Midway through the second quarter against Pittsburgh a sign appeared over Mile High Stadium. This wasn't an airplane pulling a banner or a skydiver with a flag.
Fans all over the stadium were point to the sky. The man and woman next to me gasped. I heard others saying it was a sign.
I said to my dad, jokingly, "This proves God is a Bronco's fan," referencing the infamous bumper stickers.
For about a minute, a halo of smoke hung over the stadium.
I believed the Broncos were going to go on to win their first playoff game since 2006.
But as with any miracle, Denver would not accomplish a great feat with out first facing adversity.
In the second half, Denver would only score one field goal and Pittsburgh would tie the game at 23 after a costly fumble by Willis McGahee that allowed the Steelers to score the equalizing touchdown.
Denver would then have to face a furious Steeler's offense as they tried to get into field goal position in the final seconds. It was a scene Bronco's fans were used to seeing their own team doing. Driving down-field in the waning seconds of the game. But the defense held, and pushed Rothelisburger back to his own side of the field. These Broncos would not be beaten on a hail mary, and on to overtime we went.
It is fitting that this Broncos team, who had won 3 overtime games this season, would play the first game in NFL history under the new overtime rules that allow each team to get a possession unless the first team scores a touchdown on the initial drive. Denver won the coin flip and got the ball.
The man in front of me stood up, and pointed to his watch. Today, overtime, would be known as 'Tebow Time' he announced to our section. Steelers fans threw taunts at him. The little boy in the Steelers hat behind me yelled at him 'Tebow can suck it!"
All day the Steelers had been stacking the box against Denver's run. "There's no way we can run against this defense. They have all 11 guys within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage," a friend texted me earlier in the game. And sure enough to start overtime, Pittsburgh brought nearly all their defenders to the line. And Mike McCoy, Denver's offensive coordinator called the perfect play.
Denver had run on all but one first down play during the game, and Pittsburgh assumed they would do it again. The ball was snapped, all defenders but one ran to the line of scrimmage. Tebow faked the hand off perfectly to McGahee and threw a beautiful ball 20 yards down-field to Thomas who had one man to beat and then a sea of green grass that Broncos love so much in front of him.
Thomas stiff armed the defender, broke free, and ran 80 yards into the endzone.
11 seconds into overtime and Denver had won a playoff game the entire nation had predicted them to lose.
Mile High shook in celebration, just like the old days. That old Mile High Magic was back, and showed that no matter what, Denver will always be a football town. And just like it should be, there was The Duke of Denver himself, John Elway running onto the field, fist pumping for joy just like when he used to lead these come-back wins.
This was one of the best games of football ever played in Denver.
The Mile High Miracle, led by the Mile High Messiah, Tim Tebow.
For celebrating the Bronco's win, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is my new favorite! It's a fresh hopped beer that is very hoppy and bitter. A pleasant surprise compared to other holiday ales that are usually very malty.
Game Winning Replay of the Week:
Here is the Conan O'Brien version of how Denver beat Pittsburgh.
Big news coming out of DSG Park this week! Rapid's have hired a new coach, Oscar Pareja, a former MLS Best XI. Pareja has been on the coaching staff with FC Dallas, and the job in Colorado will be his first head coaching position.
“I am honored to join such a great organization like the Colorado Rapids, and want to thank everyone at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment for the opportunity.” said Pareja. “This is a dream come true, and I am excited to get started at the Player Combine this weekend and the SuperDraft next week. We already have a great team and everyone is optimistic about what we can achieve this season and beyond," said Pareja at his press conferece.
The Rapids have also announced their schedule for 2012, with the home opener on Saturday March 10th against the Columbus Crew. The Rapids will also play RSL once at home and twice in Salt Lake for the Rocky Mountain Cup. The Portland Timbers will come to Colorado twice, and Montreal, the expansion team, will also visit DSG Park.
Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:
The Avs are on a two game losing skid, but have won seven out of their last ten. They also possess winning records both at home and away.
The Avalanche have been a very streaky team this season, winning many in a row and losing many in a row. Let's hope that the current 2 game losing streak doesn't last much longer.
The Avs will play the second half of a home-home series against the Predators in Nashville this Thursday. This game will be important for Colorado to keep pace with a team slightly ahead of them in the standings.
Center, Ryan O'Rielly, had the Avalanche's lone goal against Nashville in Denver and is continuing his streak of leading the Avalanche in points.
Nuggets Thoughts of the Week:
After losing their first home game of the season to New Orleans, the Nuggets came back and beat the Nets in Denver 123-115. Denver is proving to have depth on it's roster in this abreviated season, but is still looking to find a good groove.
The Nuggets will face a big challenge as Miami comes to town this week, and the Nuggets will hope to hand them their second loss of the season.
The Broncos-Bears game was looking miserable as the fourth quarter rolled around. Seconds into the final quarter the Broncos were trailing 10-0. Tebow only completed 3 passes til then, Thomas and Decker dropped six catchable balls between the two of them, and a field goal was blocked by the Bears defense. As I sat in the South Stands with my dad and listened to the thousands of Chicago fans cheering in our stadium I felt as if the game was lost.
All photos from the game complements of The Denver Post
But as the fourth quarter began one of the regular Broncos fan sitting in front of us stood up and starting pointing to his watch and telling all the Bears fan's that it was Tebow Time...they had better watch out.
I will admit that I was not believing the Broncos would find a way to win this game, especially after a couple more stalled drives and punts. With three minutes left in the game though this guy was still pointing at his watch. He kept telling us it was Tebow Time and that we all had to believe. The Bears fans heckled him, telling him our clock was 10 seconds slow, referring to the 10-0 score.
