The Associate by John Grisham. Every couple of years, I like to remind myself why I stopped reading his books. And this one was a really good reminder.
I was a big fan back in the nineties, when he first came out. I read all the books, watched most of the movies. But the stuff he writes now is so. . . different. In the last couple of books of his I've read, it seems like when the time comes for the crap to hit the fan, he just flushes the crap instead. Sure, it's nice and clean, but not nearly as exciting. Nowadays, he seems far more interested in preaching his ideals on the legal profession than in writing actual thrillers.
The Associate is Kyle McAvoy. A different name, but basically the same character that stars in every Grisham novel. A wet-behind-the-ears kid, fresh out of law school, who has to take on the world and figure out how to outsmart everyone. He's Mitch McDeere, he's Darby Shaw, he's Rudy Baylor.
Kyle is just finishing up law school at Yale and is planning to work for a public-interest firm after graduation when a bad guy surfaces with a video, secretly taken by a cell phone, which reveals the badwy details of a drunken frat party five years earlier. The video contains evidence that a couple of Kyle's buddies had relations with a girl who may have been unconcious at the time. Although the video contains no evidence than Kyle did anything worse than dancing in the nude, he's shaken that the evidence exists.
The bad guy offers Kyle a deal. In exchange for keeping the video and the potential rape allegation under wraps, Kyle must accept a position in New York City with the largest law firm in the world and steal documents related to a gigantic lawsuit between two defense contractors. High-stakes blackmail!
The first few pages of this book are great, and I admit that I was immediately sucked into the plot. The pace slows as the book progresses. The bad guys patiently wait for the chance to have Kyle make a move. Meanwhile, Kyle spends most of his time trying to figure out how to outsmart them while also being the hardest working first-year associate at the firm.
I don't know that the bad guys were actually super hard to outsmart. They actually seemed a little lame to me. When Kyle started his job, they demanded a look at his company-issued laptop and phone. He refused to do so, and they never bothered him about it again. Seems like pretty lame surveillance to me.
***SPOILER ALERT (IF YOU CARE)***
Somehow, Kyle manages to hire a lawyer, who notifies the FBI. They organize an operation to catch the bad guy when Kyle brings stolen files to him. But the bad guy somehow gets wind of it and disappears. And that's it. They don't catch him. So, who was this bad guy? Who was he working for? Why did they want the files? Where did he get the cell phone video? How did he know the FBI was coming for him?
NONE of these questions get answered. Grisham suggests a bunch of possibilities, but I guess decides to let the reader ponder them eternally. It seems like maybe he wrote himself into a corner and said, "Ah, screw it, I can't figure this out either. The end."
***END OF SPOILER ALERT (IF YOU CARE)***
I'm not the only one who feels this way. Reviewers on Amazon were furious about this one. They can't figure out why he would just decide not to write the end of the book. There won't be a sequel, because who would buy it? Most people seem to think that Grisham is so rich he doesn't really care about pleasing the reader anymore. Others are speculating that The Associate was (gasp) ghostwritten.
I'm glad that I checked this out at the library. Some folks actually paid full cover price to read it.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Holy Crow, Batman!
I've been reading more books than usual this summer. A couple of camping trips have helped, also waiting for the scout meetings to get out, and sitting by a child as he makes the transition to sleeping in a toddler bed. Anyways, I feel compelled to let you know what I've been reading. I'm not sure why.
The Mist of Quarry Harbor by Liz Adair. I picked this little number up over at the Goodwill, for a buck. It's published by Deseret Book, and yes, all of the main characters are LDS.
The main character is Cassie Van Cleeve. She's smoking hot, completely self-sufficient, and single as the book opens. It's important to note that she's not single because no one's interested. She has to fend off a pesky marriage proposal within the first 20 pages of the book. Later, a casual FHE basketball game leads to fisticuffs between her two suitors. She eventually makes a choice, although her emotional and mental abilities in the face of a little romance reminds one of Bella Swan.
