Denver Broncos Underdog

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

If I had to comprise a list of athletes that I truly despise, Deion Sanders, Brian Bosworth and Dan Marino would rank at the top of my list.

Six NFL players that I truly enjoyed were John Elway, Troy Aikman, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Barry Sanders and Bo Jackson.

Then there are the numerous busts which could cost General Managers and Head Coaches there jobs.

The six that come to mind are Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, Charles Rogers, Mike Williams, JaMarcus Russell and Tony Mandarich.

But if there is one athlete that I'm really hoping succeeds, it's Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow.  He's a player that you hope doesn't fall into the category, "Nice Guys Finish Last."

The coach who served as Tebow's biggest supporter was former Broncos head coach and current St. Louis Rams Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels. Despite Tebow's unorthodox throwing motion and lack of experience under center, McDaniels never had the chance to complete his pet project.

Over the years, I've always found myself in an underdog role.

Dating back to my college days at Broward Community College in Pembroke Pines, Florida., and the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, in addition to learning a new profession selling in the Home Improvement Business, I always relished the opportunity to prove my doubters and critics wrong.

I'll never forget in 1983 when I was in a Bowling Class, I won a trophy for "Most Unusual Form." This came after my late Uncle Sam Morganroth, who lived in Cape Coral, Florida., and I used to go bowling a lot when I visited him for three day weekends. But I could never get comfortable throwing the ball the proper way. When I won that trophy, Uncle Sam did get a few laughs.

My father has been great giving me his old slip on shoes because I don't like tying them. To this day, I don't have the patience to tie them.

I've always invested into clip on ties or had the knots made in advance.

So I can totally relate to Tebow. He's had many people work on his throwing motion but still can't seem to make that transformation. He reminds me of former NFL Quarterback Bernie Kosar.  Despite his awkward style of throwing, Kosar played in the NFL from 1985-1996.

Although Tebow has abnormalities in his throwing motion, plus a sub-par NFL arm to go deep, the former Florida Gator is a winner.

He's an exceptionally elusive signal caller and rushed for 118 yards in the Broncos 38-24 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. Very rarely do you see a quarterback rush for nearly more yards than he had passing. But Tebow managed 124 yards in the air for a six yards differential.

Despite the 45-10 pounding and seven sack performance to the Detroit Lions 11 days ago, the former Heisman Trophy Winner rebounded nicely on the road in Oakland. He-s 3-3 as a starter and you don't win a BCS National Championship by accident.

The bottom line is the Denver Broncos have to create a system which Tebow can flourish in. Coach John Fox and Elway know that and have to figure it out.

If these two can work on Tebow's passing game, surround him with good receivers and tight-ends, he'll be fine. They need to provide him with good running backs and this will give him a solid security blanket in the backfield both as rushers and in the short passing game.

But there is one intangible that Tebow doesn't need to work on.

He's a high character person!

Don't expect him in handcuffs anytime soon and taking mug shuts or getting finger printed in jail. I don't care if he demonstrates his faith publicly.

He will serve the Denver community proud whether it's at football camps instructing kids or at any public event delivering speeches. Overall, he seems to be a nice guy and his No.15 jerseys do sell and bring the Broncos revenue. He's a good role model.

Don't expect Tebow to blow a gasket at reporters as Leaf did in the San Diego Chargers locker-room when he alienated the media.

Time will tell if Tebow ever develops into a good NFL quarterback, but with his Blue Collar work ethic, at the age of 24, at least he's professional, conscientious, and has the determination to make you want to root for him.

He has plenty of time to develop with the right coaching.

Will Tebow ever make the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

That's a major stretch.

But if he starts winning, then adding Super Bowl rings to his resume, then this Underdog will prove his critics and doubters wrong.

But right now, he's a Hall of Fame Person and one individual that we won't see in Commissioner Roger Goodell's office for violating the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy.

You know Goodell is rooting for Tebow along with many others.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

Tribute To Tom McEwen

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When I heard the news that My Former Boss Tom McEwen died on Sunday Night, there were several things that entered my mind.

