Who is this guy?
“I turned on the TV to see a handsome, well-groomed, articulate and graciously softspoken young man discussing the upcoming Broncos-Bears game. Had to look again. Darn if it wasn’t Jay Cutler, the slovenly, boorish, social incompetent who used to quarterback the Broncos. Has he really changed or have Da Bears put him on a tight leash? Maybe his mom gave Jay a good talking-to. What do you think?”
Dick, Denver
Kiz: Just goes to show you. A little Lovie (Smith) can do wonders for a man. Somewhere in the Denver suburbs, there’s a 7,500-square-foot house for sale that comes complete with four bedrooms, seven baths and dozens of ratty Broncos stocking caps in the closets.
Is there a doctor in the house?
“Seems to me you are mostly a Josh McDaniels supporter, so I have points to make: 1) There are a lot of rookie NFL coaches, but not one other has alienated any of his top players, let alone two; 2) So far the Broncos’ offense is low-risk dink-and-dunk with no running game; 3) How is LaMont Jordan an upgrade at power back over Michael Pittman? (Oh, that’s right. Jordan played for the New England Patriots); and 4) McD seems committed to following the Bill Belichick tree, including the hoodie and reliving Belichick’s years in Cleveland. I deal with doctors all day long, and this new Broncos coach reminds me of a young doc just out of school who thinks he knows everything.”
David, Parker
Kiz: Doogie Howser, M.D., is now 36 years old, and he turned out OK. McDaniels is only 33. Give the coach some time to grow up. By the way: Pittman signed with something called the Florida Tuskers of the UFL. Maybe his NFL run was done.
Still dreaming of Jay.
“Love ya, Kiz. But don’t think for a minute a handshake between McDaniels and Cutler will even begin to end the blame game. This will follow these two guys as long as they are in the NFL. I gotta be honest: I follow every Bears game now just to see how Cutler is doing. I’ll never boo Kyle Orton, or even McDaniels, but I am afraid I will always think, ‘What if . . . ?’ “
Eric, Millville, Utah
Kiz: A year ago this week, Barack Obama launched a Changefest at our local football stadium with a memorable speech. Reading between the lines, maybe he was talking about the Broncos as well. And who knew change would be so hard on Broncomaniacs?
Hooligans in Broncos orange.
“Boo the Broncos? Not in this lifetime or the next. Boo a former Broncos quarterback? Won’t happen, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t cheer for an interception or two. There are some fans who merely want to be vile, mean-spirited or just plain childish. If they want that, then they should become a European soccer hooligan or mosey on over to the political pages.”
Ruben, La Quinta, Calif.
Kiz: When this newspaper polled fans and asked if they would be more inclined to boo or cheer the return of Cutler, there were more than 7,000 responses in 48 hours. Twice as many Broncomaniacs said they would boo rather than cheer. Tough crowd.
Taking down Josh.
“My best friends and I are all Colorado guys in our mid-30s. We’ve seen the highs and lows of the Broncos. And we’ve never argued as much about a Denver team. Those who side with Cutler don’t want the Broncos to fail. We want the coach to fail.”
Brett, Denver
Kiz: The final score might not count in the standings, but there’s something I really do want to know. Will McDaniels be booed the first time he coaches a game on his home field?
Helton Hall-worthy.
“I heard you on ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and thought it was great the issue of Todd Helton being Hall of Fame-worthy came up, but you blew the argument. There are only five players with career batting averages of .320, 500 doubles and 300 home runs, and only Helton is not in the Hall of Fame. You need to call Dan back, and call him out on this issue.”
John, Grand Junction
Kiz: Mr. Patrick undoubtedly employs security to shield him from crank calls by riffraff like myself. But if I could get D.P. back on the line, I would ask him something truly important. Such as: “Could you get me an autographed 8×10 photo of Bob Costas?”
Parting shot
Insult is elementary
And today’s parting shot fires back at me for wondering aloud if a petulant Broncos receiver who gets sent to timeout is smarter than a fifth-grader.
“Kiz, you disappoint me. You’ve now insulted fifth-graders, fourth-graders, third-graders, first-graders and kindergartners. How dare you?”
Ron, Wheat Ridge
