August 27, 2021 Where does all this
leave Calhoun and AFA Falcons? 
In the evolving
college football landscape, the Air Force Academy Falcons rarely will have a chance to land a recruit who would have
significant NIL -- Name, Image, Likeness -- income opportunities if he headed elsewhere. The Falcons rarely are in the running
for legitimate Power Five prospects, and their Group of Five competitors -- including Colorado State and the rest of the Mountain
West -- won't become known as programs with chances for big-time "outside" income.
Keep reading here August
25, 2021 Addazio: "If I was starting my career again right now..."  I asked Colorado State coach Steve Addazio
two questions about the revolutionary changes in the college football landscape while I was among the group of scribes gathered
around him as he ate a salad at the Blake Street Tavern Wednesday afternoon. (Or as Irv Brown often said, "Chris Fuselier's
place...") Keep reading here
August
10, 2021 Buffaloes DE Terrance Lang continues progress
Terrance
Lang (54) against Washington in 2019. (Gary Kirchner / CU Athletics) BOULDER -- Can't a guy change his mind? Terrance Lang did. After saying
he planned to sign a national letter of intent with Southern California -- again nothing is a "commitment" until
a signature confirms the plan -- Lang backed off. Keep reading here
August
9, 2021 Chris
Wilson settles into
coordinator role
with Buffaloes  BOULDER --
After Colorado's 55-23 blowout loss to Texas in the Alamo Bowl last year, Buffaloes coach Karl Dorrell couldn't hide his anger. In fact, he didn't
even try. CU had problems on both sides of the ball in San Antonio, but the defense particularly struggled. It was the breaking point in
the professional relationship between Dorrell and Tyson Summers, the holdover defensive coordinator Dorrell inherited from
Mel Tucker. The Buffs allowed 31 points per game in the truncated season and that more than offset their startling success
at getting off the field on third down. Keep reading here August
8, 2021 There is no QB race at CSU: It's Todd Centeio's job  FORT COLLINS -- Steve Addazio's announcement
going into spring ball that Todd Centeio was his starting quarterback wasn't a shocking choice. Yet it was a bit surprising that the second-year CSU coach
was so decisive, avoiding any rhetoric about an open competition with Centeio only the top name on the depth chart as the
Rams started spring practices. Keep reading here
August
6, 2021 CSU's Dequan Jackson: From the front page of NY
Times at 16 to Washington DC... 
Dequan
Jackson (5) working with the "1s" on Friday at CSU's second pre-season practice. FORT COLLINS -- Dequan Jackson,
the stalwart senior linebacker asserting leadership on the Colorado State practice fields Friday, five years ago was pictured
and his story was told on the front page of The New York Times' print edition. That's the front
page on August 31, 2016, not an inside section front. Jackson was 16, about to
begin his junior year at Jacksonville's Robert E. Lee High. He still was trying to cope with being charged with battery when
he was 13, pleading guilty and getting assurances that if he behaved himself through a year of probation, the charge would
be reduced to a misdemeanor.
In short, he did behave ... and it wasn't reduced. And that was just
part of it. The Times headline provided a hint of the travesty that journalist Erik Eckholm documented in
his story: Court Costs Entrap Nonwhite,
Poor Juvenile Offenders Keep reading here
August
5, 2021 Level of normalcy for Buffaloes is almost normal  
Jarek
Broussard and Nate Landman after the Buffaloes' Thursday practice. BOULDER -- It's not yet "normalcy," but it's getting there. After CU's first pre-season practice Thursday, coach Karl
Dorrell (left), running back Jarek Broussard and linebacker Nate Landman each had a turn at a mini-podium and microphone set
up outside the practice-field gate down the hill from Folsom Field on the north end of campus. Face to face.
