Not only is this one of the best in-game dunks I’ve seen in a long time…it also happens to be a Denver Nugget who slammed it down in last night’s game with the T-Wolves. Check out JR flying (and turning) high…enjoy…

I’d like to buy an “O”…as in: “Offense”…as in: what the Broncos are severely lacking right now.

Painful.

It’s was hard to watch the Broncos dominate field position, time of possession, yardage, etc, etc (at least in the first half)…and come away with only three offensive points for the entire game. I don’t care how good or how bad your defense plays (and ours is playing very well), if you only score three points in this league you will lose.

I am no offensive genius…heck, I’m no genius in anything…but here are my two major issues with our offense right now:

1. Our Running Game. As in…we have none! How did we go from having one of the most dominant running teams in the league to have no running production what-so-ever? By dropping the zone blocking scheme in favor of a power running scheme. One worked. One hasn’t. We should bring the zone scheme back pronto! We have the coaches (Dennison) and the personnel to run it…so why don’t we? Good question. Don’t have an answer, but I know that a short passing game does not substitute for a solid running game…we need ours back.
2. The Long Ball. I could count on one hand the number of times we have thrown the ball down field…and so can the defenses we continue to face. They know we aren’t going to go long so they don’t have to defend it. We should at least try it once in awhile. You never know…Brandon might even catch a few, or at least get a penalty. Defenses simply don’t have to plan or watch for this part of the game. Orton is no long-ball thrower, but he can give it a try…he just hasn’t been asked to do it (he does everything else he’s asked to do).

Come to think of it…these two go together. The running game sets up the passing game and the long ball helps with the run by keeping the safeties and linebackers honest. They get to cheat right now…and they are calling the bluff (nice poker reference huh?).

Is this team over and done? Not by a long shot. Am I giving up on them? Never!

Out of the next eight games we have four that we should win easily and should be able to at least split the remaining four…which would leave us at 12-4. And even if we split all eight games we’d be 10-6 (both FAR above anyone’s expectations heading into the year).

Up next? The Washington Redskins…that should cure what ails us!

Go Broncos!!!

Football is officially back (great game last night…gonna see both of those teams in the playoffs). Yesterday, Grant beat me to the punch by posting his 2009 Broncos prediction. The schedule this year is not kind to my beloved Donkeys…not exactly what McD and Company needs, but you play the cards you’re dealt. I think they will be a better team than their records indicates at the end of the year…but you never really know this early (I’ve never been right so this entire blog is an effort in futility…but it makes me feel better). So here goes…

1. @ Cincinnati – W: I put the W here, but I’m not sure I believe it. This team is still learning, but Cincy sucks so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.
2. Cleveland – W: If you can’t beat this team…
3. @ Oakland – W: See Cleveland above
4. Dallas – W: I know most are predicting a Dallas win here, but it’s at home, the Broncs will be riding a winning streak and I just don’t think Dallas is that good (which is why Shanny will be coaching there next year).
5. New England – L: I want to put the W here, but just can’t do it. I have to give the edge to the Master. I will say the NE doesn’t usually play well here…so the Broncos might be able to steal this one.
6. @ San Diego – L: I’m not as high on SD as some are (read…Norv Turner), but I’m not naive either.
7. @ Baltimore – L: The schedule just keeps getting worse.
8. Pittsburgh – L: And worse.
9. @ Washington – L: I want to put the W here to help stop the November slide, but it’s hard to win on the road after four straight loses.
10. San Diego – W: I think we split with San Diego, but what do I know??
11. NY Giants – L: This team is good.
12. @ Kansas City – W: This is more an indictment on KC than anything else. It’s tough to win at Arrowhead, but I think we get it done this year (they may have a new coach by then).
13. @ Indianapolis – L: This one could be ugly, you might not want to let the little ones watch it…but can it get much worse than it was under Shanny?
14. Oakland – W: Oakland, the perfect cure for what ails you.
15. @ Philadelphia – L: I don’t think it will be a blow-out, but tough to win here.
16. Kansas City – W: Come on…this one could be ugly in a good way.

After totaling up the W’s and the L’s…my prediction for 2009 is that the Broncos will go: 8-8.

There is a lot of unknown here and I think there are a few games that can make this number go up a little or way down: Cincinnati, Dallas, San Diego, and Washington specifically. Can they steal one more win? Will they lose a few more? I can’t see anything more than 9-7 (and that would be a miracle) and could see them slide to 5-11 if they don’t get their act together at the start of the year.

