For Better Or Worse, The Broncos Are Must See TV

Even with the absence of the legendary Peyton Manning, the narrative would mostly be exactly the same as last year if not for that SB50 victory by my hometown Denver Broncos. and the hindsight view of what Manning did for this team as well as what he demanded of the AFC West opponents who hope to be champions too.....and because of concussions.

The Dallas Cowboy fans would like to remind you how they still dominate apparel sales even though Denver is the team defending the crown.  I'm the kind realist like true Broncos fans who've seen highs and lows, and who understand that Peyton did improve the AFC West, making it harder for this team to beat a bunch of improved teams without him. In reality, the America's Team shows plenty of signs of being better than 4-12, and expecting a healthy version of the richest team in football to continue to stink is a tainted glasses view of things.

In reality, we kind of need the Dallas Cowboys to become truly relevant on the field again just to offset the negative impact of all the concussion conversation that keeps hurting the league.  The future influx of our best athletes into sports other than football will reveal the impact of all this hysteria. What the league could really use right about now is a return of those Boys,  Love them or hate them it matters little.  They have the LeBron effect that draws both sets of eyes to the viewing.  It is an effect that the NBA will sorely miss when LeBron finally calls it quits. It's an effect that the NFL needs back via Dem Boys.

Some of this prediction might be might deep down longing for a league I love, but I am predicting that the richest team in football, the Dallas Cowboys, won't suck forever and the end of forever is now.  I am predicting that they actually bring the rookie running back along slowly enough, and he begins to show his promise near the end of the season, but they will grow terribly enamored by his talent and forget that he is not ready for playoff blocking assignments, causing them to lose in the Superbowl to my Denver Broncos, who will avenge the loss from our very first Superbowl, Superbowl XII.

Among the rest of football punditry the prognostication is mostly the same as last year, adjusted by two words; think and expect. They don't think we'll do quite as we'll or expect that we know how to overcome the challenge of losing key players without getting hungover from the thrill of  a SB50 victory.

I'm here to show them all why that all sounds good, but they are likely to be wrong.

While certain things have changed, nothing about our performance inspiring, championship coaching will be different, and that's why we win.

Actually, it will be somewhat different for our coaches who are returning after instant success while teaching a brand new system. Last seasons success gives the coaches instant street cred that will shorten the learning curve a bunch.  Their willingness to play everybody will give us an early glimpse of our future potential. Whether we realize that potential in the form of another Superbowl should not be a desperate goal of the fans, even if the team desperately intends to shut up the naysayers by repeating.  Loads of low expectation league wide will help them perform, unless loads of unreasonable expectation from Broncos fans cause us to make changes not conducive to our long term development.

Kubiak won't plan to be knee jerk at QB, but Broncos fans_some still salty about losing Brock Osweriler- will be, and that is the one element that concerns me the most.  From an outside perspective, our expectations this year is only distanced from last year by the trophy we bring to each game. Beyond that, we'll struggle to be favored in most of the games, meaning we will upset popular expectation- and Vegas- to do what we intend to do this year.  But don't get mad at Vegas or popular expectation for the respect they are indirectly showing to Peyton Manning the legend while seemingly dissing us.

We won't have Peyton, and nothing is going to help us know the impact of that except playing. With honest analysis, there are just as many signs of potential for better as there are for worse. The challenge of going 3-3 or 4-2 in the AFC West is enough to make things tough given the difficulty of the rest of our non-conference, Superbowl champions schedule. Splitting in the AFC West used to be good enough.  This year, add in the rest of the schedule and that might not be good enough to avoid a Wild Card(better)....or worse.

That offensive line seems better, more stout, more depth and eager to set league rushing records behind a guy who closed out games with amazing skill and style in CJ Anderson. For those who watch practice, they see CJ barking out protections to Mark Sanchez, who is seasoned enough to understand what the back is telling him. CJ says the barking is worse, or less useful with the younger QB's get more confused with such guidance, an early sign of which QB is getting the internal nod to lead this team this year.

Anderson stands poised to prove himself our new offensive team leader while proving his coaches game plan championship worthy, and not just something we accidentally won with. He also must prove himself able to stay healthy enough to help out his mighty might backup Ronnie Hilman, who is better...when used in small guy moderation- worse when overworked.

The entire stable of backs will be enlisted like back in the days of the original No Limit Soldiers and the Mile High Salute. I would expect that we carry an extra back with the return of the fullback too. The goal appears to be to make the team into a run whether you're expecting it or not team; a commitment that will demand chemistry they can't yet have with their rebuilt line, and health they've not shown in recent years at the offensive line or among the injury prone running backs.

Which is why we'll need depth and chemistry, the most challenging holy grail of any Superbowl pursuit.

Keep in mind that the run or bust approach (clock control with minimal turnovers) will also be forced to work  despite a league of coaches not fooled by media skepticism or punditry. Opposing coaches will bring defending champion preparation against the Broncos, mindful of the film, the ring we just earned, the Superbowl MVP we just signed and the thunder our boys brought to bear while earning it last year. Until further notice, that is the vision of us that they all see on film. Which means that the media skeptics are either counting on mostly championship efforts from each of our potential opponents, or certain decline from us.

They are mostly predicting decline Broncos nation, even though there truly are as many reasons to be excited as there are to be worried.

Linebackers are in place and ready to wreak havoc.....assuming Demarcus Ware can bring as much to the field as he brings to the locker room. They will likely need both to win it all.....although Shaq Barrett and Shane Ray are potential stars that might be ready to fill a void if Ware can't overcome those dreaded back issues he's plagued with. It might be better, or a blessing in disguise if the young players get the lion share of the reps and all that much needed development while Ware slowly heals himself for another title. It will be worse if we get stuck with players who are not our guaranteed Hall of Fame end rusher and foolish to ask young players to perform like a legend.

Once again, it's all a coin flip either way. Just like the secondary.

The secondary should be better and the most reliable group with so many returning players, but worse without Aqib Talib whose future makes that an unanswered question while we wait to see if he'll face punishment from the league.  I'm excited to let Bradley Roby get starter reps because I would love to see how he handles it- meaning even I really have no way to know until he gets the chance.

Unanswered question? Coin flip on the results.

Receivers are better with lots of depth from fresh talent in the fold....but they might appear worse because they must relent lots of pass opportunities to an uncertain, developing tight end core, a position vital in a Kubiak offense. Way too little tight end production last year lead to way too many turnovers and a less than stellar Superbowl jaunt, though winning it all is always better than losng, even when it's worse than you intended for it to look.

I would like to claim that learning how to win close games last year might actually be a sign of something better..... if it didn't feel worse because all of that good fortune seemed to come from Peyton's presence and prowess, and was used up on the successful pursuit of SB50..

After coming up short in recent years, scratching and clawing seemed a better approach last year......yet, expecting more of that again seems worse, maybe a little more desperate than confident now that we are defending our title and not chasing after one necessarily.

The Broncos really aren't claiming any cool rally cry, just an expectation for improvement of a team that most recently won it all. That shares no information about what improvement looks like or what other teams are doing to better themselves. Which means, getting better is always relative. If too many teams outpace your improvement, you're going to look worse and probably not repeat the same success as you had before.

 Fans mostly react out of emotion, not reality. Until further notice, champions are suppose to be respected. Just because you doubt the champions chances doesn't instantly give you room to dismiss them until they've dismissed themselves. Those who actually compete understand this, so a few smart pundits who played are watching the practices, getting out of their emotions from last year and recognizing the potential for better, not worse, while the rest of you just want to be right about this team being worse than they were when they proved way better than you expected.