2:30 left in the game Tebow was driving the Broncos. I thought back to the Miami game and how we came back from 15-0 in the waning minutes...maybe it could happen again?
Tebow threw a TD pass to Thomas in the corner of the south endzone, 10-7...I thought if we just got the onsides kick we'd have a shot at tying the game. If we didn't get it though, the Bears could practically run out the clock. Onsides kick bounces around and tempts the fans as both teams scramble for it, but the Bears ultimately recovered it. 2:08 remaining. The Bears run one play, then two minute warning. On second down the Bears running back inexplicably runs to the sideline and is pushed out of bounds. Clock stops at 1:55. Third down and the defense makes a big stop, forcing the Bears to punt. Broncos get the ball back with about a minute left and no timeouts.
Our believer in the South Stands is still pointing at his watch, smiling, as he tells all of us in the section that he believes. Bears fans still heckle him...there's no way we can score with no timeouts left against their defense. Tebow drives the Broncos 39 yards and with 8 seconds left the Broncos are 43 yards from their own endzone and call on Matt Prater to make a 59 yard field goal.
Prater boots the ball through the uprights and it could have been good from 70 yards. 59 yard field goal. Game tied 10-10, end of regulation.
At this point I am sure that the entire nation is watching the events that are unfolding in Broncos Country. This has become a regular occurrence for us. The Mile High Magic is back, and has it's clocks set to Tebow Time.
The Bears win the OT coinflip. The Bears drive into field goal range. The Bears' running back breaks through a hole in Denver's defensive line and looks like he clear through to the endzone. The Bears running back then fumbles the ball. Denver recovers. A miracle? Maybe for some...but this type of inexplicable play has become common place for our Broncos. Tebow completes nearly all his passes. The receivers suddenly can barely miss a ball. And Matt Prater drives another field goal half the length of the field (51 yards) to win the game.
Sorry Dallas, but Denver has taken your title of America's Team. Nearly every TV in the nation was tuned into Tebow-Time. Whether you love him or hate him, it's a great story that the sports world has never seen the likes of. Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos are now 7-1 since the "Mile High Messiah" took over the team and are on a 6 game winning streak with 6 fourth quarter comebacks, 3 of which involved overtime.
And now Chicago, you know what fans from Miami, Oakland, Kansas City, San Diego, New York, and Minnesota recently discovered. The Broncos are for real, and you won't believe it til the final minutes of the game. Denver is now in sole possession of first place in the AFC West, so look out NFL, America's Team is stampeding towards the playoffs.
Beer of the Week:
The Odysseus IPA from Deschutes, is a pub exclusive only found at the Deschutes Tap Rooms in Oregon. It was so good that a few weekends ago when I was there I drank three of them. A very citrusy and delicious IPA. I wish I could get it in Colorado!
"The other day, before the Minnesota game, we were in the tunnel, about to come out," says Broncos punter Britton Colquitt. "And somebody farted. It was bad. And Coach Fox goes, 'Man, I guess somebody's nervous!' It just broke us all up, got us loose. That's what he's like. … I just met him this year and I feel like I've known him 20 years."
1987 had The Drive led by John Elway. 98 yards to tie the game and beat Cleveland in OT during the AFC Championship Game.
1992 there was The Drive II, also by John Elway. 98 yards again, to beat the Houston Oilers in the final minutes of the AFC Championship Game.
2011 now has "The Drive Jr." or "The Drive Too" with John Elway watching his embattled QB, Tim Tebow, lead the Broncos 95 yards downfield to beat the Jets 17-13.
View from my seats in the South Endzone as the Jets punt for the 1st time.
The stakes might not have been as high in 2011 as they were for the first two Drives. Back then the Superbowl was on the line. This time the stakes were improving the season record to 5-5 and staying in the playoff race for the AFC West. Maybe what was most on the line was Tim Tebow's reputation and future in his first national TV appearance.
With just over five minutes remaining in the game The Broncos had not accomplished much. There were 9 straight drives of three and out, a lost fumble by Willis McGahee and many botched opportunities to start drives in the Jets half of the field. The game seemed to be proving all of Tebow's critiques right in that he can't pass, but somehow Tebow found another way to win. As his supporters say, 'he just wins,' and he sure does.
Goodman is pursued by Sanchez into the endzone after intercepting the QB.
Andre Goodman, who Sanchez and the Jets had picked on all night with Plaxico Burress receiving many passes over Goodman, came up big with Denver's first TD of the night. Goodman intercepted Sanchez and returned the ball untouched into the endzone for his first pick-6 of his career.
Von Miller continued his impressive rookie season recording 1.5 sacks on Sanchez and multiple other hits to shake up the Jet's QB. Miller finished the night leading the team with 9 tackles and a forced fumble.
"If you pressure any quarterback and get to him, he will make some bad decisions," Miller said. "That is our game plan every week, just get to the quarterback and get some hits on him."
The Denver defense finally has something opposing teams fear. A pass rush that creates chaos for the opposing QB.
If this photo went just 2 rows higher you could see me and my dad in the top left.
Special teams also had a big night, forcing and recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff after Goodman's pick-6. Cassius Vaughn returned a Jet's kickoff deep into Jet's territory. And most impressive of all was Punter, Britton Colquit's performance, down many punts inside the Jet's own 10 yard line including one at the one yard line with help of a great special teams performance by Mathew Willis.
Thankfully, big plays by the defense and special teams kept Denver and Tebow in the game for the fourth quarter, trailing 13-10. Eddie Royal mistakenly called for a fair catch at his own 5 yard line with 5:54 remaining to set up Denver's 95 yard come-from -behind drive.