I am glad that I can write this story electronically and not worry if an editor would cut out a very important point. It would be sad to not give McEwen the tribute he rightfully deserves.

Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with some of the greatest people on the planet.

It began in 1979 when George Eichorn of the Detroit Monitor and WXYZ Radio and I began a friendship and brotherhood that's lasted a lifetime.

In 1982, I was fortunate enough to come across the late Peter Bluesten of the Hallandale Digest, who was the publisher of a weekly newspaper, but his staff sold so many ads that the publication was the size of a daily newspaper.

I had so many wonderful times with Peter and as I've written time and time again, you'll never meet a nicer and more loyal person to work with. He was a father to me and treated me like his son.

The only downfall of my experience working for the Digest was the typesetting of the newspaper and production occurred at the Hollywood Sun Tattler.

Therefore, when you're a young aspiring writer trying to get experience, I had to go to the paper and re-check my work to minimize the mistakes that would make me look bad. Peter was fine with this but his son Dan and I had numerous problems. If Peter didn't buffer the conflicts between his son and I, then I was prepared to move on to another newspaper that cared about my work.

My old Journalism instructor David Merves at Broward Community College was also critical of the Digest finished product and saw it every week since he lived in Hallandale.

Thankfully, I had enough good clips and in 1984 and I landed a job at the Tampa Tribune. On weekends off and holidays, I would return to South Florida and visit the Bluesten's. I would do some free-lance writing for events that took place in Central Florida and the Tampa Bay Area.

It would take me awhile to get established at the Tampa Tribune.

Once I got established, then I was able to land work with the heads of the respected bureaus. I would go downtown and work the desk with the rest of the staff especially during football and basketball seasons.

When I met Tom McEwen, he was very nice to me. Whether you were a full-time writer or a part-time correspondent, he treated you with class and always offered pointers and gave advice if you needed it. I stayed at the Tribune until 1986 and nearly landed a spot working for the Lakeland office. But unfortunately, I couldn't survive on their offer and decided to move back to Detroit where I would eventually work for My Father's Home Improvement Company.

Back in 1989, I began covering the Detroit Lions on a regular basis and at the time, they would play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice a year because they were in the same division. It was neat seeing McEwen twice a year and on several occasions. We would talk about my returning to the newspaper again. By then, however, I had found my niche in the Home Improvement Industry and the writing was more of a hobby and passion.

Yet, every time we spoke, there were times that I pondered the possibility and wanted to return to the Tampa Tribune. When I did travel with the Lions, I used to eat lunch with McEwen before the game. We would talk about what was wrong with the Bucs and Hall of Fame Running Back Barry Sanders used to have some of his best games against Tampa Bay, including one contest where he ran for a pair of touchdowns that were both over 80 yards and had the press box cheering.

But as I mentioned before while our relationship was good, it was even better when I began covering the NFL because now we were both in the big leagues. We continued to remain close over the years. I'll never forget the time when the Lions were routing the Bucs and there was talk that if the Bucs didn't build a new stadium, the team would move. We were on the Tampa Stadium field near the end of the game wondering what would happen.

For awhile, things didn't look good because the Bucs were perennial losers and the crowds were in major decline. McEwen was actually nervous that the team would indeed leave town, but thankfully, things did work out. When the Bucs left the Lions division, this stung because I used to enjoy returning to Tampa at least once a year.

But thanks to the man upstairs, on December 19, 2010, the Lions took an NFL record 26-game road losing to Raymond James Stadium. For myself, there were a lot of highlights this afternoon.

Once again, I had the chance to talk about old times with McEwen.

But this time, I took things a step further and introduced my good friend and colleague Jennifer Hammond to meet him. She had a smile on her pretty face that would burn through rubber. The two enjoyed a couple nice minutes.

The Lions snapped their losing streak with a 23-20 overtime win and that would be a major step toward their season ending four-game winning streak.

