COMMENTARY : Broncos Go Nowhere If the Playoffs Are Seeded

The National Football League playoffs should have been seeded: 1. San Francisco 49ers, 2. Los Angeles Rams, 3. New York Giants, 4. Minnesota Vikings, 5. Philadelphia Eagles, 6. Denver Broncos, 7. Cleveland Browns, 8. Buffalo Bills, 9. Houston Oilers, 10. Pittsburgh Steelers. Denver, as no better than the sixth best in the 10-team field, wouldn’t have made the semifinals if form held true.

With all due respect to Byrum Saam, who did baseball for 38 years in Philadelphia and goes into the broadcasters’ wing of the Hall of Fame this summer, he was no Chuck Thompson, and Chuck still has his rather prominent proboscis pressed against the window.

OK, if you must know, my “greatest” quarterback is Harry Agganis. And as far as all the accolades being heaped on the 49ers are concerned, when they have produced back-to-back unbeaten seasons like the Canton Bulldogs did, I’ll concur.

It was on Nov. 22 that Kirby Puckett became the first $3 million-a-year ballplayer. And despite a half-dozen guys signing for more since, Kirby has not demanded his contract be renegotiated. Quite a guy.

Earl Weaver reached a personal milestone in decorum while managing in the Seniors League in Florida: He grabbed and tossed an umpire’s hat into the stands while arguing his ejection. “Never happened during the 96 times I was tossed out in the major leagues,” he said proudly.

It was during the recent Vinny Pazienza-Eddie Van Kirk fight in Providence, R.I., that Hector Camacho leaped into the ring, grabbed a round card from one of the ring girls, bared his chest and pranced around the ring. Yes, the Pazienza-Camacho bout in Atlantic City, N.J., Saturday should be a real wowser.

Brian Williams not only changed schools, Maryland to Arizona, he changed majors, communication to history. Kid doesn’t know what he wants.

Strange sight in Philadelphia the other day: the hulking 10-foot bronze statue of “Rocky,” jack-hammered out of its moorings at the Spectrum, moving up Broad Street on the way to the Museum of Art for filming in “Rocky V.”

Gee, a weightlifter failed a drug test at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, huh?

The Miami Heat is in the running to become only the 11th team in pro hoops history to have more victories on the road than at home. The 22-60 Nets of 1976-77 won just 10 times at the Nassau Coliseum.

They don’t make Continental Basketball Association all-star games like they used to. The score of this year’s contest was 107-105. Last year, the lads shot the lights out (literally), 182-168. Power in the gym cut off and the teams had to return the next day to conclude.

There were 1,162,033 ballots cast in NBA All-Star voting, and Michael Jordan came away with just 321,114, less than 28 percent. Is this some sort of joke or was Isiah Thomas doing the counting?

Is it possible the NCAA can’t see that Nike logo on both the shirts and warmups of Georgetown, a clear violation?

The list of the top heavyweights of all-time in a recent Boxing Illustrated issue, not done in jest, had Sonny Liston and Larry Holmes 4-5 in front of Jack Johnson (6), Jack Dempsey (7) and Rocky Marciano (8). Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Mike Tyson are 1-2-3.

Joe Montana tosses a three-yard pass over the middle and Jerry Rice runs four miles for a score. Yet Joe gets credit for the yardage and his passing statistics go through the roof. This is as bad as some of Wilt Chamberlain’s rebound totals. Time was when no one contested Stilt for missed free throws when he was on defense.