Still Keeping Score

Is it six more weeks of bad weather games or a career with non-championship team? With the recent completion of the NFL Draft, the dust is finally settling on a pigskin version of Groundhog Day.  Just over a month after Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow and offered the promise of an early spring, newly signed Houston Texan quarterback Brock Osweiler flew south for the remaining winter. And at 18 million dollars per season, that provides a lot of warmth. Who could blame a guy who was benched in favor of an aging, surefire first ballot Hall of Fame signal caller in the form of Peyton Manning? If a player thinks more sunshine and a bag full of money are all of the answers to life, then I'm certain Brock will be happy in his new digs.  But I do wonder if running away from the daunting shadow of championship quarterbacks will ultimately haunt the former Bronco. The past is only prologue but the Denver Broncos, in the Pat Bowlen era are the winningest team in the ...

I can't always remember where I put my Jeep keys, but I always know number of the Super Bowl being played in front of me.  We're essentially the same age, the Super Bowl and me. Fifty years old, it's time for Super Bowl 50. And, as the old school traditionalist, I'm slightly disappointed the National Football League is skipping a year of Roman numerals to help highlight the 50th title game. Although history reminds us the first two SuperBowls were actually called, "The AFL-NFL World Championship Game" which is a tad formal. Of course throwing around the Roman numeral "L" is something that could be confusing to the uninformed.  After all, the object of the season finale is to earn a "W" --- right? I do have some memories that date all the way back to when I was two years old, but none of them include watching the early SuperBowls.  So, the year I turned three, was the first time Super Bowl was utilized to describe the third match-up ...

So one of the coolest moments in my existence was also the most awkward. I met one of my childhood sports heroes.  And I met him in the underwear sales section of a department store. Wait. We’re going to need some context. And maybe a robe or something. First, the who. The best pitcher in the history of baseball is Jim Palmer.  He had 268 career wins, a lifetime ERA 0f 2.86, first ballot Hall-of-Famer with 92.6 percent of the vote, 6-time American League All-Star, four Gold Gloves, eight 20-game winning seasons,  THREE time CY Young Award winner (finished second in the voting twice and third once as well), and THREE times a World Champion with the Baltimore Orioles. The other who in this is me, of course. Born in Maryland wearing an Orioles T-Shirt.  It is a medical miracle to jump out of the womb wearing clothes.  Superman had that famous red blanket he turned into his cape.  My superpower was fandom.  A gift of Orioles fandom handed d...

Troy Tulowitzki is gone, and it may be in part because he simply lacked the patience of his former teammate Todd Helton. The five time All-Star shortstop who won a pair of Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, and helped the Colorado Rockies to their only National League pennant has been shoved out the door. He said he was shocked, and I take him at his word, but when the dust settles, I don't know that he will always feel the same way.  And this next sentence is not a critique in any manner, merely an observation. While Troy Tulowitzki is the very best at his position in all the game, he is no Todd Helton. If he stays healthy, Tulo will be one of the best to ever play the position.  He may yet obtain the championship rings he desires, and pile up many more silver and gold plated trophies.  However, some guys can only be at their very best when in contention.  The Rox have been unable to get themselves back into a title hunt, and that was wearing out the incredible ...

Be careful what we wish for, especially in this case, since it came true. Half of Broncos Country was in shock at the sudden "mutual parting" of former head football coach John Fox and Denver's VP of Football Operations John Elway less than 24-hours after the team was eliminated from the SuperBowl tournament.  The other half of Broncos Country was thinking maybe Coach Fox had taken the team as far as he was able and were ready for a substantive change. As quick as the Broncos' season ended, Fox was gone and nearly as fast, John Elway knew exactly who he wanted to lead his team.  Gary Kubiak, Denver's favorite back-up plan.  The former quarterback was drafted the same year as Elway, before the blockbuster deal that brought the Hall-of-Famer from the then Baltimore Colts.  Kubiak made the roster and became a better than average understudy who competently took the field the few moments Elway wasn't able to play over the years. A lot of talk about how attent...

     As Broncos Country gathers around the legion of media coverage at Dove Valley, all waiting to see what color smoke lifts into the rarified air of the Mile High City, it still feels weird that we're talking about a new face to coach the team.  In this instance, the odds are the face will be pretty familiar among the initial three candidates interviewed since the team mutually parted ways with John Fox.      When is good not good enough?      Apparently after another game with an incredibly talented roster falling short in a critical game.  The loss to the Colts was not enough in and of itself for Vice President of Football Operations, John Elway to send a coach packing.  Four consecutive AFC West division titles sounds pretty good to most NFL teams.      But it was an itch no one could quite scratch.  How could the Broncos not show up in New England?  How could they miss out on a very winnable co...

There was a day when it was extremely cool to be a fan of the Baltimore Orioles.  I remember, because I was one of them.  We were legion.  The O's always won, they had the best pitching in all of baseball and a defense that was a perennial spectacle of efficiency.  They were so good, so often with a system in place called "The Oriole Way."  Teams at every level all over the country attempted to emulate the pitching, defense and yes, the occasional three-run homer style of baseball played in Baltimore. This quick historical review is how I have to explain things to my kids, who thought I was only joking when I talked about the O's as a powerhouse in Major League Baseball. They spoiled me rotten, those three time World Champions did. They won the Fall Classic in 1966, 1970 and 1983, to go along with six American League Pennants and eight division titles.  They battled among the AL elite, and frequently dispatched the mighty New York Yankees with ease, and ...

I'm not going to paint my house orange and blue, but I understand. My level of Broncomania remains at a semi-sane level, where I can tell you what time it is from a Broncos' clock, or change the channel with my official NFL authorized Broncos' remote control, complete with the horse head logo on it.  And I'm considering finally tracking down the foam Bronco shaped head gear Shannon Sharpe wore a couple times during the championship years. Based purely in Colorado vernacular, I'm a "Transplant" not a "Native." However, my story is not unique, we many who relocated to the state over the last few decades have banded together with the "Natives" to form Broncos Country. My journey from Maryland was a surprise when my Grandmother announced she was moving west.  Her, my Mom, my one brother at the time and two dogs ran the I-70 gauntlet for nearly two thousand road miles to the Mile High City.  That was 1970, and I was five.  But I was al...