The drive nearly ended on the first play when Tebow threw a screen pass to Royal in Denver's own endzone. Royal was nearly wrapped up for a safety, but managed to escape and gain 9 yards. Tebow would hit 3 of 5 pass attempts on the drive, including a great sliding 18 yard catch by tight end Dante Rosario.
Previously Tebow had only carried the ball twice for 11 yards, but on the final drive Tebow rushed seven times for 58 yards and the game winning TD. He finished 9 for 20 in passing with 104 passing yards and was only sacked once.
Tebow celebrates his game winning score.
On Third Down and 4 from the 20, the Jets showed an all out blitz for the first time all night. The Jets rushed at Tebow, Tebow scrambled left and took off for the first down, broke a tackle and went straight into the endzone as he was mobbed by teammates for the go-ahead score.
"I think it was just a bunch of guys that kept fighting, and that had been knocked down a bunch of times and got back up," Tebow said. "I'm proud of these guys for their resiliency and determination."
"After the touchdown, it was fun, but during that drive, it was a lot of focus," wide receiver Eddie Royal said. "Everybody in the huddle was tired at that point, but we all knew we had to suck it up and focus in, and make these plays that we needed."
Denver is now half a game out of first place in the AFC West, with a 5-5 record. An improbable situation given that the team started 1-4 under Kyle Orton and has since gone 4-1 with Tim Tebow at QB. If the Raiders lose on Sunday to Minnesota, Denver will be tied for first place.
The Jets fall to also have a 5-5 record, essentially dashing their playoff hopes in a difficult AFC East division with competition from Buffalo and New England. Denver now owns the tie break over the Jets for an AFC wildcard position.
Tebow Time? Try Miller Time Instead:
With the entire nation setting their clocks to Tebow-Time, The Broncos are setting their clocks to Miller Time. Von Miller's amazing rookie season is being overshadowed by the media circus that is Tim Tebow. Miller leads the Broncos in tackles and sacks, with 9.5 on the season. He is on pace to set a new rookie record for sacks. With the return of a healthy Elvis Dumervil, Miller is even more of a threat as the Broncos seem to be returning to the days of the Orange Crush.
Von Miller gets to Jet's QB Mark Sanchez.
Under a new defensive minded head coach in John Fox, new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and John Elway's emphasis on defense in his first draft as an executive the Broncos seem to be building a defense that can win championships.
"I think guys are beginning to feel more comfortable in the system and what they're being asked to do, and I think some of the play has shown that," said Allen.
In the last two wins the Denver Defense has only allowed 23 points, and Von Miller has nearly knocked the opposing teams QB out of the game or the entire season in both wins.
So as everyone else sets their clocks for Tebow Time, true Broncos fans are living on Miller-Time. We're not yet sure if Tebow is the future of this organization, but Von Miller is for real and he is the Broncos' future on Defense.
Decker Distracted?
Jessie James performs the halftime show wearing Decker's jersey.
Receiver Eric Decker was off his game on Thursday night. He missed all 5 passes thrown to him (though you can't blame him for all of those), and his one pass attempt of the night when out of bound in the endzone.
Decker may have been distracted by the presence of his super star country singer girlfriend, Jessie James, who was preforming the half time show.
Decker is second in the league in receiving touchdowns, with 7 and has 34 catches for 462 yards.
Let's hope Decker just had an off night and returns to form next week against San Diego!
Beer of the Week:
The Twisted Pine just released their double IPA, The Misty Mountain Hop. According to the Pine this is "a single hopped unfiltered India Pale Ale with Simcoe hops." Very hoppy, very good. Get it while it lasts!
"So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains where the spirits go now" -Led Zeppelin
Drew Litton Comic of the Week:
Tebow's drive, in comic form:
MLS & Rapids Thoughts of the Week:
Colorado Rapid's Supporters groups will be throwing head coach Gary Smith a farewell party during the MLS Cup on Sunday at The Celtic Tavern in downtown Denver.
Many Rapid's fans are still upset about Smith's departure and feel the executives forced him out and that they should have tried to fix the club's relationship with him after Smith brought Colorado their first MLS Cup in 2010.
Kronke Sports Entertainment, who owns The Rapids, Avalanche, Nuggets, St. Louis Rams and Arsenal FC, has not put in the financial backing to the Rapids as they should to keep the team successful and profitable. Rapid's supporters joked on Facebook that there should be an "Occupy Stan's Front Yard" protest where Rapid's fans camp out on Kronke's front lawn to demand the club be given more attention.
The Rapids have a strong and passionate fan base and a lot of talent on the team. With more money put into the team, and marketing the Rapids have the potential to become a very profitable and successful team in MLS.
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The MLS Cup kicks off on Sunday, November 20th at 7pm Mountain Time on ESPN. The LA Galaxy will take on the Houston Dynamo at the Home Depot Center in LA.
The Galaxy are heavy favorites to win the cup this year, but many experts involved with MLS are predicting a Dynamo upset. It will be tough for the Dynamo though because they are missing league MVP candidate Brad Davis to injury.
As Colorado fans, lets hope that Houston can pull off the upset over the hated Galaxy!
Rockies Thoughts of the Week:
Nolan Arenado, the fantastic 3rd base prospect of the Colorado Rockies, was named the MVP of the 2011 Arizona Fall League. Arenado played in 29 games and had an average of .388 with 6 home runs and 33 RBI's. The Rockies are excited about his prospect in the major's next year and are inviting him to spring training camp. Arenado may be the answer to the Rockies recent problems at thirdbase.
In other Rockies news, the team has begun hitting the free-agent market and trade market. The Rockies are interested in picking up a 2nd baseman, a right fielder to complement or replace Seth Smith, and starting pitching.
