Mason's Morsels

Ellipses for a Tuesday …

… You’re never as great as people say when you’re winning; you’re never as lousy as people espouse when you’re losing. And even when you fall 41-3, the line isn’t all that thick between victory and defeat. Maybe it’s as wide as a strip of paint between parking spaces in the INVESCO Field lot, but that’s about it. There’s a reason why the cliche’ about the “24-hour rule,” exists; it’s a good guideline for forgetting about the past, whether it’s the finest moment possible or the worst. That rule can have a 24-hour extension, however, if you’re going to be off for an unusually lengthy time frame, like the Colorado Rockies or an NFL team that wins its conference championship …

… I’m always fascinated by the automated blog links that occasionally pop up. Child hurling in India? Where the heck did that come from? …

… I never thought LetPlummerPlay would write, “Let Mason blog!” First time for everything, I reckon …

Anyhow, let’s dive in, shall we?

We’ve gotten more than a few questions about the status of Dre’ Bly …

It doesn’t seem as though the slight shoulder separation will be a problem; Head Coach Mike Shanahan said Monday that Bly likely wouldn’t even need a harness on the ailing right shoulder. We’ll see what the injury reports of the next few days reveal, but as Bly said, “My shoulder or my hand has got to be cut off for me to come out of the game.” Sounds like a man who’ll be ready when the bell rings — whether it’s at 6:05 p.m. MDT next Monday or 6:40.

From RSH:

Quick question for you, any chance the Broncos will wear the orange jerseys on Monday night or are they going all-blue again? Perhaps it’s wishful thinking on my behalf because of Halloween and because I love the orange.

It’ll be the blues. Teams have to put in for league approval to wear the third jersey months before the season arrives. In 2004, the last time the Broncos wore orange, the move was announced in June — five months before they actually put them on. The team lost 25-24 to the Oakland Raiders, dropping the record in the alternate oranges to 0-2. The only question is — will the Broncos go with blue pants or white? Sunday night’s win in the all-blues pushed the team’s record to 4-3 in that ensemble.

From 1ARABIANKNIGHT:

Blessings be upon you BRONCOS!!

“Thank You for doing as I asked, in Honoring my slain”…..the Spirit of Mile High says for me to give to you. I, J’shua, Messenger of ~Adonai~

And it just goes on like this, at least until he starts talking about Jim Bates and the defensive package, which is a pretty jarring right turn in his narrative.

I didn’t major in theology, and when it comes to religion, I’m far more certain of what I’m not than what I am. Some of y’all say this is mocking God … I’ll leave those assertions elsewhere, because I probably haven’t studied the Bible as much as some in these parts (like our man Rev79).

So can anyone explain to me what this guy’s talking about — while, of course, not firing the spark that creates a holy war around here?

From myleshigh:

Oh yea, Mase, you get Rockies tickets or just not interested?

I was quite interersted .. but I, like many locals, failed. After a couple of expletives were uttered, I was emotionally okay with it. Disappointed, yes; I would rather have seen a lottery, but putting it on-line was, in effect, a lottery.

Twice I got past the countdown page. On the first, I put in for four seats — this was still fairly early in the game — and was rebuffed. On the second, I put in for two, entered the confirmation word … and was sent back to the countdown page. I felt like George Costanza visiting the “Soup Nazi” and being rebuffed when asking for bread.

“No soup for you!”

It wasn’t until a frustrated friend’s e-mail missive landed in my box at mid-afternoon that I advanced from mildly peeved to flat-out … well, you can probably finish the sentence.

The only person I heard of getting tickets was somebody in Ohio that was a friend of a friend’s officemate. He’s just going to put them on eBay and let the cash come to him.

My reply to my friend included the use of a mildly creative profanity to decribe this profiteering Ohioan. I reckon it’s simply reminder No. 18,447 that the world simply ain’t fair. The other 18,446 are infinitely more important than getting tickets to a game, no matter how momentous it may seem.

If you got tickets and are going to use them yourself, then my heartiest congratulations; I know you’ll have fun. If you bought them with the mere intention of opening up bidding on any of the myriad of ticket re-sale sites or via the classifieds or what-not … then I hope you spend your profits the way George Costanza spent the money he earned on interest:

And by the way, lawdog, I am a nerd — and I’m damn proud of it.

And one more thing, Foxy … the elbow comes and goes, like George Costanza’s involuntary elbow twitch.

Three Costanza references in one blog … not too shabby. See you Wednesday.

For all but one Bronco on the 53-man roster, the team’s practice late Monday afternoon was a chance to get back to work. For Champ Bailey, however, the wait-out for his left quadriceps injury continues.

