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Last Updated: Oct 16th, 2008 - 13:33:17 |
The state of Colorado sports hit
one of its highest points last October,
the Rockies had just won 21 out of 22
games to get the team's fi rst World Series
in their history, the Nuggets and
Avalanche were embarking seasons
packed with high expectations for the
Nuggets and some glimmers of hope
for the Avs. The Broncos were showing
some signs of promise after a 2-3
start and some thought they might
make the playoffs.
Well it's all been downhill from
there. The Broncos fi nished 7-9,
blowing games at home against
the Green Bay Packers and Chicago
Bears and being blown out by the
likes of the Detroit Lions and Houston
Texans, two non-playoff teams, not
to mention the San Diego Chargers
twice and a painful loss to the woeful
Oakland Raiders.
The Nuggets proved they were
the most inconsistent team in the
league and were in constant turmoil.
They did win 50 games for the fi rst
time since the 1987-88 season, but
fi nished as the 8th seed in the Western
Conference and were ousted in
the fi rst round for the fourth year in
a row. They were quickly ousted by
the Los Angeles Lakers, the eventual
conference champions.
The Avalanche have been the
most successful team since the Rockies
run, overcoming injuries to key
players to make the playoffs once
again, after falling short the previous
year. They upset the Minnesota Wild
in the fi rst round before being routed
by the eventual champs, the Detroit
Red Wings. The team responded by
fi ring their coach Joel Quenneville
and replaced him with his predecessor,
Tony Granato, the man who was
demoted a few years earlier in favor of
Quenneville. If Granato didn't work
the fi rst time...
The Rockies have done everything
to extinguish last season's
bright fl ame exposing their title run
as a fl uke. In 2007, they had great
pitching down the stretch, timely
hitting and used speed to their advantage,
along with playing recordsetting
defense. This year, all those
fundamentals have not made an appearance.
Yes, they have had injuries to
key players such as Troy Tulowitzki,
Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe, but
Tulowitzki was hitting under .200
before his injury and Hawpe still
can't fi gure out left-handed pitching.
Most disappointing though has been
the regression of the team's young
pitching. Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin
Morales and Manny Corpas have all
taken steps back this year after showing
so much promise. Jimenez has
been inconsistent, Morales has been
demoted to Triple-A and Corpas has
been removed from his closer role
and banished to middle relief and
mop-up duties in the bullpen.
How did things get so bad so fast
for Colorado sports? O n e
might look at the front
offi ce's reluctance t o
ma k e
changes to the coaching staff as part
of the problem. All the head coaches
have been given votes of confi dence,
except for Quenneville, who was fi red
after taking his team further in the
playoffs than any of the other coaches.
George Karl has repeatedly said
he can't get his team to play defense
or get his stars, Allen Iverson and
Carmelo Anthony, to play team basketball.
Iverson and Anthony were
third and fourth in the league in
scoring and were by far the highest
scoring duo in the NBA, but the team
consistently played down to its competition,
losing winnable road games
at Charlotte, Chicago, New York and
Milwaukee, and beating teams like
Boston and San Antonio, teams that
advanced far further in the playoffs.
Karl blames his teams' lack of
motivation to rebound and play team
defense along with injuries to key
role players as a cause for the fourth
early-round exit in four years. Karl,
who once led a team to the NBA Finals
back in the mid-nineties, also says that
players just aren't like they used to
be. Well, maybe some coaches aren't
either. Karl was known in Seattle and
Milwaukee as a coach that got in players'
faces and yelled and screamed at
offi cials at a moments notice.
Now he is passive and spends
most of the game sitting on the
bench. The passivity works for some
coaches, but not too much for Karl.
Maybe it could if he looks at Phil
Jackson, Greg Poppovich and Doc
Rivers, coaches that have gotten
their talented teams and superstar
players to play team basketball and
have been very successful.
Karl could be the wrong choice
for this team, but owner Stan Kroenke
gave Karl a vote of confi dence to his
underachieving coach, while fi ring
his overachieving one in Quenneville.
The thought process seems bass-ackwards
and the only conclusion I can
reach is that Avs general manager
Francois Giguere wanted his own guy
to be the coach, and the Nuggets don't
have an actual general manager so the
ultimate decision lays with Kroenke, a
close friend of Karl's.
The Broncos have suffered greatly
at the hands of their inept drafting
in the past decade in a league where
all the championship teams are built
through the draft. Head coach Mike
Shanahan fails to recruit top-notch
talent drafting the likes of Marcus
Nash, Ashley Lelie, Wi l -
lie Middlebrooks a n d
George Foster in
the fi rst round.
All have been
busts and no
l o n g e r
with the
team. The
team has
been lucky
to draft late-round
picks and hire
free agents to muster up
any success. One could
say they have done a remarkable
job draft- ing in the late
rounds, but every team needs topnotch
talent, something Shanahan
hasn't been able to provide.
Drafting Jay Cutler in 2006 was
promising, but this team's needs
far exceed a great quarterback that
Cutler may, or may not become. Travis
Henry was a bust at running back
and the team hasn't had a pass rush
since Trevor Pryce left a few years
back.
The linebacking corps was a disaster
last year and cornerback Dre'
Bly was a disappointing replacement
for the late Darrent Williams. Maybe
it's time for the team to move on
from Shanahan, at least from a talent
evaluator position. But Bowlen
has said time and again that Mike
Shanahan is his guy, through and
through. He might have to though;
the fans might not be able to handle
another losing season without some
heads rolling.
The Rockies started last season by
giving general manager Dan O'Dowd
and manager Clint Hurdle contract
extensions, much to the bewilderment
of many fans. Hurdle's best year
was an 82-80 fi nish in 2003 and his
overall record is pretty poor.
Before his extension, he was under
constant criticism for his inability
to handle a pitching staff and his
questionable moves late in games.
His response has always been that
his critics don't know as much about
baseball as he does. Really? I think
most anyone could manage a team to
be a consistent loser.
O'Dowd is another story. He sold
off all the old veterans with large
contracts, with the exception of
Todd Helton, in favor of young players
and home-grown talent. He
preached patience, saying that
the talent would come to fruition
eventually. Well it did last year,
at least temporarily. The team was
virtually unbeatable in the late-season
run before running into a buzz
saw call the Red Sox in the World
Series.
The Monfort Brothers, the Rockies'
team owners, graciously decided
to raise the team payroll slightly, but
still won't discuss a long-term deal
with Matt Holliday as well as a few
other players, while taking care of
some, such as Tulowitzki, Corpas and
pitchers Jeff Francis and Aaron Cook.
But at the end of the day, even if
these players return to last season's
form, the club will be competitive,
but not a winner.
There seems to be no upside for
any of our major sports team and unless
upper management is changed,
we could deal with mediocre or possibly
even worse.
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