NFL: BRONCOS DEFEAT THE VIKINGS // COLLEGE: LSU & GEORGIA  //  MLB.

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NFL  ---     THE Denver Broncos defense remained fully committed to getting a job done versus the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Though it couldn’t prevent a two-point conversion in the first quarter and soon Vikings touchdowns and field goals before the first half ended, the Broncos defense managed two game-turning interceptions, one for a TD, the other late in the fourth quarter, which allowed the Denver offense to be FG-capable and upend the Vikings, 35-32.

Against the Vikings, Denver’s defense got the ball back to quarterback Tim Tebow enough times for Tebow to manage five first downs in the second half, accrue two TD’s in the third quarter and exploit a final possession in the fourth that became two FG’s after the two-minute warning. That second FG followed well-crafted up-the-middle rushes that used up valuable minutes, disallowing the Vikings enough time to retrieve the football and score points possibly keeping the Broncos on loser’s footing. In other words, by rushing the football repeatedly from inside the Vikings ten with less than a minute to go before endgame, the Broncos offense was able to “rush the clock,” leaving just seconds for that winning Broncos FG to occur.

The Vikings defense kept the Tebow-style offense from having points in the first quarter until the quarter nearly ended, when the Broncos managed a TD, and it held the Broncos to zero in the second quarter, though when the game ended the Broncos offense had totaled up 202 yards.

Denver's QB Tebow finished the game with 10 of 15 passes completed, plus captaincy of two TD’s, his offense having rushed for 150 yards. During those last seconds of the game, when Denver rushed the ball so as to set up for the winning FG, Tebow was, without question, a self-sacrificing “closer” by not attempting what he’s succeeded at so often in his career, that fourth quarter wall-busting breakthrough, or leaping arc, onto an opposition end-zone from less than five yards.

The Denver win vs. the Vikings is now team insurance, in event that the Broncos lose next week to the Chicago Bears and the week after to the New England Patriots. Other good news for the Broncos is that the Oakland Raiders lost to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, 34-14, and the Chicago Bears may be losing steam, having lost to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, 10-3. Denver is currently 7-5, holding first place in the American Conference-West, suddenly ahead of Oakland. By dominating Chicago and NE in coming weeks, and if Oakland keeps losing, the Broncos will be post-season bound without fear of any backsliding altering the influence of division rankings; they will be 9-5 after winning seven straight games.

COLLEGE ---   Number one LSU humiliated Georgia on Saturday, 42-10, winning the SEC Conference Championship, becoming the only undefeated team among the season’s top 25. Following a start that progressed slowly, LSU rallied in the third quarter vs. Georgia by scoring 21 points. More memorable than anything in the contest, however, was LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu returning a punt with a 62-yard run for a TD and then a punt return toward acquisition of LSU’s final TD, the win bringing LSU’s win record to 13-0.   LSU will now play Alabama for this year’s BCS National Championship.

Other top 25 teams winning big, that is, teams with only one loss for the season, are Alabama (11-1), Boise State (10-1), Houston (12-1) Oklahoma State (10-1), Stanford (11-1), and Virginia Tech (11-1). Biggest upset among these six teams on Saturday was Houston experiencing its first crash of the season, losing to Southern Mississippi, 49-28.

MLB   ----   IF there’s a lesson from all that talk in the book and movie MONEYBALL about the trading of ballplayers, it’s that a team’s general manager may have you thinking that he’s trading people, but if trades are done wisely he’s trading a vulnerability for a strength---otherwise, why bother?

So, let’s look at the vulnerabilities of the Colorado Rockies and what the team’s front office has looked for to reconstitute for the 2012 MLB season, starting with vulnerability number one, the lack of one or more starting pitchers that can control a game from the get-go, endure for six or more innings, win three or more of their every five starts and maintain ERA’s below 3.7, without question a very tall order, given that ace hurlers are at a premium.

Other Rockies vulnerabilities include the lack of a bull pen that always makes the best of a good situation and that can make the best of a bad situation, with closers that force enough strikeouts to prevent the loss of a lead. Also, with Chris Iannetta to the Los Angeles Angels, the Rockies have need of a primary catcher who can hit for RBI’s regularly enough, and the Rockies have lacked a third baseman who fields as good as Rockies shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki, with as accurate an arm for fast delivery to first baseman, Todd Helton; too, a third baseman who can add hitting power to the middle or back end of a lineup.

The Rockies GM hasn’t wasted any time doing what must be done to avoid repeating the team’s lackluster 2011 performance, “fourth place, thus second from the bottom in the National League-West and 11^th in the NL.” So far, a promising starter for 2012 (spring training and pre-season games begin March 3) is LHP Drew Pomeranz, who came from the Cleveland Indians in the trade for former Rockies ace, Ubaldo Jiminez.

The catcher eyed as Iannetta’s replacement is Willin Rosario, of 22 home runs achieved last year while playing for the Rockies Tulsa, Oklahoma affiliate, a catcher with a fine arm for those fast throws to second base while capable of seamless coverage of home plate. The third base possible is Nolan Arenado, from Class A Modesto, California, having batted over .380 last year.

Back to the Rockies will be several hitters with batting averages above .260, among them, Troy Tulowitzki (302), Todd Helton (.302), Carlos Gonzalez (.295), Seth Smith (.284), Dexter Fowler (.266). For Mark Ellis (.274), it’s to the L.A. Dodgers, and Ty Wittington will be elsewhere in 2012, like hurler, Aaron Cook. The Rockies 2011 winningest 2011 pitcher, Jhoulys Chacin (11-14) will return, so will Matt Belisle (10-4, in 2011). A different closer than Houston Street seems to have been a preference, his 29 saves being from among 69 games played in 2011. Prayers are that LHP Juan De La Rosa will be fully recovered from injury, and “highly improved at the broken places,” a proper phase for that which the Rockies front office is seeking for the team’s entire roster.

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