Tonight it’s being widely reported that the Nuggets have completed their (way too) long discussed deal to send Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks.

By my count, this is at least the 3^rd time in the last 2 years that the city of Denver has lost a high profile athlete that basically forced his way out of town.

At this point, I am starting to feel like one of those desperate women on The Bachelor who gets sent packing after telling the bachelor about her 4 cats and how she got a tattoo of his name in a giant heart on her lower back while he was out on a date with 3 other women.

Is my problem that I love too easily?

Maybe not quite as extreme as those sad nut-jobs on The Bachelor I at least feel like some high school girl dumped by her boyfriend. What did I do? Could I have done more for him? Why aren’t I good enough to be loved?

I should probably just console myself with the latest Justin Bieber song.

However, there is one major difference between Melo and those that have demanded out of the Mile High City before him.

I am not mad at Melo.

Melo didn’t want out due to some childish over-reaction to the business of pro sports (see: Cutler, Jay). He didn’t want out due to some over-inflated view of his own greatness (see: Marshall, Brandon). Melo wanted out because (1) he wanted to play for his hometown team, (2) his prima donna wife wanted to live in a major market and (3) he didn’t like the direction of the Nuggets franchise.

All of those are justifiable reasons by themselves. Even #2, as lame as it is, is reasonable. Any married guy knows life is easier if the wife is happy and when plastic surgery addicted professional sluts across the US get TV contracts (see: Real Housewives of anywhere), it seems reasonable that a former MTV VJ married to a NBA star could get her own show.  

Together these reasons made it inevitable that Melo’s child would not drive a car with a Colorado ‘Native’ bumper sticker on it.

What separates Melo in my mind from the others is the way in which he went about leaving Denver. He didn’t whine and pout. He didn’t make a nuisance of himself in practice. He went to work and did his job amidst great upheaval and uncertainty. Even just yesterday, when he knew that the Nuggets were close to trading him, he said he planned to play for the Nuggets in their next game against the Grizzlies.

I can’t fault a guy for wanting to work where he wants to work. If my life-long dream were to work for a competitor of my current employer (who has been great to me in time with them), and it was well known they were actively recruiting me, wouldn’t it be my choice to go work with them? And while weighing the offer, would it shock anyone if I wasn’t the perfect employee for my current boss (heck, I should be doing work right now but am not – and I don’t have any other job offers. Though I am listening). Melo, continued to show up to work for the Nuggets. And he may not have played quite as well as his usual self, he was still fully invested in making this Nuggets team a success.

Need an example? A couple weeks ago, the Nuggets beat the Mavs on a last second shot by Aaron Aflallo after Melo fouled out of the most entertaining basketball game I have ever attended. When Aflallo’s basket went in, a player on the bench who no longer cared would have casually walked off the court. Instead, the TNT cameras caught Melo yelling, running across the court and pumping his fists like he had hit the shot himself.

Melo’s heart was in New York long ago but it is a credit to him for not only continuing to show up and play his best for the Nuggets but also making his intentions clear. It may hurt a little now, but isn’t it better to lose Melo and get something in return rather than have him shiv us in the kidneys this summer like LeBron did to Cleveland last summer?

LeBron treated free agency like a selfish child would: thinking only of what makes them immediately happy; unable to think through the impact on others.

Melo approached it like a man. He did what was best for him, what was best for his employer and he continued to show up and do his best in the interim.

The Nuggets took everything in New York north of Wall Street that wasn’t nailed down in this trade. As I tweeted, the optimist in me is trying to convince the pessimist in me that this will go down as the NBA equivalent of the Herschel Walker trade that built the Dallas Cowboys 1990’s dynasty.

The pessimist in me just wants to kick the optimist’s ass.

I am, of course, disappointed that Melo didn’t want to finish the job he started: turning Denver into a real basketball town. Before Melo arrived, Denver’s basketball history consisted of David Thompson redefining ‘mile high’, one playoff series win over the SuperSonics and the movie Amazing Grace and Chuck (starring one of the greatest Nuggets of all time as a professional basketball player…for the Celtics. Sigh).

