Denver Broncos 2019 Outlook

The two biggest changes in 2019 are new head coach Vic Fangio and new quarterback Joe Flacco. Fangio has received good reviews thus far, but he's still unproven as a head coach. Flacco has a nice resume, but he's also 34 years old.

Otherwise, this is more or less the same team that went 6-10 last year. They've added some veteran help in the secondary, so the defense figures to continue to be solid. Most of the question marks are on the offensive side. Will the offensive line perform any better? Will any tight ends be able to stay on the field? Is Emmanuel Sanders healthy? How will RB Phillip Lindsay perform coming off a Pro Bowl rookie season? Will any of their young talent, such as Royce Freeman, Noah Fant, or Courtland Sutton, break through to stardom?

My guess is that we'll be disappointed in the answers to some of those questions. However, if Fangio's leadership and Flacco's experience make a difference, we could be in for a nice surprise. It's not out of the question that we could see their record flip to 10-6 in 2019.

And really, who are the insurmountable threats in the AFC, beyond the Chiefs and the Patriots? Are you really terrified of anyone else? The new-look Jets? The Titans or Texans? The Luck-less Colts? The Steelers and old man Roethlisberger? The San Diego Los Angeles Trash Cans? Some are expecting the Browns to make a leap forward, but are you sure about that?

Sure, a couple of really good teams will emerge as the season goes along, but we don't know who those are just yet. So why wouldn't you give the Broncos a shot at a wildcard spot?

If they can get to Thanksgiving at 6-5, they're definitely in the mix with three home dates in December. But if Flacco gets off to a rough start, people are going to get impatient really quick and the Broncos could be drafting in the top 10 next year.

Honestly, I think it seems like this year will be a modest improvement to 8-8. They'll look really good at times but will also lose some that they shouldn't, and will likely fall short of the playoffs in what looks to be a tough AFC West.

Yay College Football...Not

I'm a sports fan and have been for a very long time. And yet for many years I haven't been able to match others' enthusiasm for college football. I have co-workers who keep up on not only what is happening with their favorite college teams but teams across the country. I'm the reverse. Not only do I have no idea what is going on with teams across the country but also I have no idea on how "my teams" are doing. It would be great if I did know, because it can be a useful conversation piece in business or social settings, but I just don't have the time or interest level.

I get it. College fans are passionate about their teams and that can add some spice that you don't get at an NFL game. And I don't begrudge Michigan fans for packing the big house or Auburn-Alabama their rivalry or Notre Dame their tradition. There's just nothing out there in the college football landscape that has a hold on me.

As a kid, I was primarily interested in college football because...more sports! Even the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl brought to you by Raycom Sports seemed intriguing. New Year's Day was truly a holiday with games that seemed important stacked from morning to night. Of all the national powerhouses, the U of Miami Hurricanes were probably my favorite.

My apex of college fandom was probably 1989 to 1991, when my home state Colorado Buffaloes were contending for national championships and Heisman-winner Ty Detmer was quarterbacking the BYU Cougars. It seemed like a Christmas tradition to spend an evening watching the Cougars play in the SeaWorld Holiday Bowl. And the main event was New Year's night when CU took on Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. I loved CU running the wishbone and BYU throwing the ball all over the field. And Bill McCartney and LaVell Edwards. And both were underdogs situated in the Rocky Mountain West.

I maintained a fairly healthy interest throughout the rest of the 1990s. I attended BYU from 1999 to 2001, which coincided with their transition to the new Mountain West conference. During my last year at BYU, they made a run at an undefeated season, starting 12-0 before getting hammered out in Hawaii and in their bowl game...which was similar to their 1990 campaign. It was kind of fun, hearing the roar of the crowd in our apartment on a Saturday fall evening and the excited anticipation for each game around campus.

In later years, their primary rival got an offer to jump to the Pac-10 and left them behind, so BYU ditched the Mountain West to be an Independent. Nowadays they spend their time playing Central Massachusetts Tech and Nevada State before losing the Holy War and playing in some low-level bowl game, and it just seems kind of pointless. What's the reason for me to care about BYU football, especially when they ditched all the former WAC and Mountain West rivals (Wyoming, CSU, Air Force) that are within two hours of my house? I'm not going to go see them play anywhere else.

CU also got all pretentious and went to the Pac-10 because they were too awesome for us poor rubes here in flyover country. Honestly, I hate CU now and delight whenever their football program is a disaster. I have no affiliation with them other than I was once a kid who thought it was cool that a team from his home state rose to national prominence. I can't quite reconcile the two.

I never much cared about CSU, and so I'm not going to start liking them now. So what other teams are out there for me to care about? I guess it could be NC State since I went to graduate school there, but it's much too far away for me to get caught up in very much.

