“I have never said it until now, but the refs gave the Nuggets’ season opener to the Los Angeles Clippers. They threw out Carmelo Anthony for tossing a headband. Most fans enjoy it when Melo tosses his headband. I was lucky enough to catch one last season, before it was a crime.”
Dave, Johnson Lake, Neb.
Kiz: If the Nuggies could shoot 3-pointers as accurately as Anthony tossed his headband, they would have won by 10. I love Melo. But what did Baretta used to say? Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time. No matter how many technical fouls it cost, NBA commish David Stern is going to return sportsmanship to the pro hoops, and I applaud him.
Top secret? No way
“Do you think coach Mike Shanahan might be saving the passing game for the second half of the season, so teams will be less prepared for the Broncos?”
Mike, an inquiring mind
Kiz: OK, lemme get this straight. On their last set of plays against Indianapolis, the Broncos ran on first and second down, settled for a field goal and lost a game that probably cost them any shot of earning home-field advantage throughout the postseason, because Shanahan wanted to hold back top-secret stuff in his passing game that will dazzle an unsuspecting NFL with its genius on the road during the playoffs? Sorry. I ain’t buying it, anymore than Shanny wants to buy a plane ticket to Indy in January.
Reeves liked to air it out
“I’m not sure Bud Wilkinson said it, but I remember it attributed to him: Three things happen with a pass in football and two of them are bad. So tell me why John Elway got two rings at the end of his NFL career. Oh, yeah. Terrell Davis ran the ball like a madman. And was Elway held back by the run-first offense of Dan Reeves? What were Elway’s passing numbers like in comparison to the run game that Reeves devised?”
Joe, Mandeville, La.
Kiz: Here’s the real mind-blowing truth. In all his years as Denver coach, Reeves was never as conservative in the passing game as Shanahan has been this season, when 50 percent of the team’s total offense results from running the football. A 50-50 split might sound like the perfect balance, until you realize the pro game has been dominated by throwing the rock for ages. For example: In the 1986 season, when the Biffster and Reeves made their first Super Bowl trip together, Denver threw for 3,538 yards and rushed for 1,678, more than a 2:1 ratio in favor of the pass. Now, there’s no disputing Shanny’s superiority over Reeves as an offensive mastermind. But to label Cowboy Dan as “conservative,” the way so many revisionist local sports historians mistakenly do? As Reeves himself used to say with a twisted smile: “You guys are unbelievable.”
No longer on edge of 17
“And I quote: ‘What Shanahan is trying to do (offensively) is as old as Stevie Nicks.’ Wow. You must think Stevie is ancient. She’s certainly no spring chicken, but she is a very good-looking 58 years old. And still rockin’, by the way.”
Jamie, Fleetwood Mac fanatic
Kiz: Never break the chain, dude. The Gypsy Queen stays forever young on VH1. But is Stevie still your rock ‘n’ roll fantasy? Not to suggest Ms. Nicks is dragging more than my heart around, but when Stevie sang with Tom Petty at summer concerts, I’m thinking maybe she was more than half the duo.
Parting shot
And today’s final shot is fired with more accuracy than the Nuggets can shoot, with a fan’s concern the local NBA team has not improved since last season.
“Adding one player who can shoot is not going to cut it. The front office is obviously content with mediocrity, as very little was done to fix the very glaring weakness of the Nuggets: shooting. Everyone is raving about the front line and athleticism, but the bottom line is once the playoffs roll around, a team must be able to play a half-court game.”
Sam, wannabe general manager