But as I spent time with my former boss, this was a much different feeling. He seemed like he was in declining health and I had a real weird feeling that this would be the last time I'd ever see him again.

That feeling became a reality when he died on Sunday Morning at the age of 88 at 3 a.m. at his Davis Island home. The Lions were supposed to play the Tampa Bay Bucs on September 11 if the NFL season started on schedule.

I was hoping to see McEwen again. Now I know that will never happen.

According to his wife Linda of 41 years, McEwen had been battling an aggressive form of Cancer with chemotherapy. He had suffered several strokes, most recently in May of 2002. He had a pacemaker implanted in May of 1999 and had a leg amputated that confined him to a wheel chair and lost the sight of his eye.

It was tough seeing him like this.

While I was working at the Hallandale Digest, I was gaining great experience working with all kinds of major sporting events and features despite horrible editing.

The Tampa Tribune editing staff was excellent. I loved the deadline pressure and felt that I became a much better, disciplined writer. To this date, I am extremely proud of my time at the Tribune because I grew in so many ways covering a lot of high school sports, the Florida State League plus different human interest stories. The professionalism at that place was tremendous and I know that was attributed to the Sports Editor.

McEwen was a Sports Editor for at least 25 years. His Column "The Morning After" was must read material. He won the Red Smith Award in 1993. He was a Florida Sports Writer of the Year 19 times---a record.

He wrote more than 10,000 columns and supervised a sports staff that grew from seven to 61 at one point. It earned numerous national and state awards. His Final Column in the Tampa Tribune appeared on February 4, 2001.

He set the example for every writer that worked there to follow and if you didn't leave the paper better than you were when you started, there was something wrong with you.

I once joked around with McEwen that one of my fellow correspondents named David Kaminski told me on a Friday Night during football season that I had won an award in 1984 where I finished in second place for in the State of Florida for a USFL story that I wrote.

As it turns out, when I contacted my Department Head of Journalism Betty Owen at BCC, she said that I finished first and not second. I went back to South Florida during that Thanksgiving and she presented the award to me. I reecived the award six weeks after the Detroit Tigers defeated the San Diego Padres to win the World Series.

McEwen said to me that all the writers were pleased with my hard working attitude and he was pleased to have me on his staff. He did smile when he felt it was a coincidence that I found out at his newspaper, but hugged me and shook my hand.

Coming from a man whose accolades are endless, that made me feel real good.

The Press Box at the St.Pete Times Forum bears his name as did the Press Box at the old Tampa Stadium. After the Bucs new home was built, Raymond James Stadium, the street just south of the new venue was renamed "Tom McEwen Boulevard."

Rightfully so, because McEwen was the driving force in the Tampa Bay Bucs landing a franchise in 1976. At least he can say that he was alive to see them win a Super Bowl as well especially since he had to write a lot of columns during the Bucs lean years that looked more like obituaries.

This is a real sad day for me but like Peter Bluesten, Tom McEwen was a mentor for me as well and I'm proud of the association with these classy individuals.

When I do return to see the Lions and the Bucs, there will be a real void when I step in that press box again, especially when I see my old colleagues from the Tampa Tribune.

But Tom, it was a privilege to work with you over the years and thanks for the memories. When I see all the health problems that you experienced, I hope you do indeed, rest in peace.

Because of  you and the rest of your outstanding staff, I will always be grateful of the experience, knowledge and kindness you gave me that I proudly use everyday in so many ways.

Thanks for the memories and God Bless.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at http://www.scottsports33.com/.

Transferring Is Tricky

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The story of Mississippi QB Jeremiah Masoli winning an NCAA appeal to have his eligibility restored so he could play in 2010 instead of having to wait until 2011 was very refreshing.

First of all, the Ole Miss Rebels needed him because they have two inexperienced signal callers at the most demanding position.

In reality, it's hard to imagine that Masoli would not be able to complete his final season at Oregon wearing the green, yellow and white for the Ducks. But the youngster did self destruct after being kicked off the team with two run ins with the police.