But, when probably the 2^nd best current player from Colorado is Louis Amundsen, did he ever have a chance? Colorado is a football state, period. Chauncey Billups’ career at George Washington High is just the exception that proves the rule.

When it wasn’t clear how the Nuggets new management planned to get this team into the upper echelon of the Western Conference, Melo decided it was time to head back to the mean streets of his youth. I can’t blame him for looking around the Nuggets roster and seeing a bunch of high-priced players too often injured or lacking motivation to put in the consistent effort required of a NBA champion.

Stuck in a foreign world (he bought a house near my parents in Littleton, quite possibly the exact polar opposite of his hometowns of Brooklyn and Baltimore), and seeing his job as a dead end, he made the quite logical decision to try and go back to the world he knew growing up.

I want to be mad at Melo. I want to imagine next year when the Knicks come back and beat the Nuggets in Denver by 30 points I will boo and scream at Melo. I want to imagine that I will spend the next year writing hate messages at Melo to rival what Scott Raab has directed at LeBron in the last nine months.

I want to be angry. I really do.

But, right now I can’t be.

I am sad.

I am sad it didn’t work out. I am sad that the 2009 Western Conference Finals will be the closest thing the Melo/Chauncey Nuggets got to bringing a championship to Denver. I am sad it came to this. I am sad that Denver’s opportunity to play home to one of the 5 best basketball talents in the world ended in pain for everyone involved.

Good luck Melo. I will probably still cheer you on in the Eastern Conference – I really don’t like a lot of your new ‘rivals’ – but I will always wonder, “what if”.

I know we could have had something special.

In the NFL, ‘gun slinger’ is a term of endearment for a quarterback with a strong arm that tends to throw high risk, high reward passes. Of course, these quarterbacks are polarizing to their teams and fans. They can be heroes if they complete the miracle pass or can be goats if their mistakes cost them the game.

They can also be loathed by their teams and fans if the same out of control egos and selfish confidence makes them believe they are more important their team.

NOTE: I’m really not trying to make this a personal attack on Jay Cutler and Brett Favre, really I am not, it just seems that way.

Anyway, thanks to the presence of Cutler and Favre, the NFC North is the unquestioned Gunslinging capital of the NFL. However, that doesn’t mean it is the only division that would have fit in well wearing black back in the old west.

While Favre and Cutler’s antics may antagonize fans and teammates, they at least keep their crimes limited to the world of football.

With two Pittsburgh Steelers facing legal trouble this spring, and another Brown getting arrested it is official; the AFC North is the least law-abiding division of the NFL. The NFL’s real outlaw division.

Every single team in the AFC North has had players with run-ins with the law:

Ravens: Officially Ray Lewis never stabbed a guy with a knife outside of an Atlanta night club. Also, officially Lewis quit being an elite linebacker a couple years ago. However as the saying goes ‘perception is reality’. The same rationale that lets announcers continue to label Ray one of the best in the game, is the same rationale that I can use to say Ray, at a minimum, was an accomplice to a man’s death.

Bengals: I don’t have the time, energy or page count to list all of the crimes committed by the Orange and Black Gang over the years. Let’s just say, if your last name isn’t Palmer and you play for the Bengals, you probably have an arrest record in Hamilton County. And I can say that only because I am choosing to ignore that Jordan Palmer stole a roster spot from a more deserving player.

Browns: Just last week, Shaun Rogers was arrested for ‘accidentally’ trying to bring a loaded gun on a plane. Last year, Braylon Edwards got himself banished to Elba (I mean New Jersey) for punching a friend of the Akron Hammer. Former Browns wide receiver (and now Raven) Donte Stallworth killed a man while driving impaired in Miami last year. Apparently after seeing the Bengals turn around their play and make the playoffs this year after a multi-year crime spree, the Browns are trying to follow the same game plan. Unfortunately that plan doesn’t take into account the crime against humanity that has been the Browns quarterback play for the last decade.

Steelers: Big Ben appears to be about to escape charges after being accused of a second sexual assault in two years. Santonio Holmes appears to be about to be cleared of assault charges from some sort of bar room encounter. Unfortunately he also faces a suspension for substance abuse, coming after years of being relatively open about his pot use (first sign you shouldn’t ever use Twitter: Tweeting about ‘waking and baking’). So, Santonio has a problem putting down the pipe while Big Ben has a problem turning away dumb young women throwing themselves at him (that is the half-glass full view of what happened). The Steelers may be considered the model franchise thanks to great owners and a smart coach but they sure draft some dumb players.

