No matter where you believe Peyton Manning should have ended up, or what reasoning you think he had, know this:  The team that got him – the man that signed him — was the most desperate for his services.

Whether you agree or disagree with his opinion, Broncos head man John Elway is NOT sold on Tim Tebow being his quarterback of the future. Or the present. He honestly never even seemed enthused when Tebow was winning, and winning, and winning… Elway has a vision of what he wants his quarterback to be. Tebow doesn’t fit; let’s face it, if nothing else, he’s an original that doesn’t fit any archetype.

That said, it no longer matters. Barring a setback, Manning will officially be a Denver Bronco as soon as the T’s and I’s are crossed and dotted.

Elway, previously, was more or less forced to enter the season with Tebow as his starter, based on the success and popularity he enjoyed last season.

If Elway had decided to try and replace Tebow with, say, Matt Flynn?

He could expect a fan revolt. And it’s far from an ideal situation for Flynn either, if much of the fan base is ready to bury him BEFORE even the first sign of trouble.

But Peyton Manning is Elway’s “get out of jail free” card. Manning comes with more than enough stature to make much of Bronco Nation forget about their current favorite son. A Super Bowl ring, multiple MVPs and broken records trump a magical win streak every time. Elway knows that, and that’s why this isn’t just about hoping to catch lightning in a bottle with a healthy Manning.

It’s about a transition to the offense and the team he wants; not the one, for better or worse, he’d be forced into.

The saga of the NBA’s Dwight Howard took a very interesting turn last week, and its significance, in my opinion, extends beyond the simple fact that he’s going to stay in Orlando another year.

A preseason report by Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, one of the NBA’s most well connected writers, suggested that one of the reasons Howard would not be interested in a trade to Chicago (where he and Derrick Rose would assuredly vault the Bulls in league with the Miami Heat in terms of title favorites) is that both he and Rose share the same shoe endorsement with Adidas — Adidas pays these guys a LOT of money, and would not desire the two of them doubling up on the same team.

A report by ESPN.com went further; if Howard were dealt to say, New Jersey, he’d stand to lose “significant bonuses” from his Adidas contract that kick in if his team makes the postseason. Howard’s Magic are all but playoff locks; the Nets have little chance of qualifying.

What does this mean? That Orlando essentially just turned the tables on a superstar in a way that no team in recent memory — not the Cavs with LeBron James, not the Nuggets with Carmelo Anthony, not the Hornets with Chris Paul — has done.

Make no mistake: Adidas has a lot of pull. Mike has a lot of pull. And guys like Rose and Howard aren’t the only ones “pulled”.

Is it a gamechanger? Probably not completely; time will tell.

But teams certainly can look to the Orlando playbook in the future for some, to date, really effective bluff calls, calls that just bought the Magic at least two more shots at postseason glory with the league’s best big man.