2016 kicks off in less than two weeks for the defending champions, and we are all eager to know if the Broncos can get better, or if last season was a pure anomaly and the results will be dramatically worse. The signs are so unclear thus far, they demand WE watch closely. searching for signals that point either way.

In other words, until further notice- until we prove unworthy- my Denver Broncos are MUST SEE TV and the rest of your teams are optional viewing.

If you aren't planning to watch the Broncos preseason opener
you aren't really a fan of the NFL. Just saying.

Broncos Reach Mountain Top. Colorado Wants More

I sincerely wanted to feel ecstatically euphoric about my Denver Broncos winning Superbowl 50, but I have to be honest.  It was somewhat anti-climactic for a fan who has seen this all before.

Not so much the championship thing. Of course we've seen that part before, assuming you are of a certain age that is.  My youngest kid is heading downtown to see the big parade today because she was too young. I've done those parades, and the only thing really cool about them is the unified joy surrounding the reason you came out to celebrate in the first place.

The rest of it is sweaty, smelly and slightly claustrophobic if you suffer from such things.  The last parade brought out 650,000 revelers. This one promised to be worse...or better, depending on how you look at it.

When you combine the depression of accepting that the most unified moment of fellowship that we consistently enjoy as a nation- NFL football- has finally come to and end, I found myself more interested in searching out all of those crap talking naysayers who messaged their doubt throughout the entire season.  Even though I knew for certain that most of them were resorting to the bitter taste of whiskey to sooth their angered souls- the same whiskey that tasted extra sweet on the lips of the victors- I searched for someone who would swallow their pride and eat crow all in one failed swoop.

Nothing.

 I really hoped to find one guy who taunted all of Broncos nation with his incessant demeaning comments because no one wanted to bet him via Facebook, proving (in his mind) that no Denver fans actually believed that Denver would win.

At last posting, he's refusing to pay up to some of those same fans except an Uncle in his family who probably was the only person who had a hope in hell of collecting in the first place.

When we won it all, I thought about this "bet taunting" joker and how I could stick it in his face for doubting that my city has the stuff of championship form.

Who dat say we gonna lose another Bowl?

Did he and other Broncos naysayers have justifiable cause for the ridicule they level on this team?

In reality, my Denver Broncos are the most justifiably ridiculed champion that ever competed on the highest stage.  What we are known for is what most hate us for in the end.

We Are Over Achievers By Choice.

In Colorado, we climb 16'ers just because they are there.  No, really.

We hurt our muscles and blister our hands to reach the summit of a mountain, only to imagine in our minds the next mountain top.

Before the Broncos won, the Avs showed
them how to get it done.  Parade and all.

In Colorado, we've seen mountain tops on many occassions.  A few times, we got there only to discover that someone else reached the summit first.  Does that take away from our ability to climb or our thirst to be first?  On the contrary.  Our experiences- good, bad and ugly- have made us into the great state that we are.

We've won championship titles in every sport from lacrosse to soccer to hockey. Olympians live here just to chase after thin-aired mountain tops like we do for hobby.  We bike, we hike, we run, ski and golf all year round in this blessed state.  And though our cost of living has risen commiserate to the population boom that comes from being us, we complain and keep on moving because somewhere in that mountainous western backdrop is a spirit that inspires our passions, watches over our region, and occassionally appoints us to trials that only climbers can endure.

Columbine and the Aurora Theater were traumatic missions for a state that has now established the blueprint on terror mitigation, but our Superbowl blowouts at the hands of black quarterbacks were trauma of another, unrelated sort.   Did the butt kicking from those last two brothers set the third one up to take us for granted?  It certainly helped to remove the stigma on the black quarterback, making Cam the first black quarterback favored to win the Bowl.  We played an important role in each of those episodes. Were these traumas simply divine burdens of being us?

Hard to know for certain. What I do know is that I am Colorado, which means I am chissled and shaped by the impact of all of it.  I am Colorado, which means I ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon so that I can sooth the pain of loss and terror while remembering the importance of being diligent and aware of both.

Losing wasn't really too scary for me and those of my kind. We've seen the mountain top even when we've arrived too late.  In our NFL journey, we've summitted as many times as any team in the league, along with losing more times, losing with the biggest point deficits, and now we even have the worst quarterback rating EVER for a team that won the game.

On the other hand, we might have also won it with the best defensive performance in the history of the final game while using the best regular season quarterback in the history of the game,  backed by the best front office guy who remains in the conversation as the best quarterback to ever win as well.

You may not appreciate the results that we've achieved given the wealth of chances that we have had to do it, but you have to respect the wealth of chances.  The Denver Broncos are often in the mix and are threatening to remain in the mix for years to come.  Some might choose to focus on the failures, but even they can't deny the chances.

In Broncos nation,  we reveled in the moment for the first few hours of victory

By morning time, the only post Superbowl posts I could consistently find were "When will the Rockies and the Nuggets" do the same?

Yep.  You got it.

In Colorado, we are already seeking new mountains to climb and new parades to plan, because We Are Colorado.  That's just what we do.

Patrick Roy Teaches Life Lesson While Leading Av's To Victory

I am a passionate person with a passion for life and all things Colorado.  That includes the Avalanche (when they are winning) so my passion fire burned hot as the Av's took on the Wild in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoff chase.

The Colorado Avalanche are a very important team in Colorado. They are the team who helped us to capture our first major sports championship prior to Elway and the boys joining in on the act.  We enjoyed that run in true Colorado sports fashion.  Inside of those two championship journey's was plenty of reason to doubt.  The first title came in the face of immense opposition  while the second championship was captured in a way that resembled this season's opening round game against the Minnesota Wild. Back then, the Av's were a capable team that took it on the chin early in the finals only to find its fire from a legendary spark plug named Ray Bourque. Bourque inspired the team to get up off the mat when they had been knocked down and appeared beaten.

As I listened to the game on radio, (I much prefer it to television) I found myself standing face to face with the volume dial as I shadow boxed my way through the entire last minute of play. The Av's had once again picked themselves off of the mat and were mounting an attack against their opponent.

If you don't follow hockey, you are not likely to be reading this post, so I won't review the game much at all assuming you already watched it.  In short, the Av's scored first and appeared to be delivering some good blows at a goalie who held strong.  Minnesota responded quickly and often to everything the Av's offered up in this game and eventually gained confidence in their goalie by extending the game to a 4-2 lead in the 3rd period.  When the Av's scored to put the game within one point, it became a forgone conclusion that Patrick Roy would pull his goalie if the team could not generate the offense they needed to tie the game.

Roy not only pulled the goalie, he did it with over 3 minutes left in the game.  Historian's worldwide instantly stood in amazement wondering if any coach had every done such a thing with so much time to play in a playoff game. Coaches the world wide tweeted the letters WTF across the worldwide web trying to see which handbook this was drawn from and why did Roy have the only copy.

This coach (Me) immediately dropped the pool stick that I was holding and walked directly up to the radio, as if standing in front of it would get me right out onto the ice.  My eyebrow's remained stuck in the sky as I listened to see how each team would respond to this move.  I was hopeful for a score, but afraid bad luck would intervene since it had a 3 minute window to play with.  Bad luck usually needs much less time to do its damage.