But that's not the main part of the book. Cassie's questionable judgment when it comes to men eventually lands her on an island in the Puget Sound, where she begins searching for clues to her husband's mysterious past. It's a decent mystery, although not really a page-turner. There's a lot of boat talk, which can get a little boring if you're not a boating enthusiast. Most readers should be able to figure the big twist out before it is revealed in the book.
The writing is a little awkward in places and the dialogue often doesn't sound like something a person would say in the 21st century. At one point when Cassie needs to leave, she says that she had "better get to whistling." Another character frequently exclaims, "Holy Crow!" And one of the strangest parts of the book was when the author attempted to chastely describe Cassie's wedding night. It was quite vague, to the point where you weren't sure if she was talking about sex or describing an alien abduction.
As an LDS person, you kind of have to suspend your disbelief a little bit for the book to make sense. Which I guess is fine, because it's fiction. The character of Cassie isn't really internally consistent. Right off the bat, we're told that she went through three sets of missionaries before she was sure she wanted to join the church. And then a few pages later, she's diving into a marriage with a guy without any due diligence whatsoever. The author probably realized this and danced around it by making Cassie a member of only six months, thus not yet eligible for a temple marriage. Because if you're not getting married in the temple, it's okay to just go for it.
But without the random marriage, there's no mystery, and no book. So if you read it, just sit back and don't think too hard about it.
The Mist of Quarry Harbor by Liz Adair. I picked this little number up over at the Goodwill, for a buck. It's published by Deseret Book, and yes, all of the main characters are LDS.
The main character is Cassie Van Cleeve. She's smoking hot, completely self-sufficient, and single as the book opens. It's important to note that she's not single because no one's interested. She has to fend off a pesky marriage proposal within the first 20 pages of the book. Later, a casual FHE basketball game leads to fisticuffs between her two suitors. She eventually makes a choice, although her emotional and mental abilities in the face of a little romance reminds one of Bella Swan.
But that's not the main part of the book. Cassie's questionable judgment when it comes to men eventually lands her on an island in the Puget Sound, where she begins searching for clues to her husband's mysterious past. It's a decent mystery, although not really a page-turner. There's a lot of boat talk, which can get a little boring if you're not a boating enthusiast. Most readers should be able to figure the big twist out before it is revealed in the book.
The writing is a little awkward in places and the dialogue often doesn't sound like something a person would say in the 21st century. At one point when Cassie needs to leave, she says that she had "better get to whistling." Another character frequently exclaims, "Holy Crow!" And one of the strangest parts of the book was when the author attempted to chastely describe Cassie's wedding night. It was quite vague, to the point where you weren't sure if she was talking about sex or describing an alien abduction.
As an LDS person, you kind of have to suspend your disbelief a little bit for the book to make sense. Which I guess is fine, because it's fiction. The character of Cassie isn't really internally consistent. Right off the bat, we're told that she went through three sets of missionaries before she was sure she wanted to join the church. And then a few pages later, she's diving into a marriage with a guy without any due diligence whatsoever. The author probably realized this and danced around it by making Cassie a member of only six months, thus not yet eligible for a temple marriage. Because if you're not getting married in the temple, it's okay to just go for it.
But without the random marriage, there's no mystery, and no book. So if you read it, just sit back and don't think too hard about it.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Where Was I When
So last Friday was the 17th anniversary of the O.J. Simpson car chase. Some guys on this podcast I was listening to earlier this week were doing the whole "where were you?" thing regarding that evening.
I do remember that night - my story is kind of boring, though. I was at home, a high school graduate of about three weeks, watching the whole thing unfold on television on a split-screen with the NBA Finals.
That's not the main point of this post, though. I started wondering after thinking about the O.J. thing - what are the other significant news events where I can remember exactly where I was when I heard about it?
