While watching Auburn beat Oregon to win the national championship Monday night, I had an Andy Rooney moment. You know, one of those random “Don’t you just hate it when “
This Rooney moment struck me when ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews, just a few minutes before kickoff, breathlessly asked Oregon coach Chip Kelly: “Which part of your game plan are you most confident in?”
Kelly hurriedly replied: “We’re confident in all of it — that’s why we’re here.”
Kelly looked perturbed and Andrews looked embarrassed. Coaches are in no mood to chat at moments like that, and I don’t blame them. It’s a ridiculous waste of time.
This particular annoyance got me thinking about some of my other sports pet peeves. Here they are, in no particular order:
The chant does nothing to rattle the opposing quarterback. Back in the day at magical old Mile High Stadium, the fans created their own deafening “De-Fense” chant. It was awesome. When’s the last time the crowd at a Broncos game made the opposing quarterback back away from center?
Yes, Bert “Be Home” Blyleven and Eric “Sleeping With” Bieniemy are classics. But please, ESPN, don’t allow Berman in the baseball booth. He’s too bombastic for baseball, steps all over everybody else, and frankly, he’s just not very good.
Can’t they just say NFL like the rest of us? Do these guys get paid royalties for saying “National Football League?”
So those are a few of my sports pet peeves. I’m sure you have some of your own. I’m sure a few of you will say my column is your pet peeve. Anyway, feel free to chime in.
Trivia time
As long as I’m quoting Shanny, here’s a trivia question for you. Who was Shanahan’s first first-round draft choice as a Broncos coach? (Answer below)
Polling
In last week’s “Lunch Special” poll I asked readers which of Colorado’s “Big Os” will have the greatest career in Colorado. The Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki was the winner with nearly 46 percent of the vote. Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was second (nearly 34 percent), followed by Rockies outfield Carlos Gonzalez (14.3), soon to be ex-Nugget Carmelo Anthony (3.4) and Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez (2.5).
Regarding that poll, I got quite a few emails from Avs fans upset that I didn’t include newly minted all-star Matt Duchene. Hey, I love Duchene, but last I checked, he wasn’t one of Denver’s Os (Mel-OH, Teb-OH, Tu-LOW, Car-GO, Ubald-OH).
Quotable
Future Baseball Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman retired Tuesday, to gather anecdotes about the super closer. Here’s a great memory from Warren Miller, the media relations director for the Padres:
“When I first got here to San Diego, people always talked about how great Trevor is. I saw how he interacted with his family, with his brother, his teammates, the front office and certainly in all his community endeavors.
“However, I really didn’t understand the kind of person Trevor Hoffman really was until that one-game playoff that we lost in Denver. So, without question, my greatest memory of Trevor is from game No. 163 in 2007. Seeing his passion for the Padres, his love for his teammates, and his devastation over the loss and then handling each reporter’s question with the utmost class and professionalism ranks as my greatest sports memory. How he handled that incredible loss says more about him than any save could. Life is about how you handle adversity and what he demonstrated that night was just remarkable.”
Reader’s rant
“I would like to see Chauncey stay, but this all started with Carmelo. With the Rockies signing Cargo and Tulo it’s refreshing to see athletes with some loyalty rather than a selfish child like Melo. He had the chance to show some class and sign an extension long ago. Now he feels bad. Not for the fans who have helped make him a millionaire, but for Chauncey who may have to leave because of him.”
— CaliBroncfan, posting on possible departure from Denver.
In case you missed it
LeBron James took a very public shot at beleaguered Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert Tuesday night.
As James’ former team was getting bludgeoned 112-57 in Los Angeles by the Lakers, James fired away on his Twitter account.
“Crazy. Karma is a b—-. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”
James, of course, hasn’t forgotten that Gilbert wrote a scathing letter to Cleveland fans after James’ decision to sign with Miami and leave the Cavs. In the letter Glbert predicted a bad end for Lebron, saying, “down south. … James will unfortunately own this dreaded spell and bad karma.”
FYI: The Cavs’ 57 points were the fewest in team history and the Cavs have lost 11 games in a row.
Trivia answer
Shanahan picked linebacker John Mobley in the first round in 1996 (15th pick). Shanahan’s first Broncos draft was in 1995, but the team didn’t have a first-round pick.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
