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Steve WatsonKNOW YOUR 1980s DENVER BRONCOS

This week, #49, Dennis Smith.

Dennis SmithThe Broncos selected Dennis as their first round pick (15th overall) in the 1981 draft, and he went on to become one of the greatest safeties in team history.  Dennis became a starter in his second year and remained an anchor in the Broncos’ secondary until his retirement following the 1994 season.  He developed a reputation as an extremely hard hitter and was feared by all rational offensive players.  He was voted to six pro bowls and four all-pro teams during his career.  Dennis recorded over 1,000 tackles for the team, making him one of the all time team leaders (tackles were not officially or consistently recorded for most of his career).  He also is among the all-time team leaders in interceptions and fumble recoveries, and is behind only to John Elway, Jason Elam, and Tom Jackson in total number of games played for the Broncos.   Dennis was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame in 2001. He’s also considered one of the great players in USC history, but I don’t hold that against him.

He played in Super Bowl XXI, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the New York Giants 39-20, Super Bowl XXII, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the Washington Native Americans 42-10, and Super Bowl XXIV, in which the Broncos were pummeled by the San Francisco 49ers 55-10.

So what makes Dennis Smith so awesome?  Like his protege Steve Atwater, Dennis was a fantastic combination of power and speed that recent Broncos teams have sorely lacked.  Dennis also deserves Hall of Fame consideration, but has never seriously gotten it as a safety with low interception numbers playing for an unglamorous western team.  (Yes, I believe there is an East Coast bias in sports journalism.)  Further, he played his entire career with the Broncos and is one of the better options for defensive players to control in Tecmo Super Bowl.

These days, Dennis lives in southern California and owns several properties there.  In lieu of opposing running backs, he attacks the needs of children by donating his time and money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Covenant House.

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Nice list on io9: 25 classic science fiction movies that everyone must watch.

I’ve seen them all but the first and last.  In general, this is a surprisingly great list.   Some aren’t my favorites, but as far as movies you have a watch, yep.  However,

I’d omit:

  • District 9
  • The Incredibles
  • Terminator 2

And add:

  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • Brainstorm
  • Contact

Maybe I’ll discuss this more later.  To provide, you know, reasoning.

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Recently read this fascinating but sort of traumatic article on worldwide traffic problems.  Here’s a picture of Moscow at its worst:

Moscow traffic

I love the guy roughly in the middle (circled) changing lanes. Yeah, that'll help.

This is pretty much my nightmare.  I will drive an hour out of my way to avoid congestion.  My house is under 15 minutes from work and sometimes it still feels like I’m wasting too much time and effort commuting.  I can never ever accept any job that requires a serious (like, 30+ minute) commute.

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So I was mowing my lawn, sweating profusely in the humid, 90-degree south that I for some reason decided to buy a house and mow a lawn in, when I realized I was surrounded by swarming, angry insects.

Two weeks previous, I had endured a moderately painful horsefly bite whilst performing the same chore and was therefore alerted to the possibility of having it happen again.  I assumed the insects at hand were indeed horseflies and I futilely attempted swatting them away.  Then I noticed there were lots of them and they had found my exposed calf flesh and were attacking.  With zeal.  Two got me on the legs at the same time and I probably either cursed in a very manly bear-like way or squealed like a sad kitten, not certain in the haze of combat, but I retreated into the safety of the house.

Underground wasp nest

This is where wasps emerge to sting me when provoked by the lawnmower.

But safe it was not!  I heard them buzzing around me still and I managed to swat one down with my hat.  Examining the corpse I realized I was not battling horseflies, but wasps!  Wait, was I getting stung instead of bitten?  Youch! Another right in the gut.  I got my shirt off and found another ambling around my chest, ostensibly patrolling for tender nexuses of nerves in which to inflict more damage.  I got this one off and found another in my hat before the furious swatting and cursing and stinging battle was ended.   Three casualties on the wasp side, three stings for me.  All throbbing and making me not happy.

What happened?  What had I done to deserve this attack?  After a spell of whining to the sympathetic K, I headed back to the scene of my ambush, coated with insect repellent and armed with a can of wasp killer.  I could find no hives or nests.  Were these just rogue yellowjackets looking for some thrills?  I finished mowing the lawn in fear and anger, keeping the wasp poison in one ready hand.

Eventually I noticed a small hole in the ground buzzing with more wasps.  I had been wondering about these.  I’d seen a few of them in the yard before.  They look like some innocuous hole in the yard. I’d gone right over it with the mower.  No wonder they were angry.  Although I don’t see why I should have been blamed instead of the actual mower.  I guess wasps know to ignore machines in favor of their insidious masters.

Anyway, into this hole I emptied most of a bottle of chemical wasp death.

Before this incident I had been stung by bees, wasps, or hornets I think twice ever.  Now I had three just in this one shot.  Thank you, nature!