The South Stander Edition 2

Broncos Thoughts of the Week:

The Offensive Line is key to the success of a quarterback. For Tim Tebow to be successful in his passing game, the offensive line is going to have to really improve and start better protecting the QB. Players on the Offensive Line are very difficult to evaluate individually. Instead, the offensive line needs to be evaluated as a unit, because they need to work together for a successful run game and for protecting their QB. This week, I have been pouring over O-Line stats to try to figure out exactly how the Bronco's line is doing because I have been very critical of them all season.

I was surprised by the offensive line passing statistics for the Broncos. I have felt the line hasn't been giving our QB enough protection all year and forcing Orton to scramble or hurry his passes. The closest statistic that I could find to represent this is 'QB Hits'. This stat tells how many times the QB gets hit after throwing the ball. This stat represents the amount of pressure on a QB, as a result of his offensive line. Denver ranks second in the league, allowing only 17 hits on the QB and is tied for sixth in the NFL for fewest sacks with 9.

I have tried to find the number of times a QB has been 'hurried', or forced to throw the ball before he wants to without getting hit. This stat does not seem to exist for a QB, only for hurries caused by defensive players.

I did, however, find The New York Life Protection Index. This statistic is a measure of how much the offensive line protects the QB and is based off of pass attempt, o-line penalties, sacks, QB hits and hurries. Denver ranks right in the middle of the league at #13 with an index rating of 66.2. As for why an insurance company calculates this statistic...I have no idea!

These stats show that the offensive line is doing a good job at protecting the quarterback. They aren't allowing many defensive players to get to the quarterback. This really surprised me because I felt that the offensive line was doing a terrible job at this, but I think this shows that Kyle Orton was playing much worse than I thought he was. I'm glad to see our line is doing an average job protecting the QB.

	Sks Allwd	QB Hits	NYLPI
DEN	9	17	66.2
NFL Rank	6 (tied)	2	13

The other job of the offensive line is to block and create holes for the running game. The Broncos running game is greatly improved over last season for a few reasons. First, running back Willis McGhee is a great addition and a powerful, fast back. Second, the addition of Orlando Franklin at right tackle has improved the running game. And third, the whole line has more experience playing together and are looking more comfortable in their positions. Denver has rushed for 509 yards on the season, averaging about 100 yards per game. Compared to last season when we barely had any running games over 100 yards, this is a great improvement.

The offensive line can still improve their blocking in short yardage runs on 3rd or 4th down. As shown in the table below by the power (Pwr) statistic. This stat gives the percentage of runs that are successful in getting a first down or touchdown on 3rd or 4th down and less than 2 yards to go and includes 1st and 2nd down and goal to go on the 2 yard line or less. The Broncos have 0% completion on these plays running to the left or the center. They only have a 67% completion running to the right. This shows that on these plays Denver will be more likely to run right, Orlando Franklin's side, to try to get the first down. To keep drives alive we need to get better in these situations running to the left and center.

Rush Left
1st	Neg	+10Y	Pwr
9	3	5	0
Rush Right
1st	Neg	+10Y	Pwr
9	3	7	67
Rush Center
1st	Neg	+10Y	Pwr
8	5	4	0

Beer of the Week:

The Twisted Pine Pumpkin Ale is one of my favorite beers of all time. It tastes like autumn. It tastes like a pumpkin pie that was made with beer. It tastes like all the best desert at thanksgiving. If you ask nicely The Pine will even add whipped cream and cinnamon on top of your pint to help you enjoy it even more. Now, what beer could possibly be better than that?

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Drew Litton Comic of the Week:


In honor of the Avalanche's great start (below), here is a classic Drew Litton Comic.

Outdoor Thoughts of the Week:

This week I interviewed to work at REI again. I had been thinking back to my first interview at the store in Portland and trying to remember what it was like. I couldn't remember much except that I was asked "If you could be any piece of outdoors gear, what would you be?" In 2007 I remember I decided on a chalk bag. I don't know why. I don't remember the metaphor I made up for it. But this week I spent a lot of time thinking about this question in preparation for my interview with REI again. Unfortunately, I was never asked to pretend to be a piece of gear this time around.