Challenger space shuttle explosion. This is probably the first significant one I remember. I was in the fourth grade and we had just settled into our chairs in Mr. Towers' room after lunch when he told us the bad news. It was significant to me because astronomy was one of my big interests at the time, and Mr. Towers was an astronomy buff - I attended many a "star party" thrown by that man. We had been talking a lot about the Challenger thing and Christa McAuliffe, the teacher in space, leading up to the launch. I think there were probably some exciting Challenger-related classroom activities planned for the afternoon of January 28, 1986. So it was pretty shocking for a 10-year-old kid to find out - uh, that thing we were so excited about happening - well, it just had the worst possible ending. Interesting detail of this story is that Mr. Towers found out the news from my dad, who I guess had seen it on TV and gone down to the school to deliver the bad news. How times have changed. . .
Magic Johnson HIV positive. This one is kind of random, but I do remember pulling up to the house after returning from yet another trip to Alamosa, when the DJ mentioned between songs on KOB-FM out of Albuquerque that Magic had the AIDS virus and was retiring from the NBA. Happy, smiling, Magic Johnson? AIDS? What? But he's still around so I guess that worked out okay in the end.
Death of Ezra Taft Benson. I was delivering newspapers early morning at the time. I put the bundled stack in the car, picked the first one up, and there it was, below the fold on the front page of the Pueblo Chieftain.
Death of Howard W. Hunter. I was in the laundromat of the MTC in Provo when a member of the MTC Presidency got on the intercom and announced that President Hunter had passed away. We got on a plane a few days later for Seattle, and on my second day in the mission, I watched the funeral at the Silverdale Washington stake center.
Death of Gordon B. Hinckley. I might as well throw this in as long as we're doing the prophets, although it's kind of a lame story. I actually didn't hear that President Hinckley had passed away until two days later, and I believe I got the news from an LDS Living e-mail. I had to look up to see what I was doing at the time that woud have left me in the dark for 48 hours. I was working at a client, without internet access, and I believe I was fighting a cold. So that makes sense, I guess.
World Trade Center Attack. I was in my last semester at BYU. Elizabeth had a temporary job at the BYU employment office, so she had already left. I was at home in our Wymount apartment, getting ready for class and probably thinking about our third anniversary date for that evening - we had a sitter lined up. Elizabeth calls and tells me to turn on the television because we were under attack. And I was all "what?" and so I turned it on, I think just before one of the towers collapsed.
Assassination of JFK. Well, let's see, I was a premortal spirit and I was attending a farewell service for this guy Richard, who was going down to be born that afternoon, when this girl runs in and tells us that the president was shot. . . seriously, what were we doing?
Well, this post didn't turn out to be as interesting as I thought it might. So, sorry about that. On a positive note, I just ate a delicious orange.
I do remember that night - my story is kind of boring, though. I was at home, a high school graduate of about three weeks, watching the whole thing unfold on television on a split-screen with the NBA Finals.
That's not the main point of this post, though. I started wondering after thinking about the O.J. thing - what are the other significant news events where I can remember exactly where I was when I heard about it?
Challenger space shuttle explosion. This is probably the first significant one I remember. I was in the fourth grade and we had just settled into our chairs in Mr. Towers' room after lunch when he told us the bad news. It was significant to me because astronomy was one of my big interests at the time, and Mr. Towers was an astronomy buff - I attended many a "star party" thrown by that man. We had been talking a lot about the Challenger thing and Christa McAuliffe, the teacher in space, leading up to the launch. I think there were probably some exciting Challenger-related classroom activities planned for the afternoon of January 28, 1986. So it was pretty shocking for a 10-year-old kid to find out - uh, that thing we were so excited about happening - well, it just had the worst possible ending. Interesting detail of this story is that Mr. Towers found out the news from my dad, who I guess had seen it on TV and gone down to the school to deliver the bad news. How times have changed. . .
