Herges and Yorvit Jersey T's for next year?

Sure, why not?

(c'mon Brian)

Just got off the phone with the TD, and he seemed a bit distraught that no one was blogging about the probable return of Yorvit and Matt Herges, so let me start it. Both were pretty crucial in our late season surge, and Torrealba was rather dollars during the NLCS. I like'em both; kudos to you O'Dowd. The next Rockies post will probably be a so-long KazMat blog; it sound like he'll be going to one of two hated NL Cetral teams (Cubbies or the Strohs). So we'll be in the market for a 2nd Basemen soon. Is Carlos Baerga a free-agent?

Avs looked pretty good last night (on a side note).

MONDAY TOP TEN (for pitied fools)

The subtitle, “Motivating to Write” would be very appropriate on this Monday morning, as yesterday’s meltdown STILL has me mad and bitter. For some reason, this loss really burns, like Jacksonville ’96 playoff-type sting. Again, the Broncos dominate on both sides of the ball, but lose out on the scoreboard. The special teams are killing them right now. If it is not one thing (Hester returns) it is another (getting dominated in the field position game.)

DOWN LOW THIS POST-HOLIDAY MONDAY….

10.) The Offense moved the ball well, but struggled mightily on 3rd down. They were, however, rather potent on 1st and 2nd down. Andre Hall was right at a c-note, Jay Cutler had another efficient game (31 attempts-300 yards) and scoring in the mid-30s usually garners lots of wins. The really lost, eh?

9.) The defense, although not dope in the clutch yesterday, played a pretty strong overall game. They caused some turnovers, got some sacks, and were stingy for most of the day against the run. If you throw out the 3 (basically) special teams TDs, the defense only gave up half of what the Broncos offense scored.

BUT!

8.) The special teams were bad even aside from Saueroid’s 3-hour bout of stupidity. The two returns were both his fault (as was that block) but there also just aren’t enough wackos throwing their bodies around. The coverage was brutal in the second half. Even last week’s AFC Special Teams Player of the Week could have run those ones back. Speaking of which, Glenn Martinez? Just because you start a return on the sidelines, does not mean you have to traverse across the field to get into the middle, EVERY TIME! To be honest, Sauerbrun and Co. handled Devin Hester really well in the first half. He wasn’t a factor at all, by nicely placing balls on the ground.

MAYBE MR. T IS PRETTY HANDY WITH COMPUTERS!

7.) AFC West Round-up: San Diego beat the hapless Ravens and the Raiders took down the Chiefs in KC. Broncos and Chiefs are both bad at home?!?! I also must feel slightly bad for those KU/Chiefs fans who pulled the Arrowhead double….. ouch. The Oakland/KC game was actually a really good back and forth game.

6.) AFC: Pats fail to cover?!?!? But win, nonetheless. Jags continue to impress. Colts get an easy win. Will the Steelers lay consecutive eggs tonight? NFC: It’s the Cowboys and the Packers and not necessarily in that order…..

5.) Nugs with a tough home-road back-2-back this weekend. Nice scrappy win on Friday against Minny (see “the view from 332” below) It is always fun to not only take in a game as a fan for once, but always dope to be with all my peeps. Riggins called the Sat. night meltdown in Clutch City, but it’s not that bad of a loss in the long run, however. This week, the Nugs host the Pacers and Clippers sandwiched around a trip to Staples to run with the Lake Show. West coast heads gonna take in another?

4.) Avs continue to struggle with a bad home loss on Sat night with Calgary. They luckily have a slow week with just a mid-week skate with Edmonton. Still just a point back of Minnesota, but can’t let the West’s elite get too far ahead.

3.) College football is winding down. The Buffs crush the Corn and are now guaranteed a bowl bid with Kansas State’s loss. Mizzou wins the border skirmish. If Oklahoma beats Missouri next week they might as well just put the BCS to bed.