And so that's my little rant about college football. I wish I cared. But I don't.

Random Amazon Video Watches

So many choices on Amazon Prime. Sometimes you just got to stop the scrolling and pick something. Here are reviews of some of my recent finds:

High School U.S.A.
It's really not very good. It was made-for-TV in the 80's and it shows. But there are familiar faces galore, covering everything from Gilligan's Island to Diff'rent Strokes to Wings. And it's not the only cheaply made 80's movie with Michael J. Fox and Nancy McKeon as a romantic pairing. (Also see: Poison Ivy) Plus, apparently those two dated in real life back in the day...news to me. The question is, why didn't NBC ever work out a deal for Alex P. Keaton and Jo Polniaczek to meet up on either Family Ties or The Facts of Life?

Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Pretty low-budget. It came out two years after Cyndi Lauper's song of the same title, and yet the movie uses a different version for its soundtrack. Basically, this movie is Footloose, but in Chicago. And it's Sarah Jessica Parker instead of Kevin Bacon. She just moved to the Windy City and wants to audition for "Dance TV" which just so happens to be filmed there. But her strict military father keeps close tabs on her comings and goings and so...that's not going to be easy. Helen Hunt plays her best friend but seems a little old to be playing a high school role. Speaking of people too old to be playing high school roles, keep an eye out for a young Shannen Doherty in this one. Anyways, the movie is not terrible but also there are reasons this isn't in the conversation of great 80's teen flicks.

Stranger Than Fiction
This was a re-watch, though it has been several years since I saw it the first time. Will Ferrell plays an IRS auditor who doesn't realize he's a character in a book being written by Emma Thompson. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a bakery owner he's auditing. Dustin Hoffman is the college professor who's talking him through the dilemma. I find certain parts relatable - there aren't many good accounting movies out there - things like "is this a seven or a nine?" and being handed a box of trash/receipts. Will Ferrell does well in a role that's a departure from his typical goofball fare. I'm not well acquainted with her other work beyond say, The Dark Knight, but Maggie Gyllenhaal is great in this movie. Also keep an eye out for Queen Latifah and Buster from Arrested Development.

She's Having a Baby
A lesser-known John Hughes movie from the 80's, although not about teenagers. Apparently it didn't do well at the box office - the title is a little misleading. You might think "chick flick" but it's really more of a male-driven story. Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern are Jake and Kristy Briggs, a young married couple who settle in Chicago. The story focuses more on Jake, who is the typical guy who doesn't really know what he wants to do or if he's ready for family life and her parents don't really approve of him. The movie is definitely from the 80's and shows its age a little bit, but I was surprised how many things made me smile. My favorite characters were probably his neighbors. "You know what I like about you, Briggsy? Your wife, and your lawnmower." I won't spoil anything other than to say that the film carries an uplifting, pro-marriage message. That said, it's not exactly wholesome family fare (PG-13) although to be honest no kid under the age of about 20 would have any interest in this movie. Alec Baldwin plays their "friend" who is kind of a slimeball - probably wasn't much of a stretch for him. The rest of the cast is filled with familiar but not famous faces so you can also spend time trying to figure out what you've seen them in before.

Another Fantasy Lament

I thought this would be the year I had a good fantasy team. I actually spent some of my time on Labor Day into preparing for the draft. And I managed some good fortune when I wound up with the #1 overall pick. Of course I went with Todd Gurley. And that's worked out fine for me.

But otherwise this season has been a disaster. I went 4-9 and missed the playoffs. I had some bad luck in my weekly matchups and finished with the second-most points against in the leauge. Not that I've done that well offensively - the average fantasy score is 120 and I've only exceeded that four times (and I lost two of those).

My draft was a disaster:

2nd round (20) - Rob Gronkowski. He's only reached double digits three weeks, and only exceeded 20 once, in week 1. Not good value for that pick.

3rd round (21) - LeSean McCoy. Only five double digit performances, only one time over 20, and I missed on benefitting from most of those because I had him benched. An awful pick by me.

4th round (40) - Doug Baldwin. Also awful. Dropped him after week 2 and that was actually a good move.

5th round (41) - Jarvis Landry. A decent pick, I guess. He's returned appropriate value at 12 points per week, but nothing spectacular.

6th round (60) - Chris Hogan. Terrible pick. He had one good game, in week 2, but I dropped him after week 4.

7th round (61) - Corey Davis. An okay pick, had a couple of games of 20+ points, but he wasn't in my lineup for either one.

8th round (80) - Devin Funchess. Dropped him after week 3 because he was on a bye and never had a compelling reason to bring him back.