As bad luck would have it, a puck popped loose an headed straight for the Av's net. The radio description of the puck that headed towards our goal felt like the final blow until Erik Johnson saved the day.  In a miraculous bout of effort and luck (the puck never got flat so it eventually slowed) Johnson stopped an imminent goal and justified the confidence of his coach.

I come from the Jim Thompson "Positive Coaching" school of thought, and I am keen on what happens when coaches invest belief and confidence into their players.  Great coaches are on a mission to help you see your capacity and to give you the fight to fulfill it to the best of your ability.  If you ever begin to doubt your own ability (as young teams often do), great coaches have enough confidence in themselves and in you to fill the void.

Confidence in sports is a unique thing because their is a wide gap between the words and the actions.  As a coach, I can say I believe in you but if I never put you in the game or let you stay there when you are not succeeding, then there is a  gap between the words and the actions.  Great coaches are looking for an opportunity to tell their players that they believe in them, but they are desperate for a chance to show it.

Patrick Roy is a legend in sports for reason's that had nothing to do with coaching.  This season, and in this game, his legend grew in a special way.  Roy saw a chance to display confidence in his team, but he wasn't exactly a river boat gambler.  His team had practiced this approach for a long time leading up to that moment, so they were confident in the approach.  In fact, it is something that most teams will do when faced with game desperation.

Just not at three and a half minutes.  60 seconds of an empty net is about all that any normal coach can endure without passing out from sheer anxiety.  By leaving the Avalanche net empty for over 3 minutes, Patrick Roy shifted the series and probably the playoffs all in one gutsy call.

Prior to that moment, Colorado sports fans were witnessing a much less painful variety of the Denver Broncos over the last two seasons.  An immensely talented team was once again outmatched or outlasted in the playoffs.  Minnesota put on a defensive display that ignited their offense and the concerns of Avalanche nation that all of our excitement was probably a season too soon. The moment Roy pulled the goalie, the Wild took on a defensive posture that eventually came to resemble the fetal position.

In the last minute of play, the Wild hoped they could simply absorb the Av's blows and just beat them on the score card. As I stood at the face of my radio swinging punches like a boxer, I became convinced that the same team that stopped an obvious open net goal would find a way to tie this game and win it in overtime....and they did it.

Not every defeat is quite the same.  Some of them have lasting effect.  Barring another injury, the Av's have probably finished off the Wild by snatching their hearts out in the first game.  The heart of an athlete will regrow, but it takes some time.

What also takes some time is the journey of legend.  Sure, for us sport fans it seems like the speed of light as we recollect the flashes of brilliance that connect us to our sports heroes.  For Elway, it was all of those amazing comeback moments with the spinning helicopter play against Green Bay in the Superbowl as the flashes in time that established his legendary status.  For Roy it will be similar, but his legend is gaining images that started on the ice and are extended to the coaching box.

First it was the opening game assault on the glass partition between him and the opposing coach, and now
 we will talk about the day he pulled the goalie at 3 minutes and won the game.  In both situations, he was making a statement that every coach, every parent and every leader of others could learn from.

"I Believe In You"!

Denver Misses Playoffs For First Time In Years. (..blaming coach Shaw has gone missing as well)

So the playoffs are out of reach but all hope is not lost in Nugget Land. Last season the Washington Wizards waxed the Denver Nuggets every time they played them.  This year we returned the favor. In order to defeat the Wizards, the Nuggets went without the services of former Wizard Jan Vesely (yeah, I said it….Vesely), overcoming a different kind of spell,….the injury bug.

Vesely came to Denver with instant intrigue, but got lost in the parental controls that coach Brian Shaw had to place on the center position.  Allowing Mozgov to assert physical presence early in games, and  a foul free JJ Hickson to come off the bench and close out games has been brilliant, especially with Hickson actually hitting late free throws. 

    

Hickson has always been a player of immense promise.  Those who follow these things recall JJ Hickson as the dude that replaced Lebron James when Cleveland lost Lebron to the “Decision” to exit for Miami.  Later, Portland acquired Hickson and thought his heavy body could learn to dance around centers, so they converted him to a nimble scorer at the post.  In both scenarios, Hickson saw the ball a lot, and was asked to do something with it. When Hickson has the room to operate, the only way to stop him is with a foul since he is typically a poor free throw shooter.

Correction; he was a poor free throw shooter.  Hickson went down with an ACL injury recently ending a season of redefined dominance in the paint for the Nuggets. Last season Denver was among the league leaders in points in the paint, but most of those were strictly from fast break points. With less fast break points, Denver is still among the tops in this statistic and Hickson was key to that transition.

Lots of people might see the injury bug as a negative curse, but the reality is that the Nuggets are being designed and defined by these handicaps.  Literally.  The toughness to put forth a win worthy effort every night is something most teams struggle to do once the starters take a seat.  In Denver, we never know who will play and contribute, much less start or finish, but every time Coach Shaw digs deep, he keeps finding gold.

Timofey Mozgov is a rough edged center who makes you happy and mad all in the same play. He does the same for his teammates and coaches, but he is a legitimate center, and a fairly good one at times.  What matters most is that Timofey Mozgov is a developing player who will get there…..wherever his there is……..if he could only remember to block out.

If he would only block out like Jan Vesely does. Vesely is as raw a player, but he has freakish athletic ability,  a wingspan like a condor, and is fairly sound on basic techniques like blocking out.  He can run the floor with the best of them and will out run the worst of them. When he plays, it looks like Chris “Bird Man” Anderson and  Javalle McGhee gave birth to a love child.

Did I mention that Vesely got hurt too?  His old team got tired of his “Bird Man” antics, and gave him the shot fake, shoulder to the ribs trick sending him to the injury list as well. 

No worries! The Denver Nuggets proceeded to sweep the Wizards, returning a bitter favor from the season prior when WE were in the playoffs and the Wizards swept us as their yard marker for the future.

Oh, how things have changed.  Yet, in this situation the Nuggets are not an up and coming team gaining in health and chemistry as the season progresses.  They are an up and coming team that keeps losing players day by day.

Did I mention that Wilson Chandler went down several games ago too, forcing Quincy Miller and others to pick up the slack?  With Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder game following the Wizard victory, Miller would get tested quickly.

Within minutes after the start of the game, Coach Brian Shaw forced Randy Foye to get eaten alive by Kevin Durant instead of allowing Quincy Miller to lose 10 games worth of confidence from the assignment.  Before the game, Miller reminded Coach Shaw that he started the game the last time the Nuggets defeated OKC.  Shaw probably reminded “Q” later that Durant is the likely NBA MVP this season, and was unlikely to have forgotten the previous defeat. 

In a common theme, the Nuggets couldn’t get enough scoring or defense from the starting five to make a real game of it, but we did discover one amazing fact. 

Quincy Miller has been sitting so long, we hardly noticed that he is as long and agile as Kevin Durant.  He is actually one inch taller than Durant and he is certainly equally as skilled with handling the ball, but lacks the maturity and all-star pedigree that Durant brings to bear.  However, if there ever were a player that Miller could pattern his game after, it is Kevin Durant.

Over the past few games, Miller has taken advantage of his minutes with aggressive defense and attacking offense along with way too many turnovers.  In this first installment of the two game San Antonio series, Miller actually kicked off the scoring for Denver.  Early on, he was all alone as San Antonio built a lead that appeared too large to overcome.  Without much scoring again from Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Aaron Brooks stepped up late, and the Nuggets made a strong rush down the stretch to give the Spurs a challenge, but failed to seal the deal.

