At the Denver Post water cooler this week, someone asked, without a hint of sarcasm, “So, the Broncos look like world-beaters, huh?” And so it goes, the view through orange-and-blue-colored glasses, the feeling of eternal hope that greets a new NFL season after the Broncos went 4-0 in the preseason.
As of now, according to die-hard Denver fans, the Broncos are the greatest team ever to walk the face of this Lombardi-laced land. A revamped defensive line full of the Browns’ leftovers? No problem. A third wide receiver with concrete hands? Not to worry. A marquee cover corner coming off a sore hammy? No big deal. A starting tailback coming off a season lost to an injury? Only Raiders fans would ask such questions.
In Denver’s defense, all that Super Bowl talk isn’t without base. The Broncos consistently are one of the best teams in the league. They just have trouble recently winning in the playoffs. But that’s all down the road. First things first: Sunday’s 11 a.m. opener at Miami will be tough enough. The Dolphins, despite an 0-3 record to begin last season en route to finishing 4-12, are one of the NFL’s best teams in September, going 31-12 in the opening month since the start of the 1992 season.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
1. All the AL East backlash subside so the rest of us baseball fans can enjoy what promises to be another edgy stretch run between the Red Sox and Yankees.
2. Saturday’s game at Folsom Field between Colorado and pass-happy New Mexico State – with a kickoff time of 8 p.m. – end sometime before Sunday.
3. The NHL season, with its wacky rule changes and merry-go-round player pickups and orange-colored blue lines, just hurry up and start already.
WEAK IN REVIEW
1. The USA Network, in a scheduling goof to rival the pre-emption of the 1968 Jets-Raiders game for “Heidi,” a children’s movie, cut away from the instantly classic Andre Agassi-James Blake U.S. Open quarterfinal for a rerun of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” The Post’s line score could have read: “Ice T def. Agassi 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).”
2. With the retirement of Jerry Rice, who called it a career after 20 seasons, the NFL is left with Terrell Owens and Randy Moss to carry his flame.
3. What kind of pleasant little chat do you think Broncos coach Mike Shanahan had with Bradlee Van Pelt after the backup quarterback reminded everyone of his age at the CU-CSU game?
THE COUCH
ON: The big leagues butt heads Saturday, when the Big 12’s Texas takes on the Big Ten’s Ohio State in a crucial early-season game, at 6 p.m. on KMGH-7. The Longhorns must be drooling at their chances now that Oklahoma already lost at home to Texas Christian. And the Buckeyes need to pick up steam before their daunting conference schedule. The game will shake down early national positioning, with all kinds of dominoes-like changes among the ranks.
OFF: Are 100-mile bike rides your idea of a good time? Or are you more into the 100-feet variety? Either way, head to the mountains Saturday for the Aspen Ride for the Cure, a Breast Cancer Foundation fundraising ride through Aspen and Snowmass. The path goes 23 miles in a loop from Hunter S. Thompson’s old haunt at the Woody Creek Tavern to St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, then back again. The 100-milers start early, while the mortals pedal off at 11 a.m. And because it’s for a good cause, any level of cyclist can give it a shot – the long-distance Lance wannabes or the weekend free-wheelers. Find more information at www.aspenrideforcure100.com.
AROUND TOWN
One of the hottest teams in the major leagues? That’s right, your Colorado Rockies. Generation R? More like, generating W’s. The Rox had won four of five and 11 of 16 entering Thursday’s game at San Diego. And say, for instance, the Rockies win every series the rest of the way: Won’t that put them in contention in the awful NL West? The local nine find out what the stretch run entails beginning tonight, when Colorado hosts the Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game set. Then it’s off to Los Angeles and Arizona before the the Rockies return to Coors Field for two final home series, Sept. 19-25 against San Diego and San Francisco.