2.) College hoops, on the other hand, is in full swing and a nice distraction from our mediocre pigskin teams. Remember these names, Michael Beasley (KState) Eric Gordon (Indiana) and Derrick Rose (Memphis.) All 3 are freshmen and will be NBA all-stars in 2-3 years. The names OJ Mayo and Kevin Love are also hot diaper dandies with long pro careers ahead of themselves, but these 3 are ridiculous. Try and catch ‘em! My weekly Gonzaga report will return, but the top-25 Zags suffered a tough loss in some holiday tourney to Bob Knight’s Red Raiders.

1)My boys from Platte Canyon HS lost in the 2A state finals to Platte Valley. KUDOS FELLAS! Most of them will be hoopin’ it up this winter for the Huskies basketball squad. So proud of these guys!

War commercials involving Clubber Lang

Hello, I'm Scott O'Brien and I should be fired.

I'm not a good Special Teams Coach. Sorry for ruining your Sunday afternoon, Bronco's fans.

Well, Isn't That Special?

Nice to have your season single-handily flushed down the toilet by your punter/kickoff specialist. Way to go Sauerbrun. Kickoff return, punt return, and a blocked punt all leading to 21 points. Sure the defense faltered down the stretch, but this falls squarely at the feet (or foot) of Sauerbraten. You score 34 against the Bears and you should win easily. This one hurts....especially with a great second half from the offense and easily the best game of the year for the defensive line

The View From Section 332

A pretty uninspired performance last night from the first place Nuggets, but a late game surge secured a victory over the lowly T-Pups. AI had a very cold shooting hand, but Carmelo and Najera picked up their teammates during crunch time.

No matter how unremarkable the Nuggets' play was, the wardrobe of this gentleman more than made up for it. One can only imagine how many "Big Johnson" t-shirts are stashed in this dude's closet.

The last screwjob for the Rockies

Just like Barry Larkin stole the award from Dante in '95, another shortstop steels the award from another deserving Rockie left fielder. Jimmy Rollins wins the 2007 MVP award. No surprise I'm sure for most of us, considering the voters have been hatin' on us ever since the golden glove awards were handed out (I believe Jimmy Rollins stole an award there as well).

I guess Rollins had descent stats with 30 dongs and a shit load of stolen bases... but the dude hit below .300 this year, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't in contention to win the triple crown.

Oh and I guess Citizens Bank Park isn't a hitter friendly stadium.

Maybe when we win the World Series next year, the voters will start paying closer attention to Gen-R.

What Happened to Tradition?

I don't really have time to do a detailed post here (I'm, you know, at work and stuff), but it's already 10am MST, the Broncos are tied for 1st in the vaunted AFC West, and there is nothing on KTH. That ain't right. Sammy Winder and I were in the South Stands for last night's balmy late November MNF game. Very solid outing by the offense (A-), very suspect performance by the defense (C), and a schizophrenic night for the special teams (B-). Maybe 'lil Cutlet is starting to emerge from behind the shadow of the Snake. (Notice irony - Can a snake really have a shadow?)

All things considered, a huge victory for the B'cos if they (actually) want to keep their playoff hopes alive. I'm not too thrilled about the prospect of getting hammered in the playoffs (although getting hammered for watching the playoffs sounds great), but what the hell, some one has to win the West.

Yorvit not a Met Afterall

Weird, but the news on the street now is that the Met-Yorvit deal fell apart. Could the Rockies still get him back? If the price is right, and barring a Ted Simmons break from retirement, I'm all for bringing him back.

You Just Got Your Asses Kicked.....

by a bunch of god damn nerds!!!

Brutal game last night for the rust-laden Avs. Let's hope they bring some piss and vinegar to the more important game Sunday afternoon vs the Wild. (By the way, I love that there is a prime Avs game near the time slot the Broncos would be playing normally on Sunday.)

Well, if I were you, I get up and do something about it......

Basketball Thoughts on a Friday

This new post needs a name. It will be a weekly examination of the world of basketball, sometimes pros, sometimes college, sometimes both. My interests shall obviously lie heavily with the local professional cagers, the Denver Nuggets.

