Inland Waterways » front office executive than he did as a quarterback

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- John Elway led Denver to the Super Bowl faster as a front office executive than he did as a quarterback. On Wednesday, the Broncos extended his contract, which was set to expire after this year, through 2017 and added general manager to his title of executive vice-president. Team President Joe Ellis lauded the work Elway has done so far, saying hes "demonstrated great vision and leadership in his role, assembling a championship calibre team and positioning it for sustained success." Elway, who will speak publicly on Friday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, said in a statement that he was grateful for the opportunity and "we remain relentlessly committed to delivering a world championship" to Denver. The Broncos are coming off their first AFC title in 15 years but they were blown out 43-8 by Seattle in the Super Bowl, a result that was eerily similar to the first three of Elways five Super Bowls before he capped his Hall of Fame playing career with back-to-back titles in 1998 and 99. Asked at his end-of-season news conference last week how long it took him to get over those losses, Elway said, "Im not over them yet. I just added this one to it." The Broncos have gone 37-17 since Elway rejoined the team on Jan. 5, 2011, when owner Pat Bowlen brought him back to rescue a franchise reeling from a nosedive under Josh McDaniels that bottomed out with a 4-12 season, Denvers worst in four decades. Elways first order of business was hiring coach John Fox, who has led Denver to three straight AFC West titles and is expected to sign his own long-term extension soon. Next on Elways to-do list was changing the losing culture that had enveloped his beloved Broncos while he was away honing his managerial skills by running restaurants, car dealerships and an indoor football league franchise. That began with a roster makeover. "I think No. 1, we had to clean up the locker room. We had to get to get the locker room right," Elway said last month. "... that is really the life bread of what the organization is all about. How that locker room fits is the most important thing." Although its early to render a verdict on his draft acumen, Elway has unquestionably hit the jackpot in free agency, first by luring Peyton Manning to Denver in 2012 and then last year by signing Wes Welker and Louis Vasquez, who in 2013 became the NFLs only free agent signee to earn All-Pro first-team honours. Other free agents -- notably Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Terrance Knighton and Shaun Phillips -- helped Denvers defence weather an injury epidemic in which six starters missed significant playing time. "Its been my goal to really continue what Pat Bowlen created in the fact that people want to play here," Elway said last month. "So players will come here late in their career when they know they have a chance to win a world championship." Manning has thrown for 100 touchdowns and 11,336 yards in his two seasons in Denver and this season won his fifth MVP award. He is planning to play in 2014 and perhaps another year after that. Elway has said he doesnt want to just win now, but from "now on," and how backup quarterback Brock Osweiler performs whenever Manning retires will go a long way in determining whether Elways long-term vision will pan out as well as his short-term fixes have. The Broncos ended a six-year playoff drought in 2011 when they went 8-8 with Tim Tebow at quarterback, beating Pittsburgh in the playoffs before losing to New England. Elway lured Manning to Denver that spring and traded away Tebow the next day. "Tim Tebow was so popular, John Elway is the only one who could have pulled that off," wide receiver Demaryius Thomas said. The Broncos went 13-3 in 2012 but a crushing loss to Baltimore in the playoffs left a scar that drove them to another 13-3 season last year. This time, they beat San Diego and New England in the playoffs to reach their first Super Bowl since Elway was leading them from the huddle. Elway has made more than 600 transactions since rejoining the Broncos, and he acknowledged some difficult decisions await as he shapes the roster for 2014. Although the Broncos came up way short in the Super Bowl, Elway promised to navigate this off-season with the notion that this loss will drive Denver to do something no team has done since Buffalo in 1993 -- reach the Super Bowl the year after losing it. "The bottom line is were going to work as hard as we worked this year, if not harder, and continue to do that with the mindset that we want to be world champions," Elway said, "and were going to do everything we can to get there." Cheap Air Max 270 Australia . For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey. Cheap Air Max 97 Australia . 