Hole Punch Sports

Perhaps I was too quick to judge the Eagles’ coaching staff, who not only let Mike Vick get a bit of PT last night, but also lined him up at wide receiver, though he didn’t catch a pass. If you’re interested, check out his highlights on NFL.com . I particularly liked his pass to Hank Baskett…nice accuracy, placing the ball away from the defender. I did catch part of his postgame interview last night, and he sure is confident, talking about how he can do it all . I was a little surprised by that, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been. I guess I thought prison would humble a man. Anyway, I’m now really looking forward to seeing how the Eagles will use him this season.

An excited reader sent me a text about this while I was in church today, but in case you haven’t heard, the Colorado Rockies agreed to terms with first baseman Jason Giambi. Giambi had hit .193/.332/.364 for the Oakland A’s this year. This friend was excited to have the lefty Giambi as a pinch-hitter against right-handed relievers, but Giambi’s hitting even worse against righties (.186/.335/.306) this year than lefties (.209/.327./.488). For his career, of course, he’s better against right-handers. I’m largely ambivalent about the move. That said, Giambi isn’t the most likeable guy and I’m not thrilled about adding even an apologetic performance-enhancing drug user in the middle of a strech run when the Rockies could use all available good karma.

The Denver Broncos lost their second preseason game last night 27-13 to the Seattle Seahawks, dropping the team to 0-2 in pretend games so far this year. Kyle Orton was better yesterday than he was in the first game. That’s not saying much. He completed 18 of 26 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown, and also threw an interception in the end zone. Let’s discuss that pick and the series of events leading to it because it is emblematic, I fear, of what Denver’s season could look like. The Broncos got the ball on their own 13 yard line and, thanks largely to a series of complete passes, moved into scoring position. (Check the play-by-play here ; it’s the drive that started with 10:33 left in the second.) After a short pass to Eddie Royal, the Broncos get first-and-goal on the four. LaMont Jordan runs three yards to the one. So it’s second-and-goal on the one or, in other words, the Broncos had three chances to move the ball one yard. Well, here’s a team with a proud history of runn...

January 4, 2003 felt like a moment. If you don’t remember the date, surely you’re familiar with the events of the day. In the early AFC wild-card game, the New York Jets destroyed the Indianapolis Colts 41-0, dropping Peyton Manning’s career playoff record to 0-3. But it was the night game that really looked like a torch-passing for the league. Michael Vick, a 22-year-old lefty phenom in his second year in the league, was leading the Atlanta Falcons into Lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers were 13-0 all-time in playoff games. The Packers’ quarterback that day was Brett Favre, 33, already a three-time MVP and a surefire Hall of Famer. It was the days before HPS, but I still covered the game in my journal: “…it was like 28° at kickoff and it snowed in the second half. But Atlanta just jumped on the Pack early and Green Bay never recovered. I think it was 27-7. Falcons Q Michael Vick made some sweet plays, especially running, but his numbers weren’t great. I was definitely impr...

Friday night, during the Denver Broncos’ preseason opener, we learned one thing: if Kyle Orton gets enough time and help, he can make a drive last long enough to end in a punt. And that’s a big if. The Broncos lost to the San Francisco 49ers 17-16 at Candlestick Park last night. (Check video highlights on NFL.com.) Orton, the new starting quarterback we stole from Chicago in exchange for a mere Pro Bowler, completed twelve of sixteen passes, though three of them were to 49ers, ending each of the team’s first three drives. The first was particularly galling: an awful pass into the end zone that billionaire Niners cornerback Nate Clements leaned into and caught to end our best scoring chance of the first half. Orton made his reputation in Chicago as an OK option across from a good defense, but I’m not sure any defense is good enough to cover throwing away chances like that , on second down from the three. My friend David V. calls Orton "The Ocho", which I love (Orton wears ...

The Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 11-5 tonight after the Cubs “rallied” in the ninth inning. It was the first Rockies game I’ve attended since the team won the NLCS. (What do you mean, “fair weather”?) I went to the game with several friends from home, and we went in honor of two brothers from my neighborhood. One of them, a former HPS commenter, has just returned from a Mormon mission, and the younger is leaving town for his tomorrow (now, technically, that’s later today). Along with the group was my own younger brother, which was exciting, because we’d watched countless Rockies games at home in the late ’90s but had not been to a game together in years. I was coming from the other side of town, so I picked up my ticket at will call, mostly ignored the instructions for how to get to my seat, then walked around to the Rockpile before realizing my seats were, ahem, on the other side of the park. Walking into a game is still an awesome feeling. There’s a tangible joy in the...

This is a couple of days old, but it’s too good to skip, especially with the contrast between the new quarterbacks on the Bears and Broncos in the first story. (Don't miss how Kyle Orton's day at practice went, unless you value your sanity.) The first story was when Cutler said the Denver fans weren’t as good as the fans of the Chicago Bears, or maybe just that there were fewer of them at training camp. Then he came out and sort of backtracked/explained himself, which sort of makes sense when you look at the quotes again. Read the stories; they crack me up. For the record I really don’t care if Broncos fans are given any credit for being great fans; I just want us to be loud enough during big games and big moments that no opponent wants to play in Denver.

Probably not, as Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen has denied meeting with the recently-freed quarterback. Of course, you never know—I’d absolutely deny meeting with Vick under any circumstances up to the moment I signed him. My question is, should the team consider it? On the one hand, Vick would immediately become the most talented quarterback on Denver’s roster . Our current candidates for the job this year are Kyle Orton, a career 55.3 percent passer who earned some small acclaim playing alongside a few good defenses in Chicago; Chris Simms, son of an NFL star who was best known for beating Denver in the Super Bowl, and a player who was considered a disappointment before he even left college; and Tom Brandstater, a rookie from Fresno State whose YouTube highlights fail to impress. It’s weird because I could have sworn we did okay at quarterback last year. In fact I keep hoping to hear that the trade of Jay Cutler and the firing of Mike Shanahan were all just one big joke or someth...