Hit by a Pitch

From the Rockies’ website:

DENVER — The City of Denver will celebrate the Rockies’ rise to the National League pennant and their first trip to the World Series with a rally at Skyline Park at 15th and Arapahoe on Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. MT.

Mayor John Hickenlooper and Gov. Bill Ritter will host the event. Manager Clint Hurdle and players Matt Holliday, Jeff Francis and Garrett Atkins are scheduled to appear.

Musical entertainment will be by the group Opie Gone Bad.

The public is invited.

Dear Shanny,

It’s obvious you’re having a hard time this year. We’re all having a hard time in Denver right now, especially the fans who rallied around the Rockies and keep trying to get excited about a disappointing Broncos team.

The 3-4 record isn’t making it easy for us. It doesn’t help that a bunch of second-graders playing Red Rover could do a better job of stopping the run, or that a wide receiver with a T.O.-sized ego yelled at us for leaving a shitty game during shitty weather (good thing Brandon Marshall had enough time between arrests to criticize the fans).

For now, though, let’s talk about our quarterback situation. Shanny, you made us think that as soon as the dashing young Jay Cutler took over, our days would be nothing but sunshine and happiness. Jay Cutler is the perfect man to take us to the one place Jake Plummer couldn’t.

Things just haven’t been the same since things with Jake went sour. After almost four good years together, you gave him the ultimatum — get me to the Super Bowl chapel, or else. Most coaches would’ve been happy with a quarterback who went 39-15, with an 83.7 QB rating.¹ But you weren’t satisfied with a good, everyday QB. You wanted the hardware, the big rock of Lombardi love. Of course, it’s understandable that you were so anxious, what with all the pressure from friends, family, and the people of Denver, who want every QB to be Elway and every year to end in a championship.

Sometimes, though, Shanny, you need to be patient. Just because Jake Plummer ran a little wild, suffered a bout of road rage, shacked up with a cheerleader, and couldn’t get to the big game doesn’t mean you should’ve dumped him when you did. It also doesn’t mean that Jay Cutler will do the same. He’s a smart kid with a great arm. He won’t hurt you like you think Jake did, but you just have to trust him.

Let’s call 2007 what it is: a rebuilding year. You’re not going all the way this year. It’s okay. The only fans who don’t realize that are the ones who can’t tell their ass from their head and have been pounding ‘em back at the Stumble Inn since dawn. Sure we’re disappointed. We expect greatness, and we really wanted greatness because we’re still hurting over Darrent Williams and Damien Nash. Still, we know that right now, you can’t give us greatness.

But Shanny, what you can give us is some serious, thoughtful effort. Stop taking sloppy seconds from other teams and shoving them into the roster expecting instant results. Stop calling plays that make Antonin Scalia look liberal. As Mark Kiszla said in today’s column, you’re losing your play-calling nerve.

Why are you so afraid? Is it “creeping, middle-age conservatism” as Kiszla suggests? Do you consider your players as nothing more than chess pieces, dependent on you to make every move for them? Are you afraid of having your heart broken again? Is the magic gone between you and football in general?

The truth is that it’s not going to get much worse than 5-7 (the team’s post-Cutler record) if you make some changes. Stop deluding yourself that this team has any chance of seeing the post season and that you can control everything. Give the guys some freedom. You might not win games, but hell, you’re not winning games now. You need to let the players who are the future of the Broncos develop the skill and the confidence they’ll need to get anywhere in the AFC. If Broncos players are going to be anything more than pawns in your tired game, they need freedom. If you can’t give us good, at least give us interesting. Give us hope.

Shanny, it’s time to get outside and relax in this beautiful fall weather. Have a beer. Maybe take in a game of handball with Jake Plummer or spend a little time inhaling around Travis Henry. Think up some new plays. Ease up on the team and let them go do their thing. Let go. If they really love you, they just might score a few touchdowns.

