@MarkKnudson41
Strike One: If you were writing the plot for a made-for-TV Hallmark Channel movie, you’d script the next two weeks like this: The final results of 2021 Baseball’s Hall of Fame voting are followed less that two weeks later by the announcement of the ‘21 Pro Football Hall class. They produce an amazing double play: Long-time friends and former Tennessee Volunteer teammates Todd Helton and Peyton Manning both celebrate induction into the Hall of Fame and with it, sports immortality. Peyton would get his bust in Canton, Ohio and Helton his plaque in Cooperstown, New York. What an amazing story that would be.
But life – especially sports – doesn’t follow a script. And as much as local fans and media would revel in that kind of happy ending for two of the biggest sports stars in Colorado history, it’s unlikely to turn out quite like that.
Half of it will. Manning is a shoe-in for a first ballot induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Official word will come on February 6th. This one’s a no-brainer. His incredible career in Indianapolis and then his amazing four-year stint with the Denver Broncos (fortunately football players don’t have their accomplishments here tainted because of the altitude) are impossible to ignore. Peyton is one of the best of all-time, and there’s no disputing that. He’ll be in, no questions asked.
Helton’s case is more complicated. His amazing career numbers – especially with the advent of new analytics measurements – stack up with some of the game’s best first basemen ever. However, he played his entire Major League Baseball career in Denver, meaning roughly half of his at-bats happened in the notorious thin air of the Mile High City. That stigma, while slowly being melted away, still hangs around and influences many.
Best guess is that Helton will gain ground from last year, when in his second year on the ballot he garnered just 29% of the vote. His third go ‘round will probably net him closer to somewhere around 50%. That’s a nice jump. Still, he will ultimately need 75% to get in, so there’s still much work to be done. But with seven more years on the ballot, incremental jumps are welcome. That could mean ultimate selection.
But what could really help Helton’s cause is something he actually has control over – his public image. He doesn’t have one. Helton’s been something of a recluse in recent years. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.
If he wants to be enshrined in Cooperstown where he belongs, Helton has to emerge from the shadows and speak up for himself.
The Broncos Steve Atwater – who was elected to the Pro Football Hall last year and will be inducted later this summer – had a similar problem until someone convinced him that he needed to be seen to be heard. Atwater, who retired in 1999, got back involved with the Broncos and even landed on the radio. After retiring and not being heard from much for over two decades, his Hall candidacy got the jolt it needed. More awareness brought with it more votes. Atwater was selected with the Class of 2020.
Helton has been something of a recluse over the past several years. He retired in 2013, but prior to the start of his final season, he was arrested for driving under the influence near his Thornton home. Given his superstar status in the region, that incident wasn’t held against him for long. He returned to Coors Field from his Tennessee home a few times, including the 25th Anniversary celebration for the team in the spring of 2018. But in 2019, a second DUI and a subsequent enrollment in a substance abuse program left fans – and voters – wondering.
Rehabbing from substance abuse is unquestionably difficult. So is rehabbing your public image. Assuming Helton’s health is good, now would be a good time to follow the path that Atwater took. Helton could re-emerge with the Rockies organization in some ceremonious fashion, or he could engage with the media – perhaps doing color work for the SEC Network or something along those lines. Anything to get his name, his voice and healthy, smiling face out there for voters to see.
Helton’s career numbers don’t stand out quite like Manning’s (very few do) and he doesn’t have a pair of championship rings to show off. But he has plenty on his resume to get those hold out voters to come over into his corner…if he can get their attention.
Strike Two: It hasn’t been the start that Denver Nuggets fans envisioned. Not by a long shot. After last years’ appearance in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, this year’s sluggish .500-ish start has been a disappointment to be sure.
Fatigue – both mental and physical – has a lot to do with it. So does trying to blend in seven new players. As been noted before, Denver had a shorter off season than all but two other teams. Less than two months.
So what’s the remedy for a team that when healthy and rested can still be among the NBA’s very best?
How about this: Go short…as in, shorthanded.
It’s worked before.
Not intentionally of course. No team would intentionally limit the size of the roster or the number of available bodies to participate in a professional basketball game. But over the past couple of seasons, when the Denver Nuggets have been left shorthanded due to injuries or other circumstances, they have played some of their best basketball. Perhaps the “us against the world” mentality serves them well?
