Congratulations John Elway!

 Are you a Bronco's Fan? John Elway was voted second in the Sporting News' Executive of the Year.  He is the Executive Vice President of Football Operations at Bronco's headquarters.  He has been the first executive to post continuous improvements in his first two years with the team.



Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway came in second place by just one vote for Sporting News' Executive of the Year.



In 2012, Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway became the first executive in the Super Bowl era to post consecutive four-win improvements and division titles in his first two years with a team.

It was enough to make him the runner up in Sporting News' Executive of the Year voting.

On Monday, the publication announced that in a close vote, Elway came in second for the award by just one vote. Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson took home the honor for 2012 with nine votes.

Elway's banner year began in the offseason, when he helped bring four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning to Denver. In all, Elway secured -- via the draft, free agency or contract extensions -- 23 of the 33 players that started for the Broncos in 2012.

In addition, 15 of the team's 16 draft picks from Elway's first two seasons on the job are currently with the team in some capacity, along with four college free agents.

Sporting News polled more than 800 NFL players, coaches and executives for its 2012 awards. Only coaches and executives voted for the executive of the year award.

For more information check out the Broncos.

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Healthy Recipe For Your Family

Check out this great healthy recipe for your family.  It is delicious and only takes about 25 minutes to make total.  This will be a great dinner when your family is in a rush during the week!

Lemon Chicken

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Prep Time:10 min

Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time:15 min Level:Easy Serves:4 servings

 
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast or chicken tenders, cut into chunks
1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons wok or vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan (preferred brand: House of Tsang)
1 tablespoon (a splash) white or rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
8 ounces (1 cup) prepared lemon curd
1/4 cup hot water
1 lemon, zested
2 scallions, thinly sliced or 20 blades fresh chives, finely chopped
Directions

Coat the chunked chicken lightly in flour, seasoned with a little salt. Heat a large skillet or a wok-shaped nonstick pan over high heat. Stir fry chicken until golden, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan and return pan to heat. Reduce heat to medium.


Add a splash of vinegar to the pan and let it evaporate. Add stock or broth to the pan and scrape up any drippings with a whisk. Thin curd by stirring in a little hot water. Add curd to broth and whisk to combine. Add chicken back to the pan and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes to thicken sauce and finish cooking chicken pieces through. Remove the pan from heat, add the scallions or chives and zest, and toss chicken pieces well to combine zest and scallions or chives evenly throughout the sauce. Serve with Special Rice, recipe follows.


Cook's Notes: Wok oil infused with ginger and garlic is usually available on the International Foods aisle in many markets.


Chicken broths and stocks are available in resealable paper containers, making storage of remaining product easy and on hand in the refrigerator; they are found in the soup aisle.


Lemon curd is a sweet lemon spread available in most markets. It is on the jam/jelly aisle.


SERVES 4
Calories: 400
Total Fat: 9 grams
Saturated Fat: 1 gram
Protein: 40 grams
Total carbohydrates: 35 grams
Sugar: 16 grams
Fiber 0.5 grams
Cholesterol: 99 milligrams
Sodium: 349 milligrams 

For more information see The Food Network.

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The Colorado Avalanche Are Back

Are you an NHL fan? This week hockey is having their mini camp in order to get ready for the abbreviated NHL Season.  The Avalanche will face Minnesota in their first of 48 games on Saturday.  The team will be offering promotions and contests in order to thank the fans for staying with them through this difficult strike.


There isn't much the Colorado Avalanche can do to woo back longtime fan Paul Wampler even though the 49-year-old is precisely the one the club is working hard to keep.

An ardent fan who has attended a few games each year as economics allowed, Wampler said the team's lockout-shortened season was unnecessary and hurtful.

"This was just stupid, completely avoidable," said the wholesale auto parts worker, adding he won't be buying a ticket this go-around. "Hockey is an expensive ticket. Most fans are blue-collar types, and it's not easy to buy into it blindly anymore."

Without the lockout, the Avs' 82-game season would have started Oct. 11 at home. Following the approval of a new contract between players and owners, it opens

a 48-game schedule Saturday at Minnesota.

This isn't the first time NHL owners and players squared off in a lockout. Most recently, the entire 2004-05 season was canceled.

Despite the tarnished history, the Avalanche is pushing a variety of ticket promotions to draw back a fan base that once rivaled the league's best. And although the Avs say 90 percent of last year's season-ticket pool remained true, the team won't say how that number compares with the Stanley Cup years of yore.

"In a shortened season, you have to line things up just right and quickly," said Kurt Schwartzkopf, chief marketing officer at Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, the Avalanche owners.

"With a schedule so quick to be done, it's a game-by-game map-out to be customer friendly. We apologize to the fans that they're not watching hockey," he said.

The team plans to make that clear with an apology letter handed to each fan who attends next Tuesday's home opener, Schwartzkopf said. It will be signed by owner Stan Kroenke, general manager Greg Sherman, coach Joe Sacco and captain Gabriel Landeskog.

Like nearly every other hockey franchise in the league, the Avalanche is proffering deals to entice as well as entertain.