Love,
HBP
__

1. Statistics compiled from CBS Sports.

• The Atlanta Hawks waived guard Jamaal Tatum earlier this week. If anything is right in this world, he’ll get picked up by someone. Seriously. Jamaal Tatum is AWESOME and needs to be in the NBA.
• According to the Rocky Mountain News, the Lakers might waive Coby Karl. It’s just a rumor at this point — I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve written about moving to a new city and the old team/new team dynamic before (here, for example). After four years as a resident of Colorado, it’s pretty clear how my team loyalties line up:

Nuggets > Bulls
White Sox > Rockies
Bears = Broncos (I don’t know what I’ll do when they play each other next month)

If anyone thinks it’s lame to be a fan of, say, the Bears and the Broncos, that’s fine with me. I’m going to be a fan of the Bears and the Broncos for the rest of my life, and that’s just how it is. It would be easier to have only one team, but I can’t leave my old team and I can’t resist my new team.

On Thursday, we perched on barstools at Goose Island until our butts hurt, watching the entire Rockies/Red Sox game. The Rockies should have and could have won that game, but that’s beside the point right now. I want to talk about Red Sox fans.

I’m not going to be overly critical and shit-talky like I was that time with the Cubs. There’s no reason for that, and I’d just piss people off because really, Red Sox fans annoy me. But for now, I just want to know — who are Red Sox fans?

On Thursday, there were two guys wearing Red Sox stuff at Goose Island — a guy at the bar wearing a Red Sox hat, and another guy in a Red Sox t-shirt. Neither of them even glanced at a TV showing game 2 of the World Series.

I’m sure most people don’t take things like team hats as seriously as I do. I don’t wear a White Sox hat or a Rockies hat because it’s hiding my bed head — I wear it because I love my teams. It also might be hiding bed head, but I wouldn’t wear a hat if I didn’t love the team. When I see other people wearing team hats, I always assume, just for a second, that they love their team as much as I love mine. I’m trying to stop doing that, but it’s always my first reaction. (Don’t get me started on the ridiculous way I always refer to White Sox fans as “my people” and say hi to them.)

The two guys at Goose Island representing the Red Sox but not watching the game made me wonder — who are Red Sox fans? I mean, hell, there always seems to be a ton of them everywhere. Who are they? Are they just guys wearing hats to hide their bed head? Are they serious fans? There’s some of each, right?

Maybe those who are serious fans used to live in Boston and moved but still love their team. Can that account for the millions of Red Sox fans all over the country? According to the 2005 census, Boston has a population of 559,034. That’s not very many people. By contrast, in 2005, New York had 8,143,197 people and Chicago had 2,842,518. It makes sense that some of the 8+ million people from New York move away and wear Yankees hats in their new cities. Same with the Cubs. Do just as many people leave Boston? If so, Boston must suck ass.

According to the 2005 census, Denver had almost as many people as Boston — 557,917. You sure don’t see Rockies fans all over the country the way you see Red Sox fans all over the country. Why is that? Even taking into account the fact that the Rockies are a very new team and the Red Sox are a very old team (and the fact that the Red Sox traditionally are a better team than the Rockies), there is a huge disparity. Do people leave Boston the same way people move to Denver?

Or do people become Red Sox fans for no good reason? If so, that’s weak.

I don’t know. I kind of want to understand and I kind of want to talk shit. I’ve never become a fan of a team that isn’t from my city. Is that common? How does it work? Do people just jump on the next exciting bandwagon and then find someone else next year, or is there loyalty? If you’re not connected by geography, what binds you to your team? If you’re a Red Sox fan (and you’re not in or from Boston), why?

After spending a week in Chicago (1,000 miles in the car each way) it is SO good to be back in Denver. It sucked being away from everything Rockies and being alone in experiencing the special misery of trying to buy World Series tickets on the internet (it didn’t work).

I have a lot of catching up to do and a lot of stuff to write. However, that will have to wait because right now, I have a game to watch. The Rockies are due. Josh Fogg, the dragon slayer, is going to lead the team to a much-needed win. Hawpe is going to put it on the board. Good things are going to happen here in Denver. You can just feel it.