Not the Broncos of Old

This post was actually requested by a friend/reader that lives in Colorado.  So, in the interest of keeping one of my 11 readers happy, here's my blog about the Denver Broncos, and Tim Tebow. 

First off, with the NFL season starting tonight, let's just face it...the Broncos are going to be terrible!  If I were a bandwagon fan like Nuke and rooted for teams that win all the time, I wouldn't be a Broncos fan.  I'd be a Steelers fan, and I'd probably predict a Super Bowl title.  As it is, I'm predicting 4-12 for my Denver Broncos, so one more win than last season.  I'm basing this on the fact that I think John Fox is a slightly better coach than Josh McDaniels, and I think the schedule is slightly easier this year.

As far as the team...it's awful.  Yes, they added Von Miller at Line Backer, but he's still a rookie.  And yes, Elvis Dumervil is back from injury, but they still have way too many problems.  Here's the problems I see:

1 - The Defensive line is not good.  Line backers are not free to do the things that they need to do if they have to tackle running backs 5 yards down the field all the time.

2 - The Offensive line is unproven.  Maybe they'll surprise me, but I wouldn't want to be a Quarterback for the Broncos this season.

3 - They are still relying on Knowshon (don't call me Slowshon) Moreno as their #1 running back.  The guy looks like he's running in quick sand all the time.

4 - The secondary is old.

5 - The wide receivers are unproven and probably overrated.

6 - Kyle Orton is not the long term answer at Quarterback.

So, I got to the sixth problem before I got to Quarterback, which is the position most fans want to talk about.  A year ago, the Broncos drafted Tim Tebow in the 1st round.  Tebow is definitely the most polarizing figure in all of football.  The left in this country hates him, because he's a good, upstanding Christian kid, who was probably taken too early in the draft.  The right in this country loves him for the same reasons.  Tebow is definitely not the prototypical NFL Quarterback.  But, it's not his fault he was taken early in the draft, and it's not his fault that the offseason was lost due to labor issues.  The bottom line is that nobody deserves the criticism Tebow has gotten.  If an African American QB were criticized the way Tim Tebow has been criticized, the sports media in this country would have a field day with the criticizers.  But, since it's a white, Christian kid, the criticism goes largely ignored.

I hope Tim Tebow is successful.  My eyes tell me he won't be, but I hope I'm wrong.  I do not understand the team's decision to play Kyle Orton over Tim Tebow.  We know exactly what Kyle Orton is...he's a system Quarterback who can win with a strong defense and running game.  On this team, he will win 3-4 games this season.  By starting Orton this season, the team is just prolonging the inevitable.  They have sold way too many Tebow jersey's not to give the kid a shot.  Whether it's this season or next, Tim Tebow must be given a shot to succeed in Denver.  And I, for one, think that shot should come this season.  Throw him out there and see if he can perform.  He's surprised people his entire life...who's to say he won't surprise us once again.

So there you go...my pessimistic, rambling Broncos preseason blog.  Go Team!

In The Beginning...

There was Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnserr.  It's the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the Marvel universe is just learning about the existence of Mutants.  In "X-Men: First Class" we see the beginning for the famed Marvel X-Men, and the genesis of the villain Magneto.

As I said above, this movie is set in the early 1960s.  Erik Lehnserr (Michael Fassbender) is hunting the Nazis responsible for his imprisonment and his mother's death.  While seeking out the man he most blames for his mother's death (played by none other than Kevin Bacon), Lehnserr meets Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and a friendship is formed.  But, Lehnserr and Xavier have different ideas about the futures of Mutant Kind and Human Kind that comes to a head at the Bay of Pigs.  Out of this event, Professor X and Magneto are born.

I really enjoyed "X-Men: First Class".  I watched it while on the plane back from Brazil last week.  While not as good as the other Marvel movie of the summer, "Thor", "First Class" is one of the better X-Men movies.  The story was great, and while it was an action film, there were some humorous moments, including a cameo by Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and several hair jokes by Charles Xavier (in the X-Men movies set later, Xavier is played by bald actor Patrick Stewart).

James McAvoy continues to be a fantastic actor.  From Mr. Tumnus to Charles Xavier, he gives his all to every role.  This was the first time I've seen Michael Fassbender in a movie, and he was terrific as Lehnserr/Magneto.  At times, he really steals the show.  Finally, any movie with Kevin Bacon is automatically excellent because we have another movie we can use for Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

"X-Men: First Class" is a 4 to 4.5 star movie.  If you are an X-Men fan or a fan of Marvel comics in general, give this movie a shot.

Famously Good

Ok, I'm probably going to catch grief for this one, but I really like Famous Dave's Barbecue.  I know it's a chain BBQ restaurant, and I'm sure those from the south will tell me that it's not nearly as good as the BBQ you get in Memphis or Texas or Kansas City.  But as a guy who grew up in the midwest who just wants some good hickory smoked ribs or pulled pork, it's pretty darn good.

This weekend, we were outta town in a locale that is not exactly a BBQ hot spot.  My family all really likes BBQ, especially my 10 year old.  He loves Famous Dave's spare ribs.  So, last night we went to Famous Dave's, and it was sooooooooo good.  I had the Georgia Chopped Pork, which I smothered in Rich and Sassy sauce.  I got the Spicy Green Beans and BBQ Chips as my sides.  I love to dip the BBQ chips in the different sauces.  My mouth is watering right now thinking about how good it was.

Some other items around the table included Baby Back Ribs, Spare Ribs and BBQ chicken.  Also, Buffalo Wings...they have really good Buffalo Wing sauce at Famous Dave's.  All of the food was very good. 

I still look forward to getting to take a trip to the south for some "real BBQ", and I'm planning to get a smoker and learn a little more BBQ cooking myself.  But, for now, when I'm in the midwest and I see a Famous Dave's, it will be very hard for me to pass it by.