Missy Franklin

Photos: Ten best athletes to be born in Colorado

Ask people to name Colorado's best-ever athletes and you'll hear references to the likes of John Elway, Dave Logan and Missy Franklin. But they all moved to the state rather than being born here. So who are the greatest Colorado athletes as listed by Wikipedia who actually qualify as natives? We've ... More >>

Missy Franklin isn't the only swimmer at the high school championships, damn it!

The next big event for swimmer Missy Franklin is...the Colorado 5A girls' state championship? It's true: The multiple-gold-medal-winning Olympian is taking part in the event today and tomorrow at Fort Collins' Eudora Pool and Ice Center, aka EPIC. And the folks at the Colorado High School Activities ... More >>

Photo: "Police roll doobie" billboard

Spotted this weekend at around Colorado Boulevard and 50th: a billboard boldly declaring, "Police roll doobie." Do they? The sign doesn't exactly constitute definitive proof, no matter how large the letters. But those who see the message may have a different reaction next time they're watching a cop ... More >>

Photo: Missy Franklin and Justin Bieber, together again for the first time

While homegrown Olympic heroine Missy Franklin won lotsa hardware in London, she may have landed her biggest prize last night, when she finally got to meet Justin Bieber, who killed her with a tweet last July. And even though he looks sorta stoned in their photo backstage at his sold-out Pepsi Cente ... More >>

The twenty most excited Beliebers at last night's Justin Bieber concert at the Pepsi Center

Say what you will about the Biebs. He's got a strong, massive and devoted following, and last night at the Pepsi Center, they all came out in force with signs and smiles for miles. Eric Gruneisen braved the crowd and brought back a ton of photos, all of which we've posted in our full slide show. Kee ... More >>

Meet the 2012 Denver #WebAwards winners

Meet the 2012 Denver #WebAwards finalists

It's time for the 2012 edition of Westword's Denver Web Awards, our annual celebration of Denver's greatest digital minds. Back at the end of September, we put out a call for you, dear readers, to nominate your favorite online projects and voices, and a team of Westword staffers and contributors has ... More >>

Photos: See spectacular home new Rockies manager Walt Weiss may not need to sell now

Onetime Regis High baseball coach Walt Weiss will no longer be the second-most famous person at the school -- after Olympian Missy Franklin. The ex-Colorado Rockies shortstop has just been hired to manage his former (and currently sorry) squad. Does that mean he'll hang onto the astonishing Castle ... More >>

Photos, video: Missy Franklin as Broncos co-captain, with Gabby Douglas, at VMAs

Where's Missy Franklin? A better question is, "Where isn't she?" In the past few days, the five-time Olympic medalist and pride of Regis High School posed with Jessie James and Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas, attended a national cancer benefit and the MTV Video Music Awards, and served as co-captain ... More >>

Blue State v. Red State: Which Colorado do you live in?

Colorado is a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election, with polls suggesting a toss-up between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. And no wonder, since Colorado is a purple state, with nearly equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans and independents. Still, parts of Colorado are definitely D ... More >>

Reader: Dare to be tattoo free

Our post about Olympic rings tattoos, inspired by hometown hero Missy Franklin's hip tat, inspired debate about the various places on their body Olympians mark themselves. But one reader thinks such ink is unnecessary.

Olympic rings tattoo photos: Not everyone's as hip as Missy Franklin

After winning Olympic gold, hometown hero Missy Franklin got an Olympic rings tattoo on her hip -- but that's hardly the only spot fellow Olympians have chosen to ink up. There are also rings on backs, arms, feet and near enough to the pubic region to give you a mighty good view of some Olympic-size ... More >>

Photos: Proof Denver and Colorado are happier, smarter and more drunk than the rest

Seems like there's a new list ranking cities and states every day, and plenty of them have Denver and/or Colorado at or near the top. In fact, we've ranked so mile high in so many different categories -- from healthiest to drunkest to happiest to most apt to use a condom -- that we've rounded up ten ... More >>

Cycling group Bbikes is encouraging more Denver minorities to pedal

"B" is for brown. And bicycle. At least that's the logic behind the name of a new social group called Bbikes (pronounced bee-bikes) that aims to get more minorities to hop on bikes in Denver. First step? Making the weekly Denver Cruisers ride more diverse.

