Last week, in the wake of Kenny McKinley's shocking suicide, the Broncos became a closer team.  And coach Josh McDaniels
reacted in a way that undoubtedly brought him as close to his team--especially his younger players-- as he's ever been.

But on the field, the Broncos continue to project an illusion.

The illusion of being closer to winning than they actually are.

Kyle Orton is "close" to greatness, but in fact he was clearly outplayed in two of the first three weeks.  Once by the otherwise pedestrian David Garrard of Jacksonville.  Then, yesterday, by the man the late Darrent Williams once referred to as "the great Peyton Manning."

Orton completed 37 of 57 passes yesterday.  OK, not great...he was out of synch with his receivers a good part of the day, even if he wasn't entirely to blame for all of Denver's offensive failures.  His touchdown-to-interception ratio was one-to-one; his ...

Within the past week, there have been essentially three different dispositions regarding the Nugget attitude toward Carmelo Anthony.

 

Last Wednesday, Mark Kiszla's Denver Post column reflected a source's view

(Rex Chapman's?  Bret Bearup's?) that Denver would look to trade Anthony if he did not at some point soon accept their three-year $65 million contract extension offer.

 

By the next day, executive Mark Warkentien spoke of hoping to make Anthony the Denver basketball version of John Elway.

 

Finally today, the Post reports that the Nuggets won't force Melo to adhere to any kind of timetable, don't plan on trading him (though they've "pondered" trading him), and feel that he'll sign at some point.

 

From what I could gather in speaking with a slew of Nugget fans over the weekend, few are impressed with these apparently contradictory approaches.

Are the Nuggets playing a game of chicken with Anthony, ...

In going back this past weekend to read and watch all that was written and said about the remarkable life of John Wooden, a few things stood out.

 

His teaching and learning model flowed through four stages: Explanation, demonstration, correction, and repetition.  Wooden believed that the teams actually making the greatest number of mistakes would often win due to the fact that they risked error by taking the initiative.

 

In his 1966 book, "Practical Modern Basketball," Wooden wrote that basketball was a game of threes: Forward-center-guard; Shoot, drive, pass; Ball, you, man; and, most importantly, Conditioning, Skill, and Teamwork-- the three central principles within his Pyramid of Success.

 

Wooden's favorite word in the English language was always "Love."  From "The Sound of Music" came the following:

 

A bell is no bell 'till you ring it.

A song is no song 'till you sing it.

And love in ...

I am listening right now to Jim Rome talking about Troy Tulowitzki's having,

in terms of star quality, "it."

 

Last Friday, Woody Paige quoted Josh McDaniels as saying, "I think the thing about Tim (Tebow) is what everybody calls the 'It.'"  McDaniels then went on to add that Tom Brady had "it," too.

 

Does Carmelo Anthony have "it?"  His (acting) coach, Adrian Dantley, recently seemed to indicate that the "it" Carmelo has constitutes excessive selfishness and/or carelessness.  Bill Simmons of ESPN.com recently put Anthony on his "All-Universe" team, along with Wade, Deron Williams, Dwight Howard, and LeBron.  Simmons must believe that Carmelo has "it" in the same way that Rome believes about Tulo, and McDaniels conveys when he speaks of Tebow.

 

I confess that I've used this "argument" in describing stars I admire to give added weight to my point.  Since no one knows precisely what "it" ...

Is it mere coincidence that the winter sports season ended here on the same day that The Tebow Era began on Friday?

 

There is something cosmically symmetrical about that.

 

Stan Kroenke is right about George Karl's (return to good) health being the Nuggets' chief priority for the upcoming offseason.  But other issues need to be addressed.

 

Doesn't there have to be a choice made between vice presidents Mark Warkentien and Rex Chapman?  Two completely different personality types.

Two expiring contracts.  Two divergent philosophies as to how to advance the club's prospects and (re)build the team.  At least one of the two must depart.

 

Isn't the same true, for separate reasons, with respect to Kenyon Martin and JR Smith?  Martin's technical just as the Nuggets seemed to be hitting their fourth-quarter stride the other night was reminiscent of a similar move during Game Six of the Laker ...

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