The NHL/PA doesn't care about Me?!?!?

I'm under no illusion that the owners and players collectively known as the NHL/PA really care one hoot about me, the fan.  Sure, in the business sense they do, we are the consumers that make their little engine go.  But really care about us?  Naw.  Nor do I really care about them.  I couldn't care less what kind of contract structures are agreed upon.  I don't care what the HRR is or isn't, today or tomorrow.  It's all business details.  I'm in it for the game.

All the business stuff has to exist for the game to exist, I get that.  Doesn't mean I have to care.  Do you need to know exactly how a plane gets off the ground to care about where it can take you?  I'm more than happy to naively root for my favorite player on the ice and let his high paid agent worry about the fine print.  Ancillary to me.

And I have a word or two for some of the smug, snarky fans of other sports out there.  Hey, your sport isn't better than mine just because we are going through this.  I can't abide this attitude from people that declare (with nose in the air) that the NHL/PA just doesn't give a rat's ass about its fans.  Your sport has had the same battles as mine.  The results have worked out different and you should be grateful for that.  Just because your sport didn't go as far down this road as mine has means they care about their fans more?  Please spare me that truck load of manure.  The NFL & NBA settled their CBA disagreements because they were worried about your five fantasy leagues?  Hilarious!  They don't concern themselves with the fact that you are going to feel lost without your team while they dicker over more money than you will ever have.  It's not about you, it's about your money.  They care about you only in so much as you are a consumer that lines their pockets with cash.

It doesn't matter if we are talking about baseball, football, or basketball.  Big business cares about big money.  So please stop with the condescending attitude and funereal words of consolation when addressing fans of the NHL.

I bet this sport cares about the fans...if it has any...

         

The Beauty of Chaos

It's about this time of year that the disappointed Rockies fans start searching for something else. They often find hockey. The bored NFL fans start tuning in the Stanley Cup Finals. This inevitably leads to the declaration by said novices that hockey is luck, what with all the bouncing around of the puck. Off the knee and in the goal and you call this skill? they ask me.

What they don't understand is that hockey is the ultimate game in which opportunity is created out of chaos.

Football fans should be especially appreciative of this aspect of hockey. Some of the most memorable plays in NFL history are pure chaos unfolding in the course of the game. What about the hail Mary? What about the fumble? What about the Immaculate Reception?

In hockey it occurs much more often and why shouldn't that be appreciated? It's freakin' fun! The mad scramble in front of the net for the puck and the ability of a player to pick it out of the mess with his stick, gain control and roof it for a goal. The puck that lands on a players stick when he's not ready for it and the poise to send a backhand shot at the net. The man in front of the net that bats the puck out of midair for a goal.  Sure, there's plenty of chaos and the beauty of it all is how they turn it into a  scoring chance.

Opportunity from chaos.

What's a more memorable display than that of a goalie making an amazing save on an impossibly chaotic bounce of the puck? When a goalie is standing on his head (or 'on fire' for the novice fan) making save after impossible save, you begin to realize that the goalie actually anticipated the possibility of that crazy carom and was prepared for the possibility. Chaos controlled!!

It's the only major sport where the athletes are expected to do everything sans hands. It reminds one of soc...um, no it doesn't. Anyway, the game is perfectly balanced by moments of grace and the highly controlled skill of a give-and-go, the tic-tac-toe goal of a power play and the break away.

It's not just crazy bounces and dumb luck. So sit back and enjoy some beautiful chaos.
   

Cream Puffs Anyone?

The Avs are really a bunch of cream puffs.  As I go through the lines it is rather jarring (reverse pun intended) how soft they are. 

Duchene-Stastny-Hejduk is as soft and snuggly as a Reese Witherspoon Rom-Com on a Valentine’s Day date.  Call them the softie line.  As hockey players that shoot, pass, deke, etcetera they are doing better than just okay.  Hejduk has magic hands, Stats is solid and reliable and Dutchy is fantastically creative.  But mean and gritty?