No Zoom. Keep reading here
June 30, 2021 RIP, Bob Newland: We've
lost a great Duck and loyal friend  
Sad
news: Former Ducks and Saints wide receiver Bob Newland, one of the most loyal men I've ever met, passed away this morning
in Eugene after a long illness. He was 72. He was loyal to his family first and foremost, but also to my father -- his college
coach -- and his teammates, and even to me. Keep reading here
June 13 Disappointing? Yes. But give Avs & Nuggets credit
as a tandem 
I'm not making
excuses for anyone, but I'm also not here with a lame and fill-in-the-blanks diatribe from the post-series reaction template. Giving credit
where credit is due is not gulping Kool-Aid. Read it here June 11, 2021 Avs good enough for
epitaph to be: they let Cup get away 
On the Mile High Sports web site Read it here
June 9, 2021 Avalanche did it once.
Can Colorado do it again? 
On the Mile High Sports site Read it here June 7, 2021 Avalanche fans: There's no reason to panic. At least not
yet 
On the Mile High Sports site
Read it here June 6, 2021 Pierre Lacroix Celebration
of Life at Hilton Inverness 
On
Sunday afternoon, Colorado's hockey gliterati -- and more -- gathered at the Hilton Inverness to salute former Avalanche general
manager Pierre Lacroix with a Celebration of Life. It wasn't really a "media event." I was honored to be among three or four non-Altitude
media members present and it was fun to see so many faces from the Avalanche past and present, plus the Colorado hockey community,
and to say hello to many. Keep reading here
June 6, 2021 Here's Joe Sakic's explanation
of Cup handoff to Bourque 
John Leyba's iconic shot of Ray Bourque raising the Stanley Cup ... finally. As we approach Wednesday's 20th anniversary of the Avalanche's win over the Devils in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals,
I thought I'd reprise a portion my omnibus cover story interview with Joe Sakic from Mile High Sports Magazine's
200th issue last December. In
this, Sakic responds to my questions about his much-discussed and much-remembered handoff of the Stanley Cup to Ray Bourque: Keep reading here
June 2, 2021 Can you believe it? The
International died 15 years ago  
My retrospective on The (Late, Great) International golf tournament is
in the June issue of Mile High Sports Magazine. The annual Golf Issue is on newsstands now, its delivery to subscribers
is imminent, and the digital version has been posted here. June 1, 2021 Reaves, Bertuzzi and
Codified late-game NHL shenanigans 
On the Mile High Sports site Read it here
May 24, 2021 Avalanche fans, make
room on the bandwagon  On the Mile High Sports site Read it here May 20, 2021 Top NHL/NBA tandem
on playoff display in Denver 
On the Mile High Sports site Read it here May 18, 2021 Philipp Grubauer and the Avalanche goaltending
legacy  
On Mile High Sports site Read it here May 2, 2021 Warren
Jackson has a shot -- a real shot -- with the Broncos 
Colorado State wide receiver Warren Jackson opted out of what turned out to be the Rams' abbreviated
and troubled 2020 season to prepare for the draft, but -- surprisingly -- he went unclaimed over the three days. The Broncos have signed the 6-foot-6 wideout
from the Los Angeles area as a free agent, and I'll go on record here as saying he'll make the 2021 opening-season roster. Why? So the guys in the booth can say after every catch that he was an undrafted free agent who played his college football just
up the road in Fort Collins. Keep reading here May 1, 2021 My first Avs game in ... ages.
FYI, your cash is no good here. 
For a
combination of reasons tied to COVID-19, I hadn't attended an Avalanche game in person for more than a year until I showed
up at Ball Arena for the Colorado's back-to-back wins over the San Jose Sharks Friday and Saturday. The first month of the fans' return to the building -- albeit spread out through the entire seating area and with a
cap at 22 percent of capacity -- is over. Read it here
April 26, 2021 At Bridich exit, knock Rockies for many things, but "cheap" is myth 
In better days ... at the 2019 home opener. Read it here April
19, 2021 22 years later: Not much has changed ... except for the worse 
Take
a look at that banner across the bottom of the screen on MSNBC the other day. Look familiar? Of course
it does. Keep reading here April 9, 2021 Supreme Court packing was
a bad idea then ... and is a bad idea now 
As was
foreshadowed during the 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden has ordered formation of a commission to study for
180 days the viability of expanding the U.S. Supreme Court. I'm against the notion itself, and also oppose using it as an issue on the checklist
to validate anyone's "sensitive' and "progressive" bona fides. Keep reading April
7, 2021 Georgia, Colorado voting laws alike? Uh ... no.  