9th round (81) - Carlos Hyde. He was actually pretty decent, with four straight double digit games to start the year. Then he was traded to Jacksonville, his value disappeared, and I dropped him after week 6.

10th round (100) - Cooper Kupp. I'll say it was actually a decent pick, but he missed a few games mid season before being lost for the season.

11th round (101) - Drew Brees. A good value - top 5 quarterback for the year. He had a couple of bad weeks, which both came on weeks I lost but might have won with a better QB performance.

No brilliant free agent pickups to make up for any of the crappy choices either. Tyler Boyd was the only decent one. He's produced at 15 per since I picked him up after week 4.

So oh well. Better luck next year.

The Kid Who Didn't Think He Liked Sports

I went to my first professional sporting event in June 1983. My dad, my grandma, and I took a road trip to Dallas, Texas that summer to visit my aunt and uncle and they treated us to a night at the ballpark. Thanks to the internet, I can pinpoint exactly what game it was because I can remember my dad talking about how we saw Jack Morris pitch. There were some other significant names playing that night: Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson, Alan Trammell, Bucky Dent...but at the time I couldn't have cared less. I think we left the game early and for most of my life I've felt bad because I thought maybe I was being too big of a pill. But now that I look back, the Rangers were down 7-0 in the fourth inning and 12-1 by the seventh inning stretch so maybe that's why we bailed.

My interests in the summer of 1983 and the following school year were primarily the following:

1. Star Wars
2. Star Wars
3. Star Wars
4. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
5. Dukes of Hazzard
6. Star Wars

And I think that was pretty much it. After all, this was the same summer that Return of the Jedi was released. I spent tons of time with my Star Wars action figures during this time frame and thinking of how I could acquire more of them.

My mom, however, felt I needed to socialize with others and signed me up for a program called "Kid Wrestling" in which you were dropped off at the strange, unfamiliar high school and were taught the principles of grappling. Again, I couldn't have cared less what they were talking about. I wasn't the aggressive type, so what was the need to learn combat techniques? Mostly I spent the time worrying that they would make me wrestle one of the big mean kids. I must have sufficiently expressed my displeasure as I don't remember going to very many practices and or the big "tournament" - whatever the heck that was. Thank goodness. Who wants to waste a Saturday on that?

But I wasn't completely off the hook. After school let out for the summer, my mom signed me up for T-ball. Didn't anyone understand that I was happy just playing Star Wars and riding my bike around? I can remember the very first practice I went to - I knew nothing about baseball. I think they asked all the kids if they wanted to play outfield or infield. I chose outfield, which was a pretty good choice for a kid who didn't know anything about the game and didn't care to learn. I remember the weather at the first practice: windy, cold, overcast. When would it be time to go home?

I guess I went to more practices and a few games although I'm sure I also skipped as many as I could get away with. My parents tell one story about my team from that T-ball season. An opponent smashed a long drive to the outfield and we all just watched it go. The coaches yelled for us to get the ball and so the entire team took off running to the outfield to retrieve it.

Later that summer was the famous 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. I remember the Olympics being on TV but don't think I watched very much of them. I have a vague memory of going to watch the torch as it passed through our town on US Highway 285. I sometimes wonder if that really happened. Because why on earth were the Olympics routing the torch through our tiny remote town? But based on this, apparently it did happen. Click "facts and figures" on that page to see the route map.

I remember my dad sometimes laying on the floor and watching college football or a baseball game on television. Sometimes I'd sit and watch for a few minutes and maybe ask who was playing. But that was about as far as it went.

The Denver Broncos were always on the periphery. Sometimes they were on television, but it was no more significant to me than an episode of Knots Landing being on TV. On October 15, 1984 (34 years ago tomorrow) the Broncos were hosting Green Bay on Monday Night Football and it was dumping down snow in Denver. The Broncos improbably returned two fumbles for touchdowns on each of the Packers' first two plays from scrimmage. I remember my dad being kind of excited, but as for me it wasn't really any more significant than what we were eating for dinner that night.

And so I tell you all this so you can understand where I was with respect to sports in October 1984. Check back for the next post - "The Awakening".

Z List: Favorite Fruits

I recently learned that there is a difference between "botanical fruits" and "culinary fruits". The only fruits getting consideration are "culinary" so we don't need to get into a discussion about whether or not tomatoes are a fruit. Can we be done with that, by the way? Tomatoes, although wonderful, are a vegetable.

Ten. Pear. When I started thinking about this list, I expected pears to come out much higher. Now don't get me wrong: I love a nice, juicy pear that you have to eat over a sink. But what else do you do with a pear? You don't eat it on cereal or with ice cream. There's no market for pear juice. And it's going to lose 9 out of 10 times head to head against an apple or a peach.

