Sports

Believe it or not, Miles the Broncos Mascot has a blog.  I was goofing around on the web this evening when I ran across Andrew Mason’s blog, the Broncos website’s managing editor, who also covers the Broncos from the inside (I found out that he live-blogs each of the games and does a great job!).

Back to Miles: Mason has a blogroll of other Broncos blogs including various Broncos players, officials, but what caught my eye was that the friggin’ mascot has a blog.  When your primary of form of communication is gestures and crazy antics, how can you be articulate enough to blog?  You can’t physically open your mouth, but some how you can spat off ramblings using your cloth hooves?  All joking aside, it’s a pretty cute way to outreach to fans, but I still have to stand by my previously-blogged stance on mascots.  They’re one (small) step above mimes, and would you really want to read a mime’s blog?

Mason’s blogroll has an awesome list of Broncos links, including CB’s Domonique Foxworth’s blog.  It’s really encouraging to see the Broncos embrace blogging as a way to outreach to their fans.  It’s a bummer that these things aren’t better publicized.  I’m a blog/rss junkie and this is the first I’ve heard of these blogs.

Speaking of Broncos blogs, if you want to get amazing coverage of everything Broncos, you need to check out Mile High Report.  I’ve been reading them all summer long and the content is excellent. 

Now that pre-season’s over, it’s going to be exciting to watch and see what the final Broncos roster will look like.  NFL kick-off Thursday can’t get here soon enough!

I came home last night and turned on the TV to find out the inevitable has happened: Barry Bonds broke the most hallowed record in all of sports – the “All-Time Home Runs” list: Hank Aaron’s 755.  I’m not the biggest baseball fan, but I am enough of a sports fan to appreciate the record, and also what an atrocity it is that Bonds broke the damn thing.

I know that literally the jury is still out on this guy (or at least the investigation is still ongoing), but the suspicion surrounding Bonds is going to leave a bad stain on this record, and in my mind I’m going to picture any number above 755 with an asterisk next to it.

For a moment, let’s put all the suspicions aside.  Let’s forget about the fact that this guy added 50 pounds and an extra inch in height between the time he started his career and where he’s at now.  Let’s forget that seemingly after the steroid scandal Bonds’ knee all of the sudden broke down and he had to take most of last season off.  Let’s forget about how his trainer is sitting in a jail cell right now because he won’t testify on Bonds.  Nevermind the fact that his head is now huge – let’s put all of that aside for a bit.  I’m a believer that good people will have good things coming to them, and this good thing couldn’t happen to a worse guy.  From the way he’s handled everyone in his public persona, to the way he treats his team-mates and the treatment he demands (the leather recliner and plasmas exclusively for him in the clubhouse), to the way he’s used his son as a human shield to deflect criticism from the media – this is just a bad guy.  I don’t pretend to believe that all big athletes are noble, but when a stand-up guy like Hank Aaron lost his record to this guy – that truly makes things sad.

Right now I’m finishing an audio book on Einstein, but the next book in my Audible queue is Game of Shadows –  for all the wrong reasons.  Thanks Bar-roid.

Sad news on the NFL front today.  Bill Walsh, the legendary coach of the 49ers has died.  He lost his battle with leukemia at age 75.  As a football fan, I realize what Bill Walsh has meant to the NFL, introducing the West Coast Offense to the league.  You can begin to appreciate Walsh’s influence by looking at his coaching tree:

Being a Broncos fan, we’ve enjoyed Mike Shanahan, one of the many fruits of that tree.  Prayers for him and his family.