On Tuesday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis made
the media circuit, discussing Major League Baseball's announcement that the All-Star Game will be played at Coors Field. I saw Polis with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, left,
and MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, right. The governor quickly answered the questions aboout the unfortunate
attempts to equate Colorado's existing voting laws with the new Georgia legislation. Then he tried to lighten up the conversation, talking baseball. I thought he was going to bring
up WAR, RISP, WHIP and what the word "rake" means, and perhaps mention that he hopes peanuts, Cracker Jack and sunflower
seeds will be allowed at Coors Field by the time the All-Stars gather in Denver. He said even the humorless Mitch McConnell
would be welcome. Keep reading here April 2, 2021 Blues put a speed bump
in Bednar's path to NHL coaching  
After the Colorado
Avalanche hired Jared Bednar to succeed Patrick Roy in the franchise's chaotic Summer of 2016, I sat down with him for a long
interview during training camp, called and spoke with others, and wrote an extensive profile that -- and I'll brag here --
I believe still is the definitive piece on him here. Keep reading here April 1, 2021 What's the outlook for
crowds at CU, CSU in 2021 football? 
Read it here
MARCH, click or scroll down March 31 -- Where's Broussard's knee brace? March 24 -- Sadly, it has come up again: No Notoriety March 22 -- What has changed in 22 years? Nothing really March 13 -- RIP, Marvelous Marvin Hagler March 12 -- Where will the NHL fit under new ESPN/ABC deal? March 11 -- On subtitles ... and titles that got away March 2 -- Whizzer White and Buffs hit NY for first NIT
March 31, 2021 Where's Broussard's brace?
In the trunk, with Linus' blanket 
Perhaps
Jarek Broussard had taken enough friendly teasing from his coach, Karl Dorrell. Maybe he'd heard enough musing about if he could average
163 yards rushing in five regular-season games wearing a semi-cumbersome brace on his troublesome left knee, what could he
have done without it? Keep reading here
March 24, 2021 Sadly, it has come up
again: Don't give killers fame they seek 
Read it here March 22, 2021 One more time. Tell me what really has
changed. Nothing. 
Read it here March
12, 2021 Where will the NHL fit under the 7-year deal, return to EPSN? 
The announcement this week that the NHL is returning to ESPN, with broadcasts on several platforms under
the terms of a seven-year contract, wasn't a shock. It also recognizes the evolving marketplace, with cord-cutting, streaming and more individual choice about what to
get and not get. To to assess it under conventional terms that are now out of date would be misguided. I get all that. And I get that as long as broadcasts of NHL
games are easily obtained from an ESPN/ABC platform -- regardless of which one -- that's the most important detail. Keep reading here
March 11, 2021 On book subtitles ... and titles that got away: Tin Soldiers, Leni and Glenn, Elway Effect ...    
 
As I
prepared to begin dropping in snippets from March 1939: Before the Madness as Facebook posts on
the corresponding days the rest of the month, I was reminded of this: One frustration for me as an author has been that my
book subtitles often have been overlooked or misunderstood. That's not whining. For the most part, I chose them or wholeheartedly agreed
they appropriately augmented the titles. Keep reading here March 2, 2021 Buffs' Whizzer White is the marquee draw in NY at first
NIT  Whizzer White is in middle: Did you know he was a hoops
star, too? Read it here FEBRUARY, click or scroll
down February 27--Should a return to Coors Field be a guilt trip? February 25 -- Addazio on Meyer's move to NFL February
21 -- On the shore of Lake Tahoe... February
19 -- NHL needs a (retro-) uniform policy on franchise hIstories February 15
-- Officiating in a pandemic (scroll down) February
14 -- Mission accomplished: Trump guilty in court of public opinion. But is that enough? February
8 -- On Ralph Backstrom: What a (hockey) life
February 27, 2021 Rockies will allow fans. Should an excursion to the park be a
guilt trip? 
