Laboring for respect.
I am a 75-year-old man who has been a big-time Broncos fan for a long, long time. That said, my feeling about the NFL labor strife is resentment for millionaires arguing with billionaires over how to split the fans’ money. I live on Social Security, so a $100 bill is a month’s supply of food and necessities for me. I don’t think the NFL is treating fans with any respect, so I will not spend a dime as a fan again. Oh, sure, I will watch games on television and root for the Broncos, but I won’t buy any T-shirts, pajamas or NFL gear any longer.
Ed, Rangely
Kiz: C’mon, we here at Kickin’ It Headquarters know of few better ways to deaden the pain of no pro football than with a shot and a beer from a Denver Broncos boilermaker set, only $31.99 (plus shipping and handling). While not trying to encourage the chucking of a remote at a 52-inch flat screen, you can bet your next Social Security check that the NFL will explore more ways to take its product off free television.
It’s about money . . . or TV.
Your take on Brigham Young University not having honor in leaving the Mountain West Conference is interesting, as it’s an easy and fun comparison to draw with the Brandon Davies premarital sex situation. Do you really feel BYU, Utah or Texas Christian leaving the league is dishonorable? If any other school, Colorado State or Air Force included, had the opportunity to leave for a BCS football conference or go independent to increase annual revenue, don’t you think they would do it in a heartbeat? Let me say a fond farewell to standard-definition telecasts of MWC games on impossible-to-find channels, winters in Wyoming and a small-town beat writer with a chip on his shoulder like yourself.
Geoff, Lehi, Utah
Kiz: OK, so we now know what a declaration of independence by BYU really means: life, liberty and the pursuit of games on HDTV. Let me check the 2011 football schedule. Can’t wait for the Cougars to play Idaho State. There’s some must-see TV. (Please excuse my yawn.)
Double standard.
You are right about the honor issue in regard to the disintegration of the MWC. I guess it is one thing to have an honor code for students, but it’s an entirely different matter when it comes to ‘grown-ups.’ For the adults, it’s just business. The decline of tradition in the MWC, however, goes double for Colorado and Nebraska. As big fish in a little pond, their silly sense of entitlement when it comes to athletic success will continue to result in self-delusion.
Mike, Centennial
Kiz: Is it reasonable to think conference membership should be more stable than the cast of “Two and a Half Men,” or is that just me?
Love hurts.
You love the Mountain West Conference? You deserve what you get. The MWC is a joke. Any success it has had in sports has been in spite of itself.
Paul, Salt Lake City
Kiz: For about five minutes, when it appeared Boise State, TCU, Utah and BYU might all be in the league together, the MWC packed the football punch to go toe-to-toe with the new Pac-12.
Guess who?
As a coach in the Mountain West, I can’t be more disappointed in what has happened in this conference. It won’t be the same. You said everything I can’t, but with cleaner language.
Chalk Talker, Laramie
Kiz: The realignment of conferences in the name of football money sends a disturbing message. Olympics sports are being flunked out at the college level. The Texas Christian track coach is going to love packing up the van in Fort Worth and taking the team on a little 1,255-mile road trip to Pittsburgh.
One not enough at Coors
And today’s parting shot is a warning to anybody who thinks the Rockies’ big bats will fizzle in 2011.
“Carlos Gonzalez has every chance to hit .340 because he plays his home games at Coors Canaveral. Troy Tulowitzki should drop 40 bombs if he stays healthy. That would be good for 1-2 in the MVP voting in any other major-league city, but either CarGo or Tulo will need to win two of the three Triple Crown categories to get consideration for the award.”
Paul, Cañon City