Magic Johnson HIV positive. This one is kind of random, but I do remember pulling up to the house after returning from yet another trip to Alamosa, when the DJ mentioned between songs on KOB-FM out of Albuquerque that Magic had the AIDS virus and was retiring from the NBA. Happy, smiling, Magic Johnson? AIDS? What? But he's still around so I guess that worked out okay in the end.
Death of Ezra Taft Benson. I was delivering newspapers early morning at the time. I put the bundled stack in the car, picked the first one up, and there it was, below the fold on the front page of the Pueblo Chieftain.
Death of Howard W. Hunter. I was in the laundromat of the MTC in Provo when a member of the MTC Presidency got on the intercom and announced that President Hunter had passed away. We got on a plane a few days later for Seattle, and on my second day in the mission, I watched the funeral at the Silverdale Washington stake center.
Death of Gordon B. Hinckley. I might as well throw this in as long as we're doing the prophets, although it's kind of a lame story. I actually didn't hear that President Hinckley had passed away until two days later, and I believe I got the news from an LDS Living e-mail. I had to look up to see what I was doing at the time that woud have left me in the dark for 48 hours. I was working at a client, without internet access, and I believe I was fighting a cold. So that makes sense, I guess.
World Trade Center Attack. I was in my last semester at BYU. Elizabeth had a temporary job at the BYU employment office, so she had already left. I was at home in our Wymount apartment, getting ready for class and probably thinking about our third anniversary date for that evening - we had a sitter lined up. Elizabeth calls and tells me to turn on the television because we were under attack. And I was all "what?" and so I turned it on, I think just before one of the towers collapsed.
Assassination of JFK. Well, let's see, I was a premortal spirit and I was attending a farewell service for this guy Richard, who was going down to be born that afternoon, when this girl runs in and tells us that the president was shot. . . seriously, what were we doing?
Well, this post didn't turn out to be as interesting as I thought it might. So, sorry about that. On a positive note, I just ate a delicious orange.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
13 Restaurant Reviews in One
I recently finished a stint of working 13 consecutive Saturdays. It's not the most fun, but that's the job.
One of the perks of all the weekend labor is that we get treated to a free lunch every Saturday. Sometimes we go out, but that can take a long time, especially with a large group of 8-10 people. So as we get towards the March/April crunch time, there is a lot more ordering in, which can be just as good. I decided this year that it would be a good idea to rank the various visits, because 1) I love ranking stuff and 2) I really want to contribute to the Southeast Denver dining scene.
So here goes, worst to first:
13) Rodney's at Tamarac Square. If you've never eaten here, well, you missed your chance. It closed as they prepare to bulldoze Tamarac Square to make way for Super Target. We went on the last Saturday they were open. Not a good idea, by the way, because there's not a lot of incentive for employees to provide good service. All of the burgers were undercooked, even after we waited 45 minutes.
12) Honey Baked Ham. Pretty unspectacular. We get sandwiches from there. I can't even remember what I ordered.
11) Panera Bread. It's popular, but I've never been super impressed with them. I'd never spend my own money there. It seems like they spend more time thinking up exotic ingredient names than they do making good food. It could also be that I'm not cool enough to eat here.
10) Crown Burger. This is kind of a joke place we go to. Not healthy at all, and not very clean or attractive. The burgers aren't that good - quality of ingredients are lacking. The fries and shakes are good though. Plus they serve fry sauce.
9) New York Deli News. I didn't get the pun at first - think about it. It was my first visit. Tons of different sandwich offerings. I think I went with the french dip - my default sandwich. They give you a A LOT of fries. Maybe too many.
8) Happy Teriyaki. Normally, this would be in the top five. But I decided to try something new this time - bulgoki, some sort of marinated beef concoction. It was okay, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the teriyaki/tonkatsu, which is what I usually like to get. Thus the low ranking.
7) Fresh Fish Company. I'm probably a little biased in that I don't really like seafood, so it would be hard for them to get up very high on my list. I ordered the fish and chips, which were pretty good. But by the time you get to the last fillet, it starts getting really. . . well, fishy tasting.