He pleaded guilty in a January theft at a fraternity house and was suspended for the entire 2010 season by Oregon Coach Chip Kelly. Then in June, he was cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession and dismissed from the team.

The senior has completed his undergraduate degree and enrolled in Mississippi's Parks and Recreation graduate program. The NCAA will sometimes waive a one-year residency requirement for athletes who are transferring but are enrolling in a graduate program not offered at the previous school.

When I heard earlier in the week that Masoli was going to be ineligible, once again, the NCAA made a mistake.

But to the kid's credit, he appealed the decision and won. He claimed he was kicked off the football team but not out of the university.

There is no question that Masoli made some mistakes and he paid the price for it. I do commend Kelly for doing his best to run a clean program at Oregon.

But the biggest thing that has to be emphasized is did Masoli learn from his mistakes and is he entitled to a second chance? Yes!

To Mississippi Coach Houston Nutt's credit, he gave Masoli that second chance but under the condition that he's on a short leash and better play it straight otherwise his collegiate playing career will be over.

Don't kid yourself, Nutt does want to win and he needs the best player at quarterback to compete in the SEC. The conference's recent track record of winning national championships with LSU, Florida and Alabama speaks for itself.

But to Masoli's credit, the kid found a loophole in the situation. He took a negative and turned it into a positive. He got his undergraduate degree and by thinking on his feet to continue his education elsewhere at a school that didn't have his major, that was brilliant. Being a quarterback requires you to think on your feet and he scored a touchdown with this move.

We'll call this the academic audible.

Don't think that NFL scouts aren't taking notice of that. He gets to play the final year in college and will be able to get ready to seek a pro career next season. While character issues are important in the pros, being able to be humbled before you get there does minimize the extensive process that it takes to get there.

As I look at Masoli's situation, it hits closer to home.

Back in 1984, I was completing my Associates Degree at Broward Community College (BCC) in Journalism. The only course that I needed to get that degree was Math. I had to take Math a second time.

I also took two courses at Florida International University and got a C & D therefore the 1.5 GPA was what I had to deal with.

When I was seeking a transfer to the University of South Florida, the requirement was that I had to have a 2.0 GPA to be accepted from my last institution. As it turns out, I was initially rejected.

But when I told the person in charge of admissions that I earned a C in Math at BCC my last term and had a 2.0, he looked at me and nodded his head the said, "Welcome To The University of South Florida. But I will put you on academic probation your first term."

I never thought that my worst subject in school would turn out to be my best friend when I needed it. Indeed it was.

Institution turned out to be institutions.

I said to him that probation will be history by January and managed to get a pair of B's. The probation was gone and I was determined to earn my degree on time. In 1986, the mission to get My BA Degree was complete and am a proud USF Bulls alumnus.

How about those loopholes. With a little bit of salesmanship, thinking on your feet and a lot of hard work, while "Transferring Is Tricky" it can get done as long as the game plan is executed properly.

When it was all said and done, at least Masoli and I have that much in common and I'm hoping that he makes the most of the 2010 season.

Just winning a decision against the NCAA was big enough, but at least last years Rose Bowl Game will not be his last one with the controversy that forced him to relocate from the Pacific Northwest to the Southeast. Hopefully he has more victories left.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

Super Neutral Sites

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When I moved to Florida to attend school at Broward Community College (BCC), was Sports Editor of that paper called The New Horizons, and also worked at the Hallandale Digest, I found Pizza Hut in Hallandale to be my home away from home. The environment was so relaxing that I'd do my homework and work on sports stories.

In 1981, I'd eat my personal pan pizza, salad bar and best of all there were refills on ice tea. At that time, I was a transplant from Detroit and I did so much sweating that I needed to get fluids back into my system.

I enjoyed Pizza Hut so much that I took my close friend Mark Paterson, whom I attended the 1982 NCAA Final 4 in New Orleans there, and we'd hang out to talk about sports, school, women, etc. We were both so competitive that we had our own Ice Tea Drinking Contest. My favorite waitress Lisa watched in amazement as we both consumed 2.5 pitchers a piece. The challenge ended in a tie but both of our kidneys paid the price the rest of the night as we had fun with our friendly competition.

