Shanahan departs

Pat Bowlen did the unthinkable.
He fired his coach for life, Mike Shanahan.
Some thoughts to start the discussion:
• It's about time. You can't lose a three-game lead with three to go and not expect to pay for it in some way, shape or form.
• You can't foul up defensive drafts as badly as he did the past few seasons. You don't give up 52 points in a season finale and more than 400 points the past two seasons without some effort.
Weigh in ...

Filling in her spare time

Jeanne Zelasko, formerly of the (free) Fox TV baseball warm-up show (axed for the coming year) is angling to become a new TV voice for the L.A. Dodgers, according to www.awfulannouncing.com.
She admits to knowing nothing about baseball, in spite of whatever she learned from former Manager Kevin Kennedy during the alleged baseball discussions that preceded Fox's baseball games the past several years.
The man who would be her cohort, Vin Scully, makes broadcasting seem very easy. But it isn't, particularly if your assignment is baseball. There's a considerable amount of dead time to fill, whether it's with anecdotes, stats or (heaven forbid) letting the audience listen to the crowd.
First views? She'd be in for a rough start, no question about it. And it would be quite a change from being the star of a program to being a supporting player.

Trip in time

Sportsland is back in action despite a bit of rain and way too much mince pie. I hope your Christmas was everything you hoped for ... and perhaps a little less on the mince pie (but Mom's mince pie is something else!!).
Instead of rehashing the carnage from the Broncos game last night (can someone say "Time for a new coach?"), I wish to show my age (again). I watched an old game show while I was gone ... "What's My Line?" The game was simple to follow. A panel of four well-known celebrities tried to guess a hobby, job, passion of a guest or series of guests.
What made this half-hour a change from today's alleged game shows was the demeanor of the people involved. No one was interested in making fun of the guests, the hosts, one another. The humor was real, not forced.
It'd be nice to see that in 2009. But it, like the Broncos guaranteed playoff run in 2008, will have to wait a while.

Merry Christmas

Holiday hiatus

In the spare time available before various recipes were finished the other night, I heard an interesting back-to-back batch of Christmas tunes.
Kate Smith.
David Seville and the chipmunks.
Only at Christmas.
Sportsland is going to take the act on the road for a week or so. There will be some time to check in. But most of the next eight days will be reserved for a visit to the Left Coast and see Santa in his Bermuda shorts try to make a landing in the palm trees and having a cheeseburger Christmas Eve.
Whatever the traditions, here's to a wonderful holiday season to you and yours.

Traffic stats

Heard this one on the radio yesterday morning from Mark Koebrich, the channel 9 anchor.
In Beijing, scene of this summer's Olympics, 2,500 people get their driver's licenses each day. There are some 400 accidents per day in Beijing, and pedestrians don't get the same protection from crossing the street as we do.
And you thought Denver traffic was bad.

Breathless

It applies to the efforts to avoid discussion on the Broncos loss to Carolina Sunday. As colleague Kevin Denke pointed out, the local press moved real quick to sweep a 20-point loss as far out of sight as they could and to start hyping the game with Buffalo this weekend.
But even after 30-plus years of living in these parts, I can't understand why the Denver press leads the Sunday night news with ..... the Broncos. Most people watched the game and, one would think, might have seen the highlights. If they didn't, there's a good chance they weren't interested.
I'm interested in what the Broncos are doing, but I'd also like to know what happened while the game was on.
Wouldn't anyone else?

Slow times in Congress

"WASHINGTON -- Taking aim at a BCS system he said "consistently misfires," a member of Congress planned to introduce legislation Wednesday that would force college football to adopt a playoff to determine the national champion.

"Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, didn't specify what sort of playoff he wants -- only that the BCS should go."

The view here ... solve something a little more immportant, say the nation's fiscal crisis, the rising unemployment rate. Find some way to restore retirement funds that are going up in smoke.

What was he thinking?

Avalanche center Joe Sakic broke three fingers the other day while clearing snow from the driveway of his home.
He is the same Joe Sakic who is out of the Avs lineup because of a bad back.
Which prompts the question ... why is someone with a bad back horsing around with a snow thrower?

Room to improve on two fronts

Hooray for Denver. They beat a team they were predicted to beat yesterday in the Kansas City Chiefs. There are still some holes, esp. on defense, that haven't been (won't be?) addressed.
But today, we're going to whine about CBS analyst Steve Beuerlein, the former quarterback for the Raider and for Denver. It's easy to see why he is part of the 10th announcing team for CBS. He was wrong more often than not yesterday. He was smug more often than he was right, and he tried to play doctor (we will assume he did so without staying at a Holiday Inn Express).
Instead of waiting for a replay, Beuerlein bellowed that running back Peyton Hillis landed on his head after a play during the second quarter. Hillis left the game with a leg injury, not a head injury (at least he had the right player), and did not return.
Note to Beuerlein: don't first guess in case of injuries, especially potentially serious ones.
And don't give up your day job.

Simpson sentenced

Nine to 33 years in prison. That was the sentence for former football star/actor/pitchman/broadcaster O.J. Simpson yesterday for his part in a botched effort to retrieve some property he said was stolen.
What are your thoughts about the sentence? About Mr. Simpson? I'd love to hear them.

BCS bonanza Sunday

Random thoughts before the BCS has its say this weekend on who plays for the national collegiate football championship.
* President-elect Barack Obama will have a lot of pull come Jan. 20. But he hasn't met anyone as short-sighted as the NCAA Division I presidents when it comes to a national championship game. As much as Mr. Obama -- and others -- would like to see the college football championship decided on the field, it's not likely to happen any time soon.
* That said, here's one dude's guess for the two teams that will wind up in Miami the second week of January for the coveted computer title -- Oklahoma and Alabama. They are the two best teams I've seen this year and (sorry Pete Carroll), either one of those could take USC behind the wood shed.
What are your thoughts? Weigh in .. the floor is open.

Odd bounces

Memo to Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants: Why did you feel the need to take a gun to the club with you the other night? And why did you rearrange the motto of the Rotary Club to read "Self Above Service?"
Memo to Pete Carroll of USC: The rules of the BCS are the same as they've been. The only change is to your team. It's the sort of thing that happens when you lose to Oregon State.

Just a matter of time

Just when you thought it was safe to get away from the empire that is all things ESPN ..

Now there are high school public address announcers who think they are ESPN SportsCenter anchors – even down to the same inane expressions that people under the age of 10 might understand.

Please .. just stick to the facts of the game at hand. The world does not pay money to listen to you, nor should it have to listen to any more of Stuart Scott's bromides than is rightfully allowed by law.