In the midst of the free agent / pre-draft season it only makes sense to look at some players that based on their extra-curricular activities would be good fits to join the AFC North:

- Brandon Marshall – Chad Ochocinco lobbied for T.O. to join him in Cincinnati. That hasn’t happened yet but with Marshall’s legal troubles over the years he would fit in well in the Bengal locker room. Plus he has spent the last few years making passes from Kyle Orton and Jay Cutler look catchable. Even Jordan Palmer would look like he belongs on an NFL roster with B-Marsh around.

- Marshawn Lynch – Traveling with a gun? Hit and Run? If Marshawn isn’t a natural fit in Cleveland than I don’t know anything about building an NFL team.  

- Ronnie Brown – DUI arrest in Georgia? Clearly Brown needs to sign with the Steelers. If he played in the black and gold he would have just taken a couple pictures with the officers when they pulled him over before being let go.

- Any Florida Gator outside of Saint Tebow– a team of 20+ offseason arrests last year – if you are looking for a division where strict adherence to the law is optional, the AFC North is for you.

Wait, why am I trying to get more criminals together? I think this is how the Colombian drug cartels got started. And we all know how journalists challenging those cartels end up.

Maybe it is time to call witness protection.

Just call me Mediocre Dan.

A funny thing has happened to Brady Quinn since signing with the Broncos a few weeks ago. His entire career has been resurrected.

This despite not yet completing his first off-season training session.

If you read the local sportswriters, Brady will be the Broncos savior. Mark Kiszla even declared Brady would take the Broncos back to their first Super Bowl since some other lesser quarterback accomplished it in the late 90’s.  What was his name, again? I think he was more of a game manager, so he really doesn’t matter.

Why such enormous optimism about the Quinn era in Denver? Isn’t this the same guy that couldn’t beat out Derek Anderson? Who, when he did play, led the lowly Browns to a 3-10 record?

Well, as the ‘experts’ see it, Brady is a winner. He has the physical attributes. He just hasn’t had an opportunity to play under a good coach.

While the last claim is undeniable, shouldn’t it be noted that upon arriving in the City by the Lake, the first thing that Mike Holmgren (he of Steve Young, Brett Favre and Matt Hasselbeck mentorship) did was unload Quinn?

As for the other two:

Winner: as stated, he went 3-10 with the Browns in between two season ending injuries. Ok, go back to Notre Dame then where he was surrounded by more talent and the only place with more cupcakes than his schedule was on his coach’s plate. He finished his career with a 25-12 record. Not exactly Tim Tebow. Nor did he really have a defining victory over a quality opponent (lost all Bowls, lost to USC all 3 years). Though he did beat Navy, which may qualify these days in South Bend.

Physical Attributes: If there is every a measure of someone’s physical abilities it is the NFL Draft – often to the detriment of talented players with less than great measurable. Let’s not forget after being hyped as a top-ten prospect, Quinn fell all the way to the mid twenties. Even quarterback desperate Miami passed on him to draft one-legged speedster Ted Ginn Jr. Which is either a mark against Quinn, Ginn, Cam Cameron or all three.

I don’t mean this to be (yet another) anti-Quinn rant. Who knows, maybe Quinn will resurrect his career and lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl. Of course, this afternoon I could meet Sandra Bullock and have her fall in love with me too(I hear she’s available).

The point of this is that, we as Americans love the unkown. The ‘Grass-is-greener’ syndrome. Bronco fans know what Kyle Orton looks like running for his life behind awful offensive line play. So, they imagine Quinn eluding the rushers and hitting Eddie Royal in stride 40 yards down field.

We will always take the great unknown over the known. Because our imaginations can never disappoint.

(Which, incidentally, neatly summarizes every offseason as a Florida State football fan).

Bronco fans and columnists aren’t alone in this overly optimistic view of the world. Even the guys that run NFL teams fall victim to it.