Maybe, “The Looksie,” in an attempt to look back while looking ahead in the world of basketball.

I know that the majority of our vast reading audience is not made up of diehard basketball fans, but I have read the comments and if they want it…., then they want it. And if you want to know my professional opinion (which is actually somewhat valid, here) subjectively, this is one of the top three teams in the entire NBA. Unfortunately, talent and flair don’t add up to diddly-squat come the hellish grind that is the NBA Playoffs.

Yes, I believe and have seen already in this young campaign that things are changing around the Pepsi Center. Despite some deplorable defensive performances during the early stages of last week’s east coast swing, Head Coach George Karl is serious (no longer “Furious”) about his team’s actual defensive performance. The walls of the locker room and practice courts are lined with recent stats regarding team defense and its effect on winning championships. Even right now, as the Nuggets sit nicely at 5-3 and obviously in the middle of a good stretch of team play (some of the best I have witnessed in over a decade), the Nuggets are still coming up a bit short on the defensive end. Their rank in the stats that Karl and Company deemed important (I’m gonna assume that Doug Moe had nothing to do with any ‘defensive’ scheming), those being defensive points per game, field goal percentage allowed, and steals made were all in the 20’s. They were not even flirting with the top ten.

Most of you know how I feel about defensive (ie BORING) ball and the up-tempo styles of the ABA and 80’s NBA, and specifically how they relate to a fun style of not only viewing, but PLAYING! I was relegated (my bad, I guess) to a slow-it-down, defensive-focused team in college where my talents (and interests) were not utilized. I like to see the ball pushed and I like my matadors on weak-side help. Get it and go.

Unfortunately, this holds no historical weight, as even remember that even the Showtime Lakers played some defense led by Pat Riley, who has since become a defensive asshole. That team also was good because they had Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Bryon Scott, Michael Cooper, and the NBA’s All-time leading scorer who was more “unstoppable” than Michael Jordan. Who(m) stopped Lew/Kareem during his ENTIRE career? Put Yao Ming on stilts and he still ain’t blocking the sky hook.

I am way off topic, but you get the point. I will be trying to put together a Friday morning post that has nothing to do with the NFL. Let’s get this shit organized!

The Nuggets are really good; although so are the Utah Jazz. They have some more home games over the Thanksgiving holiday, hosting New York tomorrow, the Bulls on Tuesday, and the TWolves on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. All wins. I would be surprised if the team does not take all three and handily, I might add.

Need ideas for the post name! TONIGHT: Rockets @ Spurs followed by Pistons @ the Lakers. I miss the old NBC NBA song and those corny intros.

“Catch it, as Shaq and the Magic face Hakeem and the Rockets!”

Say it ain't so Yorvit!

I guess Yorvit Torrealba is the first member of the 2007 National League Champs to sign with a different team. Tough to blame him when they offered him 4 times as much money as the Monforts were giving him last year. I just wonder how much we were willing to spend to keep him around. Over this year and last year it's tough not be a fan of a catcher who hits above .260 and will occasionally hit a dong (sometimes in rather clutch situations). Not to mention his fresh temper that would occasionally get him thrown out of games. On behalf of KTH, we'll miss you Yorvit.

I guess one silver lining is that he didn't go to a division foe and we probably won't be facing him much during the regular season next year. Although he will be suiting up for a team that I'm sure all of the Baseball Tonight soys will be picking as their pre-season NL Champs.

Let's just hope that management isn't planning on putting all of their eggs in the Chris Iannetta basket.

Voters Validate KTH

Let it be said that Clint Hurdle didn't deserve to win NL Manager of the Year. Many will insist he should've won the honor and if you condense an entire season into the last two weeks of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs, I would agree. However, no matter how easy it is to lose site of the first five months of mediocrity that preceded the amazing final stretch, I must take umbrage with the Hurdle is God contingency.