6) Cocina de Marcos. I usually don't like this Mexican place as much, but it was better this year. Or maybe I was just hungrier.
5) Pizza Hut. You can't really go wrong with Pizza Hut. Unless you order that cracker-crust crap they sell.
4) Piccolo's. We usually order in various pans of good stuff - spaghetti, enchiladas, lasagna, garlic bread, salad. It's all good, and there is something to be said for variety. It's like buffet-to-go.
3) Famous Dave's. I'm not a huge bbq person, but if I was ranking these based strictly on meal size, this would be #1. The item I ordered came with some Georgia que, Texas brisket, three St. Louis ribs, a roll, potato salad, and cole slaw. It's no wonder obesity is a problem in this country.
2) Thai Basil. Orange beef. Yum. Even the vegetables were good.
1) Panache Catering. I wasn't really expecting much from this place - I thought it would be the same type of underwhelming sandwich that Panera and HBH serve. Wrong. This may very well have been the best sandwich I ever had in my life. I ordered the rare roast beef. Phenomenal.
One of the perks of all the weekend labor is that we get treated to a free lunch every Saturday. Sometimes we go out, but that can take a long time, especially with a large group of 8-10 people. So as we get towards the March/April crunch time, there is a lot more ordering in, which can be just as good. I decided this year that it would be a good idea to rank the various visits, because 1) I love ranking stuff and 2) I really want to contribute to the Southeast Denver dining scene.
So here goes, worst to first:
13) Rodney's at Tamarac Square. If you've never eaten here, well, you missed your chance. It closed as they prepare to bulldoze Tamarac Square to make way for Super Target. We went on the last Saturday they were open. Not a good idea, by the way, because there's not a lot of incentive for employees to provide good service. All of the burgers were undercooked, even after we waited 45 minutes.
12) Honey Baked Ham. Pretty unspectacular. We get sandwiches from there. I can't even remember what I ordered.
11) Panera Bread. It's popular, but I've never been super impressed with them. I'd never spend my own money there. It seems like they spend more time thinking up exotic ingredient names than they do making good food. It could also be that I'm not cool enough to eat here.
10) Crown Burger. This is kind of a joke place we go to. Not healthy at all, and not very clean or attractive. The burgers aren't that good - quality of ingredients are lacking. The fries and shakes are good though. Plus they serve fry sauce.
9) New York Deli News. I didn't get the pun at first - think about it. It was my first visit. Tons of different sandwich offerings. I think I went with the french dip - my default sandwich. They give you a A LOT of fries. Maybe too many.
8) Happy Teriyaki. Normally, this would be in the top five. But I decided to try something new this time - bulgoki, some sort of marinated beef concoction. It was okay, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the teriyaki/tonkatsu, which is what I usually like to get. Thus the low ranking.
7) Fresh Fish Company. I'm probably a little biased in that I don't really like seafood, so it would be hard for them to get up very high on my list. I ordered the fish and chips, which were pretty good. But by the time you get to the last fillet, it starts getting really. . . well, fishy tasting.
6) Cocina de Marcos. I usually don't like this Mexican place as much, but it was better this year. Or maybe I was just hungrier.
5) Pizza Hut. You can't really go wrong with Pizza Hut. Unless you order that cracker-crust crap they sell.
4) Piccolo's. We usually order in various pans of good stuff - spaghetti, enchiladas, lasagna, garlic bread, salad. It's all good, and there is something to be said for variety. It's like buffet-to-go.
3) Famous Dave's. I'm not a huge bbq person, but if I was ranking these based strictly on meal size, this would be #1. The item I ordered came with some Georgia que, Texas brisket, three St. Louis ribs, a roll, potato salad, and cole slaw. It's no wonder obesity is a problem in this country.
2) Thai Basil. Orange beef. Yum. Even the vegetables were good.
