Making a point?

We hear that the new San Francisco 49ers coach dropped his britches the other day to make a point to his team.
Insert your own joke here.

Don't say we didn't warn you

Chris Berman of ESPN, the master of all things political, is going to interview Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama at halftime of the Monday Night Football game next week.
This is can't see TV.

Wet World Series

The weather-hampered World Series may continue tonight in Philadelphia.
Then again, it may snow.
Regardless, it's brought up a chorus of complaints and suggestions that the Series needs to move to a neutral location, much like what the NFL does for the Super Bowl.
It's a senseless knee-jerk reaction to a problem that hasn't happened very often in the history of the Series. No one complained after the earthquake in San Francisco. That was a 10-day delay. No one complained in 1986 when Game 7 of the Series between the Red Sox and the Mets was delayed a day because of rain.
The issue of suspending a game wasn't an issue before last year. If a tie game or a game in which the visiting team led during an incomplete inning, the score would have reverted to the last completed inning. Can you imagine the rumpus if the Series had been called off and Philadelphia declared the winner because of rain?
If there is a problem – playing around rain, snow, cold weather – it's MLB's doing. They want the games in the evening, even though most youngsters can't stay up and watch. Some grown-ups can't either. MLB voted in the extra round of playoffs, which pushed the last games of the Series back to Halloween and even November in 2001.
What do you think?

Sportsmanship should trump

FORT LUPTON -- Fort Lupton's football team won its third game in a row Friday night. They beat Frederick 33-0.
It could have been worse. Already leading by the 33 points and after seeing a player taken off the field on a stretcher, Fort Lupton had the ball first and goal on the Warriors' 3-yard line. Coach Mike Muedeking ordered four kneel downs and gave the ball back to Frederick.
So of course the postgame discussion was why the Bluedevils didn't pile it on late.
The answer is pretty simple. It's called sportsmanship. And unless something has been discussed in a back room somewhere out of view of most people's ears, that's one of the main facets of prep sports that should be emphasized when possible.
It wasn't necessary to score six or seven more points at that point in the game. It wasn't necessary to do anything at that point in the game other than leave the field and hope the injured player is OK.
The Bluedevils have had a tough year. But not in this instance. Muedeking made the right call.

Leave it to the new dad on the block

Colleague Kevin Denke summed up today's feelings about the Denver Broncos ..
"Thank goodness they are in the NL West."

Pondering

The media bias has come to the doors of MetroWest.
What I can't figure out is whether we are liberal because the conservatives don't like what we write or if it's vice versa.
If it's that simple, then we must be doing our jobs.

Rays and Phils starting tonight

Make it the Rays in six.
There's nothing particularly wrong with the Phillies, although resorting to bean-ball antics the way they did in the NLCS makes me scratch my head some.
It seems like the Rays are playing well enough right now – and all during the season – to make the worst to first story complete with a World Series title.
What are your thoughts?

Good job times two – part 2

FORT LUPTON – The second part of our round of congratulations goes to the Fort Lupton football team.
The Bluedevils won their second game in a row Friday night. And they beat a team rated in the state 3A polls that, quite frankly, didn't play like a team that deserved to be in anyone's poll.
The smiles on the players' faces and the coach's faces after the game told the whole story, far better than anything available in words. And they were well-deserved. Fort Lupton hasn't had a lot of luck this year. So to beat a rated team so late in the season – as the commercial says, it was priceless.

Good job times two

AURORA – It's a two-parter of "atta boys and atta girls" to start this week's blogging.
The Frederick softball team gets the first round of congratulations. The Warriors finished second in the state tournament over the weekend. This, despite a 14th seed of 16 teams in the field.
The finals didn't go so well. Wheat Ridge took it to Frederick in the finals. But something tells me that the players realized what sort of effort it took – as the 14th seed especially – to reach the finals.

Halfway to Tampa-Philadelphia Series

There's no way in the world that the executives at Fox are looking forward to a Tampa-Philadelphia World Series.
The other match – Boston and the Dodgers – would have treated them and us to an entire week of Manny Ramirez stories, like we haven't seen enough of that already. But the sight of Tampa Bay (one more win in the next three) and Philadelphia in the showcase event for Fox's coverage of MLB has to send its executives into absolute panic.

Tampa Bay in the Series?

Could it be?
The Rays dismantled the Red Sox last night .. and the night before that. And they won Saturday night's marathon as well.
The Rays?