The Rockies' improbable September run wouldn't have been necessary if not for the many games throughout the season where Hurdle seemed to have received a dugout lobotomy. Minimizing the damage of the early season LaTroy Hawkins struggles could've won a few extra games. Ditto for Fuentes' midseason roadtrip nosedive. I haven't even mentioned Jorge Julio's role in trying to destroy the season in August and September with Hurdle playing the role of enabler. I realize he was just "going by the book", but that's the point. A chimp probably could've done a similar job if given basic knowledge of "the book". Throughout the season he didn't ever seem to make a brilliant move based on instinct. As many of Hurdle's late season and playoff moves turned to pure gold, a far greater amount of decisions earlier in the season turned into feces.

So, yes, no gold gloves for the team is complete rubbish. Tulo probably should've received ROY. Holliday would be a deserving MVP (but won't get it). But, does Hurdle deserve NL Manager of the Year? Nope.......3rd place in the voting sounds more than fair to a consistent observer of the team's season, with an actual bias for his team.....(by the way, his daughter ain't bad looking)

A Monday Tradition Returns

What a weekend!?!? Whew…. I watched a lot of sports this weekend, in case you were wondering. It’s a Monday tradition! TOP TEN!

UP HIGH!

10.) The Broncos bounced back nicely yesterday with their first win at Arrowhead in many a years (since the Griese days.) A sloppy first half was continued by the Chiefs as Damon Huard threw a pick (led to a Selvin Young TD) and fumbled (picked up and scored by Nate Webster) in the second half’s first two minutes. In essence, an 8-6 game quickly became 20-8, before many of the Chiefs were even warmed-up.
In review:
Broncos long drives (>30 yards) turned into touchdowns.
Their short drives turned into long field goals (no FGs attempted inside 40 yards.)
The defense got stops and made plays!!! At 4-5 and one game out of first, the Broncos are far from dead. I also feel strongly that all of their remaining seven games are winnable.

9.) The Nugs had a great weekend (as was predicted here on Friday) with a blowout win on Friday in DC, followed by the 2nd biggest comeback in franchise history in Indy the next night. Gave up 46 in the first quarter to the Pacers, and then allowed only 33 in the entire second half. At 4-3 and just a game behind Utah, I have love for the Nugs for bouncing back after 3 straight losses. LeBron’s in the hizzie tonight! I’ll be working things courtside, so expect a post for tomorrow. Other than the Rockies, the Denver teams all need to focus a bit more on defense.

8.) Although our hockey team is much improved over a year ago in that category. Mixed-bag games this weekend, but they at least got points in both with an OT loss v. Vancouver and a big win last night over the Wild Northstars. The win keeps the Avs in first place with 23 points. This just in, the Avs are a good hockey team.

7.) The College Game: HUGE, no, I mean a “NO BOWL GAME FOR YOU!” type of loss for the Buffs in Iowa. Yes, they can still become bowl eligible with a win next week against Nebraska, but 6-6 isn’t going to impress many bowl reps. Let’s just hope that Oklahoma win holds a lot of weight (ie if the Sooners make the BCS Title game)
AFA representing in South Bend with a bit of a beat-down of Notre Dame. The dub puts them at 8-3 and ready for a decent late-December bowl. Face Buckeyes. ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK! RYAN, where are YOU!?!? WAR cup fights.

6.) AFC West Round-up. We all know that KC dropped to 4-5. The Raiders lost to an extremely average Bears (see you in two weeks, Griese) team and the Chargers were far from impressive last night in their win over the champion Colts. Felipe Rios is garbage (have I mentioned that before?) They needed 2 return scores and most importantly they needed the most clutch kicker in league history to suffer from a bout of “non-clutchness.”

5.) AFC Review: Ravens suck, I’m never picking them again. It is great to see the Pittsburgh and Cleveland rivalry is back! Troutdog’s Browns? Dolphins lose again.

4.) NFC: Packers and Cowboys are the class, assuredly. If these two teams don’t meet in the NFC Championship game, I would be surprised. The Giants are decent, but I don’t trust them…. Or Eli. RAMMERS get their first win!!! My Falcons? My Cardinals?

