I am having the most lovely chat with my Yorkshire-raised mum about sport, football, baseball, American football and @goheelsunc.bsky.social sports, as well as life itself. If you have a good relationship with your mother, and she’s still here, call her. And I hope your talk is like mine.

Wow. Rockies battle all the way back from a 7-0 eighth-inning deficit to take the lead. Hunter Goodman’s third-deck HR puts the Rox in front. Boo-birds are howling at Target Field

The continuing baseball tour takes me where the Rockies are tonight: Target Field in Minneapolis:

I’d love to be able to zip around on trains. Unfortunately this country is woefully behind the times on passenger-rail infrastructure. Anyone who saw the short-lived NBC bomb “Supertrain” in 1979 knows it wasn’t supposed to turn out this way

Parking-lot attendant over the phone: “There is no shuttle stop.” View from where I placed the call. Also, If you’re ever at the Charlotte airport, never use The Parking Spot. Unless you want unhelpful staff and the drivers to roll right past you after you called for pickup.

Charlotte is right up there with PNC Park in Pittsburgh for the best skyline view in baseball. A minor-league park that feels a lot like a big-league venue:

One of the signs of our cultural descent into this mess we find ourselves was when enough people found Kid Rock to be talented enough to enable him making music and not being a fricking line cook at a Buddy’s Pizzeria in Detroit. This is independent of his politics; he is trash and always has been

Oh, they played “All Summer Long” by Kid Rock in Spartanburg between the seventh and eighth innings. Simultaneously murdering Lynyrd Skynyrd and Warren Zevon. The home team deserves to lose by 15 runs for this crime against music and humanity.

I believe in “never say never,” but I’m starting to feel safe in saying Scotland will never it make it out of the group stage

From the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers game I saw earlier today. Such a good pup!

Cheers to you from Spartanburg, S.C, a.k.a. Sparkle City, former training camp home of the Panthers, now home to a sparkling new park that the Hub City Spartanburgers call home:

A recent study at Johns Hopkins University revealed that the taste of a hot dog and fries is improved by 32 percent when served in a helmet

I detoured a time zone off my road trip to come back to Colorado for 17 hours for this! Hopefully the last time i will have this view for a while.

When I get time off, I take a baseball road trip like I’m on now. When I have spare time on that trip, I write sports stories and I watch the World Cup. What can I say? There’s nothing in the world I like more than a game. Other people have concerts, theater, whatever. But this is my thing.

OMAHA! (You can hear Peyton Manning’s voice in your mind’s ear right now)

Bo Nix works in seven-on-seven, the pass rushers come up with some big moments, and why Sean Payton called off the last day of minicamp ... along with some thoughts on saying farewell to the Broncos' home building of 36 seasons. My report from Wednesday's minicamp session:

Somehow it seems appropriate to be the last media member in the old Broncos headquarters building, as I work in a lobby conference room before they shut this place down. I’ve got a lot of memories in this building. Some good, some bad, all part of life itself.

There's plenty to talk about from Tuesday's Broncos minicamp -- and Bo Nix's return was just the beginning. I dive into into Nix's work, Jonathon Cooper's absence, the continued strong play from backup edge rushers, Jonah Coleman's progress and more in my Minicamp report:

Broncos coach Sean Payton, on Jonathon Cooper being excused from minicamp after his recent arrests and charges: "Obviously, he's got to work on himself, and the club is very much in tune to the league office, local authorities here, and we've had several meetings. ... "

Bo Nix looked “good” today, Sean Payton said. Worked in individual period. “He’ll clearly be ready by training camp”

Sean Payton: Jonathon Cooper excused from minicamp. There have been several meetings. Payton says “there’s a bar that’s … very high” re: conduct. Adds that Cooper has to work on himself right now

They got it! You’re stuck with my minicamp musings this week

There are more people in Arapahoe County than in Cape Verde.

love this Getty Images shot of Vozinha making a save for Cape Verde against Spain

Second stab at this kidney stone. If they can’t get it out, furniture may be thrown; I can’t promise that it won’t.

In honor of Scotland returning to the World Cup Finals stage, a tip of the cap to the 1978 side, when the Tartan Army dared to dream the truly impossible dream:

Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, on the progress of second-year edge rusher Que Robinson: "When Que played (in 2025), he played really well. And [he] looked like a guy that can be a future starter for us. So, it’s our job to keep improving with Que and get him more reps."

There's plenty to discuss from the ltest Broncos OTA, including Sean Payton's big new contract, how Evan Engram is making plays all over, and why Vance Joseph thinks Que Robinson looks like "a guy could be a future star for us." That and more is in my Week 2 OTA report:

90% of Morroccan fans visas declined. 100% of Iranian fan visas declined 100% of African referees visas declined Iranian team only allowed to enter the US for matchdays Immigration officers at every match And they wonder why people think they're racist.

If a nation isn't willing to admit the participants & spectators, it shouldn't host the World Cup. Period. This is also why despite my longstanding soccer enthusiasm, I can't drum up much excitement over the Finals. I'm just depressed about it. And many other things.

Ten years ago today, the Broncos visited the White House to be honored for their Super Bowl 50 triumph.

Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, warming up with a football at Coors Field:

Jaylen Waddle turns heads ... Bo Nix tracking toward practicing at minicamp .. and Jonah Elliss' home remains at edge rusher! 
 Three Big Things from the Broncos OTA:

No joint practices for Broncos this year, Sean Payton says

Nix has been throwing. Expects to have “more of a role” by minicamp, per Payton

Here’s the thing: I love “Star Wars.” I also don’t have the time to invest in watching show after show after show. I’d rather see a two-hour movie. I long wanted a film on Obi-Wan somewhere between ROTS and ANH. I’d still be down to see a Kenobj film set in 5 BBY.

Here’s where FPI tells on itself: It says that it doesn’t incorporate potential regression in 1-score games into its model, but adds, “it is the sort of thing the betting market might, which in turn affects the FPI.” Any analytic metric impacted by gambling trends can be considered worthless.

At some point, actual results have to matter. Or as was said in “Moneyball” … “If he’s a good hitter, why doesn’t he hit good?”

An understandable reaction to being asked to exchange L.A. for Cleveland

The CPU equivalent of the RFK Jr. brain worm has infected ESPN’s FPI. That’s the only possible explanation for the Broncos being 15th.

The Broncos began OTAs on Tuesday, and as Pat Surtain II shared, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had a simple message for his players: "There's a good saying from VJ earlier today. Basically saying, 'It's a new year. You know, whatever you did last year, doesn't matter now. it's a new slate...'"

Russell Wilson joining CBS on the same day of Scott Pelley's dismissal is apt. If Wilson's TV work is like most of his press conferences, he won't utter anything to rock the boat. In other words, he'll fit right in at a network that replaced Stephen Colbert with the tepid "Comics Unleashed."

"I want to be a Bronco forever," cornerback Pat Surtain II said Tuesday when he answered questions at a fundraising event for his foundation:

About to go under so they can get a kidney stone out. Be well …

Rockies catcher Brett Sullivan, pitching for the fourth time in 13 days -- never a good sign -- was just given the Eric Gregg Memorial Strike Zone for called strikes 2 and 3 to Rafael Devers, who decided not to challenge in a 19-6 laugher:

Flashback to 2012, when Peyton Manning and the Broncos practiced in the shadow of evergreens at their facility -- three years before the construction of west berm where fans sat from 2015-19 and 2021-24.

Socks need to contrast with the pants for a proper American football uniform and I will die on this sartorial hill (photo from this weekend’s Rookie Premiere via NFLPA):