Must Sweep Beer Boys

Yesterday at this time, my feeling was pretty much that the Rockies needed to sweep the Milwaukee Brewers if they wanted to make the playoffs. And today, after the Rockies won and the Braves lost last night, I still kind of think they need to sweep the Brewers in order to avoid a play-in game with the Braves.

Say the Rockies don't sweep the Brewers, and head into the weekend with their magic number at 2. The Rockies are playing the Dodgers, who they apparently can't beat, and the Braves have the Washington Nationals, unquestionably the worst team in MLB. Will there be a combination of Rockies wins and Braves losses adding up to more than one in those circumstances? Hmmm. . . maybe, but to be on the safe side, they had better win all three against the Brewers at home.

The '09 Rockies seemed determined to make it as interesting as possible. There were people who called the wildcard for the Rockies on August 24, after Ryan Spilborghs' grand slam beat the Giants in the 14th inning. And yet, they let the Giants stay close for another four weeks. With the Giants finally vanquished, here are the Braves out of nowhere, poised to steal Colorado's spot in the playoffs unless they play good baseball this week.

But I Liked Captain Kangaroo

Quote from Bob Schaffer, chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, on President Barack Obama's speech to schoolchildren on Tuesday:

"This was an arrogant abuse of power, an abuse of the executive office. Barack Obama should remember that he is commander in chief, not Captain Kangaroo."

Everybody Wants a Thrill

So the wife was at quilt night and I was left at home flipping through lame summer programming. I wound up on what was apparently the pilot episode of "Glee" on FOX, which made me think, "Hasn't the High School Musical phenomenon died out by now?" Apparently, it hasn't. But I digress.

The episode climaxes with the kids performing an over-the-top version of "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey to an empty auditorium. We discussed this in the morning - what is the deal with that song? Why is it making a huge comeback?

When we were on the Pioneer Trek this summer, the youths would break out in song from time to time on the trail. One of their selections was - you guessed it - "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. My first thought was - I didn't know that our pioneer ancestors were familiar with Steve Perry. But he is just old enough that they very well might have been.

The song came out in 1981 - so it's even slightly before my time. And yet, here were teenagers in 2009 belting out the lyrics like we were on some sort of wilderness American Idol. The equivalent for me, as a teenager, would have been walking around with my friends belting out one of the top hits of 1956, such as "Love Me Tender." Which didn't happen.

Anyways, I happened to spot an entire article on the internet that same day which explored the resurgence of this song. So apparently we haven't been the only ones wondering about this.

Worst Case Scenario - 2009 Broncos

1. The Broncos bumble through the entire season, going something like 4-12, which would be their worst showing since 1982.

2. Kyle Orton and Chris Simms get about the same amount of playing time, and by the end of the year, Bronco fan is convinced that Tom Brandstater is as good as any other QB the Broncos have.

3. Peyton Hillis once again leads the Broncos in rushing with 377 yards for the season.

4. Brandon Marshall and the Broncos extend their standoff throughout the entire season.

5. The defense allows over 400 points for the season once again, and there is talk of Mike Nolan being fired.

6. Robert Ayers proves to be the second coming of Jarvis Moss, and Bronco fan is horrified to realize that Josh McDaniels traded away the #5 overall pick in the 2010 draft for the right to draft Alphonso Smith in the second round in 2009.

7. Josh McDaniels officially changes his name to Josh McBelichick and trades Champ Bailey to Kansas City for Matt Cassel.

8. The Bears go 12-4, win the NFC North, and advance to the Super Bowl. Jay Cutler is the NFC Pro Bowl starter at quarterback.

9. Mike Shanahan decides to take another year off and continues to be a drain on Pat Bowlen's bank account.

10. Shannon Sharpe falls short of admission to the Hall of Fame for the second year in a row. Dick LeBeau makes it as a senior committee candidate, but Floyd Little is denied.

That would be a pretty bleak season. But you have to ask yourself - which is more realistic, the best case or the worst case?

Best Case Scenario - 2009 Broncos

So I've been pondering the upcoming football season. I'm not quite sure how the Broncos are going to do. But I think it's either going to be a) bad or b) not quite as bad as people thought. Even though I wrote the previous tongue-in-cheek post about the schedule, I'm pretty sure this won't be a season to remember, given everything that has transpired over the past 9 months.

So here is what I think is the best case scenario for the 2009 Broncos:

1. The Broncos finish up on a bit of a win streak, but fall short of the playoffs at 9-7.

2. Kyle Orton passes for something like 3,200 yards and 22 touchdowns and is consistent enough to keep the number of Denver-based Chris Simms enthusiasts relatively low.

3. Knowshon Moreno rushes for 1,200 yards and proves himself to be worth the #12 overall pick.

4. Brandon Marshall stops acting like a BM at some point during the season.

5. The defense manages to hold the opposition to under 350 points for the season and ensures that the Broncos will make it through one offseason without firing their defensive coordinator.

6. Defensive rookies Robert Ayers and Alphonso Smith show flashes of stardom.

7. Josh McDaniels realizes at some point during the season that he doesn't work for Bill Belichick anymore.

8. The Bears go 7-9, miss the playoffs. Jay Cutler throws a lot of TD passes, but just as many interceptions.

9. Mike Shanahan takes a coaching job with another NFL team so that Pat Bowlen gets out of paying his salary.

10. Shannon Sharpe and Floyd Little are both elected to the Hall of Fame class of 2010, which will take a bit of the sting out of this whole McDaniels/Cutler saga and give Broncos fans something to be happy about.

The next post will be a worst case scenario.