3.) For two years, I coached (football and hoops) a some great kids from Bailey. In addition to this now group of seniors being major victims in the Platte Canyon School shooting from a year ago, they are now in the 2A state semifinals!! When this group was in middle school, the high school team was awful; had been for years. At one of their end of the year banquets, I promised the crowd (5-6 years ago) that if they stayed together they should contend for a state title. Some giggled, some parents rolled their eyes, and the high school coach even warned me afterwards about getting “their hopes up too high.” This Saturday in Bailey v. Holy Family. Mad love to the PCHS Huskies! Hate to say I told you so (as you all know) Coach, but….. you’re welcome. He still needs to throw the ball more.

2.) MAC’s Bay Area Corner: Raiders are brutal (Hey Kid, Play the kid!) The Warriors are winless at 0-5. The Sharks have been disappointing early in the year, but still sit atop the logged-jam Pacific Division. HEY, their old soccer team is still really good!

1.)Speaking of which, the San Jouston Dynaquakes are into the finals for a rematch with New England. Last year’s game with these two teams was great and won by SJ/H. Let’s just hope those Massholes don’t get another title……sorry massholes.

War Selvin Young
War snowflakes at 8500 feet

When are the stanley cup playoff tickies going on sale?

They'll probably go on sale right after we figure out who we're playing in the finals. Oh wait, the Monfort Bros don't own the Avs... good because I'd kinda like to go to an avs playoff game. Budaj, Jose, shit don't matter; we friggin dominate this national hockey league (except for vancouver?). Not a huge blog here, but c'mon the avs are just straight up nasty right now (not to mention how nasty the donkeys were today).

... and I'm looking for any sort of excuse to put up a Dick Monfort photo on the web.

... and I might have been doing some Sunday boozing again.

Cutler on South Park

I don't know how many of you guys watch South Park, but this week's episode was pretty great. A whole lot of making fun of local stars like Ron Zapollo and Jake Jabbs . But in particular, some pretty awsome dialog between one of the kids and Jay Cutler at a rather basic coke and sex party:

Stan: Nice to meet you, I mean you kinda suck but my dad says that you might be good someday.

Cutler: Thanks

http://macgsworld.blogspot.com/2007/11/stan-to-jay-cutler-my-dad-says-that-you.html

Buffs Lack of TV Coverage

I'll be the first to admit, I'm no huge college football fan. But for the love of god, why are only about half of CU's football games televised. Why is Fox Sports Net (Rocky Mountain) airing the Texas A&M - Missouri game instead of the Buffs and Cyclones? I suppose I could switch over to the Altitude network to view South Florida and Syracuse, two teams with high relevance in these parts.....horseshit. It's almost like this is an elaborate scheme to get me to do some house work today.

THE HIGH FIVE

It was a matter of time. The HIGH FIVE is back and better than ever! While things will still focus predominately on the teams here in Denver, there will still be some national news at times. 1980's-era Dutch soccer is part of the story, hence the dope Ruud shot.

UP HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!

5.) The Broncos have a chance this weekend to get back into the mix of things in the AFC West. Jay Cutler’s status is still uncertain, which makes things tricky, but I have faith that back-up Patrick Ramsey can do the job. Chiefs’ RB Larry Johnson appears to be out, which should help, I guess. I’m somewhat certain; however, that even the geriatric Priest Holmes will flirt with Adrian Peterson’s newly minted single-game record. I’m going to stay positive and think that this will be a rare win in Arrowhead.

4.) The Nuggets face the winless Bullets tonight in Chocolate City. Word is that a bum digit will keep Nene out of action for the next six weeks. Ugh. This dude is snakebitten. Time to up Kenyon’s minutes! A win tonight and later this weekend in Indy should help salvage what has been a bad roadie to this point. LeBron is back in the Mile High City on Monday night. I’ll be acceptin’. I have a small piece on Linas to script, so I will be sitting down with him a bit pre-game.