Two seasons ago, they played a significant part of the early season without three and even four starters…and still had one of the best records in the Western Conference. With reserves forced into the starting line-up, even the guys at the back end of the roster saw significant playing time, and it helped to speed up their development and build more confidence. When the starters returned, Denver had one of the deeper and more dangerous teams in the league.
Then last February (pre-COVID-19), we had the famous “Magnificent Seven” game in Utah, where the Nuggets were left with only seven healthy players for a road game against the Jazz, following a big trade just days before and a handful of injuries. They responded with an improbable 98-95 win that Head Coach Michael Malone called the best win of the season.
And of course, we all know how well Denver played with their backs to the wall in last summer’s bubble during the post-season.
So what better way to put a jolt into this team, and start to build some depth and resiliency than by forcing yourselves into a similar “us against them” state of mind?
There are some tired legs on this roster right now, guys who could use a prolonged break. Pro sports teams are not against fudging on the injury report a bit from time to time. So why not start by putting Jamal Murray on the injured list and give him a month or so off? Murray has been spectacularly inconsistent so far this season. Clearly, the rest would do him good.
Gary Harris could use a break. So could Paul Milsap. And Monte Morris. Yes, even Nikola Jokic, who has been playing some of the best basketball of his life, could benefit from an extended rest before the post-season comes around. These are guys who need to be at their very best when the play-off begin.
The Nuggets brass would have to be smart and careful about how they do this. The league would not approve of simply sitting out your best players. The DL stints would need to be staggered. But while front line players were out of the line-up, there would be more playing time for guys like Michael Porter Jr (now finally back after a bout with COVID-19) Will Barton (who missed all of last season’s play-offs) JaMychal Green, Bol Bol, Facundo Campazzo and Zeke Nnaji. All could greatly benefit from some extended minutes.
Maybe resting players would cost the Nuggets the division title and give them a slightly lower seed come play-off time. So be it. It would be better for everyone if the guys who played so many minutes in the bubble got some significant rest before the post season, while others, who are going to be counted on come play-off time, gained valuable experience.
The game played off the court could be critical to how Denver competes on the court this spring.
Strike Three: One of the last big sporting events to be held in 2020 prior to the shutdown of sports was the annual NFL Draft combine. It was completed about two weeks before we all started hearing the name “Rudy Gobert” over and over again on the radio and everything came to a screeching halt.
But as we all know very few things, if any, have been left untouched by the pandemic. Now we find out that the 2021 Combine, aka the Underwear Olympics, has been cancelled. This isn’t great news for new Denver Broncos GM George Paton. He will not be able to hold many (any?) in person interviews with potential draft picks. Everything will presumably be done via Zoom, where you can only gather so much info. They won’t be able to watch prospects run, jump, throw and catch in person during the myriad of drills that create such a buzz around the league every year.
Instead, Paton will have to count on the old fashioned skills of a scouting staff he didn’t hire.
Of course, there’s a ton of “tape” available for Paton and his guys to watch and evaluate, and that remains a key evaluation tool. But the guys who watched games in person (from the press box, no doubt) at regular speed, and maybe even got to chat with players on rare occasions, were able to see and evaluate things that the tape doesn’t show.
Paton will have one chance to watch guys in person. The January 30th Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama is being played as scheduled (so there’s one event that has avoided being postponed or moved by the pandemic.) The practice sessions during the week and the game itself will give Paton and the Broncos personnel staff a chance to watch guys perform in pads and in person. That will help.
Paton is new, but everyone else who will be involved in the evaluation process won’t be. Paton is not immediately replacing anyone in the front office, or any of the Broncos scouts. So they’re essentially in audition mode themselves. This would be a really good time for each of them to prove how valuable his input can be.
Who knows, this could be the start of a reverse trend. Time was when watching games and doing in-person evaluation was the big deal, and the combine was secondary. The league might come to find out that the Underwear Olympics are overrated. We could be going back to the time when video of a cornerback covering a big wide receiver in an actual game is more important than video of him doing the 20-yard backpedal drill.