But I decided on a down jacket. They are very versatile, just like I am. They make the best

back-country pillows ever. You can tie the sleeve around your head to serve as a head band when you sleep to drown out your tent-mate's snoring. They can be crammed into a stuff sack and used as a football. Oh, and they keep you warm. And probably a bunch of other things that I just haven't thought of yet. I make sure to bring mine on nearly any trip I'm going on. It's like a silent friend you cab bring anywhere with you.

Other pieces of gear I debated included: a bivy sac, a carabiner, an ice ax or a sling.

In other outdoor thoughts, make sure to read Brendan Leonard's outdoors blog. This week he gave away some of his best back-country recipes! My favorites include when he mixes mac and cheese with chili or when mac and cheese is mixed with Palak Paneer. I would like to add that I enjoy a healthy serving of cholula mixed with my back-country mac and cheese.

The Mountain Gazette published a great piece on what it's like to go through transitions in your outdoors life as you begin a family. I am currently in the middle of many transitions (though not the starting a family kind!) and it helped me to realize it's okay to put your outdoor passions to the side for a while as you focus on something else (in my case, apply for a crazy amount of jobs every week.) I think that once I'm through these transitions I'm going to start enjoying rock-climbing a lot more. Plus, I'm really excited for the ice to form and get to Ouray this winter!

Finally, here is a great bouldering video from South Africa.

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Rapids Thoughts of the Week:

The Rocky Mountain Cup showdown this weekend ended in a hard fought, 0-0 draw and Real Salt Lake held onto the cup for the fifth straight year despite receiving 4 yellow cards. The Rapids still got a point out of the match, and with the NY Red Bulls loosing on Saturday, the Rapids clinched a wild-card playoff spot.

The Rapids had the majority of scoring chances against Real Salt Lake but could not get anything past the goal keeper. Colorado had 8 shots at the goal, though most of them were off target. Colorado also won five corner kicks to RSL's one. Caleb Folan, the Rapid's big Irish forward, came into the game with 22 minutes remaining and quickly had the best scoring opportunity of the night. In the 82nd minute Kimura launched a cross towards the goal and Folan got his head on it right in front of RSL goal keeper Nick Rimando. Rimando pushed the ball up and over the goal to force a corner kick. On the corner kick, Folan again got his head on the ball. But the ball bounced straight down off the crossbar and onto the goal line and was able to be cleared by the RSL defense.

The Rapids kept their intensity high during the end of the game and kept pressuring RSL. It was good to see the 'Pids hold onto a draw in the final minutes as they have not been able to do much during the season.

After the game The Class VI Rapid's Supporters in section 108 presented Drew Moor and Kosuke Kimura with the offense and defensive player of the year awards. Both had great seasons and

have been fan favorites all year.

The Rapids playoff opponent will be determined by the end of the season next week. The Rapids need a win against Vancouver next week to get a home play off game as the 2nd seeded wildcard team. The Rapids can also clinch the second seed with a Houston loss. The Rapid's will play either Houston, Columbus or NY to begin the playoffs on Oct 28 or 29th.

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TV Thoughts of the Week:

1. I think the new season of House started great. It was fun to see House work his magic in a different and difficult setting. I wish there were going to be more episodes like that.

2. Fox's show, The New Girl, about a socially awkward hippie girl living with three guys she met online, is really fun. I enjoyed the first few episodes and think it's a very refreshing show. Highly recommended.

3. I do not like Robert California on The Office.

4. Will Arnet's new show, Up All Night, is clever. He has a great cast with him and I really like his acting and sense of humor.

5. The three episode "special assignment" of Archer to start season 3 was fantastic. Archer is hands down the best show on TV right.