3.) Avs off to a great start, as we have properly documented. Tonight, they are in Vancouver for another of their 30 games together. It’s obviously all about Lappy. That and their forward-stocked roster which has four lines that all produce.

2.) College Football Primer: The Buffs need this win in Ames against Iowa State tomorrow morning. Not only will the win make them “bowl eligible” but it will also set them up nicely for their day-after Thanksgiving game with the hated Corn. With youngins up and down the lineup, the future looks bright in Boulder.
The Air Force Falcons (already B.E.) take on the Domers in South Bend and actually enter as the favorite in Vegas. Great chance for a statement win on national television in hopes of procuring the best bowl possible. Kudos to first-year coach Troy Calhoun (former Broncos asst.) for a great year, despite following the legendary Fisher DeBerry. They already have a few quality wins and have exceeded all expectations.

1.) In soccer news, the LA Galaxy went back across the pond to hire former Dutch captain Ruud Gullit as their new head coach.
MLS Final is almost set as New England (yeah, we need another good Boston team, after four straight SI covers) won the East last night. They will face the winner of the KC v. Houston game. Nice bike kick goal by US Nat’l Taylor Twellman in a conference final! Our boy Hoppy is still in the mix and was working the sidelines last night.

War the 1988 Dutch National Soccer Team (shot above from the ’88 European Champion Final. TOR!)

Guess what?!? I've got a fever, and the only prescription is....more Lappy.

Excellent hockey game tonight. That 3rd period looked like the fucking playoffs...both the Oilers and the Avs were playing wide-open, balls-out hockey.

Great game by Laperriere...3 points on 2 goals, took a vicious cross-check that didn't get called in that final period too.

I'm liking these Avalanches.

It's All About Lappy!

Sweet 2 points tonight. It didn't come easy, but they battled and got the job done. 1st Place in the Northwest and a 4-1 home stand. I know it's super early, but this team is playing well and fun to watch. Lappy was the difference. If you don't believe me, consult with the folks at www.itsallaboutlappy.com/

Anyone want to try and score tickets to Sunday night's game?

Matt Holliday, You're Next!

Like muthafuckin' Archimedes!


Jimmy Rollins will soon become public enemy #1 'round the 303. First, it was Troy Tulowitski and the Rockies' leftfielder is sure to be next. I, you, and all of us, must keep the "regular season" moniker in mind. The fielding stats between Tulo and Rollins are borderline identical. The only thing that stands out is that Tulo has about 80 more assists (561-479) and also has the unassisted triple play.





Matt Holliday will NOT be named the National League MVP. I obviously hope I am wrong, but.....





Best fielding team in the history of the sport has nary ONE Gold Glove.

Avs Dominate Flames

Never mind the bump in the home ice dominance road that occurred last Sat night at the Can. The Avs rebounded nicely with a relatively easy 4-1 victory in an important divisional game. Theo is starting to look like he deserves the starting nod.......

More importantly, Sammy Winder and I observed some fellow fans at the game Sat night engaging at what should soon prove to be a favorite past time at Avs games (or Nuggets games). The fans I am referring to were (quite randomly as far as we could tell) testing the authority of the Aramark staff during the intermission by moving the small concourse tables from the outer perimeter to the interior of the concourse and right into the flow of pedestrian traffic. Not a particularly clever prank, but it did look strange and considering these two guys were probably in their mid 40's, it was oddly amusing. And don't think that one, or even two run-ins with the Aramark police would stop these two from attempting to slowly slide their table back to mid aisle time and time again. Sammy W and I even tried to get into the action as a sign of support for our heroes. The picture above doesn't totally capture it, but you get the idea.

Put In Plummer

For a team that is becoming increasingly difficult to watch and is in desperate need of some kind of spark, it's hard not to think about the Snake. I'm not prepared to usher in the Patrick Ramsey era. I thought we had already hit bottom, but getting schooled every which way by the Lions? Embarrassing Shanny........