1) Panache Catering. I wasn't really expecting much from this place - I thought it would be the same type of underwhelming sandwich that Panera and HBH serve. Wrong. This may very well have been the best sandwich I ever had in my life. I ordered the rare roast beef. Phenomenal.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Tall Tales
As a young boy, I had a friend who was pretty good at storytelling. For some reason, I still remember a couple of the best ones.
One of our funnest summer activities was playing baseball. One time he told me the history of his baseball. Apparently, his neighbor across the street had been a major league umpire back in the 1920s and had picked up a stray baseball after a game and saved it for 50 years until he bequeathed it to my friend. And this was the ball we played with back behind his house.
Another time he was telling me about a dog he had once owned, an exemplary canine. He used to hitch his wagon to the dog and have the dog pull him around. Then one day a guy in a Ferrari came by the house and wanted to race or something. And although it was close, the dog did in fact outrun the Ferrari while pulling my friend in a wagon.
Even at seven or eight or however old we were, I think my BS Meter was pretty well calibrated. I didn't call my friend on it at the time, but I even at that age I could detect how illogical the stories were. Dude, I've known you practically your whole life. Wouldn't you have told me about this race-dog before now?!? And why don't we go over and visit your umpire friend who has retired to the middle of nowhere? Maybe he can regale us with stories of the Babe.
I'm not sure why I still remember these stories, but they sure are funny.
One of our funnest summer activities was playing baseball. One time he told me the history of his baseball. Apparently, his neighbor across the street had been a major league umpire back in the 1920s and had picked up a stray baseball after a game and saved it for 50 years until he bequeathed it to my friend. And this was the ball we played with back behind his house.
Another time he was telling me about a dog he had once owned, an exemplary canine. He used to hitch his wagon to the dog and have the dog pull him around. Then one day a guy in a Ferrari came by the house and wanted to race or something. And although it was close, the dog did in fact outrun the Ferrari while pulling my friend in a wagon.
Even at seven or eight or however old we were, I think my BS Meter was pretty well calibrated. I didn't call my friend on it at the time, but I even at that age I could detect how illogical the stories were. Dude, I've known you practically your whole life. Wouldn't you have told me about this race-dog before now?!? And why don't we go over and visit your umpire friend who has retired to the middle of nowhere? Maybe he can regale us with stories of the Babe.
I'm not sure why I still remember these stories, but they sure are funny.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Another Borders Bargain
I saw this at the aforementioned Borders clearance sale for $3 in the Biography/Memoir seciton. So I had to get it - you know, because "Mormon" was in the title.
For starters, it's not about a regional singles Halloween dance at all - that's just one of the many settings in the book. It's the tale of a young, single, Mormon girl living in New York City who is trying to figure out her life. She has no apparent claim to fame, at least not until the book was published. Just your typical twentysomething Mormon writing a memoir.
One thing I find interesting is that whenever a member of the Church is mentioned in the media, they are almost always described as a "devout Mormon". If I were famous, would I be called devout?
I don't think that Elna Baker should be described as devout, but what do I know? I only read the book. She seems to have a testimony of the gospel, but is also enticed by the adventure and excitement offered by some of the other avenues in life. I gave her some benefit of the doubt, because she notes that she spent part of her childhood living in the Sumner/Bonney Lake area of Washington. Although we never crossed paths, I served four months of my mission there, so we did have at least one thing in common, in addition to being members of the church.
I think there should be more books like this one - real Mormons writing about their faith and their perspective on things. I don't want to read about what you've researched or what you think you know that is going to change my life. Just tell me about you. That's what I liked about this book.
It takes a certain amount of courage to write such a book - Ms. Baker deserves points for being open and honest about her life and her thoughts on the tenets of her religion. I think most Mormons probably have certain aspects of the church that they haven't quite reconciled. Which is totally fine, because that's what this life is all about. But I think most people prefer to keep their doubts and weaknesses to themselves, because who wants the rest of the ward looking at you with a wary eye? She pretty much just goes for it - putting it all out there for anyone she's ever known to read.
