DENVER BRONCOS  //  WORLD SERIES, 2011

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BRONCOS  ----  IT was a good football game each side of the field, and the Denver Broncos could have won had its defense stopped the Tennessee Titans from driving 95 yards in the final quarter for a TD that put the Titans ahead, 17-14; or if with minutes to go in the fourth Q and at fourth down and goal, Broncos running back Willis McGahee had gone further across the Titans one yard line for a TD, or if Broncos head coach John Fox had instead of ordering that fourth down rush had selected a field goal attempt. Anyway, the Titans won it clean and the Broncos are now one win and two losses while preparing for next Sunday’s turn against Green Bay.

With regard to John Fox’s no FG decision, such speaks to a baseball situation: bottom of the ninth, Rockies are behind the Diamondbacks by one run, Rockies are up. First to the plate, Carlos Gonzalez, who walks. Up next, heavy hitter Troy Tulowitzki. No outs. Rockies manager Jim Tracy can have Tulowitzki sacrifice with a bunt, or Tulowitzki could try sending the ball out of the park for a home run. If the latter becomes a sacrifice fly, Gonzalez could run the bases, maybe reach third. Or, Tulowitzki could play the count for a walk, still no outs and the task of RBIs going to the remainder of the line-up. Which should it be? Bunt, putting the ball in the bleachers, sacrifice fly, going for the walk? Check with a baseball manual, it’ll say, “Do the bunt.” But that’s no ordinary batter at the plate, it’s a most reliable slugger. So, Tracy opts for the long ball, green lights Tulowitzki to swing away. Then---Tulowitzki strikes out! The next two batters ground out and the DB’s win, Tracy’s proper choice collapsing like a punctured balloon.

Transfer the baseball situation to football and to John Fox setting aside the FG attempt, his having Orton and the right man for it McGahee doing what a football manual speaks against: Fox, Orton and McGahee opted for a TD and became the train that couldn’t, failure by inches. Was it the right choice? Considering the effective Orton and McGahee performances of earlier in the afternoon, the question deserves a Yes. Ask the question of many football coaches and they’ll agree, they’ll argue that sports wisdom advises a risk when the odds are better than good, though failure still looms in the near-distance. Anyone dissing Coach Fox for his decision has to get it that all sports are speculative moment-by-moment, therefore any “rational” choice is a good choice.  

And from the vs. Titans game, there’s no reason for Orton-bashing or talk about switching ASAP for QB Brady Quinn or QB Tim Tebow, especially for Sunday vs. Green Bay. Certainly justifying Orton as starting quarterback is that the Broncos offense gained 333 yards against the Titans. Tennessee’s offense obtained 231 vs. the Broncos. Yes, the Titans rushed for more yards than had the Broncos, 59 over 38---once again the Broncos kept getting into the red zone but couldn’t exploit all scoring opportunities via the extended rush; surely this is the Orton/receiver weakness that needs early on fixing.

The Broncos defense?  It’s become a heads-up defense, yet some of its plays were foiled by Titan fakes, to which the Broncos defense hadn’t recovered from fast enough, and there were Broncos defense plays where foot speed was off and so interferences that could have happened, didn’t. But if Elvis Dumervil and other injured players return on Sunday vs. Green Bay, we’ll be witnessing a different and probably better Broncos defense.

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WORLD SERIES, 2011 ---  THOSE ball clubs that have won 90 or more games will compete soon for league championships and a go at the World Series: as of yesterday the NL’s Philadelphia Phillies from 99 wins, the Milwaukee Brewers from 94, the Arizona Diamondbacks, 93, the AL NYY’s from 97, the Texas Rangers, 93, the Detroit Tigers, 92, with competition from NL wild card contender the St. Louis Cardinals (88 wins) and AL wild card possible but now floundering Boston Red Sox (89 wins).

Probably the only solace that the Colorado Rockies can obtain from the above post-season list is that during the Rockies 2011 league + inter-league series with most of the listed teams, the Rockies, though now of a dismal 72/87 record, were not swept by them and in many cases had split a series. The Rockies are indeed a lot closer to .500 in games versus several of the top MLB franchises than vs. the complete spectrum of NL and AL clubs.

Of course, the eight teams currently listed for post-season play deserve the positions that they’ve achieved. Cumulatively, they represent 748 games won of the 4,860 that will be played by the 30 MLB teams as September comes to a close, definitely a huge share. Of particular note is that neither team has won the majority of its games from only a small string of baseball phenoms. Each has had a rounded-off staff of starting pitchers + relievers and closers, and they’ve had enough long ball batters interwoven and spreading power within a line-up’s OBP hitters/runners/base stealers. Too, most have had the necessary depth for replacing injured players. Surely the about-to-happen pennant races and the 2011 WS will be studies in what enables a baseball team to prevail against competition comprising extremely similar assets.

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