Jones-Olver-Mueller was a recent line.  Jones has long been excepted to go to the net but doesn’t seem to have the personality to do it on a regular basis.  Mueller is reputed to be a floater and Olver is just small.  That said, Jones has raw talent that clearly works at times even if he is streaky.  Mueller has a ton of talent if he can just stay healthy.  But none of these guys are going to knock an opponent to the ice hard enough to make an impression.

Individually there are guys that need a look too.  O’Reilly being the most important.  He is having a killer season and no doubt part of that is due to his steady maturation and insane work ethic.  But I think playing with Landeskog has a lot to do with it as well.  Landy makes space on the ice for O’Reilly to work.  Landy leads this team in hits and most of them are good, solid hits.  O’Reilly, despite all his gifts as a player is still a cream puff.  I can’t possibly count how many times O’Reilly has had a chance to lay a lick on an opponent and he pulls up.  His “finish your checks” hits are half-hearted and weak.  It’s the only criticism of his game I can conceivably level at him. 

None of this is meant to say that these guys aren’t what the Avs need on the ice.  Nor am I saying they aren’t tough, they take punishment and keep on playing.  They are talented but lack the latent chip on their shoulder that not only has a place in this game but is a necessary component of success for most teams.

I believe that the management of the Avs have seen that this component has been missing ever since Chris Stewart was traded away.  Perhaps it was thought that TJ Galiardi was going to fill that roll.  He was certainly given plenty of time and opportunity to do so but it just didn’t seem to gel. 

The challenge with the Stewart-type of players is that they are pretty good at too many aspects of the game for their own good.  They are just good enough with the puck that one coach/team wants them to focus on that and let the physical nature of the game take care of itself.  The next coach/team wants it the other way around.  These guys that can skate well, move the puck well, score and have a mean streak aren’t a dime-a-dozen.  They often have trouble fitting in to the lineup and yet their value can’t be denied.

With the acquisition of Downie and McGinn the Avs appear to be back on track.  The team has a big defense, upgraded goaltending and now a little more grit to go with the talent up front.  This just may be the pieces the Avs have been missing that can get them back to the playoffs.

Here's a nice cream puff recipe for ya, remember, serve with a bit of attitude and everything will be fine.

Ingredients

• 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
•  
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Directions

1. Mix together vanilla instant pudding mix, cream and milk. Cover and refrigerate to set.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
5. When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.

The Improbable Season of Tim Tebow

by J. Scott Moore

Luck is often dismissed in sports.  Derisively by the losers.  Players and teams characterized as lucky are not often characterized as good, as well.  Surely the elite have their share of luck on occasion?  Perhaps it’s overshadowed by the skill and the execution?

For the Broncos, and more specifically, Tim Tebow, the run of luck is bordering on the unbelievable. 

Take week 14, the Broncos won in very unlikely fashion against the Chicago Bears when Marion Barber made not one critical mistake but two.  Running out of bounds and then fumbling the ball in OT. 

This sort of improbable story line is often unbelievable and trite in literary fiction.  A literary situation that many have addressed, but not quite like JRR Tolkien.  You may be familiar with Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings books that were adapted into the movies.  In his prequel The Hobbit, Tolkien uses luck as a pivot in his iconic novel.

JRR Tolkien seems to be writing the script for the Denver Broncos. 

But Tolkien took simple luck to a new level and coined the term "Eucatastrophe" to describe the happy ending of "fairy-stories."  He describes it as the "…sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears..."  If that isn't this Bronco season I don't know what is.

The situation that Tolkien calls the Eucatastrophe is exactly what we enjoy the most about sports.  It’s in fact the very essence of what is going on right now with the Tim Tebow mania.  On a seemingly regular basis Tebow has faced certain defeat at the hands of his opponent and yet some unlikely turn of fortune ends up benefiting the Broncos and enabling their victory.