Gonna be fun to watch! I think the DEF is much improved over last year…meaning they will be average with some upside for the future. The schedule is brutal in November…so buckle up. Football is back!

It has been almost a year since I got my very first tattoo (you can read about it here). They say you never get one…that you get hooked and end up with several tattoos. I think they are right (and I don’t even know who “they” are). So while Anita was in China I took the plunge on my second tattoo. It was supposed to be a surprise even though we’d been talking about it for awhile.

A friend of mine at work (Christina Phillips) had gotten some work re-done by a guy (Rusty) up in Arvada and I liked the work…so on July 22nd I headed north and got the work done. And once again…I love it! Here is the inspiration for the design I ended up getting:

It’s called a “Chi-Rho” and is one of the earliest Christian symbols known. Here is Wikipedia’s description…

The Chi Rho is one of the earliest christograms used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word Christ: chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce the monogram ?. The Chi-Rho symbol was also used by pagan Greek scribes to mark, in the margin, a particularly valuable or relevant passage; the combined letters Chi and Rho standing for chr?ston, meaning “good.” (Wikipedia)

I love the symbolism and the meaning behind this symbol, and it isn’t very common. Christina had also gotten some UV ink on her tattoo and I liked that idea–specifically for the Alpha and Omega symbols in the artwork above. Here are the pictures from the event (taken by Christina)…

The tattoo in progress.

Yes…it hurts!

The tattoo right after the sitting (wrapped in plastic even).
You’ll notice that the Alpha and Omega will “disappear” as it heals.

Here are a couple of photos from the tattoo today. It’s not completely healed, but it’s well on it’s way…

Here it is in broad daylight…see, the symbols are fading nicely.

Here it is under a blacklight…cool huh?

I love this tattoo almost as much as the first one (just something about that first tattoo though). And I can safely say it will not likely be my last…but that’s down the road. For now, I’ll enjoy what I’ve got. =0)

Last weekend Anita took Lindsay to the Revolve Tour—a Christian mother/daughter conference. They even spent the night downtown, which meant me and the boys were on our own for Friday night and all day Saturday. I was actually looking forward to it…two days to spend with just the guys.

So on Friday morning I got Logan and Kyle together and asked them what they wanted to do together for the weekend since it was “just the boys”. Kyle did not hesitate for one second in exclaiming: “I know! Let’s take your sword and destroy everything!!!” (And he said it while sweeping his arms in a wide arc to indicate the entire house).

He…is…such…a…boy! And I must admit that the thought does hold some appeal.  

Although it sounded like fun, we channeled his energy into something slightly less destructive. We ended up going out and getting some movies and a game for the Wii (Ghost Squad) that we played together for hours! A little eating out rounded out the two days together. We had a blast. And yes, Kyle is all boy..through and through…

 Doing what he does best!

Today my beloved Broncos hold their playoff destiny in their own hands. The announcers have said it more times than I can count, but if they win they are in and if they lose they are out. It is unbelievable that they have put themselves in this position since they were up three games on the Chargers just two weeks ago!

As an avid fan, I, of course, want them to win the game. But here’s the thing…I’m not so sure I want them to get into the playoffs. They just aren’t ready. The offense is close—very close. All they need is a little more time together. The defense on the other hand? Where to begin?!? They need help at so many positions it’s almost impossible to know where to start, but I do know that they are not a playoff caliber defense. Pick anyone who actually earned the right to be there and this defense will be picked apart by that team.

My prediction for today? I actually think they might be able to pull this one off…I think it’s going to be a close one. In the end, I think they will lose the game. The Chargers are playing their best ball right now (not great, but their best so far) and the Broncos are on a slide they can’t seem to control. I also kind of hope they lose and miss the playoffs. Whichever team makes it in will likely play the Colts at home and I’ve seen the Broncos lose to them quite enough already. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Chargers dealt the same fate!

The one wild-card today that could change the outcome of the game is Mr. Jay Cutler. If he has a great game and manages to protect the football…he might just avenge the loss to the Chargers last year and wipe this stupid look off of Mr. Rivers face…

A friend of mine forwarded this to me this morning and I just had to share…regardless of the consequences.

The World’s Shortest Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl ‘Will you marry me?’

The girl said, ‘NO!’