Late next month, some NFL team will use a first round draft pick and millions of dollars per year to have Dez Bryant play wide receiver for them. As near as I can tell, the ceiling of Dez’s potential is to be the equivalent of Brandon Marshall – an athletically freaky wide receiver impossible to completely shut down. Yet, the actual Brandon Marshall could be had by any team in the league today for…wait for it…a first round pick and several million dollars per year.

Would you rather have a lottery ticket that could win you $10,000 or just a check for $10,000?  Illogically, NFL teams seem to be opting for the lottery ticket.

Yes, I know Brandon comes with some baggage. But then again Dez lost his entire 2009 season because he didn’t realize it was a bad idea to lie to NCAA investigators.

A similar thing is also happening with Donovan McNabb. I know he is on the downhill slide of his career but would you rather have 2-3 years of a quarterback capable of getting to the playoffs consistently or roll the dice that the quarterback you draft turns out to be the 1 guy out of 6 that actually pans out.

I’ve never understood the absolute refusal of NFL teams to recognize how valuable a veteran successful quarterback can be. We saw it with Jeff Garcia. We saw it with Trent Dilfer. We saw it with Drew Brees and now we see it with Donovan McNabb. Teams would much rather hope that the young strong armed kid, grows up, shakes off all the uncertainty and blossoms into the next Peyton Manning rather than getting a guy who knows who to win but due to age or physical limitations will only ever be 75-80% as good as Manning. Thus Donovan McNabb could be looking at holding a clipboard this season while teams like the Rams and Redskins draft a quarterback that more than likely will never see the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl. Places McNabb has already been.

The Seahawks traded for Charlie Whitehurst of all people. He couldn’t beat out Billy Volek to be the Charger’s second string quarterback.

Only in the NFL is being buried on a roster behind a journeyman quarterback an asset in your trade value. It adds to your mystery. Your potential.

Does Donovan have injury and ‘big-game-choke-itis’ concerns? Of course. But if an NFL team with a decent supporting cast could guarantee themselves a 10-6 or 11-5 record right now who wouldn’t sign up for that?

Of course, then there would be no mystery. No potential.

No uncertainty.

I am just back from spending the afternoon at blustery Mile High Stadium and while my body begins to warm up and return to normal, it is going to take awhile longer for my brain to fully comprehend what it just saw.

NOTE: Yes, I know it is now Invesco field, but as I am wearing a t-shirt that states ‘I Still Call it Mile High’….well, you know. Also, just for the record the t-shirt is now 2-0 for Bronco Sundays.

It is hard to describe what an amazing game we just witnessed (the Mrs, Turner and Shadow joined me). Not only did the Broncos finally end any talk of whether they are for real by beating what is widely perceived as the best team in the game (regardless of record), they did it in the most dramatic way possible: a late comeback followed by overtime.

I am still trying to thaw out the toes and compose my thoughts, so let’s dive right into the game:

-  I am not sure if the TV cameras showed much Bill Belichick but he passed on the hoodie this week for an oversized Patriots parka and a stocking cap with a nice little pom-pom on it. What I learned is that a man with a pom-pom on his stocking cap cannot be intimidating, regardless of the number of Super Bowl rings he has.

-  As another omen (and I am huge on omens) the Broncos had a little boy come out to grab the tee after each kick-off (a tradition they have had forever, that used to kill me when I went to games as a child). After one kick-off, the little boy wearing a throwback jersey that hung well below his knees, stopped at the tee and gave a Mile High Salute to those of us in the South Stands and those in the west stands. He wasn’t born when TD was doing the Mile High Salute, yet knew to do it. Maybe brighter days really are coming. The future of the Bronco faithful looks bright.

-  For the second straight week, the Broncos fell behind early as their opponent marched right down the field and scored. And for the second straight week, the crowd was surprisingly loud upon Wes Welker’s touchdown. If the Cowboys are the Yankees of football (overpaid, overhyped and underachieving) then the Patriots are (fittingly) the Red Sox. At what point, do the Red Sox and Patriots bandwagons start conducting some sort of entry exam?