This week it wasn’t enough that the Broncos were facing the mighty Steelers.  A late fumble by the Broncos’ McGahee seemed to spell doom, and yet the Broncos survived.  The Denver Broncos aren’t the only ones that have benefitted from Eucatastrophe.  Go to any rabid fan in any town and ask about their favorite sports team pulling their ass out of the proverbial fire.  They will have a story.  It’s the classic game that everyone remembers.

I like equating fairy tales with sports.  People often point out that those boys aren't in the real world anyway.  And sports do function as the ultimate story-time for many of the world's adults.  All of us that think we are all grown up and jaded and aren't affected by unbelievable happy endings and implausible heroes, better take a second look at that.  Because sports is all about fiction becoming fact.  It's just that we don't write the story; it unfolds before us on Sunday afternoons.

When the Broncos wrapped the season with three straight losses you wonder, where's that luck in that?  Well they still made the playoffs.

If you've ever read The Hobbit, you might have noticed that Bilbo, the "hero" of the story was nothing, if not lucky.  Then again, you may not have noticed it due to Tolkien's style of pointing out just how lucky Bilbo was time and again.  He managed to draw your attention away from how ridiculously lucky his main character was by pointing it out repeatedly.  At the end of the book, even Bilbo ponders the happy ending of his story.

Gandalf chuckles and says, "You don’t really suppose…that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit?  …you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all."  In other words this isn’t just for the benefit of Mr. Tebow, it’s for everyone’s benefit.

But to extrapolate on Gandalf’s point, someone other than Bilbo might not have been the perfect companion for this quest, the lucky number as he was dubbed.  Gandalf takes all the credit for picking the right companion for the quest.  Corollary: Tim Tebow seems to be the right guy for this quest.

Divine intervention, fate or faith?  Sometimes people are lucky.  Tolkien framed it as prophesy in his writings.  How about that old saying about the harder you work the luckier you get?

Call it what you want.  Tebow's got it in spades.  The question now is; is there any left for this Saturday?  I'm bettin' yeah, there's more where that came from.  Tune in Saturday for story time!!

   

Why NHL Hockey is Better Off as a Niche Sport

by J. Scott Moore

I don’t consider myself a hockey snob.  I have no standing in that elite club, no pedigree, no place at all.  I wasn’t born north of the border and I didn’t grow up in a traditional hockey hot-bed.  Denver is still considered by many as a pretender, a football town and a cow town. 

And in part I’m here to sell you on the idea that Denver as a football town is not just ok, it’s great.  There’s room in this town for hockey and football and those other sports as well.  After all, we do have a lot of wide open space, mind the cow pies.

I understand the whole, er…I hate to use this term to describe the situation but I think it gets the point across…I understand the whole capitalist approach to growing the sport.  For survival in this ever expanding world of entertainment of ours, it’s necessary to try to keep up with the Jones.  But I often find myself hoping that the NHL simply maintains the status quo as the fourth major sport.

And I LOVE hockey, don’t misunderstand, I don’t think you will if you are reading my blog.  You must be able to deduce that I love hockey.  But sometimes, deep in my heart, I hope that the NHL is never, ever as popular as the NFL.  Never the #1 sport.  And most of all never the big money sport that the other big three have become.

Big money breeds big corruption.  The saddest thing in the world to me would be the slow corruption of the great sport of hockey.  And if the NHL started to look like the NFL with the prima donnas and the drugs…well it would be the beginning of the end.  Next time you are cussing the marketing department of your favorite NHL team, take a minute to reflect on the fact that if the NHL was wildly successful just how much would those tickets be for opening night?  And yes, I agree that Bettman could make better decisions, but as long as this great sport doesn’t get run over by its own Zamboni I think it will be fine.

It’s all about the attitude.  While the NFL sits atop its throne as the biggest sport in North America its foundation is rotting.  It strikes me as odd that the NFL has been so over-marketed that fans are more interested in fantasy teams than the ones that actually exist.  And then there is the success of NFL Red Zone.  Doesn’t that validate the boring nature of about 60% (correlating yards to percent) of the game?

