Dre Bly&#8217;s reputation and confident style weren&#8217;t enough to keep him with the Broncos.
Dre Bly's reputation and confident style weren't enough to keep him with the Broncos. (Denver Post file photos )

"I think the Dre Bly cut was one of the best moves the Broncos have done in recent years. His production was nowhere near his salary cap number. As a cornerback, Bly didn't tackle, couldn't play bump-and-run or (play) 10 yards off the line of scrimmage. A late-round draft pick could put up similar numbers at a fraction of the cost. It might take new coach Josh McDaniels a couple of years to clear up all the 'dead' cap money wasted by Mike Shanahan on overpriced free agents, but if he builds through the draft like the Patriots do, this team will be headed in the right direction."

Bryan, Strasburg

Kiz: Please take this as a friendly warning, not a dire prediction. But with the extreme makeover being undertaken by the Broncos, anything better than a 6-10 record in 2009 could be considered a major achievement. McDaniels is young and energetic enough to see this rebuilding project through. I just hope the same can be said of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.

Tough Hurdle to clear.

"Did it occur to you in interviewing Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd about the job status of Clint Hurdle that, as the chief apologist for inept and cheap franchise ownership, O'Dowd could only give you the answers he did? My favorite was: 'I don't think you need to look at wins.' Hurdle is a nice guy, but obviously no manager, and at a winning percentage of .464 after all these years, he has done nothing more than replicate his experience with the Kansas City Royals.


Hurdle's most obvious attribute is to spin the day's events with buzzwords and double-talk in an attempt to fill the bleachers and thereby further enrich Dick and Charlie Monfort."

Roger, Westminster

Kiz: Hurdle is a guy everyone should be so lucky to have as a neighbor. So I would hate to see him move from Denver, even if he gets fired.

Big-time help needed.

Mark Kiszla

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"When you say the Nuggets were looking for someone who can spell Nene and Kenyon Martin, you don't mean to suggest the team might be looking for someone like Marcus Camby?"

Peter, Englewood

Kiz: The ideal big man for the Nuggets would play tough, straight-up defense and be an offensive threat in the low post. For all his strengths, the Camby-man can't do those things.

Your penance, A-Rod ...

"That was a great column about New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and his 'apology.' While A-Rod's reputation has been hurt a little, I wish he would show contrition by donating 10 percent of his paycheck to a charity working to educate kids about the dangers of steroids. Give more than lip service about being young and stupid."

Majawa, Lochbuie

Kiz: Rodriguez has pledged to join forces with the Taylor Hooton Foundation, named in honor of a teenage pitcher who committed suicide in 2003 after taking steroids. Saving kids from steroids abuse is A-Rod's path to redemption.

Bulked-up profit margin.

"One thing that really bothers me is no one is talking about the baseball owners who had to know major-league players were taking performance-enhancing drugs. PEDs were good for owners' profits, so they did nothing to stop it. Why aren't they being brought to task like the players? After the 1994 strike, baseball had the home-run derby, and this happened because of PEDs.

Clint Hurdle
Clint Hurdle (Denver Post file photo)
The owners had to know. When was George W. Bush the owner of the Texas Rangers?"

Chris, Littleton

Kiz: Say what you will about Dubya, but plunking down $600,000 for a small piece of the Rangers in 1989 was one heckuva investment. When the team sold in 1998, Bush pocketed 25-fold what he originally put in the American League franchise. Talk about bulky. It was the profits of owners that were on steroids when PEDs transformed baseball into home-run derby.

One rocky job status to have

And today's parting shot serves as an opening farewell to a Rockies manager who is sitting on a very hot seat.

"Why don't you go ahead and fire Clint Hurdle right now and just get it over with?"

Edward, clear-eyed realist