I appreciate that she doesn't seem to blame the church for her difficulties. A path that has been traveled before is, "I have a hard time living x principle or believing y doctrine, so check ya later. It's not true." She seemed to acknowledge that it was the right way to go but wasn't sure if she wanted it for herself.
I don't know if this paragraph counts as a spoiler, but if it does, you've been forewarned. You're kind of hoping that by the end of the book she figures it out. But she doesn't. Even finally finding an acceptable Mormon guy who is interested in her doesn't do the trick. There's no triumph of faith. There's no white wedding. By the end of the book, she's still indecisive and seems to be leaning the other way.
The book was not exactly written for the LDS reader. There's a fair amount of profanity, and yes, she does spell out all the f-words. A lot of making out and "playing with matches" takes place.
I will say that it did inspire me to write a memoir. Certainly there are things that happened in my life that are at least as notable as what Ms. Baker has going on.
If only I had the time. . .
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Curse of the Second Round
You have to love the NFL draft. My favorite part is when the experts say - hey, you can't evaluate how a team did in a particular draft for three or four years. And then everyone proceeds to grade and evaluate every team's draft anyways.
I guess I'm happy enough with what the Broncos did in the 2011 draft. I'm pleased that they didn't draft any quarterbacks, running backs, or wide receivers. Also that they didn't do a bunch of stupid wacky trades a la Josh McD.
Hopefully they picked up a future Pro Bowler in Von Miller with the #2 pick. It's a pretty safe bet that he will be at least decent.
But I think the success of this draft will hinge on how their back-to-back picks in the second round turn out - safety Rahim Moore and offensive lineman Orlando Franklin. If they spent the better part of the next decade in a Bronco uniform, then this draft will probably get an A. If they don't, then the Broncos had better hope one of their late-round picks turns out to be another Shannon Sharpe or Karl Mecklenburg.
I've harped on how crappy the Broncos have done in the draft in recent years - a lot of this is due to how they've picked in the second round.
I did a quick review of the 27 second-round picks the Broncos have made in the past 25 years (1986-2010). Here's the roll call:
Gerald Perry (1988)
Doug Widell (1989)
Warren Powers (1989)
Alton Montgomery (1990)
Reggie Johnson (1991)
Shane Dronett (1992)
Glyn Milburn (1993)
Allen Alridge (1994)
Tory James (1996)
Eric Brown (1998)
Montae Reagor (1999)
Lennie Friedman (1999)
Ian Gold (2000)
Kenoy Kennedy (2000)
Paul Toviessi (2001)
Clinton Portis (2002)
Terry Pierce (2003)
Tatum Bell (2004)
Darius Watts (2004)
Darrent Williams (2005)
Tony Scheffler (2006)
Tim Crowder (2007)
Eddie Royal (2008)
Alphonso Smith (2009)
Darcel McBath (2009)
Richard Quinn (2009)
Zane Beadles (2010)
Not a single Hall of Famer on the list, and only three Pro Bowls: Ian Gold, Glyn Milburn, and Clinton Portis earned one appearance each.
Only four are still with the team: Eddie Royal, Darcel McBath, Richard Quinn, and Zane Beadles. And so far the greatest contribution any of them have made to Denver may very well be Eddie Royal's Taco Bell commercial.
Only two players on this list spent more than four years in a Bronco uniform. Ironically, they were both selected in the same draft. Ian Gold played 7 years in Denver and Kenoy Kennedy played 5 years.
The best second-round pick of the last quarter-century came in 2002, when they selected Clinton Portis, who had two sensational years in Denver before he was traded to Washington for Champ Bailey. So I suppose it could be argued that the Broncos did get a Hall of Famer for their second-round pick in that instance.
The Broncos did okay in the second round in the 1990s, picking up guys like Shane Dronett, Allen Alridge, and Lennie Friedman, who did okay.
But in the last 10 years they've blown second round picks on guys who were total busts: Paul Toviessi, Terry Pierce, Darius Watts, and Tim Crowder.
