Broncos fans? Say hello to your third starting quarterback this season.
It was announced on Tuesday that Paxton Lynch will start for the Broncos when they hit the road to face the Oakland Raiders.
The announcement, the second such shifting of the sand this week after news of the departure of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy hit the airwaves on Monday, unofficially but quite loudly puts an end on the 2017 season in the Mile High city.
But the interesting choice of words from executive vice president John Elway in correlation to the move to Lynch has me more concerned.
Elway ultimately chose to make this the decision of head coach Vance Joseph, making it clear it was still part of an evaluation process.
But didn't Elway, long before anyone thought about Joseph being the head coach of this team, make the move in the 2016 NFL Draft to step up and draft Lynch?
Sorry Johnny boy, but you don't get to walk clear of this one. If Lynch turns out to be the diamond in the rough this season, that's all well and good.
But you can only throw so many people under the bus this season before the spotlight gets turned back onto you and the personnel changes which you ultimately signed.
For the record, here's the updated stat lines for both of Lynch's predecessors this season:
Trevor Siemian 152 comp., 247 att., 61.5% comp., 1669 yards, 9 TDs, 10 INT, 25 sacks
Brock Osweiler 62 comp., 117 att., 53.0% comp., 701 yards, 3 TDs, 4 INT, 6 sacks
Bottom line? The Broncos are 3 and 7 this season, they've lost six in a row and are headed to a division rival's home stadium in which that team also is making a coaching change at the defensive coordinator position. So it really can't get much worse, right?
It's Gold, Jerry.... Gold!
Washington State head football coach Mike Leach is going to make a great stand-up comedian.
His rant yesterday about the college football playoffs is one for the ages.
Check out the video here and enjoy....
And this isn't the first time he's gone on.... and on... and on about the college football playoffs.
Again.... enjoy.
Land of Enchantment Day Best Bets
Zia Park has a big day of racing today to help you kick off the Thanksgiving weekend.
I have thoughts on one of the stakes races today.
RACE SEVEN -- The Zia Park Championship Handicap (Post time 4:54pm ET)
A field of six are scheduled to go in this one. Races with smaller field sizes tend to be more over analyzed than they should be, which is why I'm going with my first instinct on the second choice on the morning line, #3 CODE WEST (pictured above).
Listed at 5-to-2 on the morning line, CODE WEST is a 2-time winner over the local course, having won this exact same race last year, and most recently taking the Veterans Stakes last month. He figures to get a tactically smart ride under Ramon Vasquez, sitting hopefully close to what should be a moderate pace.
CODE WEST has excelled at this distance of 9 furlongs as well, having been first or second 4 times from 14 trips at this distance.
Win bet on #3 CODE WEST with exactas and trifectas over #1 Iron Fist and #2 Hereditary.
Morgan sounds off on steroid users in the Hall of Fame
Baseball Hall of Fame voters grappling with issues involving performance-enhancing drugs received an email advisory Tuesday from an unexpected source.
According to ESPN.com, Joe Morgan, the Hall's vice-chairman and a member of its board of directors, sent a letter to voters with a list of three criteria he thinks should disqualify future candidates for admission to the shrine.
Morgan said in the letter that he wasn't speaking for all Hall of Famers. But he said he was representing the views of many who are concerned by what they see as eroding standards for admission.
"The more we Hall of Famers talk about this -- and we talk about it a lot -- we realize we can no longer sit silent," Morgan wrote. "Many of us have come to think that silence will be considered complicity. Or that fans might think we are ok if the standards of election to the Hall of Fame are relaxed, at least relaxed enough for steroid users to enter and become members of the most sacred place in Baseball. We don't want fans ever to think that.
"We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated. Steroid users don't belong here."
I have conflicting emotions on this one. I agree that cheaters don't belong in the Hall of Fame, to a point. My only caveat would be to permit induction to those people posthumously, and while that would prevent a great many fans from seeing some of their idols achieve induction, as well as halt any opportunity for some of baseball's greats to experience that moment for themselves, it would also hold those same people to some level of accountability for being responsible for their actions.
It's a hard reality, but one which in which I firmly believe.
And it applies not just to those who've seen their careers and legacies tarnished by the use of performance enhancing drugs, but also to Pete Rose, considered by many to be the biggest void in the current halls of Cooperstown.
But let's be clear. It needs to be unquestioned evidence for those alleged to have used steroids. Not just an allegation or a name-drop from a source. If MLB and those who vote for the Hall have concrete evidence, then those people should never be allowed admission.
Otherwise, this is just more negative press thrown in the direction of people, who may -- like it or not -- be falsely accused and unjustly treated by a system that was not only condoned, but also ignored by the very people in charge of Major League Baseball.