Random Broncos Thoughts - Preseason Game 4 - at Cardinals

"Broncos" 16 "Cardinals" 13 

(The quotation marks are there for a reason.)

Life is too short to watch the final preseason game. Especially when it starts at 9:00 PM. In what is surely a first in my adult life, I went to sleep before a "Broncos game" started. Although, I missed a game that ended on the final play, I regret nothing. Especially since I have a feeling it was just brutal to watch...seeing as it was the final preseason game and it wasn't really the Broncos versus the Cardinals but rather guys in Broncos costumes playing guys in Cardinals costumes. We will resume posting game day articles when they start playing games that matter in a little over a week. Until then, enjoy this picture of a cute puppy who played as many snaps as Peyton Manning did last night.

Random Broncos Thoughts - Preseason Game 3 - vs 49ers

49ers 29 Broncos 24

-This is more like it! Broncos fans couldn't be happier at today's result. Preseason football is a wonky thing. The Broncos left, but because they were up 17-0 when Manning left the game, it feels like a huge win. Who cares how the scrubs fell apart.

-Confession: Seeing as how this is preseason football, I missed the entire first half at a birthday party. I justify this by saying IT'S ONLY PRESEASON!!!

-The Broncos scrubs are very bad. I had the "pleasure" of watching the second half and a 24-10 lead turned into a 24-29 loss. Couple this with a 10-9 lead last week turning into a 30-10 loss against the Seahawks and the guys trying their best to make the Broncos have been outscored 40-0 in the second half of the past two games. I'd say this is cause for concern if 60% of these guys weren't going to be driving cement trucks in three weeks and the other 40% weren't going to be riding the pine in the NFL, but they are.

-Again, it's okay to miss some or all of a preseason game. In fact, it should be encouraged. The fact that the NFL foists this terrible football upon us is a terrible deed which is forgotten every September as the real thing descends upon us and we greedily lap it up and forget our August disgust at paying full price for this exhibition schlock.

-Just one final thing before I go. The Manning stat line. The glorious Manning stat line.

10/12 Passing
122 Yards
10.2 Yards per throw
2 Touchdowns
0 Interceptions
148.6 QB rating

THIS is why we don't miss Tebow!

Vertically Striped Radio - Episode 175 - 08-25-12 - Best. Art Restoration. Ever.

This terrible art restoration by an 80 year old woman in Spain brought great joy into Craig's life this week.

It was the show that almost wasn't, but at the last minute a birthday party was moved and as a result Craig was able to do the show. Craig comes in hot, as he was a bit perturbed by the events of the previous hours, but he settled down and he and Face spent some quality time enjoying Spanish Art Restoration.

The main event saw us talking a good deal of football as Elevation joined us and the three of us made our annual preseason picks for NFL divisional winners. The game pits the three of us each other, random chance, and a 5 year old boy. Results pending and will be reviewed at the season's conclusion.

We wrapped up with a surprise visit from the newest regular at Dameshek.com indiesarah. We questioned Sarah within an inch of her life and couldn't help but be unable to hide our general confusion surrounding the existance of a female regular. Sarah was most good natured about our interrogation, and she even dislikes wrestling...so she appears to be a keeper.

After a brief few minutes with The Whale at the end, we wrap up the show with a music recommendation from Middle Brother of their song "Blood and Guts".

The Vertically Striped Radio 2012 NFL Division Winner Predictions

As heard on VSR Episode 175, here are the predictions made by Craig, Elevation, Face Ventura, as well as Craig's five year old son Luke and random chance created by rolling a dice to determine winners. We will return to this post at the conclusion of the season to see who did the best job of forecasting the NFL season.

AFC:

East

Face – Patriots

Craig – Patriots

Kline – Patriots

Luke – Patriots

Dice – Bills

North

Face – Ravens

Craig – Steelers

Kline – Ravens

Luke – Ravens

Dice – Browns

South

Face – Texans

Craig – Texans

Kline – Texans

Luke – Jaguars

Dice – Texans

West

Face – Chiefs

Craig – Broncos

Kline – Chargers

Luke – Broncos

Dice – Broncos

NFC:

East

Face – Giants

Craig – Cowboys

Kline – Eagles

Luke – Redskins

Dice - Redskins

North

Face – Packers

Craig – Packers

Kline – Packers

Luke – Bears

Dice – Bears

South

Face – Falcons

Craig – Saints

Kline – Saints

Luke – Buccaneers

Dice – Buccaneers

West

Face – 49ers

Craig – 49ers

Kline – 49ers

Luke – Rams

Dice - Rams

Random Broncos Thoughts - Preseason Game 2 - vs Seahawks

Seahawks 30 Broncos 10

Thoughts from the stands of my son's first Broncos game:

-As good as the Broncos looked last week was as bad as they did this week. Again, it's only preseason, and you can't get too worked up over third stringers doing great or doing terrible. But man, did they do terrible tonight.