-  Speaking of Welker, Turner blames me for his good day against the Broncos as I started him on my fantasy team. This ignores some harsh realities – 1 – I am probably the worst fantasy manager in the country, so starting him was almost certain to render him more worhtless than a Game #4 Red Sox/Angels game ticket and 2 – I really had few other options thanks to my drafting of busts and injured players. Plus Turner started Moss and his comments were about 94% based on jealousy.

-  Despite the fast start the last two weeks by the opponent’s offense, you have to love that over the course of the game, the Broncos defense begins to dominate. That to me is a hallmark of good coaching. They may not be the most talented team (thus the other team marching down the field) but they make adjustments over the course of the game.

-  By the way, while I still think Brady is one of the three best quarterbacks in the game, even his most blatant partisans must admit that 2 major mistakes by him were huge to this game. The first and most important was when his pass was short and hit the legs of a wide open Wes Welker early in the 4^th quarter with the Patriots clinging to a seven point lead. A vintage on-target Brady throw and Welker walks right to the endzone and opens up a 14-point lead with 10 minutes to play. Trust me on this one, he was running right at me all by himself. Although, my vision did start to blur when the ball left Brady’s hand, so I could’ve been mistaken if Turner hadn’t confirmed it when I came back to.

-  The other mistake was on the final Patriots possession, when he was sacked and fumbled on the Bronco 49-yard line with about 1:40 to play. You can say what you want, but Brady is not back completely from his injury – at least not mentally. He looks really tentative any time he feels any pressure.

-  On the other side of the ball, I couldn’t feel better about the Broncos offense. For the first time all season, Eddie Royal was the player we saw in the preseason (and the one I drafted in fantasy) becoming an automatic 6-7 yard gain every time the ball is thrown his direction 0 which was 8-10 times this week rather than 1-2 times. On the other side of the field, Brandon Marshall, looks like the player he thinks he is. He is beginning to realize how truly dominant he can be when he wants to. And don’t worry Brandon. You will get paid what you are worth after this season. As Knowshon Moreno continues to mature and Buckhalter returns from his sprained ankle, we are looking at what could be a very efficient and powerful offense.

-  I am not sure I am a huge fan of the Moreno directed Wildcat (Bucking Bronco?) offense the Broncos unveiled today but at least it gives the opponent something else to think about. Of course, if Knowshon could throw than it might actually be truly effective.

-  All you Bears fans can think you got a great deal in Jay Cutler, but know this. With his Favre-esque tendencies to throw a ball where he shouldn’t at the worst possible time, he will lose you another (<cough>Green Bay<cough>) game this season. Orton is the perfect for the Broncos system – he doesn’t make mistakes (1 turnover all season on a hail mary before half today) and doesn’t try to do too much.

 - As just another fan, I have no insider access, but it is pretty obvious that someone has changed this locker room completely. Whether it is Brian Dawkins, Kyle Orton or Josh McDaniels, someone has changed the culture behind that locker room door – these guys have confidence and are having fun. I think this team had more fun today than the last 3 years combined.

- No matter who revived a defeated team culture, you can’t say enough about Josh McDaniels. I have mocked all of those grey-haired writers who had slobbered at the knee of Shanahan for so many years that they couldn’t imagine that a young guy with a different way of doing things may be successful but not even me, Josh’s most ardent cheerleader, could expect this. I never would have imagined that McDaniels and Orton would do this well and more importantly win this many games.

The Broncos are now possibly the most improbable 5 and 0 in NFL history.

You know I like to end with a humorous comment or two but I just can’t because it is official now, no matter who you cheer for.

The Broncos are no joke.

Despite the optimism that always accompanies the beginning of a new NFL season, when I look at all of the news coming out of the league I am left a little down. It seems like that until the real season starts, the overriding stories in the NFL are about greed and ego run amok. Look at the big stories in the NFL today:

Brett Favre’s ‘me-first, I am more important than the rest of my team’ approach to playing seems to have already alienated some of his Viking teammates. In record time for him – at least he is getting better at one aspect of his game with age.

Brandon Marshall was suspended by the Broncos due to having the maturity and intelligence of a 12-year old. If there is one way to increase your value and get a team to meet your salary demands it is to quit on your team and be disruptive. Especially coming off yet another legal problem and hip surgery. Employers love that.