Since the Nuggets are playing a home and home series against the Spurs, Coach Shaw instantly claimed tonight’s rematch game in Denver as the Nuggets playoffs for this season.  This is Denver’s chance to give the Spurs, and ourselves, a bit of what we gave the Wizards; a warning shot for next season and for the future of this franchise.  San Antonio is currently the hottest team in the league with 15 victories in a row, but Faried and the fellas will do their best to put a stop to the streaking Spurs.

As San Antonio secured victory number 15 by finishing off the Nuggets 108-103, it was noteworthy to see Tim Duncan giving post game respect to Kenneth ‘For Real’ Faried before they left the court.  As they say….game recognizes game. The sky is hardly the limit for this hardworking player.  Faried’s consistent growth with each game shows that he is virtually limitless.  Whatever he is missing in his game right now will be added with time and hard work.  He is short on neither.

Does the fact that Coach Shaw declared this game a playoff game make a Nugget victory more likely?

 Probably! 

The signs have shown that these guys will threaten to win even when all seems lost.  If tanking the season for a better draft slot were in the plans, they need to sketch a new plan.  These Nuggets are playing for pride and for an identity.  In Faried, they have fortified the toughness element for a long time coming. Given the nature of the Denver sports fan base,  Faried might be slowly prying this teams identity away from timid Ty Lawson and establishing himself as the player you fear most whenever you play Denver. In Randy Foye they now have a consistent outside shooting threat.

Since Faried and Foye are the only starters that have not succumbed to injury or poor play, they must be particularly responsible for whatever success we have had in this injury filled home stretch.

...Because it couldn’t be the coach of course.

Montreal Beats Avalanche, McKinnon Steals Show

In a homecoming for the Canadian born players and coaches, the Avalanche began a 3 game, 4 day, far north tour of duty tonight starting in Montreal with the Canadiens.

We expected Matt Duchene to get the heroes welcome as well as Canadian born JS Giguere who got the call in goal.  We even expected the love and admiration that this team would bestow on the goalie who last captured the Stanley Cup for Montreal (1993), the team with the most of them all.  Patrick Roy has a storied career that began with Montreal. With so many years removed, the rift that caused him to go is all but healed. Today, Roy is nothing but beloved in Montreal...as he should be.

What was not expected tonight by anyone except those in Canada and from Canada, was the warm reception given to the NHL's front running Rookie of the Year, Nathan McKinnon.

These Canadians are serious about their hockey as the recent Olympic victories suggested.  After being dead in the water in the semi-final game against the USA, Canada women's team rallied late to push the game to OT and won it in the extra period.  The men's team followed that feat a few days later by winning the gold as well. Winning hockey in Canada is about as important as basketball is to the USA.  They simply expect to win.

Thanks to their blind passion for hockey, the Canadiens proceeded to piss off  Patrick (who was struggling at the time), forcing Roy to demand a release.  When the breakup was over, Avalanche had a Hall of Fame goalie and would gain two Stanley Cup victories with him in net.

Montreal was glad to see the return of Roy, but hardly ready to hand over a much needed victory.  The respectful applause for McKinnon appeared to inspire something special into his legs.  Everything they admired in McKinnon as expert hockey fans was on display in this game. McKinnon would eventually take #2 star of the game even though the Avalanche lost 6-3.

Losing teams are not awarded #1 stars as a matter of form, but McKinnon was clearly the best player on the ice.  Thomas Vanek of Montreal got the #1 star with an ugly hat trick that didn't even draw one hat from his home crowd, who remained mesmerized as McKinnon skated circles around their team.  Undoubtedly, Canadien fans walked from the arena happy with a win, but exuberant over the show McKinnon gave them as well.

There is admiration, and then there is admiration from fan's who really know what they are watching.  If you didn't realize what the rest of the league thought of Colorado's super rookie, you do now.  Canadiens tested....Canadiens approved.

POST SCRIPT: Avalanche forward John Mitchell lost his skates while rushing up ice, slid into the boards and bounced off so violently he went airborne from the ricochet.  Mitchell, who skated off on his own power, was transported to a local hospital for precautionary x-rays.  (No injury report was available at publishing).

Why Do The Denver Nuggets Beat Juggernauts, Lose To Scrubs? It's Like That...and that's the way it is.

Unemployment at a record high.....people coming, people going, people born to die.

Don't ask me because I don't know why....It's Like That.... and that's the way it is.        -(Run DMC)

For some reason, those of you who had a younger sibling who you taught to play basketball never believed they would beat you.  If it was a little brother, it wasn't as hard to include a timely push or shove (or elbow) because parents often freely allow you to beat on your little brother (ask Cheryl Miller).

If you are playing your little sister, just due to her physical differences you never expected to lose that game.  Nothing in the fiber of your DNA would bring you to play 100% against that sibling because it simply felt unnecessary going into battle.

For some inexplicable reason, this younger sibling dynamic rears its ugly head any time a professional athlete, that doesn't possess the murderer gene, takes on a competitor that they are certain they can beat.  Why?
It's like that....and that's the way it is.

Its also like that murderer gene thing I just mentioned.  For some reason there are guys who are as friendly as you can imagine on the court, ala Earvin "Magic" Johnson, but will kindly rip your heart out in the field of battle, as Magic often did to opponents. Why? It's like that...and that's the way it is.

The Denver Nuggets didn't beat the Miami Heat a few nights ago and the blazing hot Los Angeles Clippers last night because they got lucky.  That little brother usually catches up eventually.  In fact, at some point he typically passes the elder siblings because its like that.....and that's the way it is.

These Denver Nuggets shall someday soon become the big brother like they are most nights against every team not in the championship hunt (every team).  Denver may not be the smart, energetic, hard working big brother on most nights, but they display a physical dominance on the court that is as undeniable as it is frustrating (for opponents and Nugget fans alike).....but that's the way it is.

Denver did not set a record last season with games won simply because they had talent.  George Karl is a Hall of Fame coach.....period.  On the other hand, Karl wasn't simply working magic either or he would have saved a trick or two for the playoffs. Karl had lots of talent, and despite the roster challenges that Brian Shaw endured, he too has plenty of talent for the task at hand (as long as Lawson is healthy and shows up).  In the end, the old adage of it being about the talent making good coaches is true to this extent;  no matter how good you are, and all of these guys are good, only the heart snatchers win championships.

When the Dallas Mavericks snatched the heart out of Miami three season's ago, it was the catalyst that Lebron used to become a heart snatcher himself.  What Karl could not give his team was the vicious determination that coaches who understand provide.  I realize that such a characterization is graphic and a bit gruesome, but my words pale to the grind of winning it all.  In the end, champions realize that they will ultimately have to remove the heart of a competitor who keeps reaching for something  you've laid claim to.....because that's is just the way it is.

Brian Shaw looks like a really nice guy when you stare him in the face.  But if you peer into his soul there is the ferocity of a murderer.  If you ever get the chance to see at his 5 championship rings (3 as a player), look beneath his fingernails.....I am sure you will find the blood of a few hearts.

Nuggets Take Down Lebron James While Lamenting The One That Got Away

Nugget haters are mounting their excuses right now trying to explain the reason that the hapless Nug's found a way to beat the Heat.

Don't worry.  I'll do it for you.  After all, the Nuggets were not the first but the second of the teams who beat the Miami Heat back to back on their home court.  In other words, the Heat had already lost at home and have lost several games recently.  If you are religious you understand the divine intent of King David, you also understand his victory over Goliath.  If you are not you might think that a scared kid got lucky with a rock and a slingshot. Nugget haters can easily subscribe to this miracle story as plausible cause.