The way I see this is that as long as the NHL is striving for respect and working for new fans, taking nothing for granted, it will be all that much better.  It’s the underdog mentality that makes it a better experience for me.  I don’t want to be #1.  I really don’t.

 What do you think, Mike?

  

Denver Broncos Season Ticket Glut?

by J. Scott Moore

Is the end in sight? If so it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But it would certainly be the end of the world as we know it.

Who are we and what am I talking about?

We are the Denver Broncos fans, players, staff and the owner and I’m talking about the end of the Broncos decades of sellout crowds.

As a long time season ticket holder I received an email recently about my request to upgrade my tickets. In the past they did this via mail/phone and you were given one or two choices. This year it’s online via Ticketmaster. The interesting part of that is that I can see a diagram of the whole stadium and what sections have seats available for me to upgrade…or downgrade.

Here’s the diagram.

Today was deadline day so this represents about how things stand going into next season. If you haven’t made your payments you are no longer a season ticket holder.

The dark blue represents sections with available seating. There are about 135 sections total. Of those, 82 have seating available. That’s about…what? 60% Ok, that’s real rough ciphering cause all the sections hold varying amounts of people, different prices, etcetera. The point is, if you want to move around in the lower priced sections, about 60% of the stadium, you can. That hasn’t always been true. I know cause I’ve moved a lot. It took me years to get to the sideline seats I now have. And granted, those sections on the first level are still jam packed with season ticket holders. But they aren’t who you might think they are.

Don’t be surprised that the first level seats are all sold out. That’s where I sit, but that’s also the seats the ticket brokers buy. They have the highest return value. Especially where we sit, on the visitor side. For the last two years I would estimate that about 50% of the seats around me are owned by brokers. If not then the fan that owns them sells every seat for every game. One of the issues this has created is a near complete lack of consequences for the guy in a scalped seat. Short of criminal behavior the worst he can expect is to be kicked out of the game. As a season ticket holder I have to behave myself or possibly lose my tickets. The out-of-town guys that buy one game have no such worries and their behavior proves it.

But, it isn’t just this that the Broncos should find troubling. It’s that the stadium used to be 99% loyal Broncos fans. That has slipped away and yet they maintained their sellout streak. The modern NFL fan is more mobile and tickets are more easily obtained if you’ve got the cash. Fans root for players as much or more than for teams these days, another factor that leads to the mixed crowds. But now you see that something like 60% of the stadium has at least some seating available for the potential season ticket buyer. I have friends that got on the list for season tickets 5 years ago. They expected to wait 10 or more years, that was the plan so the kids would be old enough to really enjoy the games. Well the Broncos came calling this year.

That fabled wait list is as thin as the mile high air.

Floyd Little's Tales from the Broncos Sideline - Book Review

Let’s take our minds off of that-which-must-not-be-named in Bronco-land and take a trip back in time to the good old days.

One of the tried and true formats of the sports memoir is to assemble a collection of anecdotes about the player’s life and career. But the real challenge is to make the book flow. All too often, as interesting as the stories are, the result is a choppy, uneven book.

Not in this case. Tom Mackie assembled a fantastic collection of stories and memories and deserves a lot of credit for creating the flow that is absent from many sports memoirs. More importantly, Mackie preserves Little’s voice. I’ve heard many an interview with Floyd Little and reading this book is like sitting down with Little and listening to his stories in person.

And what stories they are! Let’s face it, as the NFL has become the insanely huge business that it is today it has matured as well. Little played in those days in the league when the really big business was still on the horizon but the fanatical following by fans was fully realized. The classic picture on the cover, of fans carrying Little on their shoulders is proof enough of the changed times.

Little takes us through his pre-college and college years of the game and the who’s who of inspirational people that marched in and out of his life. He candidly discusses the challenges of being an African-American. Later in the book Little tells us why he much preferred playing in Denver over anywhere in the South.

Denver Bronco fans, old and new should be familiar with the struggles the Broncos went through in those early years of the franchise.