The Rockies have expressed interest in Roy Oswalt, whose agent has said the Rockies have a shot at him. Oswalt is aging and would probably demand a 2 year $30 million contract. This shows that the Rockies have money to spend on big name players. But with big name pitchers failing in Colorado previously, it might be worth looking into players who would not be as expensive.
The Rockies are also trying to trade for Atlanta Braves 2nd baseman Martin Prado, after losing Mark Ellis to LA in free agency. Prado is a career .293 batter, but in 2011 had an off year batting only .260 after three years with an average over .300. The Rockies hope that Prado will thrive in Colorado and return to his form of a few years ago.
Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:
Last night the Avalanche won for the first time since November 10th, beating the Dallas Stars 3-0 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The Avs had previously lost three straight to Calgary, Minnesota and Pittsburgh.
Giguere makes a save in goal against Dallas.
Back-up goalie Sebastian Giguere got the shutout win, and is possibly beginning to create a goalie controversy for the Avs.
"Giggy is playing very well, giving us what we expected," head coach Joe Sacco said. "Varly has played very well for us, especially at the start of the year. You know, he's going through a tough stretch right now, but I'm confident he'll be back to top form too."
The Avalanche made the game easy for Giguere, outshooting Dallas 45-24 as they constantly put pressure on the Dallas defense the entire game.
The Avalanche will now start an 8 game, 17 day homestand which is the longest of the season so far.
"That was a good start to the homestand. We didn't sit back in this one. We just played the same way the whole game," said Stansty who scored on a power-play goal against Dallas.
Cheerleader of the Week:
It only took about 20 seasons of Broncos games to finally catch one of the little foam footballs the cheerleaders throw into the corners of the South Stands. I had planned that if I caught one I would give it to the little boys sitting in front of me, because when I was that age I always hoped someone would do that for me. The two boys though had both caught the foam footballs earlier in the game so when Katie, this week's cheerleader of the week, threw one my direction I was able to catch it and actually keep it! Thanks Katie for making a childhood dream of getting one of those little footballs reality!
There are many yearly traditions that Coloradans look forward to every year. We look forward to powder days on the slopes. We look forward to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. We look forward to shows at Red Rocks and bluegrass in Telluride.
And we look forward to The Denver Broncos beating the hated Oakland Raiders.
But until this weekend, Coloradans hadn't seen a victory over the Raiders since 2009. The Raiders had beaten the Broncos four straight times. Two of those four losses came in Denver, in 2009 it was on a last second field goal to give the Raiders a 20-19 win, and an embarrassing 59-14 route of Denver's defense in 2010.
But all that changed this week as Denver, led by Tim Tebow, Willis McGahee, and Champ Bailey, came from behind to give the Broncos an impressive 38-24 win over the Raiders in the black hole that is Oakland. It was a team-effort, with offense, defense, special teams and coaching all contributing to the victory.
Denver implemented a read option offense - similar to the kind Tebow led in college - and ran over the Raiders tough defense for 299 yards on the ground. Despite a broken hand, McGahee ran for 163 yards and two long touchdowns. The last TD run put the game out of reach for the Raiders in the final minutes. Tebow also ran for 119 yards, one of which was a great third down conversion to keep the possession for the Broncos in the final minutes. He even remembered to slide down in bounds to keep the clock running.
The Broncos saw improvements on every side of the ball this week. The offensive line dominated the Raiders. The defense had three interceptions and stopped the Raiders at crucial times. Special teams and Eddie Royal had a punt returned for a TD. And Tim Tebow managed to stay on his feet, throw for two touchdowns and was only sacked twice.
The Raiders sure did come after Tebow though. He took many hits on his runs, after his passes and even out of bounds. He took a hit to the chin that cut up his lip and showed his resiliency the entire game.
Tebow still has a long way to go to become a great NFL QB. He only completed 10 of 21 passes and showed he is still inaccurate throwing the ball. His passes did look better against the Raiders though. He got the ball off quicker, wasn't scrambling around in the pocket as much and made good reads on the throws he did complete.
"There's no question we're looking for balance in the run and the pass," coach John Fox said Monday. "We're probably leaning a little bit more on the run right now, and we have to improve in the pass game because in this league you've got to be two-dimensional, not one-dimensional, and it's something I'm sure he'll grow, we'll grow, in time."
It's still to be seen if a read-option offense can be sustainable in the NFL. But this year it has been working well for Cam Newton and Carolina (though it's not used exclusively) and the Falcons had success with it and Michael Vick a few years ago. If Denver can give Tebow a system he is comfortable with where he can grow as an NFL QB his accuracy will start to improve and he will start to become a better pocket passer.
What's Next?
Next week the Broncos travel to Kansas City to take on a Chief's team that no one knows what to expect. The Chiefs lost their first three games by huge point differentials. Then they won their next four games. And last week they were held to only 3 points by a win-less Miami Dolphins team in their own stadium to give Miami their first victory. The Chiefs offense has shown it struggles to score points and the defense struggles to stop other teams. But they have also shown great things this season.
The questions for the Broncos will be if they can keep being successful with their read-option offense. If the running game keeps looking good and Tebow finally completes 50%+ of his passes the Broncos will come out of KC with a win that Coloradans look forward to nearly as much as a win against Oakland.
New York Life Protection Index Update:
Despite having one of their better games protecting Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos still only scored an 11.5 on the NYLPI against the Raiders and were ranked last in the NFL this week. Tebow was only sacked twice in the game, compared to 14 times in his previous two starts.
I know Tebow was hit after the play quite a bit. Maybe the hits he took each time he ran the ball counted against the Broncos in this statistic. But I felt that Tebow was protected better than in the previous games, even though he took more dirty hits against the Raiders.