For instance, tickets to the home opener, against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, are being offered at a 2-for-1 price — and season ticket holders can also grab four free additional tickets.

The following game, Jan. 24, is against Columbus, not a game that usually draws a crowd. The Avs' answer: Dollar Dog Night! Oh, yeah, and Guys Night Out, with heavy discounts in the cost of a ticket.

"We understand the work involved," Schwartzkopf said of getting fans back into the Pepsi Center. "The mission is not taken lightly and the fans understand that we get that."

Although last year's NBA lockout gives Kroenke executives valuable experience in winning back fans, it's not a slam dunk.

"I've always felt the Avs were very fortunate to have won early in their history here and there weren't many who became Avs fans when they were bad," said Dan Price, owner of Adrenalin Inc., a sports marketing firm in Denver. "They didn't feel a slide in attendance for a long time."

That means a team that went into the lockout in bad shape was likely to come out the same way, Price said.

But when all is said and done, there's not a whole lot this year that's different than last. While season ticket holders are getting a number of complimentary tickets, they're also getting a few perks such as free jerseys.

"The fair-weather fan will show up to the team that performs, and potentially a short season will benefit them," said Marc Ganis, owner of Sportscorp in Chicago, which runs a number of marketing enterprises. "I'm not so sure the season-ticket base is where the big focus will be."

Indeed. In Minnesota, where tickets can be hard to come by, some fans upset by the lockout are rallying for a boycott of games, espousing attendance at local businesses around the home arena to watch the contests instead.

In Chicago, the Blackhawks have come to running a police-like car about town with a large placard on top proclaiming the few days until opening night. The idea is for fans to tweet when they've seen it and win player-autographed merchandise.

St. Louis Blues fans are allowed free access to all practices and given face-to-face Q&A sessions with the players afterward.

Ultimately, though, no matter the promotion or the discount, the product is what matters — and the Avs control that future.

"If the Avs get the Stanley Cup, no one will remember it's in a short season," Price said. "Winning takes care of everything."



For more information see the Denver Post.

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Organization and Calendar Tools

 It is the New Year, which means it is time to get organized.  Calendar Apps on your smart phone can be a great organizational tool to keep your schedule handy and updated.  There are many apps to choose from, but these are some of the best apps on the market listed for all types of phones.  Make sure to share this article with your friends and family that want to get organized for their work or school in the new year.

My personal assistant (aka my smartphone) keeps me informed and organized. But while the calendar utility that comes standard is functional, I've discovered there is a myriad of more versatile and powerful calendar apps well beyond any phone's stock app. With so many to choose from, I've narrowed it down to some of the best for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 8.
iOS

Left: Week Calendar - Right: 2do: Tasks

Week Calendar
If you're the type to see your calendar through the weeks more than anything than I highly advise Week Cal. It's a colorful, concise and simple interface that makes it easy to see what the week has in store for you. Events can be color coded based on criteria that you set which results in a more real experience that you won't have to spend too much time on. Week Cal supports iCloud, Google, Outlook and Exchange calendars. $2 2do: Tasks
When you need your calendar to be more than just a list of events, 2do: Tasks is also a versatile taskmaster. This app is designed like a personal planner that not only allows you to add events to your calendar but integrates your impending tasks to it as well so deadlines can't possibly sneak up on you. If you have an iPad this app is a two for one syncing seamlessly across devices. $10 - Also available for Android
Runner Up: Fantastical
Quick mention for Fantastical, a quirky calendar app that creates events based on a small blurb. For example Lunch, Saturday at 2pm with Susan creates an event for the nearest Saturday for 2pm with the person and reason in the title. It's a clever little app that I find worth a mention. $4
Android

Left: Jorte - Right: Business Calendar

Jorte
A great app for a great price, Jorte is a personal calendar that can look any way you want and accepts your events with as much detail as you could possibly want. Jorte caters more to the individual and doesn't look as daunting or sterile as common calendar apps usually do. It's quirky, fun and advisable for people who just want to organise their lives. Can't go wrong for that price either. Free Business Calendar
For the professional Android user, Business Calendar is a good choice. I personally love the grandeur widget that displays either a daily, weekly or monthly calendar on a home screen page, making it always accessible. Other than the standard event management features what does Business Calendar offer? More frequent events can be added with ease, events can be dragged and dropped and the multiple themes make this an app that pays for itself rather quickly. $5
Windows Phone

Left: Calendar[+] - Right: Beautiful Calendar

Calendar[+]
Calendar[+] is THE calendar app for your Windows Phone. It's versatile, fast, easy to add events, has room for multiple accounts and is well rounded. Events can be pinned to the home screen as a constant reminder or filter certain appointments off the calendar. Best of all, it doesn't cost a penny. Free Beautiful Calendar
For a more robust all in one calendar, Beautiful Calendar offers event creation and management as well as notes and taskmaster functionality. When it comes to the calendar it certainly lives up to the name with a nice, simple color scheme including special ones for birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. Another worthwhile option in Windows Phone growing app marketplace. Free

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