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Air Max 90 Cheap Wholesale .C. -- The Steve Smith era in Carolina is over.WINNIPEG -- Captain Andrew Ladd was the first to criticize himself after a 6-3 loss to Columbus on Saturday that had fans booing the Winnipeg Jets off the ice. "Ill take full responsibility for my play. I was awful tonight," Ladd said. "For a team struggling, probably looking for leaders, I wasnt very good so I need to be a lot better and I will be going forward." The loss put the Jets (19-23-5) on a season-high five-game losing streak after the Blue Jackets capitalized on Winnipeg mistakes and breakdowns -- some head coach Claude Noel said hed never seen this season. "Its not easy right now. I mean, its tough to stay positive," said Jets centre Bryan Little, who had a goal and assist. "Its kind of hurting everyones confidence right now. You know, the fans get on you. I mean, its not easy. Its a difficult time that were trying to get through." Boone Jenner and Mark Letestu each scored twice as the Blue Jackets had four straight goals in the first nine minutes of the second period. Cam Atkinson and Nick Foligno also scored, while Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves as Columbus (21-20-4) won its third straight game. "We believe in ourselves in here and we know when we play the way that we can, things will go our way and weve just got to keep focused on that," Jenner said. James Wisniewski and Derek MacKenzie each had a pair of assists for Columbus. Ondrej Pavelec faced 26 shots for Winnipeg, which also got goals from Eric ODell, his first NHL goal, and Toby Enstrom. "Right now, adversity is really the enemy and were not dealing with it very well, and were trying to deal with it," Noel said. "Theres going to be no easy way to get out of it." The second period was especially puzzling. "The game certainly unravelled in the second period on mistakes that were stuff that Ive never seen before," Noel said. Columbus head coach Todd Richards said he talked to his players after the disappointing opening 20 minutes. "Once we talked about things after the first period, obviously our focus and our attitude changed and we came out and started skating, pursuing pucks," Richards said. "We were willing to do the work, we werent waiting for our teammate to do the work. I think each guy took it upon themselves, that this is what I nneed to do.dddddddddddd. I need to skate and work." The Blue Jackets second-period barrage began with Letestus short-handed goal. Just nine seconds after Blue Jackets centre Brandon Dubinsky was called for holding 27 seconds into the period, MacKenzie and Letestu went on a 2-on-1 and Letestu deked and put a backhand shot past Pavelec. On that play, Noel noted there was an offensive-zone faceoff, his players decided to forecheck, didnt lock the centre and gave up a 2-on-1. "Weve never done that before. Weve never talked about that before. What is that? I dont know," Noel said. "Its not because they dont care. Lets make sure that thats clear. Theyre frustrated, too." When told of Ladds self-criticism, Noel said the captain places a lot of burden on himself, like leaders do, and hes got to try to help him. ODell scored at 4:32 of the first period during a goal-mouth scramble when he banged in the puck with a backhand while McElhinney was out near the edge of the crease. Recalled from the AHLs St. Johns IceCaps on Dec. 17, ODell was replacing Evander Kane (hand injury) on the Jets second line with centre Mark Scheifele and right-winger Michael Frolik. It was one of a number of roster changes for Winnipeg. Noel had big defenceman Dustin Byfuglien playing right-wing for the first time this season on the top line with Little and Ladd. That moved Blake Wheeler to the third line with centre Olli Jokinen and left-winger Devin Setoguchi. Noel said Byfuglien, who had an assist, played OK, and he liked that the fans cheered Byfuglien when he touched the puck early. Little said it was tough for the new line combinations to click because penalties shuffled players around, too. While hes faced adversity in his career, it was different in Atlanta than in Winnipeg. "Its definitely magnified when youre in Winnipeg," Little said. "Ive had some tough times in Atlanta where no one seems to care. No ones asking you questions, its not in the papers and people arent in the room after games. "So its definitely more pressure right now to get out of this." Notes -- The last time the Jets lost at least four in a row was late last season from March 28 to April 4, when they went 0-5-0 over that stretch a Letestus short-handed goal was the sixth one allowed by the Jets this season. ' ' '