I still can't find the formula used to calculate the NYLPI and think I may need a new statistic that shows how well the offensive line protects the QB.
Miscellaneous Broncos Items:
The New York Times published a piece summarizing why the Tim Tebow QB controversy has become so heated. It claims religion is at the center of the debate.
These Broncos fans went to the game in Oakland, decked out in Orange, and managed to survive the experience. Great read starting with being heckled by Raiders fans from the highway to the game, seeing Raiders fan sneak into the Coliseum, and spending the entire game with rude comments being thrown their way. The video they took from a cell phone of the black mile walk is worth watching just for the sound of the experience.
Other NFL Thoughts:
This video shows how creative Buffalo Bills fans are with their tailgating. Having spent so many years in the basement of the AFC East, it's great to see that Bills fans are still so passionate and show up in such huge numbers. With a surprise season and a record of 5-3 this year, I'm rooting for the Bills to take the AFC East by storm! Though this weekend they lost big to the NY Jets.
I haven't seen anything like this in Denver where much of the pre-game experience has been taken over by the big tent behind the south stands.
Beer of the Week:
Odell's winter seasonal, the Mountain Standard Double Black IPA, really hits the spot. In winter I love drinking dark beers with chocolate malts but I always miss the IPA's of summer. This beer takes the best of both worlds making a black IPA with chocolate malts and lots of hops from Colorado to give you a great combination of chocolaty malts and piney hops in the same sip. You can pick it up from most liquor stores in a four pack!
Drew Litton Comic of the Week:
Because we here in Colorado love it so much when our Broncos run over the Raiders, here is this weeks comic in tribute to the Bronco's victory.
Rapids Thoughts of the Week:
The Colorado Rapids had a disappointing end to their season this week. Plagued by injury to nearly a quarter of their starting line up the Rapids lost the away portion of their playoff series against Sporting Kansas City 2-0. Days after the loss, the Rapids parted ways with their head-coach Gary Smith, as the two sides could not agree on a contract renewal. Smith led the Rapids to their only MLS Cup in 2010 and brought a great deal of successful starters to the team in his tenure in Colorado.
“After meeting with Gary, we decided it would be in the best interest of both parties to move in a different direction,” said Colorado Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush. “We’d like to thank Gary for his many contributions to the Colorado Rapids organization. He was instrumental in the Rapids winning our first-ever MLS Cup last year, and we wish him nothing but the best as he explores new opportunities.”
Smith has told ESPN that problems with the Front Office led to his departure from the Rapids.
"Paul, Jeff, Tim, they were involved in the player decisions, and they were the source of a lot of conflict," Smith said to ESPN. "Ninety percent of the decisions were made after heavy arguments. These guys feel they are in a position of power to do that. When I took the job, I was told I would have the final say. But over time that required more confrontation, more energy, and I was sick and tired of the backbiting."
This revelation of the conflict with the front office is disappointing to many Rapid's supporters, as Smith was instrumental in developing many fan-favorites in the starting eleven.
"We have a great team here and it's a huge loss of a coach that coached us for three years and he took us to the finals. It happens, he's got his own life and it just didn't work out with the organization...it'll be hard to get under a new coach and get going again but I just wish the best of luck to Gary and I wish him luck where ever he goes. And we just appreciate what he's done for us the last three years." said Kosuke Kimura, one of the Rapid's star players who Smith helped to develop into a critical part of Colorado's team.
Colorado had hoped to talk to John Spencer, a former Rapid's star and current head coach of the Portland Timbers, about the possibility of becoming the new head coach for the Rapids.
“Colorado, it’s a place that he holds very dear to his heart,” Wilkinson, Portland's GM, said. “His quote to me was, ‘Colorado is home, but Portland is the home of soccer.’ “You can see what value he brings to the [Timbers]. He’s done a great job. We love him here in Portland, and we want John to be successful here in Portland.”
Gary Smith will certainly be missed by the Rapid's supporters as well. The Burgundy Wave, a Rapid's Blog run by supporters put it best:
Smith will forever be remembered for pulling together a group of low-paid pseudo-stars in 2010 and delivering us our first ever trophy. His downfalls aside, Gary was the best manager in the short history of the Colorado Rapids and we'll never forget him no matter how many successes may or may not be in our club's future.
So, here's to you Gary Smith. You'll always be welcomed by us Rapid's Supporters here in Colorado! Good luck!
MLS Cup Thoughts of the Week:
The LA Galaxy and the Huston Dynamo will both be looking for their third MLS Cup Championship in club history on Sunday November 20th at the Home Depot Center.
LA beat Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Finals 3-1 with a goal from designated player Robbie Keane and some great play by David Beckam.
Huston beat Sporting KC 2-0 at Livestrong Park in the Eastern Conference to move on to the finals. But they lost potential league MVP, Brad Davis, to injury in the game. But the Dynamo still come into the finals feel confident, with their playoff experience.
"It hurts losing [Brad Davis],"says goalkeeper Tally Hall. "But at the same time, I feel like we have a deep team. We have a team of dangerous players, and I think we've proven that even without Brad.”
Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:
The Avalanche have plummeted back to Earth in the last week. The Avs have not won a game in ten days and have lost four straight, including 2 at home and 2 on the road. The Avs record is now 7-7-1 with 15 points. They are ranked 11th in the Western Conference.
Their losses this week included a 4-1 loss at home against Phoenix, an overtime loss in Dallas 7-6, a 2-1 loss to Calgary, and a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The Colorado offense has been struggling, except in the loss to Dallas, and the defense needs to start improving the penalty kill if Colorado wants to start winning.
"It's (PK) struggling right now," winger Daniel Winnik said. "It's hard to win games when you're giving up one or two power-play goals a game."