Patterson is pictured outside of a store in Hollywood, Florida on www.scottsports33.com. We went to our respective homes and just called each other on the phone for hours to joke around how much fun that was. Back then, I weighed a mere 105 pounds. I wish I could say that today.

When I moved to North Carolina in 1987, the Pizza Hut in Kings Mountain was my hangout.

Being a Yankee/outsider, these people in small mom and pop small town restaurants frowned upon Yankees taking too much time and generally wanted me out in 45-60 minutes. Being accepted was difficult in this environment.

But at this Pizza Hut, a young waitress named Ann Baucum always treated me great and her hospitality was truly appreciated. She had many great qualities. She was a pretty dark blonde haired young lady, attractive on the outside but most of all had a tremendous heart. She had so many great qualities that I wanted to date her because of her sweet personality. There was one problem. She was engaged to be married.

As a consolation prize, I was invited to her wedding but couldn't attend due to my heavy work schedule with the Gastonia (Texas) Rangers. Perhaps the biggest regret was I should have tried to rearrange my schedule and then she could have introduced me to another kind southern lady.

Nevertheless, she kept serving me endless amounts of Sweet Tea and if you haven't had Sweet Tea in the South, this stuff is so potent that it would send a Diabetic into Cardiac Arrest! But did I ever get charged up when I loaded up on it and yes, I managed to get a lot of work done.

When I returned to South Florida in 2002, my primary hangout used to be Gatsby's in Boca Raton. This place was filled with televisions, wonderful waitresses, managers, valet attendants, and big booths to write my stories.

But as my work schedule changed and with Gatsby's opening time of 4 PM no longer sufficient, I needed a place to go during the daytime and write my stories for the Detroit Monitor and Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.

In honor of legendary game show host Bob Barker, since I knew I'd be a regular customer, "The Price Is Right" led me to hangout at CiCi's in Deerfield Beach. For under $7, no tip necessary, there is a nice pizza, salad and dessert buffet, plus all the Diet Coke I needed to keep my Wheels Turning enabling me to write my stories and do my studying.

There were times when there were no kids therefore, ESPN programming was on, which gave me more ideas to write about enabling me to keep "My Wheels Turning." The more caffeine I consumed, the more creative I came on and off paper.

Having my best friend Dennis Roetzel to talk to and hang out with made the experience that much more worthwhile. We've had great time and should the day I come where I leave South Florida, I can only hope there are more people like Dennis in other areas. What a truly one of a kind person!

While I appreciate the new computer my parents bought me when my other desktop crashed, and this new one is the brains behind My Blog, what you see here is a result of what I've done on many occasions at my many "Super Neutral Sites" therefore these places enhance my concentration and helps keep me away from the distractions at home.

Even though Libraries are great, I enjoy certain types of restaurants with quiet areas, good food, drinks and great people to associate with. I have to admit that when I do go into a restaurant, I am territorial and stake out my favorite spots. There are times that I'll wait a period of time to get that booth or table, take a interim spot and when the people leave, motor over to my "Office Away From Home."

The reason championship games, particularly the Super Bowl are played in "Neutral Sites" is because it's easier to maintain focus. The same can indeed hold true as a student or professional. A legal pad and pen at the dollar store will go a long ways when you want to concentrate on your next idea, goal, etc.

Whether I'm in the USA or any foreign country, the legacy of the "Neutral Site" will always go with me.

I've even done work at Hooters, Chili's, Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's and many of these places allow you to bring your laptop and have wireless access. They do give refills on drinks.

But just give me a cooperative manager, Diet Coke, Ice Tea, and you can compare that to putting gas into an automobile which will keep my vehicle running firing on all cylinders. It's easy to bang out stories written on legal paper, edit them on the computer wrapping it up with spell check.

Even my mother, who has admitted that spelling isn't her strong point, enjoys spell check as well as editors and professors.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and My Blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com