Among the rookies, we still have two holdouts. Michael Crabtree is depriving us of probably the most exciting rookie in the league in some mis-guided attempt to squeeze an extra couple million out of his contract. I love the threat of sitting out a season. Brilliant logic. So he does sit out a season, losing an entire year’s salary and re-enters the draft next year – then what? He has already shown he is difficult to work with, so he gets drafted even lower than tenth and is offered an even lower contract. The offers keep getting lower and he keeps missing prime years of his career. That is a great career move. He must have the same business advisor as Brandon Marshall. Crabtree should ask Aaron Crow how this strategy has worked for him.

The other hold out is Andre Smith who is not nearly as interesting but his impact could be more far-reaching. There are no winners from him holding out the finest man-breasts this side of Phil Mickelson from Hard Knocks.

With all of this negativity (who would have thought Michael Vick would be the lone feel good story so far this season), I woke up a little down this morning.

But then the clouds parted and a beam of light shown upon my TV. While I waited for the epic Arsenal – Manchester United match-up (yes, I am a Gunner fan, deal with it). I watched ESPN’s College GameDay preview special. The combination of an important (if early) soccer game and the realization we sit 5 days from college football, helped to brighten my mood.

So, with the predictions of Kirk, Lou and Robert Smith fresh in my mind, I present my annual college football predictions:

-  The thing that makes me most excited about the season? It is the consensus of all the experts picking a Texas/Florida national title game. You would probably assume that the prospect of two of my least favorite teams playing for the title, would send me spiraling into a Leaving Las Vegas-level funk but it is actually the opposite. You see, every season proves the experts have no idea what they are talking about in the preseason. So, the more convinced they are that something will occur, the more likely it will not. Their picking a UF/UT BCS title game makes it all but certain it won’t happen.

-  So, what will keep the two teams from making it? Well, on the UT side, it could be argued they will lose to Oklahoma. Not so fast. They have a better defense and a better offensive line. If OU didn’t win last year they won’t this year (sorry, Turner). However, what seems to get lost is that UT barely beat Oklahoma State last year – in Austin. OSU is going to be very good and they are going to be gunning for UT when the Horns come to Stillwater. I can see the Big Twelve south having the same Ro-sham-bo problem they did a year ago, with 3 teams with a single loss. Unfortunately after a less-than-impressive bowl season, they won’t get the benefit of the doubt like they did a year ago.

-  As for UF, everyone is sure they will breeze through their schedule on the way to the BCS title game. While it is true that UF’s schedule is only slightly more difficult than SMU’s, everyone should remember that UF has the bad habit of taking off one Saturday each season – unfortunately not during their bye week. The obvious candidate would be at LSU. I would point out that their slip-ups tend to occur in the Swamp but the Gators home schedule is a joke. FSU may be the only legitimate team coming into the Swamp and not even the kids who he circumcised think Tebow is going to lose his final home game to a rival. Really, the only other team coming into the Swamp that could surprise would be Arkansas but I did some research and they are still coached by Bobby Petrino. At least right now, he might have jumped ship by the time you read this.

-  One thing I will guarantee about UF is that Gary Danielson will spend 3 quarters of every UF game he announces trying to make the argument why Tebow will succeed in the NFL. At least it will be a new twist on Danielson’s traditional attempt to make every game a nearly unwatchable 3-hour commercial for Tebow for Heisman.  

-  As would be expected by a guy with the objectivity of Sean Hannity, Lou Holtz believes Notre Dame will play in the National title game. This year. Should I give you a minute to stop laughing before continuing? Yes, Lou’s blind love of all things Irish, is pretty humorous, given that Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant to the national title conversation for over 15 years but I actually agree with him to a point.

-  It’s not that I believe Notre Dame is one of the 2 or 3 best teams in the country but they have a ridiculously easy schedule and as we all know with blind partisans like Lou and Beano Cook still helping to drive the college football conversation they will be greatly overrated. They could be 5-0 taking on USC in October. They could go into November at 7-1. If you don’t think a 7-1 Notre Dame is in the top ten, then you think way too highly of the college football writers and coaches. The Irish won’t play for the National title but I think we can all look forward to them getting absolutely annihilated by a superior team in a BCS bowl this season. Now that is a holiday tradition I missed the last couple years.