And the guy lived happily ever after
     and rode motorcycles 
          and went fishing 
               and hunting 
                    and played golf a lot 
                         and drank beer 
                              and scotch 
                                   and left the toilet seat up 
                                        and farted whenever he wanted.

THE END

Let the payback commence…

I am fairly new to this hunting gig having gone rifle hunting for the first time last year. Justin and I decided to get started since our boys are still young and we want to be able to take them when they get old enough (and we want to kind of know what we are doing before they get involved ). So we jumped in with both feet last year: Antelope, Deer, and Elk.

Antelope hunting has been fantastic. We both filled two tags last year and I filled two this year including my first buck of any type. Elk hunting last year was great as well with both of us filling our tags on a great snow hunt.

Deer hunting has been a completely different story! Last year we took the advice of a buddy and went hunting near Eagle, CO. The result was horrific. Not only did we not fill either tag…we didn’t see a single deer the entire time..not one! We chalked it up to a bad year and our inexperience. So we changed venues this year and got deer tags near Craig, CO. Everything we heard was that this was the place to be so our luck was certain to change. We were so confident that we even brought Nick with us and got buck tags instead of doe tags.

The result was better right? W-R-O-N-G. Here is the grand total of deer we saw this year: Zip, zero, zilch, nada. Skunked again! And once again we didn’t even see a deer! We saw plenty of antelope (including a huge buck that makes me want to go back for him next year). Very. Frustrating.

We have determined that one of these reasons (or a combination) is why we have had bad luck with deer:

1. We have no idea what we are doing…inexperience (I’m 100% sure this is at least part of the issue)
2. We are in the wrong place (although we’ve tried 2 different locations)
3. We are doing it wrong (we hiked, we sat, we drove…not sure which we’re supposed to do)
4. There are no deer in Colorado (felt like it anyway)

So for now we are going to do one of the following going forward:

1. Find someone who knows what they are doing (and where) and go with them.
2. Start accumulating preference points until we can hunt in a better location.
3. Give up on deer for the foreseeable future.

It certainly wasn’t a total loss. You can’t call two days with buddies and time spent in God’s country a waste of time…it was still fun, just not as much fun as we were hoping to have. And the Elk hunt is still to come so there is plenty to look forward to (might even come back with two this year). And the deer hunt keeps us humble and trying to improve…and it gives us something to pass along to our boys…you can’t win at everything, but you shouldn’t give up either (that is unless we give up .

Two weekends ago several guys travelled up to the middle of Wyoming for our now annual Antelope hunt. There were four of us on that trip. Two of us had buck and doe tags (Virgil and I), two had doe tags (Justin and Nick). Within our first hour of getting to our area Virgil had his buck and he filled his doe tag the next day.

This was Nick’s first hunt and he filled his doe tag on the second day of the hunt (after having a shot at 150 yards he didn’t take because he couldn’t settle down ). I wasn’t actually there (Virgil was his “guide”) but I hear it was a nice shot and it was a good-sized doe.

Justin wasn’t able to fill either of his doe tags (VERY unusual for this hunting area…just wasn’t his year I guess). I filled my doe tag on the second day. I had a shot on a buck the first day as well as the second day, but missed on both shots!! I could not believe it (and the first one was a very nice buck). We had to leave a little early because of some weather that was moving into the area (they actually got quite a bit of snow so it was a good decision).

However, that left me without a buck (since I couldn’t hit one to save my life). So, I went back this past Saturday to give it one more try. Another buddy of mine (Brett) was up there as well. I hunted alone in the morning with no luck and met up with Brett t about noon. I had one more stalk left so I headed out while Brett packed up his camp (he had shot his buck the morning prior).

Long story short…after a 2 hour stalk on a group of 75 antelope I finally got my first buck ever. The pack-out was brutal but in the end it’s always worth it. I didn’t have a camera with me in the field (couldn’t find it before I left) so here are some shots from home (not the greatest, but you get the idea):

He’s about a 12 inch buck (not great, but not bad either). I dropped him off at the taxidermist yesterday to get mounted (you gotta mount the first right?). The bad news? I get him back in about a YEAR! But the wait should be worth it. We (Justin, Nick and I) head out to Craig in two weeks for our deer hunt so hopefully there is a monster buck in my near future.  And if not, I’m sure there will be plenty of tales to tell.

This is something ONLY guys would do or even think of doing. Having a few beers probably didn’t hurt either…

Red Neck Ride

Happy Friday!