6. I wish I had Showtime to watch Edward James Olmos on season 6 of Dexter! If I did I would consider it better than Archer.

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Band of the Week:

I recently discovered Publish the Quest while listening to The Dirtbag Diaries on a long drive to the mountains. Publish the Quest is a group from the Pacific North West and their music reminds me of Dispatch mixed with The Cat Empire. It swings, has a great beat and powerful lyrics, a good jam band. I highly recommend their single Sodade. I enjoy the back story of how this song was written in collaboration with musicians from around the world.

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MLB Playoff Thoughts of the Week:

I had hoped Detroit would make the World Series but after loosing two games in the 11th inning off of a walk-off grand slam and a three run homer, both by Cruz, it seemed nearly impossible for Detroit to win the series. Such heart-breaking losses. The Rangers showed their offensive power in Game 6, winning 15-5 and Cruz set a post-season record for home runs in a single series (6). After seeing this game, The Rangers are my new pick to win the World Series. I don't think the Cardinals will be able to keep up with them on offense...but I'm still going to root for the Cardinals to win it all.

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Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:


The Avalanche have jumped up to near the top of ESPN's NHL Power Rankings to begin the third week of the season after being ranked near the bottom. Thanks to an undefeated road trip, the first in franchise history, the Avalanche have the most points in the league (10) and are looking to be the Cinderella story of the season!

Last week the Avalanche embarrassed their former goalie Craig Anderson and his Ottawa Senators by finally finding their offense. The Avs scored 7 goals on Anderson. On their road trip the Avs are 5-0-0, and 5-1-0 on the season.

Thanks to the explosion of offense against Ottawa and a 6-5 win against Montreal, the Avalanche have the 2nd best goal differential in the league with +6. It's still early in the season, but it's nice to see them doing well after such a miserable year in 2010.

On the road trip the Avs also beat the defending cup champions in a 1-0 win, won two exciting shootout games against Columbus and Montreal, and won in OT against Toronto.

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Cheerleader Thoughts of the Week:

One thing that always impressed me about Roller Derby is the creative and fun names the teams have like "The Mile High Club" or "The Philadelphia Liberty Bells".

I recently learned that cheer leading squads around the NFL have more creative names than just "The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" or "The Denver Broncos Cheerleaders". Below is a list of a few of my favorite cheer leading squad names.

The Buffalo Jills

The Cincinnati Ben-Gals

The SF Gold Rush

The Seattle Sea Gals

I think the Broncos cheerleaders need a new name. It needs to be more creative. I propose "The Mile High Fillies". What do you think?

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Sports & Public Health Thoughts of the Week:

Last week ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook wrote a column that implied the increasing number of boys playing football across the country is influencing the admission rate of colleges and universities. Easterbrook states that there are more women attending college than men, a dramatic change from just twenty years ago. He also states that boys play High School Prep football across the country has increased by 21% since 1990 and that football is becoming a year round sport for kids. Easterbrook speculates that the rise in concussions from football is one of the reasons we are seeing more women in college. Easterbrook writes:

"Having ever-more boys being bashed on the head in football, while more play full-pads tackle at young ages, may be causing brain trauma that makes boys as a group somewhat less likely to succeed as students. In the highly competitive race for college admissions, even a small overall medical disadvantage for boys could matter. "

Now, Easterbrook has always been great at advocating for concussion prevention in all his columns. Having worked in childhood injury prevention, I admire his effort and I am glad to see the NFL trying to reduce the number of concussions players suffer (by changing rules and improving protective gear). I do however disagree with Easterbrook on his theory about college admission rates for boys. First, Easterbrook presents no facts other than discussing how the Female:Male ratio in several colleges has increased recently. Second, a ratio and a rate are not the same thing and cannot be compared. Third, a quick Google Scholar search for "concussions and college admissions" provides no research on the subject (even without football). The closest result was concussions and hospital admissions, which obviously is related.