Well, we know Nolan Arenado won't
be back at Coors Field ... except when he's with the Cardinals. Read it here February 25, 2021 CSU's Addazio on Urban
Meyer's move to NFL, Jaguars 
Urban Meyer and Steve Addazio on the Florida Gators'
sideline. Who's that No. 15 in the
background? (Gainesville Sun) Read it here
February 21, 2021 This was nowhere near as much of a disaster waiting to happen as Avs' AFA appearance in '20 The NHL
is taking some heat for what happened Saturday, with the Avalanche-Golden Knights outdoor game on the shore of Lake Tahoe
shutting down after one afternoon period in the sunlight -- and then finishing up late Saturday night.
Some of it is
misguided.
February 19, 2021 NHL needs to try on a
uniform policy for franchise histories   The Avalanche will wear its reverse-retro jerseys Saturday against Vegas
in the outddoor game alongside Lake Tahoe, on the outdoor rink built on the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course. The wardrobe gambit -- part of
an NHL-wide marketing tool involving all 31 teams -- salutes the franchise's days as the Quebec Nordiques, one of four World
Hockey Association franchises absorbed by the NHL for the 1979-80 season.
One of their NHL opponents was ... the Colorado
Rockies.
What about them? Keep reading here
February 15, 2021 My Mile High Sports Magazine story
on officiating in pandemic  After writing about Joe Sakic and Nikola Jokic in
the previous two editions, my story in February's annual Mile High Sports preps issue is a look at veteran multi-sport
officials: How did the shutdown effect them? How is it now that high school sports haltingly have started again? The issue is available
at MHS' distribution outlets on the Front Range, and I'll post the link to the digital edition when it's available. That's Northglenn
High grad Lauren "Big Red" Gardner, now a studio host for the NHL Network and MLB Network, on the cover.
February 14, 2021 Mission accomplished: Trump
guilty in court of public opinion (. . . but is that enough?) 
Read it here
February 8, 2021 Saluting Ralph Backstrom: From 6 NHL championships as Hab, to
founding Colorado Eagles 
Colorado Eagles It has been a tough couple of months for the Colorado hockey community. Avalanche godfather Pierre Lacroix died Dec. 13. USA Hockey icon
Art Berglund, a long-time Colorado Springs resident, died Dec. 19. Then Sunday came the awful news about Ralph Backstrom's death. Keep reading here
January 31, 2021 Rockies considering these
3B as possible Arenado successors 
Read it here January 29, 2021 Arenado trade? It's
not an Onion parody, but it is a complete
joke 
Read it here
January 28, 2021 Denny Dressman's Game
163: What's first thing you remember about Rocktober? Exactly!  Former Rocky Mountain News editor and senior executive Denny
Dressman long has been a respected voice and leader in Colorado's journalism and literary communities. So his terrific book, Game 163, is no surprise. Keep reading here
January 27, 2021 Andre Burakovsky: Secondary
scoring? It's his job, after all 
The Avalanche's official roster lists players born in nine different
nations -- Canada, United States, France, Austria, Czech Republic, Russia, Finland, Sweden and Germany. There's a catch involving left wing Andre Burakovsky. Keep reading here
January 24, 2021 Honoring ... the great Larry King ... with a three-dots
... column 
In honor of
the great Larry King, with respect and admiration, here's my own Larry King-style column. If it was the right day, his column
was the first thing I read in the USA Today dropped outside my door on the road. Marriott Points, breakfast buffet,
Larry King and a mint on the pillow. It didn't get any better than that. Keep reading here January 21, 2021 Bobby Brink returns to
DU with World Juniors gold medal to show 
Bobby Brink (DU Photo) Bobby Brink was on the ice at the Rogers Center in Edmonton,
anxiously waiting for the clock to reach all zeroes.
"I kind of watched the last few seconds," the University of Denver sophomore
winger said on the phone Friday. "I was just so excited. I made sure to throw my stick and gloves and helmet as high
as I could in the air and jumped into the pile."
