A Visit to Avalanche Training Camp

I visited the Colorado Avalanche training camp for the first hour of practice today (at the Family Sports Center in Englewood). I've never been to training camp in the 17 years the Avalanche have been in Denver so I wanted to see what it was like.

I've been to football training camps a few times (Broncos and CU). In comparison the Avs camp is almost all scrimmage and live game action. I liked that. I saw on a 2nd rink some teaching going on but the main rink was pretty much all scrimmage after the warmups.

I arrived 15 minutes early and all the seats were full. I stood in a corner and watched the action below me. There are not a lot of seats so if you visit training camp arrive early.



I was very close to the ice; this faceoff was right in front of me:



New Avalanche Goalie Semyon Varlamov will be a key to the team's chances this year. In this scrimmage he looked OK to me (with a quick glove hand). I'm anxious to see him vs the Red Wings on opening night (a game I will be at!)

It's going to be a long season (broncos)

Some quick thoughts about the Broncos/Raiders game last night after a short night of sleep (got home after 1 a.m., up at 5:30 am for a Tuesday morning meeting):

Pictured to the left is our Raider fan "friend" who was sitting in our section last night, reminding us often of how great his Raiders were and how bad our Broncos looked (this shot was after Sebastian Janakowski's record tying 63 yard field goal). I'm afraid Mr Raider fan is right.

Last week I made my annual bronco predictions based on the outcome of the 1st game. I wrote I'd be looking for these things in the first game:

"The Bronco pass rush has no doubt improved with Elvis Dumervil back and rookie Von Miller on the other side. How will this duo perform in "real" NFL action against an offense game planning against them, instead of the basic offensive schemes they faced in the preseason?"

The verdict: Oakland did an excellent job of scouting the Broncos defensive weaknesses. The answer to a strong outside pass rush? Run draws up the middle to the heart of the soft Bronco defense. After a big gain on a draw early in the game the outside pass rush of the Broncos wasn't as effective.

"Is the Bronco run defense improved? Last year the Raiders ran for 328 yards and 5 td's in their blowout 59-14 win at Denver. Monday night will be a good test for the Bronco defense."

The verdict: Not really. The Raiders Darren McFadden ran for 150 yards (a 6.8 yards per carry average). In the game's concluding drive, when the Broncos only needed a stop to give their offense a chance only down by 3 points, Denver could not stop the Raiders rushing attack.

"Will Bronco rookie right tackle Orlando Franklin hold up against the Raider pass rush? Franklin looked good in the run game in the preseason, but struggled in pass protection at times."

The verdict: Franklin did OK for a rookie. He was called for holding a couple of times but generally held his own in pass protection. Franklin was the least of the Bronco worries on offense last night.

The game really wasn't as close as the 23-20 final. The Raiders dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Kyle Orton, despite 304 passing yards, had one of his worst games as a Bronco (the "lowlight" being dropping the ball and turning it over to the Raiders when he had tight end Fells open for what could have been the go ahead score in the 4th quarter). The Broncos again showed a lack of a running game and had problems scoring in the red zone.

It wasn't all bad. Eric Decker had an amazing 90 yard punt return td and several good receptions. I wondered why the Broncos weren't throwing to Decker more (Eric only had 3 catches) with his teammates having trouble holding on to the ball. Decker's punt return style reminded me of Bronco great Billy Thompson in Thompson's rookie year. Thompson, not the fastest returner, would catch the ball and run it right down the field (with no "knowshon" dancing around). Decker showed that same style on his big return.

Still the Broncos looked bad Monday night. I suspect my two year streak of picking the final bronco won-loss record based on the results of the first game might end this year. I picked 5-11 if the Broncos lost to Oakland. As our Raider friend above would agree, 5 wins may be too much for this bunch.

Colorado Buffs just miss an upset over the Cal Bears

I attended my first Colorado home game in five years on Saturday and it was a great one! Colorado lost to Cal 36-33 in overtime in a very entertaining game. Here are some of the pictures and videos I took.