College Enrollment of Recent HS Graduates

Year	Total HS Grads		# Enrolling in College		HS Dropout Rate
	Male	Female	Male	Female
1990	1,173,000	1,189,000	680,340 (58%)	737,180 (62%)	12.1%
2009	1,407,000	1,531,000	928,620 (66%)	1,132,940 (74%)	8.1%

All data presented is from The US Census Bureau and The National Center for Education Statistics.

Had Easterbrook looked at the numbers of boys and girls enrolling in higher education over the last 20 years, he would have seen that the amount of boys and girls enrolling in college has increased dramatically. In 1990 there were 680,340 boys and 737,180 million girls enrolling in college who had just finished high school. By 2009 both those numbers had increased to 928,620 and 1,132,940, respectively. 8% more boys are enrolling in college and 12% more girls are enrolling in college. Also, it should be pointed out that the number of boys enrolled in college has been less than the number of girls enrolled since the 1970s.

More people than ever have been enrolling in colleges. Sure, more girls than boys are going to college but concussions from football have nothing to do with that. Even though more people are enrolling in college than ever, I am curious why the rate of girls enrolling has always remained higher than the rate of boys enrolling. Like I said, I don’t think football has anything to do with it. But it’s an interesting issue that should be studied further.

I think that it would be interesting to follow a cohort of boys throughout their lives and record what sports they play, how many head injuries they receive and high school and college graduation rates. But this doesn't seem feasible or necessary. There does need to be more of a focus in injury prevention, especially in sports. I'm glad to see that football is leading the way with this by changing rules to make players safer and improving equipment to reduce injury. High School football should be especially commended for the efforts they have made to reduce concussions.

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The South Stander

Elwayville finally joins Tebow-Nation.

Broncos Thoughts of the Week:

Tebow-Time!

With Tim Tebow now officially named the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, fans can finally stop beating the dead horse that is Kyle Orton.

Now, I have been a Broncos fan since I was born and always root for whoever is in at quarterback to succeed. I gave my full support to Kyle Orton. I have always thought that he was a very 'smart' quarterback (he made the right reads, put the ball in the right spot...etc). But this season he was just not producing, and against the Chargers on Sunday it seemed Orton had lost his football smarts. Orton completed only 6 passes for 34 yards and one interception. Many of his incomplete passes were balls that should not have been thrown, or badly missed the receiver. I won't put all the blame on Orton though. Denver's offensive line was not giving him much protection and he was constantly under pressure and trying to force a play to happen.

Putting Tebow in at half time and naming him the starter the rest of the season is the right call for Fox/Elway/Xanders. It was time for a change in Denver and it's time for Tebow to have his audition and prove he can be a successful NFL quarterback.

But Tebow didn't do much to silence his critics. Throughout the third quarter Tebow was struggling to complete passes, missing his receivers and badly handling the snap from under center. Again, some blame should be put on the offen

sive line who did not help Tebow much, especially rookie right-tackle Orlando Franklin. Even with all the sloppy play Tebow did manage to rally his team and bring the Broncos to within 2 points. The crowd was electric at Mile High. Tebow's intangibles and leadership are impressive and I hope all the best for him. The game ended on an incomplete hail-mary to the endzone...which had Tebow's pass been caught would have caused celebrations in The Mile High City not seen for years.

For Tebow to make a positive impression on Fox/Elway/Xanders he will have to improve. Here are the Main Keys for Tim Tebow if he wants to be next season's starting QB in Denver.

1. Don't get hurt.

With Tebow's brash style of play and his will to run over any linebacker in his way, he is likely to get hurt running the ball. We saw this happen in his very first preseason game in 2010 against Cincinnati when he collided with two defense-men at the goal line and hurt his ribs. Tebow will need to learn more patience in the pocket instead of trying to make a play with his legs.

2. Complete passes from the pocket.

Tebow will have to start completing his passes from the pocket instead of scrambling outside of it if he wants to be successful and stay healthy. To do this he is going to have to really learn the plays and the receiver's routes and improve his accuracy.

