Notes from camp. …
Not that, you know, there’s a trend going on here, but check out the Broncos’ annual rushing leaders since 2003:
2003: Clinton Portis, 1,591.
2004: Reuben Droughns, 1,240.
2005: Mike Anderson, 1,014.
2006: Tatum Bell, 1,025.
2007: Selvin Young, 729.
2008: Peyton Hillis, 343.
Six different seasons, six different leaders. My first two reactions? First of all, if this keeps up, they’ll be measuring Broncos running backs in feet, not yards. Second, the trend will no doubt continue this year, what with Hillis not expected to get a ton of carries. …
So who’ll lead the team this season? Knowshon Moreno is the easy answer, but, if not, stranger things have happened. I have it on good authority — Josh McDaniels, just to drop a name — that the Bronx could go running back-by-committee. “We’re trying to get a lot of production out of our running game,” J-Mac said. “It’s not, ‘He’s going to do it’ or ‘This guy or that guy is going to do it.’ It’s about the team. If it’s a running back by committee, that’s fine.” …
Bronx DE Tim Crowder on Camp J-Mac I: “It’s time for me. It’s my third year and I feel like I’ve got a lot riding on this.” Just a spot on the roster is all. Same thing for Jarvis Moss, selected in the first round in ’07, just ahead of Crowder. …
Which reminds me. The Five Biggest Questions in the Air at Dove Valley: 1. Will the defensive line be any good? 2-5. See question No. 1. …
Just an opinion, not a fact: This is Champ Bailey’s last training camp in Our Town. At this point, if they miss the playoffs again, wouldn’t the Broncos owe it to him to let him play for a legit contender? …
I’m worried. What’s that? No, I’m not worried about Moreno signing. I’m worried about people who worry about whether No. 1 draft choices are going to sign. What, he’s going to spend his rookie year eating Doritos at Couch Commando Central? …
Not that the Rockies weren’t about to spend big money at the trading deadline, but the same day the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee, the Rox were scouting Cliffy from Cheers to see if he had anything left in his drinking elbow. …
Also from ye olde e-mail bag: “Big news. Brett Favre is still retired and Francisco Franco is still dead.” And Packers GM Ted Thompson is still breathing a sigh of relief. …
The Mountain West Conference wants to crash the BCS party. Exhibit A in the conference’s argument: MWC teams were 28-13-1 out of conference last season, including 6-1 vs. the Pac-10. …
Coincidence? The same week Michael Vick is sprung from prison, Gidget the Taco Bell Chihuahua dies. …
Talk about a guy who already owns the town. The Bears train in Bourbonnais, Ill., named after Jay Cutler’s favorite beverage. …
Now that the Cardinals have traded for Matt Holliday, the trick is to sign him long term. Their best strategy? Build a statue of Scott Boras outside the ballpark. …
This just in. A lenient federal judge in Washington has reduced Bernard Madoff’s sentence from 150 years to one Nationals homestand. …
They make suckers in Canada, too. How do we know? CFL point spreads. …
Speaking of point spreads, the Broncos’ season win total has dropped to seven from 7 1/2 in Las Vegas. Now for the real story: Under seven is minus-180, meaning it would take a $180 wager to win $100. As in, if anything, the number is going down, not up. …
They say it’s your birthday: Ex-Buff and Raider Cliff Branch (61); Edgerrin James (31); Glenn Dorsey (24); and, just because it’s been a long, strange notes column, Jerry Garcia, who would have turned 67 today.
Jim Armstrong can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
Improving reception
Yeah, you, Brandon Stokley.
So, given how productive Wes Welker was in Josh McDaniels’ offense, how many balls are you going to catch this season?
“Um, 250,” Stokley said.
Great. Or 300 just to, you know, round things off.
Considering he has caught 288 balls in his first 10 seasons, Stokley may not get there this season. But let the record show he’s liking the chances he’ll get a whole lotta catches in J-Mac’s offense. He isn’t buying into any notion the Broncos’ offense will hit the ground walking once the season starts.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “Between how much we’ve practiced in it in the offseason and how much work we’ll do in training camp, we should be ready to go in that first game.”
Five fearless predictions
The trading deadline has passed and the races are on. So what will go down in the National League in the final two months of the season? Here are five prognostications:
5. The Rockies won’t win the wild card. Why? Hint: Because Ubaldo “Is Beautiful” Jimenez is outhitting (you could look it up) Dexter Fowler, Ryan Spilborghs, Ian Stewart, Garrett Atkins and Chris Iannetta.
4. The Cardinals will win the wild card when Matt Holliday slides in face first with the winning run on the final day of the season. Afterward, Holliday will be quoted as saying, “You know, for some reason, that felt like deju vu all over again.”
3. The Marlins will lose the wild card in the final week when they’re swept by the Pirates’ Triple-A team. Which, come to think of it, is the Pirates’ major- league team.
2. The Phillies will win their second consecutive pennant. Afterward, left-hander Jamie Moyer will say, “Hey, what’s up with this? My playoff check is smaller than my Social Security check.”
1. The apple won’t rise above the center-field fence at Citi Field from mid-August through mid-September. When an obnoxious fan asks Mets general manager Omar Minaya about it, Minaya says, “What part of we haven’t homered in a month don’t you get?”