Little talks about the bounties the Raiders put on Bronco players and Bronco stats too.

Little once told a reporter that he drank a half-glass of blood, ate raw meat and slept in a dark cage before game day!!!

The Broncos’ QB troubles in his rookie year included the coach starting a punter at the QB position. The QB door was spinning faster than anything we’ve seen since the end of the Elway era.

Fans throwing half-loaves of bread during the game.

Training by running the steps of Mile High in combat boots.

Little’s stories regularly made me laugh out loud. Some of this stuff is just the kind of thing that would get players in trouble today but things were a lot more easy-going back then, it makes for great reading now.

Pick it up HERE

-From the Point

South Stands Denver Podcast, I'm a Guest!

Well I tricked the guys over at South Stands Denver into letting me on their podcast.  They were excellent hosts, funny guys and I learned a lot about cussing!  Plenty of Broncos and Avs talk!  It will be on iTunes soon as well.  Give it a listen and I hope you enjoy. 

-From the Point

Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts

Here's a nice little sequence of Eddie Royal juking (or trying) the opponents. Nice try Eddie.

Haven't seen much in the way of jersey fouls yet this year, but one I did see that I couldn't get a  picture of...remember HE HATE ME from the XFL?  Of course you do.  Last week at the Seattle game I saw a Seahawks fan with SHE LOVE ME.  Wow, stupid.

Is anyone else at the games having serious trouble getting ANY sort of cell service?  Email, data, internet?  I'm getting nothing and it's irritating as hell!  No one around me is getting anything either.  One theory is that the Fan Vision devices are causing interference.  If anyone knows anything I would appreciate a comment or send me an email.  Just check the contact page for the email addy.

-From the Point

2010 Broncos Prediction Part Deux

Last year the gloom and doomers said the Broncos were going to be lucky to win 3 or 4 games. I said it was bull; the Denver Broncos aren’t the Detroit Lions or the Cincinnati Bungles. They still aren’t one of THOSE teams.

But this year I’m going to have to say that they are going to have one of THOSE years.

The running game? Knowshon Moreno will be less than 100% all season. The Broncos best hope to limp through the season was a three pronged approach with Moreno, Buckhalter and White. The running game will be like Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby.

And how about this defense? It don’t be long before defensive coordinator, Don 'Wink' Martindale will soon be trading his defense for what’s behind Door #2. Folks, Elvis has left the building.

Orton is a much better QB than I gave him credit for after the trade. But he is now faced with the same problem that doomed Plummer…there’s no one to throw to. At the end of the year, when people are ripping Orton’s stats and saying he is a crappy QB, just remember what he had to work with this season. Eddie Royal and Jabar Gaffney? Please.

Even though Orton is a decent QB, he isn’t “likeable,” that and McD’s Tebow love could cause a premature QB switch. The contract extension Orton got might be a good sign that McDaniels is willing to be patient with Tebow’s development. Unless the losing is so bad that there’s nothing to lose by giving the rookie some playing time.

With that in mind I want you to sing along with me to the tune of Eric Clapton’s Tulsa Time…but this is the Josh McD remix…

Living on Tebow time.

Living on Tebow time.

Gonna bet my career on it

Cause I know that he can do it.

Living on Tebow time.

Living on Tebow time.

Living on Tebow time.

Gonna build my playbook on him.

Cause I know that he can win.

Living on Tebow time.

And with that lyrical butcher job it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. Wins and losses.

The Broncos will win the following games:
St. Louis
Arizona

The Broncos should win the following games:
Seattle
Oakland, one time
Kansas City, one time

The Broncos could (but I doubt it) win the following games:
San Francisco
Houston

The Broncos have no chance winning the following games:
Jacksonville – the Broncos are what… 0 – 4 million in hot, humid games?
Indy – please, might as well just give it to them.
Titans – um…no.
Jets – surprise! No.
KC – The Broncos will go back to their losing ways in Missouri, it’ll be like an arrow in their head.
Oakland – the Raiders are a horrible team and yet the Broncos got beat by them last year, at home, by a currently unemployed, fat-ass, first-round flop. Pathetic. To be fair, part of that padding on JaMarcus Russell’s ass is a big fat wallet. Now that Shanahan is gone so is the fire to beat this joke of a team. Sad.
Baltimore – Nope!
San Diego – Nope, not even once, well…maybe the last game of the year if the Chargers are resting people. But I doubt it.

