"Remember when Troy Tulowitzki was Denver's favorite son?

Back before the dawn of Tebowmania, the name every fan loved best was Tulo.

But as he was blasting 30 home runs and gobbling up grounders with his golden glove last year, a strange thing happened to Tulowitzki.

The shine wore off. The crass questions began.

Was Tulowitzki really worth a contract in excess of $150 million? Why couldn't he stop the Rockies from being the biggest bust in the National League? What, you mean to tell us Tulo isn't 10 feet tall and bulletproof?

"It comes with the job," Tulowitzki said. "When things are going good and you're playing well, you're on top of the world. But when you're playing bad, you're ..."

He paused a tick to pick the right word.

When you're playing bad, you are ... what?

"Not very good, and people are trying to run you out of town. But that's just part of it," said Tulowitzki, entering his sixth full season in the major leagues at age 27. "As I've gotten older, I've understood it better."

Before Tim Tebow became the symbol of everything that's right about the NFL and America, Tulowitzki was the face of a Rockies franchise that captured the city's heart with an amazing run to the World Series in 2007.

More than any working superstar in Denver, Tulo can understand what it means to be Tebow.

"Watching the whole Tebow thing go down, that was pretty cool. But it's just crazy how stuff works. The Broncos do well and Tebow is all anybody's talking about. Then they lose in the playoffs and Tebow is going into training camp as the starter just for that. No guarantees. That's how crazy this whole thing is.""