To find their winning ways again, the Avalanche are going to need their young stars to step up and become better leaders. Players like Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog will have to start inspiring their teammates. Coach Joe Sacco should also give Duchene more chances to prove himself on the first line, as he was pulled from it against the Red Wings.
With 8 of the next 10 games played at home, the longest home stretch of the season this far, the Avalanche will have the opportunity to start turning their season around at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Rockies Thoughts of the Week:
There is talk that the Rockies may keep Ian Stewart in the big leagues as a utility/starting infielder. After his terribly disappointing season last year, I see no way this helps the Rockies at all. Sure, it may be another year until all-star prospect 3B Nolan Arenado is ready for the major leagues. In the mean time Jordan Pacheco showed he can play with the big boys and deserves a chance over Ian Stewart in the Rockies' starting line-up.
Nolan Arenado is continuing his assault on the Arizona Fall League leading nearly every batting category. His defense at 3B has also been impressive, which is beginning to question whether the Rockies would try to develop Arenado in a 1st baseman to replace an aging Todd Helton.
"He has played tremendous defense down here, one of the best defensive third basemen I've seen in a long time," said Rafters manager Stu Cole, also the Rockies' Triple-A manager.
Baseball in America published a good read on Arenado's play in the fall league.
Finally, the Rox need to start looking at free agency and the trade market. For next season they are in desperate need of at least one or two quality starting pitchers, and a 3rd baseman. Another outfielder with a big bat to compliment Seth Smith would help the Rockies compete too.
With the NBA lockout in full swing you have to feel bad for all the seasonal workers who are out of a job right now, like the beer and food vendors, the maintenance people and the Denver Nugget's Dancers. So that's why I'll feature them as this week's cheerleaders:
The Colorado Line:
2-4-0 record from 10/24 to 10/31.
NFL:
Detroit 45 – Denver 10. (L)
MLS Playoffs:
Wildcard Game: Colorado 1 – Columbus 0. (W)
Semifinals Game 1: Colorado 0 – Kansas City 2. (L)
NHL:
Colorado 2 – Calgary 4. (L)
Edmonton 3 – Colorado 1. (L)
Los Angles 2 – Colorado 3. (W)
Broncos Thoughts of
the Week:
The difference between playing one of the worst teams in the
NFL versus playing the one of the most improved teams in the NFL? For the
Broncos (2-5) it’s 27 points, and a loss. Last week the Broncos won in
miraculous fashion 18-15 in overtime against Miami (0-7). This week The Detroit
Lions (6-2) came to the Mile High City, and by half time it was obvious that
Tebow and company would not stage another one of their thrilling fourth quarter
comebacks and possibly not even reach the end zone. The Broncos lost 45-10. The
Tebow who played so poorly in the first 55 minutes of the Miami game played the
entire 60 minutes of the game against Detroit.
“We basically went into hibernation for about 9 series and
the game was out of hand,” Said Coach Fox referring to 9 straight series
without a first down, after scoring a field goal on their first drive.
Everyone got to 'Tebow' except the Broncos.
In the first quarter Tebow was 4 for 13 with 37 passing
yards with 7 sacks, a lost fumble and an interception. Tebow slightly overthrew
Eric Deker in the end zone on the first drive. Decker caught the ball in
stride, but it was too close to the back of the end zone for him to get both
feet in bounds. Many other passes in the first half sailed close to receiver’s
hands but just out of reach. Tebow’s day
didn’t get any better either. In the second half he fumbled the ball as he went
back to pass and it was returned for a touchdown by the Detroit defense. Then
as the Broncos were driving for what could have been their first touchdown of
the game, Tebow threw an interception in the end zone that Detroit returned 100
yards for another score.
The Denver defense couldn’t do much to stop the high-powered
Detroit offense led by Mathew Stafford. Stafford was 21 of 30 for 267 yards and
three touchdowns. One play, Calvin Johnson badly beat Champ Bailey for a 56 yard
touchdown reception to make the score 38-3 at the time. Earlier in the game
Brian Dawkins missed his coverage on Titus Young and allowed a 41 yard
touchdown reception that made Stafford look like he was playing a game of catch
in the backyard, it was so easy. Even Bronco’s fans looked terrible in the
game, gladly allowing Young to jump into the South Stands to celebrate.
After the game Von
Miller expressed his disappointment in how the defense played. Detroit’s
defense shutout the Broncos for nine straight drives and Miller said ““We gotta
replicate the same thing…we gotta have three and out, three and out, three and
out.”
The fourth quarter the Broncos were able to stop Detroit’s
offense, but by then the game was already out of reach and Detroit had benched
most of their starters. In the fourth quarter Denver’s offense finally
converted on third down and got a first down, but it was against a Detroit
defense made up of mostly back-ups. The offense put together a sloppy drive to
score a touchdown to come within 35 points of Detroit. Decker caught a 14 yard
pass from Tebow and jumped over defenders, broke several tackles to make his
way to the end zone.
“We basically got whipped. We got out coached and out
played. We’ve got a lot to work on,” said Fox after the game. “We’ve got a ways
to go. We’ve been good at times and today wasn’t good enough.”
Von Miller also expressed that the team as a whole did not
play well against Detroit. “We just got beat. We got beat as players, coaches,
trainers, equipment managers. We just got beat.”
The only player on
the team who had a decent day was the Punter, Britton Colquitt who averaged
50.4 yards between his seven punts. The whole team played poorly. Receiver’s
missed some easy balls. The running game went nowhere with Moreno and Ball. The
defense was confused and out-played. Orlando Franklin, on the offensive line,
looked like a revolving door for Detroit’s defense. And Tebow looked like the
young quarterback he is. One who struggles to pass in the pocket and has a long
and awkward throwing motion, which led to his fumble.
