Hey, I know I'm a guest here but I just want to acknowledge LaDainian Tomlinson's class act when he passed Jim Brown on the all-time rushing list.  He pointed to the owner's box, where Mr. Brown was watching, as a gesture of great respect to the "Greatest Running Back of All Time."  It makes me feel hopeful about the future the younger players repectfully acknowledge the pioneers of the game.

Way to go LT!

Lately, I've been involved in a lot of threads where the subject of smack talk has come up.  A lot of fans seem to enjoy rolling up their sleeves and getting into verbal slugfests.  It's not my cup of tea but I can appreciate the fact that many do enjoy it.  The problem is that so many of the sites out there have turned into nothing but smackfeasts.  That's one of the reasons I started coming here.  There are so few sites where the rest of us can go and engage in friendly discussions.  I've been thinking about this for a while and have a suggestion that might fill the needs of both kinds of fans.

Perhaps we can set aside a thread just for smack talk.  Call it, I don't know, "The Bull Pit" or "The Parking Lot" or my favorite, "The Back Alley".  Anyway, make it the place where anybody can go, take off the gloves and really lay into each other with the understanding that the rest of the site stays smack free.  Then, if somebody brings smack talk to any of the other threads you can just tell them to take it to the back alley and maybe even move the offending part of the thread there.

What do you think?

Has anyone heard that Brandon Marshall might want out of Denver?  I was looking around SBNation and noticed a fan post over at Big Blue View, the Giants site.  People over there were discussing the possibility of picking him up in a trade. Not that I buy it, but they seemed to think it was real because Marshall thinks Orton would be a big step down from Cutler.  (Sorry, I'm just not technosavy enough to create a link).

Is there any truth to this claim or is it just more off season wild speculation?

Congratulations.  I'm a Bronco fan since the Floyd Little (John Hadl) days .  But the Chargers have always been a strong second choice in my book.  It looks like your team, the Chargers are finally playing like the team they were supposed to be. And this is certainly the time of year to be playing that way.

Now go out and do something with this opportunity.  Make us proud. 

Next season may not be as easy.  

I already posted these idea in another thread, but my posting was near the end of the thread and I really wanted to say it one more time (with a few improvements).  I haven't included the name of the person who created the thread or those who responded or their comments because I didn't think I should without their permission, especially after having made a few changes.  Certainly, if they want to identify themselves and include their comments, they are, of course, more than welcome. But here goes.

The Magic Number Is Still One.  

This bears repeating.

The magic number is still one.

We knew it was very possible, likely even, that the Chargers would win and the Broncos would lose this weekend. And that’s exactly what happened. There really shouldn’t be any talk of gloom and doom. Things will work out. This next weekend it is very possible, likely even, that the Broncos will beat the Bills AND the Chargers will lose to the Buccaneers.

So keep a steady keel. Keep the faith. The Broncos are a very young team, still learning how to win, but I think, no, I believe they are going to do it and this next weekend is when it will happen.

And even if it doesn’t, well, we still get to go head to head against the Chargers with everything on the line in their back yard. Now wouldn’t that be an exciting game to watch? These are not the Wade Phillips Broncos, the ones who went to Oakland with everything on the line and lost. These are the Mike Shanahan Broncos. And they will win. Mark my words.

I just think that it’s the moments of greatest adversity that create the biggest legends.

Do you remember what it felt like in that frozen stadium in Cleveland, when the Broncos’ returners muffed the kick and it rolled inside the two yard line? I do. I remember yelling at them to get their butts back there and at least fall on the damned thing because it looked like the Browns might just beat them there. And then, when they managed to finally recover the ball, I remember thinking, “Thank God they at least fell on it.”

But I also remember thinking, there was no way they were going to be able to drive it all the way and get the touch down. I mean, I knew it was theoretically possible but not very realistic.

And then, the first couple of plays were almost like nails in the coffin. But then, by some miracle, they managed to eek out a first down. Then, slowly at first, they began to gather momentum. Pretty soon it became evident that the Broncos actually believed they could do it. With each play it became more and more evident that the Browns were begining to believe that the Broncos could do it too. And then, one by one, the rowdy fans of the Browns fell silent as even the most dedicated and ardent began to believe no force on the field that day was going to stop the Broncos from punching it into the endzone. And then it happened, and a legend was born and the legend grew to become "The Drive", one of the greatest comebacks of NFL history, a story that fans of (almost) every team tell their children about.

But none of that would have been possible without that hopeless ball placement inside the Broncos’ own frozen two yard line.

You are about to witness MHR history.  For thr first time in any forum I, Trinidad Jack, am about to attempt to insert a link.  Maestro, a drum roll please...

Formidable fives

...ta da!

I think it may have worked!  I'm amazed even if you aren't.  You have no idea how intimidated I was.

Anyway, if you follow this llink you should be able to find an article by Peter King of Sports Illustrated in an article that can be found at Fox Sports.  In it he lists his top five offensive lines.  Take a gander.  I don't think you'll be too surprised but I believe you'll be pleased.

I need some help from you guys.  Now, I freely admit I'm not really football-savy.  So can somebody out there who is explain something to me?   Many "experts" are saying the Falcons did a good thing to get rid of DeAngelo Hall.  Just as many, some of them the same "experts", are saying the Raiders did a good thing by picking him up.  How does that work? 

Or did I just totally miss the boat on this?

Again.

I was cruising over at MSN to take a look at Fox Sports and ran across a video which made a weak parody of the election process and offered the opinions of Kevin Hench and Krystal Fernandez.  (Sorry, but I'm not techno-savy enough to provide you with a link.)

Anyway, Kevin Hench made a ridiculous statement that Shawn Merriman "...could beat the rest of the guys in this division one one leg." and that the Chargers would win by at least a, "...five game cushion."

I know the Chargers are good and are the best in the division until somebody proves otherwise, but come on.  Who is this idiot?

I've noticed that some of the fan posts on this site can generate close to 200 comments.  20, 30 and even 40+ are not uncommon.  In the last couple of weeks I've been stretching my wings and looking at other sites.  It seems as if many of them struggle just to get into double digits.  Why is this?

I think a big part of it is the contributions MHR followers make.  I don't want to leave anybody out so I'll just say that we have some very football savy writers with a lot of passion who generate stories and add comments.

But another has to be the rank and file, readers who also have that Bronco passion and aren't afraid to throw in their opinions.

Another might be the respect this site seems to have for the Bronco legacy.  Even the youngest, newest fans want to hear about the good old days from us geezers. 

Still another might be the respect people on this site have for each other.  I know I'm not as knowledgable on some things as many, if not most of you on this site.  Nevertheless, I have always felt comfortable adding something my small contributions on any topic.  

I guess I feel like I'm part of a family.

Old Mile High.

I have never, and I mean never, tried anything like this before, inserting links into a post.  See what you guys make me do.  I hope it works.

For you history buffs there's a real nice article from the Rocky Mountain News about the Old Mile High Stadium here:

http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/milehigh/1223mile0.shtml

 It has brief references to a lot of the stories from Bronco history we've been talking about and a few we haven't.  I hope this stirs the pot a little.