Nine. Orange. You can't have a list without the orange, partially due to orange juice, the queen of all fruit juices. I do love a good orange, but it's hard to rank it higher because it's so hard to find a good one. Most end up being too bland or pulpy so I usually don't bother. If I could eat a good orange every day they would probably be much higher. But until I move to citrus country. . .

Eight. Banana. They are very portable and widely available, but one day they are too green and the next too brown, because you missed the 12-hour window of perfectness. Bananas are at their best as part of something else: banana bread, banana split, banana cream pie, banana in your cereal or your fruit salad. And have you ever heard anyone say, wow, that was the best banana I ever had? Nope. They're all about the same. Maybe it's different if you live close to the Equator.

Seven. Pineapple. A really good pineapple is quite the treat. The only problem is the amount of cutting you need to do and the fact that your mouth hurts if you eat too much. Some cursory research told me that it's because pineapple contains bromelain, an protein-digesting enzyme. So the bromelain actually digests the soft skin inside your mouth. Solution? Grill it, which neutralizes the bromelain and is another great way to enjoy pineapple.

Six. Strawberry. Like the banana, strawberries seem to be best as a complement. Strawberry shortcake. Strawberry milkshake. Strawberry jam. Chocolate-covered strawberries. Special K with red berries. But does anyone sit down to eat a bowl of strawberries? Not really. One or two and I've usually had enough.

Five. Cantaloupe. My favorite of the melons. More flavor than the honeydew and easier to deal with than the watermelon. Great texture, taste, and color. Scooping out the seeds in the middle is very satisfying. Plus I like the ridgy rind, which makes it easy to hold in one hand like a mini-basketball. Although the surface of a cantaloupe is apparently a known carrier of salmonella and other bacteria. So...wash before you cut I guess.

Four. Cherry. Even with the seed, it's like 10x better than its bite-size rival, the grape. The seed is not a huge problem for me. Just eat it and spit out the seed when you're done. I don't know if I'll ever make a favorite ice cream list, but if I did, the black cherry variety would come out on top. Plus, what is always the best flavor of any medicine? It's cherry.

Three. Apples. I never expected apples to come out so high, partially due to all the bad ones I've eaten outside of apple season. But the apple is possibly the most versatile of all fruits. Apple pie. Apple juice. Apple cider. Applesauce. Carmel apple. Apple crisp. Candy apple. Apple butter. Apple fritter. Put it on your fruit salad, in your pancakes, or serve it with peanut butter. I sound like the shrimp guy on Forest Gump.

Two. Blueberry. I've really been on a blueberry thing lately. I have a bowl of blueberries with vanilla yogurt and granola and it is super good. An even better breakfast though, is the blueberry pancake. I love how it breaks open and spreads its warm berry goodness. Same effect with the blueberry muffin. Also I prefer the Oregon Blueberry shake at Good Times. I have nothing negative to say about the blueberry. It's what all berries should aspire to be.

One. Peach. If you put the best version of every one of these fruits out on a table, I'm grabbing the peach. That's the test. Also, peach cobbler > apple crisp and peaches 'n cream > strawberries 'n cream. I realize it's much easier to acquire fresh peaches in Colorado than some of the other fruits on the list, so I'm probably a little biased in that respect, but until the citrus growers association ships me a crate of fresh oranges FedEx in an attempt to change my mind, I'll just sit and eat my peaches.

Adventures in Teaching Primary

At church, I teach a primary class of kids 7 and 8 years old. Sometimes things go as planned, but often they don't. Last Sunday, I was teaching them about shepherds and sheep - as in Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and how he said that a good shepherd would leave the ninety and nine and go after the one that was lost. The manual offered a rendering of a sheep, and suggested making one for each member of the class and to write their name on it, both for those that come regularly and those that do not, to illustrate the concept of each of us being one of Jesus' fold.

First of all, check out this sheep. If you fell asleep while counting sheep and then woke up in the middle of the night and found this staring at you, would you be going back to sleep that night?

I think not.

I finished my prepared material a little early and I kind of had in my back pocket one of the suggested enrichment activities where the children could write a note to the absent class members telling them that they were missed at primary. And since I had a little sheep of paper with each person's name, I figured it would be easy enough to just use that to write the note on.

I second-guessed myself almost immediately, because is that rude, to deliver a note to someone with a sheep on it, implying that they have gone astray because they missed one Sunday?

But the activity was already underway. At least I know that I explained it well enough that one of my kids "got it":

Some kids didn't quite have the right tone:

And then there was this one:

So yeah, I decided not to deliver these. But they provided some good entertainment.