If this game taught Bronco’s fans anything, it’s that we are
still a long way from even being a mediocre team. An all-star quarterback will
not solve the issues on offensive line, the running game and the defense. Tebow
looked awful against Detroit, but the rest of the team looked just as bad or
even worse.
By the end of the game most Broncos fans had cleared out of
the stadium, leaving a rejuvenated Detroit fan base to start chanting for Brady
Quinn. Give how awful the entire team
looked, it will not be a surprise if we see Quinn leading the team by
Thanksgiving.
What Needs to
Improve?
Tebow looked terrible, there is no denying that, and he will
take the Lion’s share of the blame (pun intended). But the offensive line did
nothing to help him. I discussed earlier in the season how horrible I felt the
offensive line was, especially at protecting the QB. It has just gotten worse
with Tebow in the game. Right Tackle, Orlando Franklin, is supposed to protect
Tebow’s blind side. With the way he played the previous two games, you would
think that Franklin was actually blind. Nearly every defender was able to get
past his blocks and get to Tebow.
After Orton’s final start, I presented to you The New York
Life Protection Index, a rating of how well the QB is protected. Going into week
five against the Chargers, the Broncos were ranked #13 in the league in the
NYLPI with 66.8. They have since dropped 12 spots to #25, with a dismal NYLPI
score of 52.0. This score is likely to drop after the new rankings come out
later this week.
In week 7 against Miami, when Tebow was sacked 7 times and
hit much more, the Broncos ranked dead last in the NYLPI. The NYLPI for the
Bronco’s in the Miami game was a horrendous -25.6.
I blame Orlando Franklin and Tebow’s style of play for how badly
we are at protecting the QB. Franklin needs to be successful on his blocks to
give Tebow time to throw the ball. Franklin may be a great run blocker, but
when protecting the pass he does not know what to do. Tebow needs to release
the ball quicker. He spends too much time waiting to see an open receiver. If
he can throw the ball quicker, he will help his offensive line protect him.
I would like to see Tebow given more of a chance to succeed
and I think if he had the right players around him he would be a good QB. Given
that, if the Bronco’s do not have the opportunity to draft Stanford QB Andrew
Luck, they should go with another Stanford player in the first round: Offensive
Guard, David DeCastro. DeCastro is the best offensive lineman in college, and
you can see how well Luck has done playing behind him. Sure, he’s not the glamorous
pick in the draft. But he has potential to be a ten year all-pro guard and
could solidify our offensive line for years to come.
What’s Next?
The Broncos travel to Oakland next week in an AFC West rivalry game that
should be interesting. Oakland will start QB Carson Palmer for the first time
this season after Palmer had a two week crash course in the Oakland playbook.
Palmer looked awful in his first game in Oakland when he replaced back-up Kyle
Boller. Oakland has a lot of potential to make a run at the playoffs, but their
recent struggles at QB have made them look pretty inept. They will be looking
to get back to their winning ways against a bad Denver team. Look for them to rough Denver up with their
offensive line and to see more sacks of Tebow from the strength of their
defensive line. Next weekend might be another dismal day in Broncos Country.
Beer of the Week:
The Resinous Rye IPA brewed by The Mountain Sun has been on tap at The Southern Sun recently and is one of my go-to beers. As the name implies, it has a strong, piney taste with lots of hop. It that makes you feel like you're drinking a forest.
Drew Litton Comic of
the Week:
Congrats to the Cardinals for beating the Rangers in the World Series!
Rapids Thoughts of
the Week:
The ball never bounced the Rapid’s way this week. Despite
winning their wildcard playoff game against Columbus 1-0, the Rapids lost
defender Jamie Smith to a torn ACL. In the first game of the semi-finals
against Sporting Kansas City the Rapids then proceeded to lose Caleb Folan, Kosuke
Kimura and Drew Moor to injury and Tyrone Marshall (who replaced Kimura) to a
red card ejection that resulted in a penalty kick for KC. The Rapids lost 2-0
at home and now have a two goal deficit to overcome when they travel to Kansas
City on Wednesday. The ‘Pids starting 11 will likely be missing more than a
quarter of their regular line-up and will be playing with a much depleted back
field. Things are not looking good for the Rapid’s hopes of defending the cup.
The Rapids must score atleast two more goals than KC does in the match to move
on to the conference finals.
In the wildcard match against the Columbus Crew the Rapids
played a beautiful game. They were able to hold possession, played fantastic on
defense and one of our forwards, Omar Cummings, got
his first playoff goal. The goal was set up by Brian Mullan and Kosuke
Kimura. Mullan passed right to Kimura in the box, and Cummings looked as if he
were just loitering in front of the goal with no defenders near him. Kimura was
about to cross the ball, but then spotted Cummings and got him the ball on a
short pass that he then sank into the back of the net, just seconds before the
end of the half.
Brian Mullan was clearly the man of the match, proving why
he has 5 MLS cup rings on his fingers. He played aggressively to the ball and
created many great scoring opportunities, including the goal from Cummings.
Mullan appears to be at his best once the playoffs start.
“This is when the
body’s banged up, but this is when you can tell everyone’s putting their heart
into it,” Mullan said of the playoffs. “That just makes it more pleasurable.”
Omar Cummings celebrates his goal by "Tebowing"
With the away-portion
of the Kansas City series on Wednesday, the Rapids are going to have to show
that they have depth in their roster to overcome the injuries to key players.