“I’m not where I want to be,” Bailey said after sitting out Monday’s session. “But with a couple of more sessions of treatment and working out, I’ll be well by Sunday.”

Even though his injury is the dreaded muscle strain, Bailey nevertheless seemed fairly confident that his recovery would not be protracted.

“When you strain a muscle, you’re always kind of concerned about it because you don’t know how it’s going to heal, but right now I feel pretty good and my progress has been good,” he said.

Bailey’s sights are set on practicing Wednesday, when the Broncos’ preparation for the Pittsburgh Steelers accelerates into fifth gear after the requisite Tuesday off-day.

“I’m always pushing for Wednesday. I was actually pushing for today, but that didn’t happen,” Bailey said.

Promising news came in the form of wide receiver Javon Walker’s participation in the 90-minute session.

“He got some reps in,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. “Hopefully there’s no setback and he’s ready to practice on Wednesday. He did some good things today.”

Walker believes he will be able to play on Sunday, but after remaining in Colorado for the bye weekend to work on the inflamed knee, he has reconciled himself to the fact that it will remain problematic for the weeks and months to follow.

“It’s just an injury where it (takes) time and you don’t really get time (to rehabilitate) until the season’s overwith, so I’ve got to stay on top of it during the week,” he said.

“I’m ready to go … It’s getting there. It’s football, so it’s never going to be 100 percent, but I can get it monitored during the week of practice.”

The urgency of the Broncos’ situation — a three-game losing streak, opponents that are a combined 9-2 looming in the next two weeks — helped spur Walker’s decision to play through the pain.

“It’s a time where we need everybody out there. Pittsburgh is a good team, and we want to at least try to go in with a full arsenal of players,” Walker said.

Besides injuries, there was one other primary topic of conversation … the Colorado Rockies and their amazing run, now at 20-1 as they stand at the cusp of a four-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Championship Series.

A few thoughts:

John Lynch: “Ever since I’ve been here, this is a Broncos town, but I think it’s great. I think there’s enough love to go around for anyone. They’ve certainly earned the right to have this town and this state right now. It’s special and I think it’s inspirational for everyone, and I think we can look at that. … Most of all, we’re just pulling for those guys.”

Bailey: “I’ve got to get some tickets. I’m definitely on the bandwagon. I hope they win it.”

Walker: “I probably will watch it. I haven’t been keeping up with it just because I’ve been focused on what I’ve got to do, but the closer and closer they get, this is where it becomes exciting. So I will watch the game tonight and see if they can clinch it.”

Shanahan, who referred to the Rockies as “we” on one occasion during his post-practice question-and-answer session, said he couldn’t quite compare the hoopla over the Rockies’ run to the one that accompanied his team’s deep postseason forays in 1997, 1998 and 2005 because he was locked in on the task at hand.

“I think it’s probably more exciting looking from the outside in than the inside out, because you can see guys taking it game by game and really focusing on the job at hand and not getting caught up in the hoopla, but concentrating on the job,” Shanahan said. “It’s been fun to watch.”

And, of course, our little blog will be there tonight. I missed last night’s game while en route to Denver International Airport, and happened to be rolling past Coors Field on Interstate 25 when Yorvit Torrealba launched his sixth-inning rocket into the left-field seats. “That’s all they’ll need,” I told my mother as she called seconds after the ball landed in the bleachered delirium, and blessedly for the Rockies, that turned out to be the case.

So onward to Coors Field, to grapple with the crowds, to keep score, to guzzle some hot chocolate and to ensure myself a lengthy night with little sleep. As my longtime friend Sam Wolfson — who is attending tonight’s game with me — said, “That’s what Mountain Dew is for.” Amen.

We’ll return you to your regularly-scheduled Broncos blog programming later. Until the next entry — and what is sure to be an intriguing and pithy question-and-answer post coming tomorrow — vaya con Dios.

If you’re looking for football, go back some blog posts or just wait a few hours. But Saturday night in Centennial State sports belonged to the Rockies, whose efforts have captured the hearts of many in the Broncos’ realm at Dove Valley and beyond.

If even John Lynch was rooting for the Colorado Rockies — the team that blocked his beloved San Diego Padres from the postseason — then surely all but the Philadelphia Phillies’ fans along the Front Range could surely get behind the black and purple for Saturday night’s game at Coors Field, right?

So it was with that mindset that I, a lifelong Braves fan, found myself twirling a towel along with 50,223 others at Denver’s baseball jewel Saturday night, watching the Rockies win the kind of game I once never thought I would see at 5,280 feet — a taut 2-1 thriller over the Phillies that saw the hometowners win in classic National League fashion, with pitching, defense, effective sacrifices and a timely hit or two.

This night belonged to the Rockies … and oh, what a gorgeous night it was.

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