-  Speaking of USC, I think they fall short of the title game as well. Losing both coordinators, starting a true freshman at quarterback and losing most of their defense may be too much to overcome. Factor in their inevitable Pac-Ten loss to a lesser team as well as going into Columbus the second week of the season and I don’t see a 2-loss USC team making the BCS title game.

-  Yes, I know I always assume Big Ten loses to more athletic teams but I put an asterisk next to this one. A true freshman QB going into the Horseshoe? Yeah, good luck with that. For the first time in memory, I like the Big Ten quarterback more than the competition.

-  So, if OSU can get by USC, is there any team that can beat them? They have to go to Penn State, but the Lions lost much of their already anemic offense. Can they find enough points to beat a more mature Terrell Pryor? Probably not.

-  Yep, I am picking yet another OSU appearance in a national title game. But at least you have a few months to prepare yourself…you know, to make other plans for the night of the BCS title game.

-  So then who do they play? Well, there are two things you can bank on in any college season. First, Notre Dame be vastly overrated should they show just a little life and Second, when a team is widely believed to be the best team in the country, voters will find a way to get them into the national title game despite all evidence to the contrary.

-  At this point, I would guess much like last year, we will end up with a log-jam of one-loss teams behind an undefeated OSU team. If that is the case, is there any chance the voters keep UF out? They could lose 43-3 to Florida International while OU loses only one game to Texas 43-41 on a hail mary and UF will play in the national title game.

-  Voters want to prove their own intelligence. If they vote someone pre-season number one, they are going to do anything they can to prove themselves right at the end of the season, just so they can point to their own brilliance later (I told you UF was the best team and now they are in the title game), ignoring that they are the reason they are in the title game.

-  So, we face the prospect of a UF/OSU title game. We have seen this before and it wasn’t pretty. Any reason to believe this would be different? No. UF wins another title and unfortunately things turn dark when Gary Danielson, distraught over no longer announcing Tebow games actually kidnaps him and keeps him chained up in his basement until the SWAT team stages an epic assault operation to free him.

Now that I see it on paper, the whole college football season doesn’t make me feel any more optimistic than I did coming in.

Oh, and my boys from Arsenal lost 2-1 on an own-goal.

Dark days indeed.

Well it is official here in the Rocky Mountains, football season has begun again. This morning the Broncos took the field for their first public day of training camp. As your indentured servant for all things Broncos, I set my alarm on my final day of vacation and headed south to see for myself how the new Broncos look.

So, let’s jump right in. Your first outside-the-ropes, back row look at the 2009 Broncos:

• Before the Broncos had even taken the field, the tone was set that this was no longer Mike Shanahan’s Broncos. As the Broncos began to slowly trickle on to the field, Let’s Go by Trick Daddy was blasted out some speakers set up on the sideline. That was followed by the White Stripes. Needless to say, I loved it. I was ready to get out there and take on Brian Dawkins one-on-one myself.

• While it is easy to say that Shanahan would have never blasted music at the start of a practice, I actually think that was a good thing. I can’t imagine Shanahan playing Trick Daddy or the White Stripes. I am guessing he is more of a Bob Seger or Asia kind of guy.

• Speaking of the Shanahan era, a week after declaring we are a Nation Divided, I am now not so sure. Yes, these may have been the devoutest of the devout but I didn’t see or hear any pining for Whiny Jay or Mike. In fact there was even a guy wearing a Cry Baby Jay t-shirt (and, shockingly, he had them for sale out in the parking lot as well). The crowd was excited about Kyle Orton and Josh McDaniels and the direction of this team. There was a lot more optimism and enthusiasm in the crowd than I frankly expected.

• Oh and by the way – if there was ever any concern that the team may not respect McDaniels given his age and youthful appearance, well that was dispelled the first time he blew his whistle to stop an offense on defense drill. Every single person on the field stopped and got quiet to hear what he had to say. Even the crowd stopped talking for a moment. Give him this; the man knows how to carry himself. Maybe the local sportswriters will finally get over that he looks young.

• No, nevermind – that is crazy talk. I got a little carried away there. Must be the sun.