Our seats were high in the South End Zone, section 209.



Though we were only 10 rows from the top of the stadium we had a great view of the field on a beautiful September day in Boulder.



The Colorado band entering the stadium.




And playing the Colorado Fight Song before the game.



The highlight of the pregame festivities is the run by Ralphie the Buffalo leading the home team on the field.



We had a great view of the action, especially when the action was near the South End Zone.



The CU students dressed in gold stood for the entire game.



The rest of the stadium was packed, too.



The Buffs tied the game in the final minute to force overtime. Here's the view of that field goal attempt from our seats.



But the Buffs lost in overtime 36-33. Though disappointed with the ending, this was a great day of college football in Boulder.

Going for the three-peat: my 2011 bronco predictions

This year I again will be predicting the Broncos final win-loss record based on the results of the first game.

Two years ago I wrote this:

"If the Broncos beat the Bengals ...

It'll be a huge boost in the team's confidence. All the critics of the offseason changes and disappointing preseason will be quieted. If the Broncos can beat a good Bengals team on the road, I predict they start out 4-0. The schedule then gets much tougher, and they'll finish with an 8-8 record. Matching last year's win total with all the offseason turmoil and changes in personel will be a good season in my book. A few weeks ago I said that this bronco season reminds me of the miracle 1977 season. I still say that, but the only chance for a surprise season this year is to win the opener."

The Broncos did beat the Bengals, did start out 4-0, and did finish 8-8.

Then last year I wrote:

"If the Broncos lose to Jacksonville, it could start an early season tailspin that the team will not recover from. I still expect a win against Seattle at home the next week (1-1), followed by losses to Indianapolis, at Tennessee, at Baltimore, and to the Jets at home to start out 1-5. The losing will affect the morale of the team, and the seemingly easy games of the schedule (Oakland home and away, KC home and away, etc) won't look so easy. The team scratches out a few wins on the way to a disappointing 4-12 record."

The Broncos did lose to Jacksonville, won at Tennessee, but in the end the team did finish with a 4-12 record as I predicted. At the time that was seen as a very pessimistic prediction.

Now I am not claiming to be Nostradamus - I could easily have missed on that 2009 prediction if it weren't for that miracle finish in Cincinnati - but I do think the first game tells a lot about what type of team the Broncos will have for the current season. Things I'll be looking at for that opening Monday night game against the Raiders:

The Bronco pass rush has no doubt improved with Elvis Dumervil back and rookie Von Miller on the other side. How will this duo perform in "real" NFL action against an offense game planning against them, instead of the basic offensive schemes they faced in the preseason?

Is the Bronco run defense improved? Last year the Raiders ran for 328 yards and 5 td's in their blowout 59-14 win at Denver. Monday night will be a good test for the Bronco defense.

Will Bronco rookie right tackle Orlando Franklin hold up against the Raider pass rush? Franklin looked good in the run game in the preseason, but struggled in pass protection at times.

On to the predictions ...

If the Broncos beat the Raiders Monday night, they'll get off to a surprising 4-1 start before finishing the season with 8 wins and 8 losses. I'm calling for early season upset wins at Tennessee and against San Diego at home. The long season will wear on the Broncos shallow depth, however, and much like 2009 they won't finish the season as strong.

If the Broncos lose to the Raiders Monday night, they'll only improve slightly from last year's 4 win total, finishing with 5 wins and 11 losses. The Broncos have everything going for them Monday night - first home opener in years, sellout crowd against their most hated rivals, and a new coaching staff to put the nightmare McDaniels years behind them. If that is not enough to beat the Raiders, it will be another long season. I do think even if the team does finish with just 5 wins the future looks bright. The 2011 college draft looks better than the previous two years under McDaniels. John Elway and the new management team just needs a few years to rebuild the roster.