Hole Punch Sports

And the Nuggets lost. I'd rather discuss the draft. The Broncos started their selections off by trading up in the first round to choose Jarvis Moss, a defensive end from Florida, with the 17th pick. The Broncos gave up the 21st pick, as well as third and sixth round picks, to move up to 17th. In theory, it's okay, just like our overall draft strategy this year. Moss is certainly talented. He had two sacks and forced a fumble in the national championship game. It's just that the trade is kind of funny. The Broncos are betting that Moss will be better than whomever they would have picked at No. 21, plus two other players, all combined. Will he be? I don't know. I know I was a lot more confident in Elvis Dumervil's 20 sacks his last college season than I am in Moss' 7.5 last year. (Let's not forget that,  according to the Denver Post , Moss tested positive for marijuana use in college. Not that shocking in 2007; I just want you to know what I mean if I bring ...

1. The Nuggets lost last night. That's unfortunate, but not a surprise. We're not the kind of team to beat San Antonio twice in a row at home. Game Three, at home Saturday, is huge. Glad the NBA is giving me several days to prepare. Wait, no I'm not. Both teams have had big wins now, with absolutely no chance to capitalize on momentum. If you didn't already know it: the NBA playoffs are way too long. 2. The Raiders should take Brady Quinn No. 1. Why? Because I hate the Raiders, and because I think Quinn's a bust you can see coming from a mile away. Of the major players, I like JaMarcus Russell the most, though he's not as NFL-ready as recent rookies like Ben Roethlisberger or Vince Young. Calvin Johnson's supposed to be a rare athlete, though it seems like there's at least one six-and-a-half foot giant who runs like a sprinter every year now. I probably wouldn't take a wide receiver at the very top of the draft most years, and most teams there have m...

John Elway. Rulon Jones. Karl Mecklenburg. Greg Kragen. Floyd Little. What else do you need? 2K Sports finally announced some details on this summer's Madden-killer. No, not cardiac arrest brought on by a double turducken burger with extra cheese; I mean All Pro Football 2K8. First: the game is coming out for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. That sort of sucks (why not PlayStation 2 and Xbox?), but I just got a 360, and I recommend it. Anyway, their website has a list of former players (mouse over the "Football Resurrected" graphic to see more clearly) who, I presume, will appear in the game. Aside from the aforementioned Broncos, you'll see studs like Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, and more. Check it out. Some members of the list (Kragen) seem pretty random, but considering 2K probably had to hunt down all these guys individually, I think they did an awesome job. The thing is, they didn't really have any other options. When Electronic Arts...

(I don't know if anyone cares, but my prediction before tonight would have been Spurs in six. I hate typing that but if I have to make a guess, there it is.) * * * Notes from the game: 1. I switched on the game to hear Tim Duncan explain how seriously the Spurs were going to take Nene this series. To me, Nene is the most confusing player in the league. Everyone says he has boatloads of potential, but I've watched the Nuggets since he was a rookie and he looks like almost the same player to me. No one can deny he's beast physically, and he can be a force on the boards and on defense. He doesn't actually grab a lot of rebounds all the time, but I guess that could be a byproduct of playing next to Marcus Camby and, to a lesser extent, Reggie Evans. And he has next to no moves in the post. Then tonight he scored 13 and grabbed 12 rebounds while playing 38 minutes of gutsy defense. But he only shot 5-for-12 and committed a third of the team's turnovers all by himsel...

The first of the 19 NBA playoff weekends is almost already in the books, but I want to explain my Finals prediction of a few days ago. The West: Most observers have this pegged as a three-team race, the winner of which will probably take the championship. I see no real reason to disagree. (Those three teams are the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and San Antonio Spurs.) Let's start with Dallas. The Mavericks were an amazing 67-15 this year, one of the best records in NBA history. They were 36-5 at home, best in the NBA. Their road mark, 31-10, was also a league-best. Only six teams in the league, including Dallas, were even above .500 on the road, so that's incredible. The Phoenix Suns also had a fine year, finishing at 61-21. The Suns are led by what's undoubtedly the league's best point guard tandem in Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa. They, along with usual suspects Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, each averaged more than 17.5 points per game as Phoenix, of cours...