Do the Nuggets have their backup team starting the game?
(.......excluding Ty Lawson of course)

I would make a few more excuses for the Nugget victory, but in reality there are none.  The Nuggets lost the start of the game and just about lost the end of it as well.  Correction, the Nuggets starters lost the start of the game against Miami and the bench had to save the day.

Is Evan Fournier a future all-star?

While JJ Hickson, Aaron Brooks, Quincy Miller, Dorrell
Arthur and Evan Fournier comprise the backup bunch,  
Fournier lead the way among the bench players and showed a reason for us all to send thank you cards to Masi Ujiri in Toronto who we credit with the foresight to draft Fournier.  As we look forward to the draft and hope for a play maker who can be an all-star caliber closer, Fournier could be the best gift from France since the statue of Liberty or Tony Parker, and will press Danilo Gallinari next season for the #1 Euro Nugget. 

 Brooks added 5 dimes versus Miami

Starters and finishers are hardly the same in basketball. This truth  relegates Timofey Mozgov to obscurity down the stretch of most games.  Against Miami, every other starter except Ty Lawson shared minutes with backups who performed better.

As it turns out, the key to this game would be free throws.  No matter how many statistics you dominate against a team like Miami, and the Nuggets dominated a few, you had better beat them well enough to avoid their closing ability.  The Nuggets did not do this at all and were forced to maintain a lead that they enjoyed through the greater portion of the game.

Now haters!  Listen up!  This is where you have to determine if the coach and team that you are criticizing is truly worthy of the critique you level.  Since the Nuggets get 3 new players from the cupboard next year, a coach with more skills in the kitchen, and his own seasoning (to add to the recipe), what we see now is merely a test kitchen if you will.

Have we seen enough of the Wilson Chandler experiment?
Is it time to let Quincy Miller start?

On this road trip, the Nuggets have learned that  there are simply no moral victories.  The loss to New Orleans was a painful Christmas gift that we either gave early this year or late from last year.

Either way it was a gift.

Winning back to back games on the road, including one over the defending champs is cool, but does it vindicate the losses and the voices of the haters? 
Fournier said it best.  

"This is no vindication. This is one win."

Ducks Score 6 goals in one period to beat Avalanche

Ducks Beats Av's With 6 Goals In One Period. Avalanche Looking Forward To Season Finale

Tonight was a difficult sports viewing night for a Nugget/Avalanche fan such as myself.

The Nug's, the Av's or Golf?
So many decisions....so little time.

Lured late in the evening by the Colorado sunshine, I got stuck playing the back nine (instead of stopping after nine) and finished in the darkest of functional dusk.  By the time I made it home, the Nuggets were late in the game against Miami, and the Colorado Avalanche were getting plastered with pucks by the Anaheim Ducks.

The Avs have recently beaten some of the best teams in the NHL.  The Ducks are among the top in the league, but not seen as playoff worthy like the Chicago Blackhawks or the St. Louis Blues, two teams that the Avs dismantled in recent games.

The last time these two teams faced off, it was the glass partition between the benches that became dismantled in a heated opening night match up that, if not for the partition, might of ended in a fist fight between the coaches of these two teams.  The Avs won that game 6-1.

Two things to remember.  The Ducks left that first game mad as hell over the outcome and the Ducks are the best team in the league at winning a game when giving up the first goal.  After peppering Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov with several shots on goal early, John Mitchell scored for the Avs to take a 1-0 lead into the second period.  .

This has become the nature of this team.  Even when they do not appear to be dominating play, they are dominating goal tending and grit.  True to their name, the Avalanche can come out of nowhere with ferocious impact, and they did again tonight against the Ducks.

Content that the Avs could find a way to do what they've done to others recently, I decided beating the Heat was a much for significant challenge for this Colorado sports fan and switched over to see the Nuggets close out Miami. When I turned back, the Av's scored a goal in the second period to take a 2-1 lead over the Ducks.

That would be the last lead they saw in this game that ended 6-4 in favor of the Ducks who blew the game wide open in the second period with all 6 goals (the most goals against the Avs in one period this year) and made the Avs chase the rest of the way, as they chased away the Avs goalie who did not finish the game.

The Av's have the benefit of fighting with the Ducks and a few other teams for the best record in the Western conference and will likely finish the season jockeying for playoff positioning.  Since the last game of the season will be in Anaheim against these Ducks, hockey fans in both cities are crossing their fingers for a meaningful game and a grande finale.

For the Denver Nuggets, the night would end more joyfully. (read more)

Postscript:  The Av's got the score as close as 5-4 in that second period with a magical play from the captain Gabriel Landiskog.  After making a move to get free in front of the net, Landiskog nearly held the puck till the window to score had fully closed and then unleashed an odd angled blast  past a goalie frozen by the move.  Peter Forsberg type stuff if I do say so myself.

Mackinnon Surpasses "The Great One". Is He Gretzky (or Is Joe Sakic More Accurate?)

I was about to lose my focus on this topic when I realized that the Avalanche have the most productive 18 year old on their team since the Great One Wayne Gretzky (12 game point streak).  If Mackinnon scores another point (goal or assist) he will surpass the Great Gretzky to stand alone with this record. Why we still have 18 year old hockey players but basketball players are forced into college is another blog for another day.

Especially since that magical 18 year old plays for my team, I celebrate whatever system allowed for that to happen.  Nathan Mackinnon is a player for the ages.  Earlier in the season I wrote a post about the best Avalanche player from a big list of options, and decided that Semyon Varlamov is clearly the best of the best.  Mackinnon is making me question myself.

Not that Mackinnon is really at THAT level yet, but the upside potential is absolutely scary with even a little bit of growth as a player.  Considering his age, physical stature as a result of age, and impending growth from both a physical and mental perspective, McKinnon is on a path to take over the entire NHL.....no really.  His point streak, that is equal only to Gretzky, does not appear to be a freak coincidence.  This kid does things that boggles the mind.  It feels like he is so advanced that he could be doing more hot dog type plays, which he sort of does, but with an obvious restraint.

If he was a 10 year veteran this would simply be impressive.  As an 18 year old rookie we are seeing amazing stuff coming from the stick and skates of this kid.  If comparisons to Gretzky are high praise, then we are at least seeing the reincarnation of Joe Sakic for sure.  We'll make him earn that Gretzky stuff later.

Understanding that comparison's are the most unfair thing that we fans love to do, my  praise of Mackinnon seems to discount the fact that Gabriel Landiskog is the captain of this team or that Matt Duchene is the most magical scorer we've got.

Mackinnon is something special.  I watched the Avalanche/ Detroit Red Wings game in Detroit as I wrote this piece, and the record that Mackinnon had tied with Gretzky is now Mackinnon's alone (13 games in a row for an 18 year old player).  With a pass from behind the net that looked like he threw it with his hand, Mackinnon found Andre Benoit in overtime to beat the hated Red Wings in their own house. A similar late assist from Mackinnon was the difference in beating the back to back champion Chicago Blackhawks two nights ago.

It was actually amazing goaltending that gave this team a chance to win.  Detroit was smothering in their defensive approach, so it took a patient Avalanche team to overcome the Red Wing D and capture the overtime win.  Much bigger than the Mackinnon scoring streak was the maturity of this win.  Detroit may not make the playoffs this year for the first time in years, but they are a hated rival who gives us their best shot whenever we play them.