What goes around comes around ...

A few short weeks ago, it was Ed Hochuli botching a call late in Denver's win against San Diego that gave Denver a win. And it was Mike Shanahan who insisted that those things happen in the NFL.
So here we are digesting the Broncos' latest defensive collapse against Jacksonville. The press seems to think some calls may have swung the game in the Jags' favor. And Shanahan was on stage to cry foul, not "those things happen." Hypocrite.
The only thing foul about Denver is its defense. It couldn't stop a good high school team right now.
Believe it or not, the officials don't play defense, though they could help Denver in more ways than one.

Congratulations!

Our colleague and friend, Kevin Denke, and his wife, Malisa, welcomed a new addition into their house yesterday. Tierney Marie was born shortly before 4:00 in the afternoon at Platte Valley Medical Center in Brighton.
She was 7 pounds 8 1/2 ounces and measured 20 3/4 inches. To see a picture, go to http://royalbness.blogspot.com/
We suspect that all are sleeping soundly today, and we couldn't be happier.

Thanks for the education

Leave it to Major League Baseball to re-educate this old coot on the calendar.
For the last two years, they've been telling me that "there's only one October."
I can safely say, "Thank you from the heart of my bottom."

Surprised and not really surprised

Aside from being the favorites to meet in the World Series and from being among the teams ousted in the first round of the playoffs, the Cubs and the Angels have something else in common.
They forgot how to do the things that made them the talk of baseball this season.
In the Cubs case, everything shut down at once .. pitching, hitting, defense. If you can't do the three basic fundamentals of baseball, the success rate won't be real high.
In the case of the Angels, it was "waste not, want not." One player left 14 runners on base by himself in four games. The Halos surrendered three runs Sunday night by not catching a 150-foot fly ball. They surrendered two more runs because they couldn't turn a double play.
On to the next round. The games should get better over the next 2 1/2 weeks.

Poll time

One thing reporters tend to be is curious. And in the sports department, we were curious about football.
Our specific question is “Who is the best football player from Fort Lupton and Brighton high schools?”
Yes, we know that players come from different eras and had different emphasis on training and weight rooms and the like. And we realize that it makes such comparisons somewhat hollow.
But that doesn’t matter to us. We want to give you your chance to state your case for the best from the gridiron.
Send us some information about the player. When did he play? What position(s)? What made him your pick for the top player in the school’s history? Did he go on and play collegiately? Did he come back and coach either at the school or somewhere locally?
Be as eloquent as you choose. Be as brief as you choose. But send us some names. The school has a rich tradition in athletics, and we’d like to tap into some of that history.
The rules are few and far between.
* Vote early and vote often (just like in Chicago). We encourage ballot-box stuffing and all sorts of other chicanery. We won’t draw the line at sorting through hanging chads either.
* Have some fun with this while knowing that you are educating some newcomers to the area at the same time.
Send your nominations to ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com or sports@metrowestnewspapers.com. The deadline is Nov. 26. We’ll name the winners Dec. 3.

Where did everyone go?

Courtesy of colleague Kevin Denke, this was the scene at Tropicana Field just before the Tampa Bay Rays ventured into the playoffs for the first time yesterday.
It's just flat embarrassing, not just for the servicemen and women on the field but for the franchise as a whole.
One gets the feeling the ownership hasn't made many friends, even with this year's on-field success.

Arrogance away?

The University of Colorado's football team has a well-deserved reputation for arrogance. Has had for years.
So could there be a sign of change brewing in Boulder?
Starting quarterback Cody Hawkins drove out to Brighton this week and let 9-year-old Zach Canaday shave his head. The story is in this week's Brighton Standard Blade (www.metrowestfyi.com).
Hawkins did this on his day off from practice and because someone else in the community needed a pick-me-up.
Say what you will about the program or his dad (who happens to be the coach). It's pretty obvious the Hawkinses raised a pretty decent son.

Jobs that won't last

We're starting a list of sports-related jobs that may not last, regardless of the present economic condition.
The first members are:
1) An organist at any professional sporting event
2) The sole source of mature advice for such athletes as Ricky Williams of the Miami Dolphins (quoted as saying he was tempted to smoke marijuana during his team's week off last week) and Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets (he and many a police officer are on a first-name basis around Denver).
3) Coaches for the Oakland Raiders until Al Davis retires.
Additions?