Sorry. Here I am to catch up on a few things from the past week... 1. Vince Young will be on the cover of Madden 08. Good for him, I guess. Much is made of the Madden curse. It's not a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it almost feels like one. The real problem is that a) football is a very violent game, and b) Electronic Arts typically selects a cover athlete who's already very well-known. Unfortunately, the players are therefore often a year (Shaun Alexander) or more (Ray Lewis) off their actual prime, and old enough that a serious injury is more likely. Young is an up-and-comer, and to avoid a horrible pun let's just say he has less age than most of those guys. I think he'll be fine. 2. Of course, the reason EA went with such a youthful player is that superstar Chargers back LaDainian Tomlinson turned them down . Why? Money. No surprise that'd be a point of contention, considering how "generous" EA is with its regular employees . 3. That's why re...

Well, that sucks . While I don't like trusting "sources", apparently Al Wilson will be released by the Denver Broncos very soon. (I don't want to trust ESPN's source, that is-mine was Pugs.) The Broncos tried trading Wilson to the Giants a few weeks back. I didn't want to say anything about it until the trade was official. By the time I learned it was, it wasn't-Wilson had already failed his physical. I guess the Broncos just decided to cut the middleman and Wilson in one fell swoop. I don't get it. Wilson suffered a scary injury against Seattle in week 13 last season, but returned for the next three games. (He missed the last game against San Francisco with a sore back.) Like everyone, he's getting older. But even if he's not a superstar now, he's worth having on the roster- especially this roster , which doesn't have any worthy replacements on it. (Wilson outlasted his one-time successor, Terry Pierce, by a year.) More to the point, W...

Headline from ESPN.com right now: "Players fear cheapening Robinson tribute" No kidding. If you haven't heard, Sunday marks the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first game in the major leagues. (You'll know who's done their homework, by the way, if you catch anyone saying Robinson was the first black player in the major leagues. He wasn't, but he was the first to play after a long period of segregation. In the very early days, there were black players.) Anyway, in honor of this anniversary, many major league players are planning to wear No. 42, which was Robinson's number. I mean a ton of guys are doing it. From ESPN.com : What started as Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. receiving special permission from Robinson's widow Rachel to honor the 60th anniversary of Robinson integrating the major leagues has ballooned into more than 150 players saying they'll don Robinson's No. 42 on Sunday. Five entire teams -- the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pitts...

Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan just signed a three-year contract extension with the team. His deal now runs to the end of the 2011 season. That sounds like a really long time, and it is. Five more years. Even a president as Rushmore-bound as George W. Bush only gets voted in for four years at a time. But I'm still pretty pleased with the move. Last year was one of Shanahan's worst in Denver, considering the expectations on the team going in to the season. The Broncos hosted the AFC Championship the year before, and added Javon Walker to an already-potent squad. There were some losses, too-like when Trevor Pryce and Mike Anderson were cut for no real reason-but there was no reason not to expect the team to return to the playoffs with ease. Instead, the team struggled all year on offense, which is Shanahan's specialty, and missed the playoffs. I feel the coach handled the quarterback situation especially poorly. He played the struggling Jake Plummer for weeks without rea...

The Colorado Buffaloes have a new basketball coach : Jeff Bzdelik. I'm not a very big fan of CU basketball. I've lived in or near Boulder for more than five years and I've still never been to a game. Messed up! So here's my expert commentary on the move anyway: It's good. Our last coach, Ricardo Patton, resigned last year, effective at the end of this season. (He wasn't fired, but the school never seemed too concerned about keeping him around.) To be fair, Patton got off to a pretty good start with Chauncey Billups and did okay with some David Harrison-centered squads. Both of those highly-touted recruits went on to the NBA. It's commendable that Patton got them to CU to begin with, but he never capitalized or built any major momentum in the recruiting wars. Thus, the program never really got any better during his tenure. And Patton wasn't considered the greatest game coach, either. Conversely, Bzdelik is recognized as a pretty good coach. Considering h...

Well, that game pretty much sucked. What can I say? I thought Ohio State was better than that. (An aside, before we get started here: I don't play fantasy sports, but I had a sort of fantasy-like dilemma tonight. Basically, I had Ohio State winning it all, and I was pulling for Ohio State, but if Florida won, I was actually going to win or tie for the win in both of my bracket groups. So who do I pull for? It was easy: I still went for Ohio State. And I don't even really like the Buckeyes for any reason. So I will never get people who like it when some NFL star torches their favorite team. Just absurd. (Plus it turned out my math was off and I might have lost anyway.)) Anyway, since the game was so lame, I just thought I'd share a few thoughts on some of the most famous players. And they are: Joakim Noah: Could Noah have been any less impressive on the college game's biggest stage? He was plagued by foul trouble throughout, and he wasn't even aggressive when he w...