoke.

If Tebow wants to spend his time traveling back and forth across the country signing books, playing charity golf tournaments, and getting his swinging motion altered by photoshop then let him!

What better time than the offseason for these things.

Just, for the love of Lady Gaga and her affair with Judas, don't make this into a "who is the better teammate" war. That's just frustrating.

So here we are MHR, nearly four months into the offseason and the only thing we can count is a steady stream of legal mumbo jumbo, angry QB debates, poor attempts at hyperbole and metaphor, and workout reports. Here's to hoping that they get this whole lockout thing figured out soon and that the entirety of the Broncos organization can avoid the fate of Titan's WR Kenny Britt who was recently arrested for drunk driving and quoted as saying:

"I don't always drink and drive, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis."

That last quote could probably be labeled as misinformation.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.