Can you imagine the Denver Broncos without Mike Shanahan on the sidelines?

Well, you’ll have to. That storied franchise canned Shanahan Tuesday and started searching for his successor.

Here is what the pundits have to say, we, write:

Mike Kiszla, Denver Post: “There was only one way Pat Bowlen was going to win control of the NFL team he long owned in name only. Fire Mike Shanahan. On a Black Tuesday in Broncos Land, the best coach in franchise history was reluctantly shown the exit so Denver could finally enter the 21st century in the way it conducts football business.”

Pat Forde, ESPN.com: “The post-Elway Broncos have been a blur of fired defensive coordinators, failed free-agent acquisitions, boom-or-bust drafts, spotty special teams, late-season swoons and — on those occasions when they did make the playoffs — postseason pratfalls. Shanahan has continually churned the roster without changing the bottom line. The magic is long gone, and it will be up to someone else to recapture it.”

Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News: “You expected him to bleed chalk, if he bled at all. This is a man without need of counsel or assistance, which is his ultimate flaw. Shanahan could believe that no matter how ordinary, how awful, the talent of the team he coached, he would make it better. And he did. This season of plugging and patching was truly a masterful job by Shanahan, and 8-8 defines what the Broncos are, dead average.”

OH, ROMEO, OH ROMEO

The dismissal of Browns coach Romeo Crennel did not cause the same stir. In fact, fans have been campaigning for his departure.

FITTING IN AT RAMS PARK

Former Alabama tackle Andre Smith might be sitting there for the Rams at No. 2 overall in the ’09 NFL Draft. But Smith’s college career ended ignominiously, with him getting booted form the Crimson Tide before the Sugar Bowl?

(Somewhere out there, Claude Wroten is nodding his head in approval.)

So we’ll see if that hurts his draft stock. Meanwhile, Smith’s teammates will miss him.

“It is bad news,” Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson said, according to the Associated Press. “We lost the best offensive lineman in the country, but we still love him to death. Great guy.”

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while the young Blues try to learn how to finish out games:

• Say, wouldn’t Bill Cowher be an interesting fit in Denver? Wouldn’t put down his microphone for that job?
• So what becomes of Mike Martz now that Mike Singletary turned him out?
• Now that Dikembe Mutombo is back in the NBA, will Kareem Abdul-Jabbar be the next big man to come back?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “No Terrell Owens. No Brett Favre. No DeAngelo Hall, Jeremy Shockey, Pacman Jones or Chad Zippo-Dumbo. When is the last time the NFL playoffs kicked off on such a pure note?”

Jerry Greene, Orlando Sentinel: “Wonder what they’re thinking in Tennessee about Monte Kiffin joining his son on the Vols’ staff now?”

Norman Chad, syndicated columnist, offering tongue-in-cheek support for the Gridbirds: “The Cardinals can’t run the ball and they can’t stop the run. They haven’t won a home playoff game since 1947. And, on occasion, their fine coach, Ken Whisenhunt, is a knucklehead. No matter. If you are a team that has trailed by scores of 34-0, 28-0, 21-0 and 47-0 and you still make the postseason, destiny has taken a hand. In this case, destiny has one destination: Tampa, for Super Bowl XLIII.”

Will Leitch, Deadspin: “Boy, Jets fans sure do know how to destroy themselves, don’t they? It’s difficult to imagine a season could possible be more specifically constructed to devastate a fan base. From my perspective, Jets fans pretty much hate having hope about anything, because it always ends up with pain. So they remain cynical, and assume the worst. Well, this year, the team pours a bunch of money into a big one-year run, and THEN Brett Favre falls into their laps. I was excited, and I like neither the Jets nor Favre. And then this happens. That Artie Bucco line in ‘The Sopranos’ about ‘Mangenius’ is going to look as dated as the time they boosted that truck full of laserdiscs.”

MEGAPHONE

“I definitely know there need to be some changes in regards of getting some guys involved and just putting guys in position to win. And it all starts with the guy who is calling the plays.”

Terrell Owens, talking to the Dallas Morning News about the failure of the Cowboys offense.