The end is near...

The playoffs are near, the Patriots are chasing perfection, Brett Favre is looking to ice his Hall of Fame cake, Michael Vick is practicing his grip on the soap, and the Denver Broncos are making January vacation plans for the second year in a row. It's been a topsy-turvy year for the NFL, and it's been a strange season of ups and downs. Actually, some might say it's been one of the all-time great years for the NFL. Of course, the only people saying this are writers who are paid to make average fans like you and me think stupid thoughts like this. The NFC is 90% irrelevant and the AFC is severely top-heavy. Case in point: there are only two teams west of Texas that don't stink, and only one team east of Pennsylvania that matters in the slightest. This wouldn't be a problem if everything in between was fine, but there's inconsistency across the rest of the board as well.

We here at LetPlummerPlay.com have mixed feelings about the end of the 2007 regular season. On the one hand, we're sad to see the Broncos run out of games. On the other hand, thank God they're not going to be getting brutally embarrassed anymore this year. With the new year upon us, we would like to present our few loyal readers with LetPlummerPlay.com's New Year's Resolutions:

1. We resolve to continue our undying support of that beleaguered specimen, the "Denver Quarterback Who is Forever Shadowed By the Ghost of John Elway." This means we will back our favorite NFL pastry, Pumpkin Pie himself: Jay Cutler. Jay's a solid, impressive passer who bravely plays behind a terrible offensive line for a coach that no longer seems to have any sense of direction or inclination to hire any sort of coaching assistant who could either challenge his authority or his job. Pumpkin Pie will be a tasty quarterbacking treat as long as someone--anyone--can put together a Broncos O-line that can stop a g*ddamn blitz once in a while. Otherwise he'll end up an injured, gun-shy mess...which is only a little worse than being discarded and banished to journeyman status, or being completely hounded out of the city.

2. With that in mind we resolve to continue cheering for the Broncos even as we criticize the hell out of anything we don't like about the team, especially if they are stinking up the joint. You know, like the fans in every other place outside of Fantasyland County, CO.

3. Along those same lines we resolve to give Mike Shanahan one more chance. Actually, we think he should be fired as of several weeks ago, but we know he's going to get another shot because of the now-decade-old glory days. If nothing else, we have a clear goal in 2008: continue to preach the truth about the sorry, sad decline of Denver's beloved "Mastermind."

4. We resolve to neither hate nor fear the New England Patriots. It's just been one of those years. They played in a division full of pansies and only played two teams that turned out to be legitimate contenders. We respect Tom Brady and the Pats for their accomplishments (even if they get bounced in the playoffs) but we also feel that there are several historic teams that could have taken them down...the 1997 Broncos are one of those teams, actually.

5. We resolve to keep an eye on Gary Kubiak. We won't be shifting team loyalties anytime soon, but Gary's doing a promising job down in Houston. Good for him.

6. We resolve to be polite and cordial on Andrew Mason's official Broncos blog. Actually, "LPP" himself abstains from this one. But the rest of us will behave, we swear. Mostly.

7. We resolve to try and be funnier. Some of our jokes and captions have fallen flat. Hey, you try being funny when your favorite team is worse than Helen Keller playing 20 Questions. We don't get paid for this, you know.

8. We resolve to try and find a way to get paid for this. Maybe a new T-Shirt.

9. We resolve to open up our site to other sports items of interest. The Rockies and Nuggets are a start, but to be honest...those aren't unanimous favorites of the entire staff. But we need to kill time between now and training camp with more than Shanahan-bashing and "Where is Jake now?" reports.

10. However, on that note, we resolve--nay, we solemnly declare--that we shall continue to maintain this site in honor of Jake "the Snake" Plummer, our all-time favorite NFL player. Although it is highly improbable, we will continue to cross our fingers that Jake rises again and shows the league what he can do with a real offensive line and more than one target on a team with a defense that shows up for every single game. Sure, Jake's still claiming retirement. Forgive us if we'd like to see, just once more, a team that will pick up a proven vet and...

LET PLUMMER PLAY!!!

Happy New Year to all, and best of luck to the 2008 Broncos. If Shanahan is still in charge, they're gonna need it.