Some of these wins/losses are interchangeable. Like the Broncos might win the last game against SD but they will even things out by losing to KC twice instead of a split. Or surprise the Jets but get punked by the Cardinals.

It’s just going to be that ugly, I hate to say it.

Broncos go 5-11.

-From the Point

2010 Denver Broncos Season Prediction

Here are my predictions for the 2010 season. We all know of course that the Broncos took Tim Tebow at this year’s draft. Some might think this was a mistake but I think it wasn’t all that bad. Talking to From the Point and from what I’ve seen on TV, Tim landing in Denver has created a lot of interest in the Broncos. Always a good thing when the fans get interested in a team. Let’s be real though, Tim will most likely not play this season. Kyle Orton has looked pretty sharp this preseason, maybe he’s the real deal. The biggest problem I see for the Broncos this season, besides trying to find someone to step into Brandon Marshall’s shoes, is the injuries. My god, the Broncos just can’t seem to stay healthy. Now for the purpose of my predictions, I will assume that they will have every player healthy. I’ve got the Broncos going 8-8 this season, here’s my break down.

Week 1 - Broncos VS Jaguars WIN
     I just believe that the Broncos have a better depth chart than the Jaguars.
Week 2 -Broncos VS Seahawks LOSE
     If Hasselbeck is healthy, the Seahawks can win this.
Week 3 - Broncos VS Colts LOSE
     Let’s be serious, they can’t win against the Colts. Forget it.
Week 4 – Broncos VS Titans LOSE
     Even though I don’t think the Titans are as good as they were a couple of years ago, they can still pull off a win against the Broncos.
Week 5 – Broncos VS Ravens LOSE
     A win here, don’t think so. Ravens just have better players
Week 6 - Broncos VS Jets WIN
     I’m not a big believer that the Jets are that good. If the Broncos play this right, they can win.
Week 7 - Broncos VS Raiders WIN
     Although the Raiders have looked good during the pre season, it’s just that, the pre season. At the end of the day, the Raiders are still………………………………the Raiders.
Week 8 - Broncos VS 49ers WIN
     Singletary whipped the 49ers into a pretty decent team but they’re still not there yet.
Week 9 – Bye
Week 10 - Broncos VS Chiefs WIN
     Chiefs are getting better but again, it’s a team that just isn’t there yet.
Week 11 - Broncos VS Chargers LOSE
     Chargers lost LT this off season but that will just make them better if you ask me.
Week 12 - Broncos VS Rams WIN
     Rookie QB that almost didn’t play last year in college running the Rams this season can’t have a happy ending.
Week 13 - Broncos VS Chiefs LOSE
     Sounds stupid but I can’t see the Broncos win a game in Kansas, don’t really know why though.
Week 14 - Broncos VS Cardinals WIN
     Derek Anderson is the number 1 QB in Arizona nowadays, LOL.
Week 15 - Broncos VS Raiders WIN
     Again, it’s the freaking Raiders
Week 16 - Broncos VS Texans LOSE
      Depends on which Titans team shows up but I’ll guess that the Broncos just won’t have enough.
Week 17 - Broncos VS Chargers LOSE
     Broncos can’t win against the Chargers in the finale week, we saw that two years ago.


-Frenchy

The NFL Reads Real Denver Sports? Awesome!

Here is a post I put up back in early December of 2009.  Besides a variety of complaints I have about the NFL, I addressed specifically the OT problem that every one knows the NFL has/had.  To my utter surprise and delight, I might add, the new OT rule sounds a LOT like the one I suggested.