Coach Patrick Roy made the wise decision to start goalie J.S. Giguere in net.  Giguere dislodged the net and broke a stick (old veteran tricks to slow down an aggressive team) as needed in order to overcome the initial attack from Detroit.  It is likely that starting Semyon Varlamov in goal would not have provided the calming effect that Giguere brought to this victory.

In the end, Mackinnon finished the game in a fashion that not only reminded us of Sakic (not Gretzky), but reminds us that all legends, even Gretzky, will someday be surpassed.

Not to be forgotten was the spinning pass that Erik Johnson made to Mackinnon when the puck was moving out of the zone.  That was a pretty special play as well. 

The Nuggets Win! The Nuggets Win! (You know? The Denver Nugget?.....Ty Lawson and them?....)

WE WON, WE WON, WE ON!!!!

I am more than a Denver native.  I am a loyalist.  The demand of any true sports loyalist is to give your energy to the most important team in town. While I love the Nuggets for their place in the Denver sports hierarchy, it has come time to focus my loyalties in the area of importance, and the Avalanche are the most important team in town.
That being said, the Nuggets have finally won a game.

After losing six games straight, the Nuggets are swiftly losing fan interest.  I say swiftly because an Avalanche moves quickly and can overtake things in an instant.  What remains peculiar is that the Nuggets are still drawing any attention from local basketball fans.  Even the people calling for Shaw's head are giving measured criticism that comes only from watching the games.

Denver has hit a few bottoms this season.  They have seen signs of possibility, but the falls have virtually shaken those images from our mind.  On the way to losing 6 straight, the Nuggets played a close game with Portland without the support of Ty Lawson, rallied late against Minnesota with Lawson, but came up short in each.  Last night against Dallas, they finally broke through.

The Nuggets owned the Mavericks from pillar to post, despite allowing a late rally from Dallas that only served to distort the artistry of their effort.  Denver is mostly hard to watch because they can, and should, beat each of these teams on any given night, but are stricken with youth and inexperience on the court and the bench.

The new (and improved) angry coach Brian Shaw is still stuck with a team that can't close well, but having a chance to win is half of the battle.  He must find enough players that will give a professional effort each night or his future, and this team's, will remain a roller coaster ride for sure. The coach in me is perfectly satisfied with what I have seen from all parties involved this season.  Youth is what youth is.  Even Damian Lillard reveals his youth at certain times, and he is probably the most mature young player in the game.

Ty Lawson has read the tea leaves and returned to the lineup as fast as his cracked rib would allow.  He not only returned, but he is playing in a way to not make Shaw recognize his ability over veteran backup Aaron Brooks.  The Lawson/Brooks combination plate, alongside Randy Foye/ Evan Fournier in the spot up shooter role, has made for a fast and furious line up, but it comes at the risk of guard apathy, especially in the realm of defensive rebounding.

Is Brian Shaw getting a grip on this team or did he start too late

Shaw's options remain the same as they've been all season long; plentiful, and different every single night.  Coach Shaw has to find a happy medium between the Nugget team he'd like and the Nugget team he has.  No coach wants to mold boys into men, but every coach wants to place their fingerprint on the teams they coach.  Outside of
some magical work in the free agent market, small to mid-level market teams will always have to draft and develop.

Shaw is the right guy for the job and he has many of the right pieces for the mission before him, but he seems to have starting molding the clay after it sat and hardened for a while.  Molding clay that has begun to harden already is tough on you and the clay.

If Shaw accomplishes this task, he will have the forearms and the grip to show for it.

Suns Turn Out The Lights In Overtime. Nuggets Fans Looking For New Light

Will the Nuggets do something?

Hopefully they will continue to do more of what we saw last night against the Phoenix Suns, minus the losing  in overtime part.  Losing to a team that is 10 games over .500 and solidly in the playoff race is no shame. The shame came from those 4 games we watched prior to the All-Star break.

The Nuggets are in a really precarious position as they approach the trade deadline.  They basically have the makings of a trade package sitting in the training room.  Danilo Galinari, Javale McGhee, Nate Robinson, Ty Lawson create 4 of a solid starting 5.  What all of the Nuggets create is questions of their capacity for growth versus their capacity for trade value.

What is the full upside for this entire team and will we have the patience to be the team that helps it happen or trades and watches from afar? In case we didn't already know, recent evidence has declared that Ty Lawson is an extremely important player for this Nuggets team. With that being said, I believe the children are the future. Choose them well and let them lead the way.

We have a couple of them in house already in Evan Fournier and Quincy Miller, but the prospects for attaining more has created a special dynamic in this years NBA trade market.  There will be plenty of  kids coming out of college next year, which has the entire league seeking to get their hands on what might very well become an historical draft class.

This new Nuggets coaching staff has to analyze this new Nuggets roster in order to separate the old Nuggets that we already know from the new Nuggets that we are not so sure about.  This process is not one that involves keeping a strong grip on victories throughout the season, so you have to determine if losing is worth the cost of growth.  Losing is costly, but Nugget's fans are smart enough to recognize losing teams from losing players.  We can watch losing, but won't stand for losers.

Brian Shaw may be green, but he is a winner even if the George Karl fans would rather see more W's from this years team.  What fans are not so sure of is whether or not our new front office team has uncovered enough winners to jump on this journey of change.  Plenty of fans will join the ride when this journey gets airborne, but only the true fans will endure a long and slow train ride to the airport.

By the end of business tomorrow (10 p.m. Mountain time) we will know one way or another if the Nuggets will do something.  I haven't yet figured out if doing nothing will mean more than doing something, but at least the real analysis can begin when the deadline has passed.

Kenneth Faried Giving Nuggets Everything He's Got. Is He A Future All-Star?

Is Faried auditioning for another team or to be a future all-star.(C. Harris)

In all of the hoopla of figuring out who these Nuggets are, and who they can become, I missed out on the reemergence of Kenneth Faried.

Faried is called The Manimal for reason's that he has earned.  Unfortunately, animals can be wild at times and the struggle to tame this beast has been a sincere challenge for Brian Shaw.  George Karl played with a style that allowed for more running and less thinking by Faried.  Shaw flipped the script early on, and Faried suffered the most.


The new and improved Manimal is figuring some things out. Namely, how to foul smart and not foul out.  Early on in a game, not only is a foul valuable, a firm intentional foul can be the equivalent of establishing a stiff jab early in a boxing match.  It makes a statement that you can later reinforce.

Thanks to the mass and the knowledge of his post partner, JJ Hickson, Faried is becoming a better defensive rebounder.  He is blocking out and staying on his feet more and more.  What has become the greatest element of the Hickson and Faried combination is what we are gaining on the offensive boards.  That awful feeling you get after a really good defensive possession  continues when the offense gets the rebound, is a feeling that we are giving to other teams more and more thanks to Faried and Hickson.

Brian Shaw is old school through and through. He makes it clear to every player on his team that you have to attack a scorer with scoring. Every time Denver takes on a player of immense offensive talent, they typically go right at that player on the other side of the court. Blake Griffin of the Clippers might have scored 36 points against the Nuggets, but he watch Faried counter with 28 of his own, and some impressive work on the glass all night long.