-Peyton Manning was in command tonight, but made a few decent sized mistakes and again failed to throw a touchdown pass. (Although if Jacob Tamme could catch, he'd have had his first Bronco TD pass at the end of the second quarter.)

-Egad, something went wrong on Manning's second interception. Perhaps the receiver ran a wrong route, but it looked like the pass just got away from him.

-Despite throwing 2 picks and no touchdowns, Manning still had a decent stat line. 16-23 for 177 yards in 2 quarters of work ain't too shabby. I can look past mistakes in the preseason when they don't matter. The important thing is that when he gets it cranking, the Broncos offense feels pretty potent.

-I have blasted the Seahawks new uniforms, but they are starting to grow on me a little. I think the road whites are actually pretty swell and their new helmet is pretty swank.

-We already knew pretty much knew this, but after two preseason games, it is a lead pipe lock: If something happens to Manning, the Broncos are in serious trouble. Brock Osweiler needs a lot of work. The offense with him under center in the second half was worse than anemic. 5-11 for 38 yards isn't going to get it done.

-If you're a Bronco fan, you need to be concerned with how effectively the Seahawks were running the ball. 228 total yards, and they were gashing the Broncos for 5.2 yards a pop. Disconcerting, to be sure. The Broncos run defense needs to toughen up or teams will just ram it down their throats all season.

-There is something so right about the Broncos in orange!

-If I'm the Seahawks, I'm giving Russell Wilson some serious consideration as the starter for my team. I know they signed Matt Flynn from Green Bay this offseason, but Flynn seemed pedestrian with the first teamers, and Wilson was legitimately exciting in the second half. I won't be shocked if the former Wisconsin Badger is starting for the Seahawks before the season ends.

-Marshawn Lynch is a beast.

-If you take a four year old to a game, be prepared for a lot of wiggling. All in all, though, I'm proud of how well my son did. He did a great job of cheering when the game was exciting in the first half. In the second half, he was more interested in the location of the lemonade vendor than the football, but then again, he's only 4.

-Something that was reinforced to me tonight: Football is a difficult game to explain to someone who doesn't understand the rules. I was doing a lot of exposition on the goings on down on the field to my son. I'm not sure he retained all that much, but I do know that he enjoys punts. A for effort in trying to figure it out, though.

-I haven't been to a preseason game in years, and only went tonight because it was a chance to take my son. There have been a lot of positive changes made in the NFL in recent years, but one thing that hasn't changed...Preseason football pretty much sucks. 

Go Broncos!

Vertically Striped Radio - Episode 174 - 08-18-12 - The Glory Days of Arcades

Craig was getting ready to take his 4 year old son Luke to the his first Broncos game. No Face Ventura this week, who was out due to a family engagement, but we spent a few minutes chatting it up with the Ed, and then Craig and The Whale did some reminiscing about the arcade glory days with a Magnificent Seven list of our Top 7 80's Arcade Games. We wrapped with a music recommendation of "The Way We Move" by Langhorne Slim & The Law.

Creepy August Lizard

As mentioned on VSR 173...The Creepy August Lizard.

Further proof that cats are evil and should not be trusted.

Vertically Striped Radio - Episode 173 - 08-11-12 - Nothing I'd call a Career

Craig was tired from hauling rock for the past two days, and Face was tired as a result of sleeping only 14 minutes the night before, yet somehow the boys pulled though to put together a strong VSR episode.

The news was excellent this week and led Craig and Face into discussions about butt dialing 911, bowling ball urns, gun control, and microwaving guinea pigs.

We then welcomed The Whale and rehashed a bit of Wayne's World discussion which led us into discussing an unfortunate misquote of that movie on the Dameshek.com message board which was creating ripples throughout the entire Shek Republic.