3. Become confident taking snaps under center.

Tebow mis-handled and nearly fumbled three snaps from under center against the Chargers.

Much of this is probably because he was playing with the first string players who he hasn't practiced with and they were not used to his cadences. Hopefully that will improve with practice. But he also needs to improve his drop back from under center to give the offense more weapons.

I hope Tebow proves he's our QB for next season. There's no doubt he's a great leader, athlete and role model. He really makes you want to root for him. If he can prove he's the guy it will make a great story and hopefully lead to the Broncos becoming a play-off caliber team soon. If not, lets hope we get a good QB from the draft.

Where's the Defense?

With all the hoopla surrounding the change at quarterback, it seems to have gotten lost how poorly the defense played against the Chargers. The Denver defense gave up gave up 206 yards rushing and 250 passing to the Chargers and are ranked 25th in total yards allowed by NFL fantasy statistics.

With 3:10 left in the game and the Broncos trailing by only 2 points, the Chargers faced a 3rd down and 10 from their own 20. Denver blitzed everyone. Rivers threw a long pass over the middle to a wide open Flyod, who only had one safety near him. Because of this completion San Diego was able to run the clock down to 24 seconds and add a field goal onto their lead. Had the Denver defense stopped this play (and not committed a costly penalty on the next third down the Chargers faced) the offense and Tebow would have had more time to drive down field and not have to attempt a hail-mary pass. As ESPN's TMQ points out, the average NFL play allows

5 yards and had Denver played a straight defense and not blitzed it's likely they would have stopped San Diego resulting in fourth down and another Bronco's possession with close to 2 minutes left instead of just seconds.

Finally, the Broncos have more problems on D-line. Kevin Vickerson, one of the Broncos starting defensive tackles, was injured in the game and later placed on IR for the season. Our defensive line is already a weak spot on our roster and loosing Vickerson is going to cause lots of problems.

Remember back in the off season when everyone was confused as to why we were not drafting for our D-Line? Vickerson's injury is going to show our lack of depth on defense.

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Beer of the Week

This week's beer is in honor of Kyle Orton for the

effort and competition he put forth with the Broncos for three seasons which are now pretty much over. As I said earlier, there's no point in beating a dead horse...so I give you Dead Horse Amber Ale from the Moab brewery. A delicious blend of hops and malts! Next time you're in Moab, this is the place to go after a day of climbing/mountain biking/rafting!

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Drew Litton Comic of the Week:

If you are a Colorado sports fan and don't know Drew Litton, his comics are classic. Here Drew Litton nicely sums up the Denver Fan's view on Tebow! (With more apologies to Kyle...I really

did have high hopes for him once!)

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Colorado Outdoor thoughts of the Week:

With the weather getting colder and snow appearing on top of the Indian Peak's my thoughts have been turning to my favorite winter sports of ice-climbing and skiing!

The Wolf Creek Ski resort opened this weekend with 44 inches of powder at the beginning of October! Wolf Creek became the second resort in the country to open, with a resort near Vegas opening just minutes before to claim the unofficial title of earliest to open. Though Wolf Creek had 35 more inches of snow and much better skiing! So I give them the prize.

I hope I can make it down there this winter and become a better skier in the process!

So far in this post I have written about skiing and football, two of Colorado's fondest past-times.

This article from the Elwayville column of Elevation Outdoors sums up nicely the two sport's relationship in Colorado. Of Powder and Pigskin.

I also enjoyed an article about a ski boot from the Mountain Gazette. Sometimes a piece of gear really does open new worlds and new selves up for us. I felt that way about my ski boots I

got last year. I hope this year they get more use! Behold the Ski Boot.

And the crazy climber award of the week goes to these guys, who run (or crab walk) up the Flatirons in record time. Seems to me if one person slips, everyone below them might just be screwed. I love climbing, but this is too much risk for me.

