What 'Cher Point

I cried in my beer a couple of times at least this week. First, I was sad that the East did not win the East/West Shrine game last weekend. It was a 45 to 14 rout with the west picking up an easy win.

I guess the East has won a bunch of times but it is always good when the East can best the West in something. Or anything!

This game has been going on a long time for a very good cause. I can remember when I was a teenager listening to it on the radio out in cabins on Clear Creek. And the Shrine continues to help children with proceeds of the game to this day. Well done.

The other thing that saddened me was that Vikings heroic coach Denny Green died this week at the age of 67. Denny Green was the first Black head football coach in Big Ten History when he took over Northwestern in 1961 and when he coached the Vikings, he was almost heroic in his approach to football and his players. When the Vikings hired Green in 1992 he was the third Black head football coach in the NFL. What a trailblazer

Big Sky polls are out. There is a Media poll and a coach’s poll. Both say that Northern Arizona is going to win the title this year. The Coaches poll has Portland State coming in second while the Media poll has Montana coming in second. The Bobcats are eighth in the Media poll and seventh in the Coaches poll. UC Davis and Sacramento State come in last or next to last in both polls.

The Broncos made news this week when they decided to pay linebacker Von Miller $114.5 million dollars over six years making him the highest paid non quarterback in the NFL. I guess that the Broncos are saying that Miller won the Super Bowl and now he is to be rewarded for it.

Meanwhile the quarterback situation in Denver continues to be uncomfortable. Many fans wonder if Mark Sanchez can do the job for Denver. He certainly did not do the job for the Jets. Matter of fact he seemed to get worse as the years wore on.

Then there is rookie Paxton Lynch and Travor Siemian in the mix for the head quarterback job since Montana’s Brock Osweiler headed south to Houston to play. Maybe the Broncos are trying to teach us that with a super great defense, who needs a great quarterback? I don’t know but it looks like a rebuilding year for them.

Another big question looming is what is going to happen with the Patriots when Tom Brady sits out the first four games? That does not bode well for their season unless Jimmy Garoppolo steps forward and they have a new star they discovered.

Over at the Jets, it does not look like Ryan Fitzpatrick is going into this season with the confidence of his coaches. Look for a quarterback change maybe in the offing there.

The Eagles have both Sam Bradford and Carson Wentz. They look pretty well off as both of those players are very good quarterbacks.

Meanwhile at the San Francisco 40ers stadium, what looked like it was Colin Kaepernick as quarterback for a long time has changed with a new coach in Chip Kelly and quarterback Blaine Gabbert. I have long thought that with the right coach to bring out what Colin Kaepernick does best on the field and if Kaepernick can keep out of trouble off the field, he should be one of the great quarterbacks. Maybe Chip Kelly can bring this out of him.

The newspaper article I was reading about these quarterbacks indicates that so far as the Los Angeles Rams are concerned top draft pick Jared Goff should do the job for them. If that doesn’t work out great and soon, look for a coaching change for the Rams.

That’s my story and I am sticking to it. Go Thunderbirds!