January 19, 2021 Hey, self-righteous anti-lottery crowd ... LIGHTEN UP 
The
Mega Millions jackpot is up to $850 million. The Powerball jackpot is up to $730 million. The Colorado Lotto jackpot is up to $2.6 million. Muse about any of that and the automatic, kneejerk, lamely repetitive and predictable
reaction from many is: Keep reading here January 16, 2021 For heaven's sake, stop (fooling) around with Avalanche
top line 
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen post-game.
They were not asked about the reuniting of the top line and whether they would prefer to leave it alone. This isn't going to be long, because what I have to say is
quite simple.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar should stop (fooling) around with his top line. Keep reading here January 15, 2021 Upbeat Dorrell ready to do his part to address Pac-12
image issue 
"I'm thinking, Terry." As the Colorado Buffaloes move on from their surprising 4-2 season -- yes, it still was
surpising and praiseworthy despite the two consecutive losses to close it out -- one of the major challenges is clear. Karl Dorrell and his
staff will have to sell not just their program, campus and culture. They'll have to credibly sell the Pac-12 itself
to recruits and anyone else involved in creating or buying into the league's image. Yes, that includes difference-maker prospects
also seriously considering programs from other Power 5 leagues. The Scenic overlook on US 36 -- that first look (down) at
Boulder -- can only go so far. Keep reading here January 14, 2021 So when I asked Avs if still a home-ice advantage,
they said...  
Jared Bednar
Devon Toews  
Matt Calvert
Tyson Jost
No fans. Artificial
crowd noise. Music so loud -- or at least seemingly so loud in the near-empty Ball Arena -- the players' mothers should have
been banging on their doors, telling them to TURN THAT DOWN! Keep reading here January 12, 2021 What Joe Sakic said when asked if this team has reached Cup or Bust ... and has it really been 25 years? 
Mile High Sports Magazine Does the Avalanche have to win the Stanley Cup ... or feel shame? Keep reading here
January 10, 2021 Impeachment: We can't let him -- or his enablers -- get away with it 
Read it here
January 10, 2021 My Mile High Sports Magazine story on Nuggets'
Nikola Jokic  
Jamal Murray was Mile High Sports Magazine's Sportsperson
of the year for 2020, succeeding 2019 winner Nathan MacKinnon. Nikola Jokic was the choice for Pro Athlete of the Year. My story on Jokic
is in the January 2021 issue. Here's the digital edition. January 8, 2021 Tommy Lasorda and the Summer of '70 
Tommy Lasorda, Bobby Valentine, Steve Garvey,
Bill Buckner, Tommy Hutton, Bill O'Brien. After
his Thursday death, memories of Tommy Lasorda are flooding in from the baseball world. I'm not going to try to compete
with the anecdotes about his long and colorful tenure as the Dodgers' manager, or detail his life and career as if I'm on
the Obit Desk. This goes back
to having crossed paths with him at a couple of junctures. In the Summer of '70, I was a kid working for the Pacific Coast League Eugene
Emeralds. Lasorda was the Spokane Indians'
fiery manager. Thirty years
later as a journalist, I was his sole fellow passenger on a corporate jet flight from San Francisco to Denver and spent the
two hours chatting with -- "interviewing" isn't the right word -- Lasorda for what turned out to be two Denver Post columns in June 2000. If you want to get ahead of the story, here are those columns. (Note how primitive newspaper web sites could look in the early years after Al Gore invented the Internet.) Part One Part Two Now back
to the Summer of '70. Keep reading here January 3, 2021 Hoping a full Cup parade -- is possible. Might as
well be in Denver, right?  
Jared Bednar raising the Kelly
Cup as a player with the South Carolina Stingrays and
the Calder Cup as coach of the Lake Erie Monsters I'm probably going to keep saying this until I get it right. The Avalanche will win the Stanley Cup this season. The issue is: Can
there be a parade? Keep reading here January 2, 2021 Take your pick: Floyd
Little made -- or saved -- the Denver Broncos   Floyd Little made the Broncos. And I'm not talking about
cracking the roster. Keep reading here |