Here is how Yahoo! says the new rule will work:

The league on Tuesday changed its overtime rules for postseason games. Starting next season, if a team wins the coin toss and then kicks a field goal, the other team gets the ball. If that next series ends with another field goal, play will continue under the current sudden-death rules.

If the team winning the toss immediately scores a touchdown, however, the game is over.

Here is my text:

First team to get a TD wins. However, there is still value in getting a field goal. Why? Because if neither team gets a TD, the game is still over after one quarter, but it isn't a tie unless the score is still tied. So if team A gets to the 30 and the drive stalls, they can kick a field goal to collect 3 points.

Glad to see someone is reading this thing!  Hehehe 
-From the Point

Broncos Post-Mortem

I recently read a column in Mile High Sports magazine about selling Bronco tickets. The columnist was defending his right and his decision to sell his tickets to the Denver/Pittsburgh game. It was an interesting read and believe me, I completely understand the guilt. I also agree with the reasoning. Unless you have spent around $20,000 on season tickets for the last 15 years, I don’t really care what you think about me selling a game here and there.

Nonetheless, the guilt is so palpable to me, and apparently to other long time season ticketholders. But my girlfriend doesn’t seem to share quite the same level of remorse that I do. But then these tickets were my dad’s tickets since 1963. Goosey was talking to her parents and just blurted out that we weren’t going to the KC game and I flinched with guilt at the mere mention. But the past couple years we have missed last game for various reasons, with the tickets going to waste so we decided to sell this year’s last game.

I thought good God woman, you don’t divulge that stuff! That’s a point of shame; if I sell my tickets I must conceal that fact! At least I must lie and say that I verified that I sold my tickets to Bronco fans and I didn’t sell them for some un-Godly amount of money. Well, now it’s all out, was it a Bronco fan? Hell if I know, StubHub doesn’t have this option. Did I sell them for gobs of money? It was KC, what do you think?

Well anyway, on to the predictions: looks like I should have stuck to my guns on the 8-8 prediction I made here. But how could I resist bumping it up after that 6-0 start? C’mon! You did too! Right? It’s really too bad the Broncos only won two games after the break. At the time I really had a hard time believing this team could choke this badly in the second half of the season. I said in my prediction that McDaniels would get more wins out of this team than they deserve. I was half-right. The Broncos beating the Patriots and Dallas was brilliant. Losing to the Raiders and the Chiefs in the home stretch was a disgrace.

But as I also said, Denver is no Detroit and we aren’t the new Bungles. Hmm, how ‘bout them Bengals? Wow. One lucky bounce and the Broncos wouldn’t even have been 8-8.
As for predicting that Orton wouldn’t make it through the season as the starter, well, he almost didn’t but it was because of injury. Simms was sure a bomb, however. Sad.

-From the Point

Broncos stumble into a black hole

Santa parachuted into Invesco before the game.

There was a moment of cheering for the Barrel Man just before kickoff. It was very appropriate considering the man and his legacy at Broncos games. The Barrel Man was well known for starting the wave at games and despite that most fans these days are reluctant to do that anymore, the crowd got into it


Santa's little helper?

Nutty Raider fan...

Hut hut!

Trying to strip the ball.

B-Marsh!

This shot pretty much sums up the game.

Broncos did a lot of kicking for 3 points. Too much in fact.


Bernie, the Avs mascot playing halftime games.

IN - COM - PLETE!

Don't worry buddy, the Broncos made your QB's look pretty good.

Again, no worries Raider fan, the new crowd isn't nearly as unforgiving as the old days.

Ya know, what to say about this game? The Broncos can't beat a team that has benched their starting QB, then late in the game the backup gets hurt and the aforementioned starter has to come off the bench and save the day. And he does! The Broncos made JaMarcus Russell look like the first rounder he is instead of the flop he has been 90% of the time.

If this is the team that hits the road in the playoffs, I don't need to tell you that the next trip will be home. For good.

-From the Point

Hello, NFL? Yes, I want to make a suggestion...