• One of the big questions coming into training camp this year was – whither Brandon Marshall. Would he show? Would he practice? Would he get arrested on the flight to Denver? Would he still be hobbled by a bad hip? Well, every Bronco fan can breathe a sigh of relief because the answers to those questions are: Yes, Yes, No and No.

• Marshall looked great. Quick and strong, making good cuts and even running over some DB in a one-on-one open field tackling drill (which actually also points out how B-Marsh has zero moves, other than the one where he gives up three yards trying to run around a corner after catching a curl route).

• Marshall also made a couple really nice grabs – one high above his head along the sideline and a one-handed grab well behind him on a crossing route. Those catches are great news for B-Marsh. Not so good for the QB who threw the off-target throws (Chris Simms on both occasions if I am not mistaken).

• The other star of the morning session was Ryan Torain. The 2^nd year running back that spent all but one half of one game on the injured list lat year looked the best among the 4 different running backs that saw the ball with the first and second teams (Correl Buckhalter, Lamont Jordan, Torain and Peyton Hillis). Torain was sort of the forgotten man with the drafting of Knowshon Moreno and the free agent signings of Buckhalter and Jordan but he served notice this morning – hitting the hole with confidence and making players miss in the open field. Just enough to dream of him trading off carries with Moreno in a game this fall. If it worked for the Panthers and Titans, why not the Broncos?

• While obviously Marshall and Torain stuck out, it wasn’t any individual plays or players that made the greatest impression on me. More it was more the tone and focus of the practice compared to the Shanahan era.

• There was a focus on the little things that I don’t remember seeing before. A couple examples:

• During a punt team drill, newly signed rookie Alphonso Smith and Eddie Royal were deep shagging the punts. On a short, sideways punt, Smith came charging up but was unable to reach the ball and sort of booted it off the field. McDaniels yelled down from the line of scrimmage to ‘play like it were a game’ – meaning get away and yell ‘PETER’ so that everyone else knows to get away. Remember this was a drill for the punt team – not punt return team – yet the coach reminded the guys shagging punts to act like the professionals they are. That is the little stuff that instills discipline in a team and can’t be anything but a positive in the fourth quarter of a game in November.

• At one point early in the session, each position broke off and did footwork drills. Just working on the agility of moving laterally and front and back while making football plays. This is a little thing but makes such a big difference – no slips in the open field, a quarterback able to shuffle around in the pocket to avoid pressure, etc.

• Speaking of quarterbacks, this drill also really drove home why Orton has been named the starter. Not only are his passes as crisp but his footwork was quicker and more precise than either of the other two QBs (Simms and 6th round draft pick Tom Brandstater)

• That didn’t stop some from in the crowd from focusing on Brandstater. Let’s just say it was noted more than once that the Broncos now have the offensive coordinator from the Patriots and a talented, but unproven QB named Tom B. drafted in the late rounds. Dare to dream to kids, dare to dream.

• While some were excited about Brandstater, there was another rookie I was more excited to see. Former Seminole cornerback Tony Carter, a man who practically single-handedly kept the Seminoles in games a couple years ago during the really dark times in Tallahassee, is an undrafted free agent trying to make the Broncos.

• Poor Tony has a tough hill to climb. With several other corners drafted (Smith) or picked up in free agency (Andre Goodman) or left over from last year (Jack Williams), cornerback is a crowded position in Dove Valley.

• Not sure if it was a positive or negative but Tony was also victimized on two tough luck passes completed in front of him. On both, he was just inches late in breaking up the pass thrown in front of him. On the positive, he was in position and nearly made the play. On the negative, he nearly made the play.

• There is one thing working in Tony’s favor though. It can’t be forgotten that the new Broncos GM, Brian Xanders is a Seminole as well. Seminole nation looks out for its own.

• If the music started out the practice reminding you that this is a new team and organization, then a post-practice autograph session (including the head coach!) for young and old alike, reminded you one last time before heading to the parking lot.

• I am not much for autographs so I didn’t fight any kids to get a ball signed by Chris Simms but I can pretty much guarantee I was the only one scanning the faces to shake hands and speak with Xanders and Carter. Unfortunately I didn’t see them this time.

• Oh well, maybe when I return this evening for session #2.