He is still a player that makes you squint when he is shooting any shot except a dunk, but now that he is believing in himself, his coach and the system, we can keep our eyes wide open.  Kenneth Faried may not always have success given the quality of players he has to outplay each night but,  Kenneth "the Manimal" Faried will never play a game with anything less the everything he's got

Nuggets Overcome Everything To Ease Denver's Superbowl Pain

Now that the football season has come to a close Denver fans are deciding if the Colorado Avalanche are actually good enough to draw the interest of hockey bandwagoners. Before we give our allegiance to the Av's we have to check the heartbeat of  our Nuggets.  Tonight's game versus the Los Angeles Clippers was that type of evaluation.

The Nuggets recognized this game as a victory that they had to have, and they played in a manner to win it.  Sometimes in the field of competition you play the same way and still go home in defeat.  As individuals, we all fight to learn how to give our best efforts everyday and not always judge the results. As the Nuggets nation watched a Randy Foye jump shot fall from way deep (it took nearly 3 seconds from hand to net), they saw a game with a strong late effort finally fall our way.

Early in the game the Nuggets took a lead but eventually fell behind by 13 points.  A  time out, a strong push, and a magical Quincy Miller finger roll at the buzzer, and Denver took a lead into the half.  The Clippers did what good teams do and tried to bully the Nuggets into submission.  Around the 3 minute mark at games end,  the Clippers started to score with ease and had a 6 point lead late that felt like an insurmountable margin to this Nuggets fan and countless others that have seen this scene before.

Battered and bruised and backed against the wall, the Nuggets bounced off of the ropes and hit George Foreman, I mean beat the Clippers with a 3 point shot right at the final buzzer.

Despite missing a gang of free throws early, it was a series of free throws late that made all the difference in the world.  Making late free throws validated all of the energy it took to overcome the Clipper onslaught.  Miss even one of those free throws and you might not have the fire to keep fighting for the victory.  The Clippers hit a few big free throws themselves, along with a 3 point shot from Matt Barnes with 6.8 seconds left in the game.

If the Nuggets had not missed double digit free throws earlier in the game, then maybe this game isn't nearly as close.  But maybe if this game wasn't nearly as close, these young  Nuggets wouldn't have gotten a chance to learn the lesson of 'never say die'.

Sometimes to you make key stops.  Sometimes you get key offensive rebounds at the end of games.  Sometimes you might even be asked to hit free throws or buzzer beaters at the end of both halves.  Sometimes you will  have to do it all to overcome a difficult competitor.  Every time, you must be willing to do whatever it takes.  Crush them early,  or fight for a chance to win late.

Since Manning and the Broncos failed in the Superbowl, beating the Clippers was a great way to ease the pain.  By the time I checked the box scores I realized that Vegas had the Nuggets by 1.5 points.  Can you imagine being the guy who put money on either side of this game?  If you bet the Nuggets with the points you missed by 1/2 a point.  If you bet the Clippers you lost while watching a shot that took 3 seconds to fall.

Between that thought and this win, I am feeling better about getting smoked in a Bowl.

Peyton Manning Is What His Playoff Records Says.....And So Is Fox.

The Seattle Seahawks beat my Denver Broncos in just about every way that you can beat a team.

Except on defense.

Denver's defense did exactly what I though they would do.  They have had moments of failure, but they have risen to the biggest moments.  Denver's defense came with the kind of fire that it takes to compete with the Legion of Boom.  Unfortunately, they had to sit on the sideline and watch the offense cower in the face of a sonic boom.

Speaking of sonic, the last time Seattle had a championship team in its town was the first time as well.  Way back in the day, the now defunct Seattle Supersonics, lead by coach Lenny Wilkens, overcame a feisty challenge from the Washington Bullets to earn the NBA crown.  I remember that series well because the team I liked lost then too.  Its been a while for the city of Seattle, so thankfully the hawks ended the long drought.

The Broncos have certainly seen a bit of a drought themselves, but championships are never given, always earned.  When you end the season as the #2 team in the league you've worked hard to have every other team in the league watch you take the walk of shame.  For two years in a row, the Broncos have lost to the champion of the league.  There is a lot to work with when you can declare such an accomplishment.

Manning is what his post season record says he is.  The only time he won a Superbowl was against a team led by Rex Grossman, and even that game was tight.  On the first play in the final game, Manning got suckered into the very thing I was afraid of.  Passing when you should have been running the ball.

And still our defense stood strong.

After donating 5 points early., Manning passed again when we should have established the run game and the Broncos go three and out; and still our defense stood strong.  Four turnovers and a special teams touchdown later and the defense could no longer stand strong.

It might be time to decide if paying the offensive coordinator for the Broncos is worth the money if Peyton has the power to abandon the game plan at will.  Somewhere around halftime I was dreaming of Tom Brady at quarterback.  By the fourth quarter I would have taken Tim Tebow just to get someone who could move their feet out of that collapsing pocket.

By games end, I was convinced that John Fox simply doesn't have the courage to take chances in big games.  Much of that trepidation appears in the style of play, but it is triggered by the fear of dictating a style to and through the quarterback.  Any defensive minded coach has to understand the importance of stopping the run.  If stopping the run is so important, starting it is more important.

The Broncos defense shut down Marshawn Lynch and the Seattle run game.  Except for some poor tackling late in the game, they shut down the passing game as well.  Seattle moved the ball, but they could not convert in the red zone and the Broncos had every chance to make a run at that game if they would have run in that game.  The best evidence of how well our defense played is the games MVP.  Malcom Smith (who?), an OLB for the Seahawks was awarded the prize because the stat sheet was totally pedestrian for the winning offense.

Blow outs suck, but close defeats hurt way more.  Our defense stood strong and we still live in Colorado.  We may never win it all under Fox and Manning, but we should remain a fun team to watch until Manning calls it quits.

Raise your hand if you'd prefer to watch two other teams in the Superbowl?

Nuggets Need One Or None To Get It Done. Clippers In Town Tonight.

When timid Ty last returned from injury, we discovered the guy who quickly earned the label, timid.  Tonight Ty returns from the shoulder strain and Nugget fans wait with baited breath to see which Ty we get.

In my Nugget fantasy world I am imagining a Ty Lawson who saw the young talent in Fournier and he is rushing back to make sure Tom Brady isn't about to send Drew Bledsoe to the bench again.  It is much more likely that coaches are begging Ty to help them overcome the risk of another ugly slide.  Certain teams and certain games can do that to young teams like the Nuggets.  The LA Clippers are that type of team and this is that type of game.

Ending losing streaks, even when you are under manned, is a signal of what type of team you truly are.  Playoff teams do it, everybody else tucks a tail and doubts their ability.  The Clippers should be the recipients of a lot of Nugget frustration. No matter what line up we place out on the court we have the ability to defend and rebound.  What we don't always uncover is a reliable scorer each night.  Lawson is the best thing we've got going and Fournier is rapidly increasing his ability to play and make plays for others.  Combined, they both make Randy Foye better because their penetration free's him up to hit 3's.

These magic three should be the formula tonight and for the rest of the season.  Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mosgov and J.J. Hickson will be three guys that you cross your fingers and hope for  good shooting.  On any given night, those 6 guys can, and should, go for double digits.  As the playoffs approach they will need all 6 players clicking. Right now they need 3 guys to score each night combined with "one or none" defense.

Is Fournier the closer we've been needing?

One or none is a defensive coaches term use to remind our players that the offense gets one shot or no shots (because of steals/offensive turnovers).  One or none basketball teams automatically gain confidence on offense because they will only lose to teams that get hot.  Even against hot teams, one or none defenders can steal a game late, if you have a closer yourself.