A good Avs fan I follow on Twitter mentioned today that football seems slow compared to hockey.
Yes my friend, I agree.

I have been thinking that the game of football has been getting slower every year. But has the game slowed that much or is it that I, like said Avs fan, have gotten so into hockey that football seems slow?

Certainly football has a different rhythm. It's got plenty of speed and hitting in between the 42 different replay angles of every single play!


I have a few ideas about speeding it up between snaps and some general complaints:


The biggest problem is replay. There is NOTHING "instant" about it.

Remember when the NFL said the refs had to get the review done in a minute, or was it 90 seconds? Anyway, now the network just plans on taking a commercial break while the refs review, wait...OH!!! I get it. Ok. Well this will never change, I now see that I must accept this for what it is. Catering to the sponsors.


But seriously...


The NFL needs to study the NHL and completely change the review process. How is it that the the NHL that is so poor does it right and the NFL that is so rich does it so poorly? The "mission control" that the NHL has in Toronto is a revolutionary idea and one the NFL should adopt. I can only imagine that that idea has been tossed around some NFL boardroom only to be tabled at the thought of admitting (however tangentially) that the #5 sport in the nation has outdone the #1 sport.


Another idea: limit the Ref's "explanation" of their calls to a "Twitter length" of 140 characters. I'm very tired of these MIT-dissertation length ramblings after a 240 second review. We all know that you need two feet in, I don't want to hear about the "third foot". Who in the NFL has three feet?


Also, teams should only be able to "freeze" the kicker once per game. It's a largely stupid tactic that only means I have to sit there and listen to more rambling baloney, thankfully Madden retired. He could talk forever about nothing.


Ok, here's a rule that drives me nuts. I don't really understand the concept that on a touchdown the ball only has to "break the plane" of the goal line. There is no other place in the game that something is so easy. Receivers have the toughest job of all. Both feet in, control of the ball, no more force-out rule. If catching the ball was like a touchdown it would mean all the guy had to do was go up and touch the ball with one hand and they would call it a catch! It's crazy! If you get a TD you should have to get your whole body into the endzone. If you break the plane but your knees hit the turf on the 6 inch line...then the ball is spotted on the 6 inch line. That's the way it is on the other 100 yards of the field. It's like some kind of voodoo part of the game where all you really have to do is just wave the ball in the general location of the endzone to get 6 points.

I mean just look at this cheater Raider! I bet the Raiders came up with the voodoo "break the plane" rule.


Next is the overtime. OT is a hot topic in hockey as well, but that is a post for another time. The NFL's OT needs an overhaul and everyone knows it. It came up today, the announcers aren't even afraid to talk about it openly so you know what that means. I have the solution to make it more fair and add a LOT of strategy to the overtime. Hang with me here, it's a little out of left field.

I call it Sudden Touchdown Death

First team to get a TD wins. However, there is still value in getting a field goal. Why? Because if neither team gets a TD, the game is still over after one quarter, but it isn't a tie unless the score is still tied. So if team A gets to the 30 and the drive stalls, they can kick a field goal to collect 3 points.
Game continues, it only ends on a TD. This will often mean that team B gets a chance to get their offense on the field, something sorely lacking in the current system.

It also adds strategy because Team A could decide to go for it on 4th down instead of the 3 points. Convert the 4th down, continue the drive and score a TD and the game is over. Fail and turn over the ball without collecting any points.

So if the entire quarter passes without a TD, the team with the highest score, essentially the team the gets the most field goals, wins!

I think this would give the team that doesn't win the toss a better chance of getting at least one shot at the ball. It allows teams to play to their strengths, if you have a great defense but win the toss, go for a field goal and let your D keep them out of the endzone.



-From the Point

Broncos Pound the Giants

I have been remiss about posting pictures from the Denver Broncos games. Sorry! Busy week, being on vacation can be demanding! hehehe

So I threw this thing together, and by "threw it together" I mean I spent way to much time on it and it's still pretty lame! Ah well, hope you enjoy!

-From the Point