The Arrival of fall means crunch time for several teams, coaches and players.

Fall; It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  Halloween, Oktoberfest beer styles, leaves changing colors, crisp weather and a little thing I like to call the crossover season.  Both the NFL and NCAA are in full swing, Major League Baseball approaches the post season and the NBA and NHL get set to start their seasons.  For some of the teams I cover on the Hull Show, this time of year provides a lot of optimism and hope while others are facing difficult and uncertain times.  Though it’s early in Football and VERY early in hoops and hockey, there are plenty of questions surrounding Colorado teams:

NFL:  The Denver Broncos are 2-1 (written before MNF) yet it feels more like 1-2.  Vance Joseph will likely be on the hot seat until he’s fired or somehow gets his team into the playoffs this season.  General Manager John Elway has had quite the run in his 7 year career as Broncos VP/GM;  First there was the Tebow era.  Somehow, Denver won the AFC West while only winning 8 games. They even won a playoff game off of Tebow’s best game as a pro.   But when the opportunity to sign Peyton Manning came up, Elway and company didn’t hesitate to ship Tebow off to the Jets.  The Manning era was nearly everything Broncos fans  dreamt of; 4 AFC West titles, 2 AFC Championships and 1 Super Bowl.  Sure, the last season with Manning provided its own share of drama but we all know how it ended.  Since Manning?  Their SB winning coach Gary Kubiak stepped away from coaching after going 9-7 in year 2.  His health was a concern so at the time, it was best for him and his family if he called it quits for a while.  The QB Elway drafted in the first round of the 2016 draft was a complete bust.  TJ Ward, Aquib Talib and a slew of other star players that made up the Broncos SB teams all moved on either by trade, release or failure to resign.  Suffice it to say, life without Manning has been rough, delivering a painful reminder that Mr. Elway didn’t have that plan B…..  So, in 2018, Elway dipped back into free agency for a QB (Case Keenum) and drafted a defensive star (Bradley Chubb) with the 5th pick in the 2018 draft.  Denver hasn’t had back to back losing seasons since the 70s.  A lot is riding on Keenum, Von Miller and even rookie Chubb.  Elway was gun shy to take a QB and instead went defense.  It served him once as he helped build one of the best defenses ever just a few seasons ago.   If they can’t deliver, Vance Joseph might not be the only one on his way out of Broncos headquarters.

NCAA FB:  There’s no question that the CSU Rams’ 1-4 record is not the way fans saw this one going before the bye week hit.  Sure, many thought they’d lose to Florida, Arkansas and even CU then beat Hawaii and Illinois State but other than a miraculous comeback over a bad SEC team in Arkansas, not only did the Rams lose 4 games, they lost them badly (save for a late rally against Hawaii.)  Coach Bobo has been dealing with health issues but seems to be on the mend slowly but surely.  I can’t imagine seeing how his team has played over the last month has made him feel any better though he remains positive and optimistic about the future; both immediate and foreseeable.  Maybe that’s because if the Rams fire him this season, they’ll have to pay him $8 million.  Not the best deal for CSU but for Bobo, the pressure is off in terms of fear for his job.  So, I expect the rest of the season to be a mess.  Even though the coaching staff is saying they are very much focused on winning now, I won’t be surprised if CSU pulls deeper from the depth chart as soon as next weekend.  It’s all about next year.  If Bobo doesn’t get at least 7 to 8 wins next season, even another one sided buyout contract won’t save him.

The UNC Bears are 0-5. We said all offseason that if their talented, yet injury prone QB goes down, the Bears would be in trouble.  Well, Jacob Knipp went down in week 3 and is done for the season.  That, along with issues with the O line and rushing attack, will likely spell the end for Head Coach Earnest Collins Jr., as his record with UNC is 24-57 and the Bears show no signs of improvement in the young season.  Even Coach was taken back by his teams effort against North Dakota.  “For the first time this season we did not fight back like we normally have,” Coach told UNCBears.com.  “This is the first time this year I can say we got physically dominated and didn’t fight. My focus tomorrow is to find out what that is all about. Our coaching staff is going to find 22 guys who will go out there and fight every play and never give up. I know these guys care about each other and love each other, but today we didn’t have the fight.”  Collins Jr. is a great man but for whatever reason, he just can’t seem to produce too many winning seasons.  Save for a miracle second half of the season, Earnest Collins Jr. will likely coach his final year in Greeley. 

NBA: Mike Malone is the second head coach to lead the Nuggets since Denver fired George Karl after yet another first round playoff exit.  Malone’s team has been getting better and better, improving by an average of 6.5 wins per season.  However, none of those seasons yielded a playoff birth even with last years 46 wins.  It’s an unforgiving business and even if the Nuggets win 48 or even 50 this year, failure to make the playoffs will likely mean Malone’s time as the Nuggets head coach will end sooner rather than later.  I like their team, though.  Jokic, Murray and Harris are the young version of a Big 3 and if Paul Millsap can stay healthy, there should be no reason Denver doesn’t punch their ticket to the NBA Playoffs.  However, the Lakers should get in with the King in town.  So, who doesn’t make the playoffs this season that made it in last year? I think the Spurs and the T-Wolves might make room for Denver and LA.  The Spurs, in the last few years, have said farewell to their best players; Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Leonard.  And Minnesota has drama with Butler so I won’t be shocked if they take a step back.  Either way, Mike Malone needs to get his team going early or else his hot seat will rise in temperature rather quickly.

MLB:  The Rockies are in!  Thanks to a win on Friday night over Washington, Colorado clinched a playoff spot for the first time EVER in back to back seasons.  For the sake of their underwhelming history, this was a goal they desperately needed to accomplish.  And if they can win the rest of the way, they can win the NL West for the first time EVER as well.  It’s been a crazy year for Colorado.  One minute they are dead in the water then the next they are one of the hottest teams in baseball.  Starting pitching has been the key to consistent winning.  Freeland, Marquez and even Jon Gray, will be the guys the Rockies lean on to move them along in the playoffs on the pitching side but Nolan Arenado, for me, is the one that has to be THE guy in the postseason.  Big players make big plays at big times.  Von Miller did it for Denver in SB 50.  Guys like Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, John Elway, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe and so on showed us what great players do. They win playoff games.  They win championships.  The Rockies (and the Nuggets) haven’t won one yet.  Sure, Todd Helton and Alex English were great players in the state of Colorado but were they all timers?  Not like the list mentioned earlier.  Nolan Arenado is one of the best players in baseball….in the regular season.  I want to see him shine in the playoffs.  The Rockies have had one great season.  ONE in 25 years.  This season, if they can win the division, will be just that.  Nolan Arenado can make it better…make it bigger.  Either way..should be fun!