The note doesn’t fall far from the tree. …
Some people count sheep when they’re sleeping. Not Dave Plati. He counts pages that might be expendable in his CU football media guide.
Plati, the Buffs’ longtime sports information director, is scrambling to abide by a recent NCAA edict that limits media guides to 208 pages. Two hundred eight? We’re talking Gary Barnett’s bio in years past.
OK, so I’m exaggerating a little, but not much. To put that figure in perspective, CU’s 2004 guide contained 492 pages.
For the liberal arts majors in the crowd, that’s 284 pages to be 86’d. And Plati, a fellow card-carrying member of the Big-Boned Boys Club, thought sticking to his latest diet was tough duty.
“Let’s put it this way,” Plati said. “It’s been easier for me to lose 70 pounds than it will be to lose 284 pages. Right now, I’ve lost more pounds than pages.” …
The best pitcher in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game? That would be Denver’s Own Brad Lidge. They should have given poor Garret Anderson a bonus for that foul tip into the catcher’s mitt. It was the closest any of Lidge’s three victims came to putting the ball in play. …
Gentlemen, start your spending spree. Assuming, of course, you took the Las Vegas under – 67 1/2 – on the Rockies’ season win total. Da Rox went into the all-star break at 31-56, which computes to 58-104. …
If the Broncos’ secondary isn’t improved next season, it won’t be because there wasn’t enough speed to go around. The team’s first three draft picks – Darrent Williams, Domonique Foxworth and Karl Paymah – accounted for the top three 10-yard dash times at the Indy scouting combine. …
Streaking: CU will enter the season having scored in 197 consecutive games, the sixth-longest stretch in college football. Assuming the Buffs can muster at least a field goal against CSU and New Mexico State, they’ll be going for No. 200 against mighty Miami at the Orange Bowl. …
OK, so the Nuggets haven’t signed a free-agent shooting guard. The good news is that Cleveland, Seattle, Milwaukee and the Clippers have filled their needs at the position. That’s four fewer teams to throw money at Michael Finley when he becomes a free agent, increasing the Nuggets’ chances of landing him for the midlevel exception. …
If you didn’t know before the All-Star Game, you do now: The American League has more quality hitters than the National League. The AL’s superiority doesn’t end there, though. AL teams have a 4.36 ERA compared with 4.34 for the National League.
Nothing unusual there except that the AL hasn’t finished with a lower ERA than the Senior Circuit since 1972, the year before the dawn of the DH. The AL finished at 3.07 that season, the NL 3.46. …
Don’t be surprised if the Broncos’ final roster includes three kicking specialists. Jason Elam is in, as is punter Todd Sauerbrun. But coaches have been impressed by seventh-rounder Paul Ernster’s leg. If he proves more adept than Sauerbrun at kickoffs, he could make it. Moral to the story: Mike Shanahan is heck-bent on doing everything necessary to improve the special teams. Not a bad idea in a division that includes the incomparable Dante Hall. …
It isn’t just the punting game that has put the Broncos in a bind in recent years. Their kickoffs haven’t been up to NFL standards. To wit: They had 16 touchbacks on 84 kickoffs last season. Granted, he kicks off 5 yards upfield, but the Buffs’ Mason Crosby accounted for 49 touchbacks in 67 attempts. …
The Sports Illustrated cover jinx lives on. Or didn’t you notice that the same week Team USA pitcher Jennie Finch donned the cover, the IOC booted softball out of the 2012 Games?
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM, and on Fox Sports Net’s “Insider Edition.” He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
