Month: November 2018

Open Thread: 2018 Election Day

With the midterm elections in the United States concluding today, as usual I feel it’s appropriate to create a separate thread to cover the news that will unfold.

Also as usual, this thread will have two notes:

1. This is an inherently political thread. If you are not comfortable with discussing politics, then you may wish not to participate in this thread. If you do participate, keep discussion respectful. The simplest way to put it: attack ideas, not people.

2. There will be no hectoring from me saying that you should or shouldn’t vote. If you don’t have a major dog in any race, then by all means feel free to pass this election by. But if you do, then there is worth in casting your vote. Also remember that federal and state elections are only a portion of what’s at stake. There may be elections in your localities–city or county governments, citizen initiatives, school districts, highway districts, and the like–where your vote may be more impactful due to being part of a smaller electorate.

There Is No Rebuild, Only Churn

Friends of the community Bob Morris and Doc Bear say it’s time for the Broncos to rebuild, and they’re likely not the only ones to use that word today. With the place the Broncos are at now, this provides an opportunity for me to explore why I’m not fond of the term “rebuild”, at least how it’s used. At best, I feel that it’s overused, and at worst I feel it’s used as a pejorative to mask what happens to every NFL team, good or bad, throughout their existence. Instead of rosters dramatically being erected and torn down at once, I feel it’s more accurate to say that rosters regularly “churn”, in small but steadier spurts of rise or decline. This churn is an inevitable part of NFL rosters, due to the brutal injury nature of the sport creating shorter careers than other sports, and also due to the rules of free agency and the salary cap.

The Broncos have experienced this churning just like any other team else has, and it’s worthwhile to look further into how it has done so. Continue reading There Is No Rebuild, Only Churn