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Rapids Thoughts of the week:

The Colorado Rapids are ending their regular season home schedule with the second leg of The Rocky Mountain Cup this Friday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park! The Rocky Mountain Cup is between the Rapid's and their bitter rivals Real Salt Lake who will come in to town and try to prove they are the 'kings of the Rockies'. The Rapids lost the first leg in Salt Lake 1-0 on a stoppage time goal they gave up. For the 'Pids to take the cup home this season they will need to score at least 2 goals more than RSL in the game. The Rapids have been playing well at home recently with a draw to San Jose and a win over FC Dallas. It will be important to finish off the game strong and not allow an equalizing goal in the final minutes of the game, which has been common all season long.

RSL lost their most recent game to a not very good Vancouver team, by a score of 3-0. the game before that they lost the L.A. Galaxy on the road. RSL is hungry for a win, hoping to finish the season on a strong note before the playoffs. It will be key to keep the pressure on Nick Rimando, the RSL goal keeper, through out the night to keep RSL's confidence low.

On top of winning the Rocky Mountain Cup, the Rapids can also clinch a playoff spot with a win over RSL and little help from around the league! Make sure to be there, it will be an exciting game!

The supporters BBQ and activities before the game will be one of the best of the season! Class VI is hosting a pig-roast with some great kegs of local beer to enjoy! There will also be a supporters soccer game on Field 6. Lets make sure to cheer on our fellow supporters as they take on the RSL fans!

Make sure to cheer loud and join in the songs and chants with the rest of the Class VI Supporters in section 108! Finally, If the Rapids are only winning by a single goal this Friday as the clock ticks down - "SCORE US ANOTHER GOAL" will be the message we need to send!

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Cheerleaders and public health thoughts of the week:

The Broncos cheerleaders wore pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As did many of the players on the field. I always think it's great that the NFL does these big awareness campaigns and I hope that it helps to make the fans more aware of the benefits of regular screenings for cancer. It also serves as a great reminder for women to get regular mammograms every October because you can't watch a football game this month with out noticing all the pink! Hopefully it also prompts men to remind the women in their lives to get screened.

The Broncos Cheerleaders put on an emotional halftime show by telling the stories of many survivors of breast cancer and the difficulties they went through. As I said, it's a good reminder for everyone. Make sure you're having regular checkups!

I am curious how effective this campaign by the NFL and Susan G. Komen Foundation is though. I've tried to find research on it, or evaluation write ups and can't find anything documenting the influence this campaign has on breast cancer screenings! NFL, if you're reading this I would love to help with your evaluations.

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My other thoughts from around the NFL:

I think the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills may be the most exciting teams to watch this season. Having spent the last decade in the NFL's basement their fans are excited to see their teams finally winning again. Detroit's stadium was rocking on Monday Night against the Bears and their fans sure deserved it! Detroit also lit up the Bears with a couple big and exciting touchdown plays, and the stadium sounded like it was the playoffs already.

As for Buffalo (#BillsMafia), I think that Ryan Fitzpatrick's rise to success is one of the best stories of the season. He's a smart QB drafted in the 7th round from Harvard who really understands the game. Plus he's a great member of the community and wants to make a life for himself in Buffalo. What would Denver fans do if Tebow hosted a BBQ for his neighborhood every week after the game?

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Who I like in the MLB Championship Series':

Milwaukee and Detroit. Both teams have such great character and are exciting to watch. I'm hoping Detroit wins their series against Texas, but it's not looking good for them after giving up a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning of game 2. Can you imagine how crazy Detroit would be if the Tigers were in the World Series and the Lions were still undefeated? What world are we living in! I take the Brewers in 6 games in The World Series.

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Hockey?

Apparently the NHL season started while I wasn't looking. The Avs beat the Stanley Cup Champs on the road in a shutout win. Our new goalie looked great and so did some of our rookies. Here's hoping they start improving this season.

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