Tag Archives: denver-broncos

Sportzfan Radio show #223.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!16 October 2011 223.2 Mark Fiorenti comes on to talk about the Socceroos and their 3-0 win againt Oman and says all Australia need is a point from their remaining games to qualify for the next round of World Cup qualifiers. He is full of praise for Holger Osieck and also reviews the other Asian Group standings. Mark looks at the A League and the Professor asks how long before the Melbourne Victory coach is under pressure. Mark says if Victory don’t beat Heart it will be a disastrous start to the season. Daniel talks basketball and the Professor takes him to task about how One HD are selecting the games. He feels decisions are made on a financial basis because it must be cheaper to go to Townsville than Perth. The Panel talk about the poor television ratings for the NBL while Sportzfan Stan discusses the benefit that Mills has given to the sport whilst he has been here. The Gelding compares the amount of newspaper columns given to all sports and decides basketball gets less coverage than rugby and soccer. The Professor asks Paul Dalligan where Todd Carney will land as it has been rumored he is being chased by at least four teams. Paul previews the Australia v New Zealand rugby league match predicting a close game but an Australian win. He also comments on Tim Tebow starting at QB for his Denver Broncos. The Panel talk about the big clash in the World Cup semi final between the Wallabies and New Zealand. The Panel unanimously select the Wallabies. To round off the show the Panel discuss AFL trade week and Casey Stoner winning the motorcycle GP.

Sportzfan Radio #181.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!28 November 2010 181.2 – Daniel wants the Tigers to get rid of their white alternate strip. Stan adds that the Tigers are hopeless at 1-7.  Mark Fiorenti talks up Australia’s chances for the 2022 World Cup and thinks the bid looks a lot better than it did three or four months ago. He also thinks the USA are favourites.  Daniel believes if Julia Gillard writes a letter of support that will sink the bid. The Professor thinks Bob Hawke should have been asked to write a letter.  Mark also wraps up A League and Premier League matches of interest.  He thinks it is Chelsea’s title to lose.  Dr Leslie’s CSA returns to the show after a few weeks off.  Daniel is not happy that the Professor signed off with “We all hope we get the 2022 World Cup”…this then promotes a discussion as to who actually wants the World Cup.  Stan and Daniel don’t want it.  The Gelding hopes we do get it.  Suitably chastened, the Professor re-announces “The Gelding and I both hope we get it, Daniel and Stan definitely don’t”.   The Panel then discuss emails about the Australian Test selections.  The Gelding thinks the role of wicketkeeper has changed over the years as we now pick a wicketkeeper that is an allrounder.  Stan believes it is no good trying to make a batsman into a wicketkeeper.  Paul Dalligan is back to talk rugby league….didn’t the season finish eight weeks ago?  He talks about Russell Crowe leaking details of Greg Inglis’ contract on a US talk show.  The NRL are now looking more closely at the deal.  The Professor asks why this deal is different to the Mark Gasnier deal.  Daniel thinks it would be good for Crow to team up with Inglis at the Rabbitohs.  Paul then goes on to talk baseball and the ABL.  Unfortunately, the Melbourne Aces first three home games have been rained out.  We give a shout out to a new listener…Lisa Haye’s husband.  The Panel talk about Mark “Choco” Williams appointment as Kevin Sheedy’s assistant at Greater Western Sydney.  This leads into a discussion of whether Sheedy will actually coach the team in 2012.  Stan decides to swing the axe and believes Mick Malthouse and Kevin Sheedy have reached their use by date and should retire as the old guys are keeping the younger coaches out of jobs.  Sean Callanan comes on to talk social media and discusses the Dallas Cowboys forgetting to renew their domain name so they were left without a website and thinks the IT man at the Cowboys may be out of a job.  The Denver Broncos have been fined $100,000 for filming the 49ers at practice.  Sean talks about Vince Young apologising to his coach Jeff Fisher by text and says it is probably not the most effective means of doing that.  A listener queries why Young didn’t call Fisher as he had the phone in his hand sending the text.

McDaniels of the Denver Broncos – there may be smoke but sadly there is not enough fire….

It is never a good situation when as a coach in the NFL your Wikipedia page has been hacked and someone has changed your name to ‘Fire This Bum’.

But in the case of Josh McDaniels of the Denver Broncos that is exactly what is happening out there in cyberspace right now. At the tender age of just over 30 when he was appointed, there was always going to be a danger that McDaniels would be overawed on entering the cauldron of football fanaticism that is the city of Denver. This is of course the city whose home team the Denver Broncos have sold out EVERY game since the 1960s. The city where the only way to get yourself season tickets is in a will or buying the house of people leaving town who have left their tickets on the kitchen bench.

At the time of his hiring, the Broncos made McDaniels one of the youngest ever head coaches in the NFL. McDaniels certainly had showed promise during his time as an Assistant Coach at the Patriots and arrived in Denver full of passion and momentum. In his first few games as head coach McDaniels prowled the sidelines with all the enthusiasm of a 6 year old at Disneyland. The fist pumps, the wild eyes and the audible roars after a great play would have reminded many of the cauldron of simmering fury that was the previous Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, whose match day complexion made Alex Ferguson look positively albino in comparison.

But sadly for Denver Broncos fans, that was where the similarities will end.

Because while they may share the same wound up persona on field, McDaniels (sorry, ‘Fire this Bum’) will never now match the record of Shanahan who managed to win two Super Bowls during his 11 year reign as head coach of the Broncos.  McDaniels may still be the head coach of the Broncos but it will only be a matter of time until their owner pulls the trigger, especially after a woeful Monday Night Football performance against their biggest rival the Chargers.

Monday night is the night when an already sports mad country steps up their fanaticism to maximum intensity. Surely that would have been the perfect stage for McDaniels to find some of that old fire as his team tried to keep their season alive.  As the game wore on however McDaniels seemed to retreat more and more into his shell on the sidelines. It looked like someone had spiked coach’s Gatorade with prozac as McDaniels looked about as ambitious and energetic as a three toed sloth.  What really made the Broncos fans howl however was McDaniels incredibly conservative play calling. When you are down by 30 points, it is time to roll the dice. McDaniels on several occasions decided to punt on 4th down, rather than find those dice and throw them with caution to the wind like wedding confetti on a windy day.

Punting on 4th down is usually a wise choice, but when you are down by such a big margin it is the equivalent of standing on 12 against a dealer’s 10 in blackjack. The game was well and truly over and even trying anything could seem like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, but surely the fans deserve to see their coach at least giving it a shot.  Exactly why McDaniels decided to close the shutters and play out the game with all the intensity and excitement of a man serving his sentence on death row is well and truly beyond this observer.

Broncos fans can take some comfort from the fact that McDaniels days are numbered in Denver. Until that day they will simply have to endure the Titantic that the Broncos season has become, with a coach who promised so much but has now become too scared to sail the stormy seas.

POSTSCRIPT: Since the time of writing this article McDaniels has been faced with one of his assistant coaches being caught spying on and recording an opposing team. In worse developments for McDaniels only today the Denver Broncos lost at home to the previously woeful St Louis Rams – it can’t be long until there is an axe being wielded in Denver…