John Elway had no NFL front office experience when the Broncos hired him as the de facto GM of the team. But he seems to be working out pretty well. Walt Weiss is doing just fine, too. But he had never been a major league manager before.

Still, when it comes to the hiring of Patrick Roy by the Avalanche, haters just gotta be hatin’. There’s a faction of blowhards, mostly among Denver’s sports media members, that feels the move was motivated by ticket sales and not by the goal of winning.

He lacks experience as a head coach, say the naysayers, most of whom would have preferred another NHL re-tread. It’s hard to believe that anybody could resists Roy’s charms, but contrarians are everywhere – as evidenced by these Tweets.

Huzzah.

The Colorado Avalanche have officially announced that it’ll be Roy. For real.

This is an exciting day for fans of the Colorado Avalanche. Our long nightmare is over and a bright future appears to be ours. The Avs are back.

Roy will not just be the head coach. The Avalanche have also given him the title “Vice President of Hockey Operations”, which is almost exactly the same title that John Elway has with the Broncos. He will, along with Joe Sakic, make all decisions relating to personnel. Hopefully the decisions will begin with the selection of Popeye’s kid.

Yeah, the Rockies did just win two straight series and climb back from a three-game deficit to tie for the division lead again … but …

Can they do it on the road?

Will they acquire more pitching?

Will they be playing like this after Memorial Day?

Are they still going to be relevant in July?

Will Tulo hold up?

Will Weiss keep getting too clever with the lineups?

Can they be taken seriously?

When it comes to the Colorado Rockies there are a lot of “yeah, buts”. For them it must be sort of maddening that folks can’t seem to believe what they’re seeing. But, after last season it’s reasonable for critics to remain critical and for fans to step gingerly. It’s sure been a lot of fun though, this surprising season.

The Rox are getting some much needed rest today with no contest on the schedule. But then they have to San Fran for three games against the Giants who thumped them there last month. Luckily, they get the Astros for four games after that. June will provide a slew of home games. The Rox will host the Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, Mets, Nationals and Giants next month and have a golden opportunity to remain right in the thick of things. Still, we expect them not to. It always comes around to the “yeah, buts”.

It’s fun, really. We stay pessimists so that we can continue to be surprised by the young, exciting and effective Colorado Rockies.

The South Stands wishes to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Tom Nalen for being named a member of the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame.

The team announced Nalen’s nomination today. The selection committee for the Ring of Fame includes Pat Bowlen, John Beake, Larry Zimmer and longtime coach Joe Collier. The most recent former Bronco named to the ring was the great Rod Smith. Nalen’s name will be added to the ring in late September.

Nalen will join Denver legends Floyd Little, Lionel Taylor, Goose Gonsoulin, Rich Jackson, Gerald Phipps, Frank Tripucka, Charley Johnson, Paul Smith, Billy Thompson, Haven Moses, Craig Morton, Jim Turner, Randy Gradishar, Tom Jackson, Louis Wright, John Elway, Karl Mecklenburg, Steve Atwater, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe and Rod Smith.

He will be the only of these players ever to have appeared on the South Stands Denver Fancast, making him the very best one.

We could not be more happy for Tom who is every bit as wonderful a person as he was a center for the Broncos. Hip, hip HOORAY!

We know what the Broncos offered Charles Woodson, the long-time Packer (who was drafted by the Raiders back in 1998), in terms of contract length and compensation. Mike Klis says that it was within about a half-million of what the Raiders were offering.

Assuming that the Broncos would have given Woodson the better chance at winning another ring, we can conclude that Woodson's decision wasn't based on winning. And, since the money was about the same on the Denver side, it wasn't about money, either. Woodson's decision was a lifestyle decision.

We know that Woodson has a winery in Northern California. He was raised in Ohio and went to school in Michigan so we know that he's sick of being cold. California is the place he wants to be. Not Denver.

So ... Charles Woodson is going straight to hell. And there he will meet Peyton Manning, his overlord. 

Veteran safety and legendary Packer Charles Woodson is being wooed in free agency by both the Denver Broncos and by their division rivals, the Oakland Raiders.

The Broncos have the advantage of being a Super Bowl contender.

The Raiders have the advantage of being the team that drafted Woodson back in 1998. They also appear to have an ace in the black hole. Their rabid fans showed up at the team facility today to greet the veteran. 

Jerry McDonald (@JerryMcD) who covers the team for the Oakland Tribune Tweeted: 

Woodson re-emerges from facility, accompanied by Willie Brown, to greet fans at secruity gate. Smiles broadly, holds up jersey.

From the sound of that Tweet, the Raiders may be close to getting their (our) man. It's hard to imagine how any player could choose crappy, crappy Oakland over Denver, but you just never know....

(Photo Denver Post)

Rahim Moore made one of the most notoriously horrible plays in Broncos history when he whiffed against the Ravens – and he knows it. Moore told Andrew Mason of DenverBroncos.com that he’s “had some bad comments” from people but that he understands their reasoning:

"The fans, that's what they're supposed to do, that's why they're there for us, they pay all their money, their hard-earned money and they want to see greatness," he said. "So, I don't fault them at all. But this year, we're going to do all we can to put some smiles on their faces."

It’s great to see that Moore has a mature attitude about the egg on face. He has received support from his team mates and looks forward to making improvements. Moore told Mason:

“…those are the plays in the season that I made that I feel like I want to take back, you know? But that's the part of improvement, that's part of getting better, that's part of being a man when it's all said and done."

Good for Rahim. Meanwhile, the Broncos are still pursuing Charles Woodson.

"What’s-his-name, the ineffective coach is at long last history and Pierre “I don’t even live here” Lacroix has been shown the door along with his kid. It’s time to kick ass again in Colorado"

Read More ... 

The New York Knicks were a huge disappointment to their fans in the playoffs, getting eliminated in the second round by the Indiana Pacers. Most folks expected that New York would make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but things fell apart for them. Their “sixth man of the year”, in particular collapsed down the stretch in the Indiana series and some are blaming his excessive partying and drug use.

It would come as no surprise to us if JR Smith had begun using cocaine heavily as several rumors out of New York insinuate. Most recently the NBA gossip site, Full Court Pumps published this anonymous quote:

“There’s a reason why JR Smith hasn’t been playing to good lately. Yeah, he’s in the club just about every night here in New York and everyone knows he’s a drinker but from two very reliable sources…JR has a serious coke habit that really started last month. My source is the connect for his coke dealer uptown and JR is copping $1,200 worth of blow every two three days when in town. Personal use….Dude was sick from it.”

Another gossip site, that belonging to the notorious “Incarcerated Bob” makes the same assertion, claiming that:

“JR Smith purchases approximately $1.500 worth of cocaine every 2/3 days when he is in town as well as $1.500 worth of marijuana every week”.

Maybe all this is true, maybe it’s not. But either way Denver Nuggets fans should continue to feel a sense of relief that the walking distraction that is JR Smith is New York’s problem now.

Unless you're a huge fan of the Padres chances are that the gear the Rockies have opted to wear on Memorial Day will hurt your eyes.

In a tribute to our men and women in uniform the squad plans on wearing this cheesy 8-bit desert camo. We would prefer to see something more traditional, but camo is all the rage.
Besides, this Memorial Day gear will be perfect for Todd Helton's convenience store runs.