Craig also broke down a goofy "to do" list and welcomed Elevation the final half hour for more discussions of the misquoted Wayne's World transcript. Finally the show wrapped up with a music recommendation of "Little Talks" from the Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men.

Random Broncos Thoughts - Preseason Game 1 - at Bears

Broncos 31 Bears 3

Thoughts from the first night Manning donned the Blue and Orange:

-I have to say that it's weird seeing Peyton Manning in a Broncos uniform. That number 18 behind center looks so glorious, though.

-If you're going to try and glean something from watching Peyton play only 10 plays, you're clearly working with an insufficient sample size. Still, there is reason for both caution and optimism. Let's be honest, Manning looked rusty. His first completion probably should have been intercepted, and while the interception in the end zone was a great play by the Bears defense, it wasn't exactly perfect throw, either. Still, we saw flashes. He walked to the line, checked out the secondary, and gesticulated wildly a few times...always a Manning staple. Plus, he looked cool and confident in the pocket and made you feel like he knew what he was doing. (Which clearly he does.) 

-As I watched the game, I saw on Twitter someone posted "Manning is the only quarterback NOT to lead the Broncos on a touchdown drive tonight. QB CONTROVERSY IN DENVER!" Clearly, it's a joke. And it did make me chuckle.

-Why do Bears fans hate Caleb Hanie so much? Surprisingly strong vitriolic reaction for the Bears former backup QB in Chicago.

-No matter how dominating a 31-3 blasting of a strong Bears team feels, pinch yourself and remember it was just the first preseason game. Still, if you're a Broncos fan you have to be pleased with a game in which the defense looked strong, the offensive line was opening holes and protecting the quarterbacks, and just about everything was working. It feels good, even as you keep reminding yourself that it's just the preseason.

-How great a name for a running back is Xavier Omon? The 3rd year back from Northwest Missouri State is my early favorite for "Player I Root For A Little TOO Strongly Simply Because He Has the Best Name on the Preseason Roster" award.

-You have to admire the bravery of wide receiver Mark Dell sporting the number 15 with so many psychotic Tebowfiles still roaming the streets of Denver. Perhaps he wanted to see his number in the stands everywhere when he plays a home game. Between Tebow and Brandon Marshall, the #15 has more baggage than I'd want to carry with me if I were a fringe player trying to snag a roster spot.

-Watching the local broadcast, and spots kept appearing for Charity Water...a personal favorite cause of mine. They provide clean water for people in undeveloped countries as a way to help out places where people die due to the terrible drinking water available. Truly a great cause, and it warmed my heart to see so many spots for them. If you have a chance, toss a few bucks their way...www.charitywater.com.

-I thought after Noah's Ark that God promised never to flood the earth again, and yet I was beginning to doubt that for awhile seeing the weather in Chicago. Just one more weather related reason I never want to live in the Windy City. A nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.

-I'm going to enjoy the Jack Del Rio defensive coordinator era. One, because he's a former head coach acting in a coordinator role, which always seems to work well. Two, because it appears his defense is going to be pretty good. And most importantly, Three: I constantly keep thinking of him as "Jack of the river" which is just fun.

-I'm a devout believer that Tebow is not a legit NFL quarterback and Manning was totally the right move, but even I have to admit that there were a few times when I saw Caleb Hanie collapse in a heap tonight that I became a little nostalgic for a little Tebow escapability. Yep, I missed Tim just a tiny bit tonight.

-Brock Osweiler looks like an NFL quarterback. He's got a ton to work on, but you can see why Elway made the questionable decision to draft the kid in the 2nd round when there were so many other pressing needs.

-Derek Wolfe is exciting!

-Man, I hate the preseason. September can't come soon enough.

How do you score this hole?

Okay, Golf experts. I need your help. How do you score this hole of golf? I think I scored it "Adorable", which is a unique scoring system, but then my girlie Ellie is a unique girl who probably needs her own scoring system. She makes me very happy.

Vertically Striped Radio - Episode 172 - 08-04-12 - Party On, Face

The Olympics are in full swing, and Face and Craig got in a fair amount of discussion about them at the top and bottom of the show. Elevation joined us at the end to share his love of women's gymnastics.

In between, Craig unveiled his Magnificent Seven list of seven reasons to postpone the He-Man Movie Watchers Club discussion of Wayne's World. Followed by a bit of a twist.

We wrapped up with an unusual music recommendation from Craig of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. Also, the show opens rather oddly today. My thanks to whoever that was...