Wells Thompson, Scott Palguta and Ross LeBauex will all have to step up their
play. The forwards will also have to attack much more aggressively than they
have been this season. Omar Cummings, Sanna Nyassi and Macoumba Kandji will
need to score at least three goals to keep the Rapid’s season alive, as they
cannot afford to rely on goals from the midfielders anymore. Nyassi has had a
couple great scoring chances in the playoffs, especially against Columbus but
missed wide each time. He is going to have to be patient with his shots and
wait for the best opportunity, and hopefully can produce another hat-trick game
like earlier in the year against New York.
Thankfully, the Rapids
have encountered this situation before in the season and gotten through it in
the CCL against El Salvador. The ’Pids lost at home against El Salvador but
came back to win the series against them on the road with a 3-1 victory in
Latin America. That Rapid’s team was also playing without many of their
starters and in a very hostile environment.
“We just have to move
on and hopefully go back there and stick it to them,” said forward Macoumba
Kandji. “It’s definitely not over. We are going to go there flying because it
may be our last game of the season or we can try to get a win and move on.”
Other MLS Playoff Thoughts of the Week:
Fake Salt Lake surprised The Flounders by dominating them 3-0 at Rio
Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City. It’s too bad one of these teams has to win. I
really don’t like either of them. But I guess I’ll be rooting for the Flounders
to get a surprise victory over FSL by at least three points when the game goes
back to Seattle.
World Series Thoughts
of the Week:
The Cardinals and Rangers played in a World Series that is became
one of the most exciting and intriguing championships in recent history. It had
everything from record setting homeruns and RBI’s to coaching errors, to great
comebacks and great starting pitching, and it all culminated in game 7. I had
been hoping the series went to seven games and then went to extra innings. I
didn’t quite get my wish, but game 6 sure gave a thrilling scene for extra
innings.
Even Cardinal's fans got to 'Tebow'
In Game 6 the Cardinals were facing elimination in the
bottom of the ninth inning, down 7-5. With two men on base, David Freese was
down to his last strike. All the Rangers needed to do was throw one pitch to
get him out. Instead he hit a triple deep into the outfield to tie the game
7-7. The Ranger’s were not about to give up that easily and in the top of the
10th inning Hamilton hit a two run homerun of their own to go ahead
9-7. Surely they would be able to not let the Cardinals score in their half of
the inning and go on to win their first championship? But the Rangers refused
to pitch to Albert Pujols and intentionally walked him (rightfully so, after
his three run homerun game that made history in game 3), to bring the tying run
to the plate. As fate would have it, the Rangers were again one strike away
from winning the series. But then Lance Berkman hit a monster shot into the
stands. Tie game, 9-9 and the St. Louis fans were going nuts. In the 11th
inning St. Louis didn’t let the Rangers score, and in the Cardinals half of the
inning David Freese again became the hero. David Freese grew up in Missouri
rooting for the Cardinals and had all his boy-hood dreams come true in his
at-bat in the bottom of the 11th. He hit a homerun into straight
away centerfield to win Game 6 by a score of 10-9 and kept the series alive.
St. Louis went on to win everything the next night in a game
where the Rangers were essentially shutdown. A heart breaking loss for the
Rangers who came so close in two different at-bats in game six. But a fantastic
comeback by the Cardinals, as they had done all season long. Congratulations go
out to St. Louis. This was a World Series to be remembered for a long time.
The Colorado affiliate in the Arizona Fall League, The
Salt River Rafters, are 15-9 with three weeks left to go. In-fielder Nolan Arenado is looking
good with a .377 batting average, 5 homeruns, and 24 RBI’s. All of which
are in the top three of the league. The Rockies have a lot to hope for in their
young third baseman.
Avalanche Thoughts of
the Week:
The Avalanche fell back to earth this week, losing two out
of three games, including their first road loss to Calgary 4-2. Colorado did
manage to get their first
win of the season at the Pepsi Center in Denver, beating LA 3-2 in a close
game. Going into the game against LA, the Avalanche held the NHL’s best road
record of 6-1-0 but was the only team to not secure a point at home all season.
Thankfully forward Matt Duchene, who has struggled to find his game all season,
scored the winning goal.
“It was a big one. The biggest part is, it was able to be
the game-winner, and give a ton of credit to all the boys for playing so well
in the last minutes there,” said Duchene of his goal.
Last season Duchene had a slow start to the season as well
but finished strong, he led the Avs with 27 goals scored in 2010. This season
Duchene has been relegated to play on the third line, but is beginning to start
showing flashes of what he is capable of with the game winning goal.
This week the Avalanche also lost at the Pepsi Center to
Edmonton 3-1. Edmonton passed the Avalanche to take the lead in the Northwest
division with their victory. The Avalanche are still ranked 5th in
the conference, with 14 points.
TV Thoughts of the Week:
Last spring, the end of season 4 of Chuck really disappointed me. It seemed the writers were just trying to get a new gimmic, and that they wrapped up all the story lines so fast that there was no closure. Needless to say, I didn't have high hopes for the final season of Chuck.
But the premiere of season 5 sure was a treat! Great writing and acting as you have come to expect from Chuck. Plus this episode sets up a great story line for the show, and continues it's emphasis on developing Chuck as a character, spy and husband. I'm really excited for Chuck to be back on the air, as it's one of the best shows I've ever seen!
Once Upon a Time premiered in the last few weeks and stars Jennifer Morrison (from House) as Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White, who will break the curse the evil witch placed on all of them. The show is a fairy-tale set in the modern world with all the characters we knew growing up, like Jimmeny Cricket and Prince Charming. I was hopeful this show would be great, and two episodes into the season I think it will be. I think it has the potential to be another hit show like Lost, or a show that will give us a few great seasons like Heroes and then fizzle out from lack of plot lines.