Fournier smells like a closer, who can also hit a late free throw, but the smell of fear distorts my perception of these things.  I said all of that to say, we still don't have a closer.

We do have one or none defensive ability.  We've shown it in enough stretches to determine that it is a skill now.  If the Nuggets are to win tonight's game they  need hope LA doesn't get hot, or be prepared to match their scoring ability.  If they are to establish an identity that can get them into the playoffs this season,
it will be "ONE OR NONE".

Superbowl Sunday Arrives. Seattle Needs Magic, Denver Needs Man.

 My wife and I are playing this game right now, in the snow.  Whoever can
fit the helmet gets to be Denver.  Darn.....looks like I have to be Seattle.

Its the day before the game and we Bronco fans have been waiting much longer than two weeks for this game.  We've been waiting for over a year now.

Along this journey we have discovered some things about our team that a lot of people will not learn until Sunday.  The Seattle Seahawks have done the same thing in many ways, so the past few weeks have been a whole lot of getting to know characters that the NFL had no real clue about.

Richard Sherman stands out as the most obvious new face that we are getting to know but both teams are from cities that are common recipients of the infamous "east coast bias".  This bias is the reason that no one really knows these teams very well.  Even though both of these teams were preseason favorites to be here, national commentators who are paid to do this stuff have only begun to uncover the real story behind several pro bowl caliber players on both sides of the ball. Along the way, they have turned it into the Peyton Manning versus Richard Sherman bowl and have squeezed blood out of that proverbial turnip while adding the other players to the backdrop of this picture.

My wife is really good at saying the very thing that I was thinking (24 years of marriage) and today is no exception.  These past two weeks of media spin has spun our heads in circles.  When the 900th news report aired today offering another spin to this game she immediately declared "I am so tired of all of this that I am ready to go out back and just decide this game right here and right now".  They say that the two shall become one, and in this case they are exactly right.  If my big head didn't have to represent Seattle, I might have taken her up on that challenge.

Not that the Seahawks don't have a puncher's chance.  They have a defense that can win anytime and anywhere.  But they also have Sherman. History has a common trend in sports that doesn't allow many athletes, even great ones, to win it all on the first time out.  Magic Johnson is the first and the last in recent memory to become a champion right away and most consider him to be a recipient of both a great game and immense humility.  I'm just saying.

Sherman and the boys will need some of that magic to overcome the challenge that stands before them.  The Broncos will have man to carry them through.  Not, the man, I meant man defense.  All season long, the calling card of this defense has been our ability to play every team one on one if necessary. We have resorted to some zone looks as the season and the competition level progressed, but Denver is primarily a man to man team.

If necessary, and good run defense makes it necessary, we will play man to man and challenge Seattle to do the same on the other side of the ball.  If we pick apart their zone, they will be forced into adjustments that they have never had to make on defense because of so much speed and talent.  Sunday, they may have to go there.

When Denver proceeds to go there, which means wherever the game dictates, then I predict a resounding victory (37-17) and a lot of talk on Monday about those forgotten one's, the Denver defense.

Nate Robinson, Ty Lawson Out. Toronto Stops Decade Long Drought

-Toronto came into Denver with a 24-21 record, an all-star in Demar DeRozan and a lot of complaints that Kyle Lowry wasn't another one.  They came in realizing that Denver not only  lost Ty Lawson, but lost back up point guard Nate Robinson, who tore an ACL and is out for the season.  The only thing in the Nuggets favor was a 10 year streak of victories over Toronto in Denver.

That streak is over.

  Even without the back court support, the Nuggets seemed equipped to capture victories against both of these teams.  Well, the Raptors were a tougher challenge than the Bobcats, but in hindsight, Denver accomplished some noteworthy things in both games.

Against Toronto, the Nuggets won the rebounds (49-40) including offensive rebounds (12-9).  They won the points in the paint battle (50-38), and it wasn't the George Karl way with fast break points (which they actually lost 6-11).  The Nuggets had two players with 18 points, one of which was Evan Fournier who scored a similar amount against the Bobcats and is starting to prove to himself that he can play in this league.

Although the first half remained fairly competitive, the Raptors had a hot night shooting to start out.  Denver had to trade 2's for 3's early in order to keep pace with Toronto, but they did it.  By the end of the game the Nuggets would end up with the exact same 3 pt shooting percentage (38.1) and attempts (8-21) as Toronto. Shooting ended at a respectable 45% and the final margin of 10 points came with a strong rush from behind by Denver.

26 turnovers later and the Nuggets are probably kicking themselves for literally handing the game to Toronto, but that might be an over reach.  Toronto shot their way to a sizable lead and took their foot off of the gas.  To their credit, the Nuggets had every reason to quit and did not.  In order for one team to give up a run, the other team has to make one happen.

All of these injuries have made room for Fournier and Quincy Miller who are making strides with every minute they get.  The Nugget organization has chosen the wisest route for any team that can't compete for the crown.  Win as many games as you can with as many developing players as you can get away with, because in the end, you are only as strong as your weakest link.  We may even need to return to the "everybody plays" of earlier in the season.  Time to figure out who we keep and who we package up for the upcoming  trade deadline.

Peyton (last name Manning) Is Ready To Call It Quits, but he still wants to play.

When the final story is written on the story book career of Peyton (last name Manning), there might be a retrospective on the good and bad of greatness.  Peyton has been so great over the course of his career, that he went long stretches of many season's barely getting hit by the opposition because he is simply too hard to hit.  And then he got hit so hard he almost had to quit.

Did his penchant for near perfection prolong his career in the end, or is it the key contributor to why his neck required three surgeries?  In other words, if Peyton was a regular Joe and had made his body more accustomed to the beating, would he have been more capable of taking one, or is it inevitable for all of these guys to leave battered and bruised?

Since his return, Peyton has vowed to take each year as a one year mission to be re-evaluated at the end of each year.  As it stands, he says he is ready to quit if his body is unable to allow him to achieve excellence.  Was Peyon providing the prelude to retirement?  Is there something wrong with that neck that might encourage him to shut it down sooner, not later?  According to Peyton, he enjoys the entire process and still wants to play. But does wanting to play have anything to do with being able to play safely?

It seems clear to me that the man upstairs is truly invested in Peyton's success. Not God silly.  Elway.  John Elway has funneled the message to his coach to tell his franchise quarterback to relax and be yourself.  Don't try to win it all by yourself and trust the rest of the team to do their jobs (including the coaches) .  If Peyton performs at his best, he will certainly be a champion this year.  Will the man upstairs (not Elway) and a pain in the neck force him to finish the El-way , or is his retirement even further down the line?

The Book of Peyton is a classic tale of a focused and driven superstar with just enough failure to dampen his shine.  The Book of Manning is a much more elaborate and complex tale of a football family that has seen the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and remain bonded by their experiences.  The matriarch of the Manning clan, Archie Manning, is probably the best losing quarterback to ever play in the NFL.  He was the first in his family to be known by one name. For a dozen seasons, Archie remained with the same franchise, and for every one of those seasons he lost.  If you saw him play, it seems unreasonable that Archie never won a thing.  How could a man so humble off the field, and so dominating on it experience such terrible luck?

The answer?

The 'man upstairs' knew that exuberant joy of parenthood and decided to bless the Manning clan with two Superbowl championship sons; one who could become the greatest quarterback to have ever laced them up. When I think about the way this story might end, I think back to good ol' Archie (last name Manning), and I imagine the way this story should end.