Darrent Williams looked like a good second-round pick - up until the night he was murdered.
Tatum Bell and Tony Scheffler were good players, but for whatever reason team management did not seem to want them.
Possibly the worst, though, came in 2009 when Josh McD traded a first-round pick in order to select Alphonso Smith in the second round. And then traded him for a bag of clean towels a year later.
So I'm hoping with this new Broncos regime that they can get back to drafting the second round like they did in the 1980s, when they picked up guys like Rulon Jones, Vance Johnson, and Simon Fletcher.
I guess I'm happy enough with what the Broncos did in the 2011 draft. I'm pleased that they didn't draft any quarterbacks, running backs, or wide receivers. Also that they didn't do a bunch of stupid wacky trades a la Josh McD.
Hopefully they picked up a future Pro Bowler in Von Miller with the #2 pick. It's a pretty safe bet that he will be at least decent.
But I think the success of this draft will hinge on how their back-to-back picks in the second round turn out - safety Rahim Moore and offensive lineman Orlando Franklin. If they spent the better part of the next decade in a Bronco uniform, then this draft will probably get an A. If they don't, then the Broncos had better hope one of their late-round picks turns out to be another Shannon Sharpe or Karl Mecklenburg.
I've harped on how crappy the Broncos have done in the draft in recent years - a lot of this is due to how they've picked in the second round.
I did a quick review of the 27 second-round picks the Broncos have made in the past 25 years (1986-2010). Here's the roll call:
Gerald Perry (1988)
Doug Widell (1989)
Warren Powers (1989)
Alton Montgomery (1990)
Reggie Johnson (1991)
Shane Dronett (1992)
Glyn Milburn (1993)
Allen Alridge (1994)
Tory James (1996)
Eric Brown (1998)
Montae Reagor (1999)
Lennie Friedman (1999)
Ian Gold (2000)
Kenoy Kennedy (2000)
Paul Toviessi (2001)
Clinton Portis (2002)
Terry Pierce (2003)
Tatum Bell (2004)
Darius Watts (2004)
Darrent Williams (2005)
Tony Scheffler (2006)
Tim Crowder (2007)
Eddie Royal (2008)
Alphonso Smith (2009)
Darcel McBath (2009)
Richard Quinn (2009)
Zane Beadles (2010)
Not a single Hall of Famer on the list, and only three Pro Bowls: Ian Gold, Glyn Milburn, and Clinton Portis earned one appearance each.
Only four are still with the team: Eddie Royal, Darcel McBath, Richard Quinn, and Zane Beadles. And so far the greatest contribution any of them have made to Denver may very well be Eddie Royal's Taco Bell commercial.
Only two players on this list spent more than four years in a Bronco uniform. Ironically, they were both selected in the same draft. Ian Gold played 7 years in Denver and Kenoy Kennedy played 5 years.
The best second-round pick of the last quarter-century came in 2002, when they selected Clinton Portis, who had two sensational years in Denver before he was traded to Washington for Champ Bailey. So I suppose it could be argued that the Broncos did get a Hall of Famer for their second-round pick in that instance.
The Broncos did okay in the second round in the 1990s, picking up guys like Shane Dronett, Allen Alridge, and Lennie Friedman, who did okay.
But in the last 10 years they've blown second round picks on guys who were total busts: Paul Toviessi, Terry Pierce, Darius Watts, and Tim Crowder.
Darrent Williams looked like a good second-round pick - up until the night he was murdered.
Tatum Bell and Tony Scheffler were good players, but for whatever reason team management did not seem to want them.
Possibly the worst, though, came in 2009 when Josh McD traded a first-round pick in order to select Alphonso Smith in the second round. And then traded him for a bag of clean towels a year later.
So I'm hoping with this new Broncos regime that they can get back to drafting the second round like they did in the 1980s, when they picked up guys like Rulon Jones, Vance Johnson, and Simon Fletcher.
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