Photos: Twenty biggest Broncos fans at Manning's pre-season debut

OK, so the Broncos lost their preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks over the weekend. Sure, they lost it 30-10. But in case you didn't notice, that was Peyton Manning's first game with the team, and hope and hype rode on his performance in equal measure. On Saturday, Westword photographer Bran ... More >>

Photos: Missy Franklin dances at Olympic-sized welcome home ceremony

On Saturday, Colorada welcomed back Missy Franklin and home-state Olympians at a Centennial Center Park event. As Governor John Hickenlooper noted, Colorado athletes won nine of 104 U.S. medals at the Olympics this year. By his math, that's 8.65 percent of the total, though Coloradans only make up 2 ... More >>

Boulder is the third most honest city in the country, according to Honest Tea

The results are in on Honest Tea's experiment in honesty, and Boulder ranks as the third most honest city in the country, following closely behind Oakland and Salt Lake City. Over the last few weeks, Honest Tea set up kiosks in fifty locations in thirty cities across the country, stocking them wit ... More >>

Photo: Missy Franklin's new tattoo and hometown celebration plans

Centennial's Missy Franklin has had a busy week, what with attending the Olympics closing ceremony in London and giving people a reason to watch the Tonight show for the first time in forever -- not to mention starting her senior year at Regis Jesuit High School. But she still managed to squeeze in ... More >>

Videos: Missy Franklin talks LeBron, Kate and high school on Tonight show

Most age controversies at the Olympics involve athletes who may be younger than they're claiming. But in the case of hometown hero Missy Franklin, she can seem much older than her seventeen years -- particularly given how well she appears to be handling her sudden fame. But she's still a kid at hear ... More >>

Photos: Missy Franklin at the Olympics closing ceremonies

Like pretty much everyone else on the planet, we've been following the story of hometown girl turned Olympics idol Missy Franklin, who's now the proud owner of four gold medals and one bronze. Fortunately, she's made doing so easy by sharing plenty of messages and photos via her Twitter feed -- and ... More >>

Colorado ranks lowest in obesity rate study: We're still the skinniest state

Those summer bike rides to the local farmers' market have apparently paid off. Once again, Colorado ranks lowest on the state-by-state adult obesity rate analysis conducted by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Maybe it's because there are so many appealing outd ... More >>

Andre Iguodala trade improves the Nuggets -- and makes the Lakers even better

You'd think the fact that a member of America's Olympic men's basketball team was traded amid its latest gold-medal run would be a headline item rather than a footnote. But the Nuggets' acquisition of Andre Iguodala late yesterday is parenthetical in a four-team deal that sends Dwight Howard to the ... More >>

Despite a tragic summer, Colorado is still the real sunshine state

Also read: Fifty latest reasons Colorado is the best state in the country

Colorado goes for the gold: More reasons to love this state

It's been a tough summer for Colorado -- the toughest in recent memory, I wrote a week ago, on Colorado Day, August 1. By then, the state had weathered drought, wildfires and the horrors of the Aurora shootings. But already, things were looking up: Missy Franklin had just snagged her first gold me ... More >>

Photos: Missy Franklin's Olympics Twitpic gallery

Local heroine Missy Franklin has a big tax bill due thanks to her amazing success at the London Olympics. Fortunately, she'll also come home with priceless memories, many of which she's sharing with followers of her Twitter account. Look below to see Franklin's Twit pic gallery of Olympic highlight ... More >>

Video: Missy Franklin on Today show gives shout out to the Rowdies

Missy Franklin's races in the 2012 London Olympics are over, but her victory laps are only beginning. This morning, Franklin was a featured guest on the Today show, and as you'll see in the video below, she used her moment in the spotlight to give a shout-out to plenty of people in her lives, inclu ... More >>

Sikh temple shooting getting less coverage than Aurora theater tragedy: Why?

On Sunday, a gunman opened fire on attendees at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, killing six people before dying at the hands of police. Yet the amount of coverage this horrific event has received thus far falls short of that devoted to the July 20 Aurora theater shooting nationally as well as locally. I ... More >>

Missy Franklin owes $21,000 in taxes for medals: Should Olympians be exempt?

Whenever an athlete is as successful, and as charming, as Centennial's Missy Franklin has been, politicians will attempt to latch on. Witness Mitt Romney name-checking her at a Jefferson County Fairgrounds appearance yesterday. Another example? A call by Senator Marco Rubio (often mentioned as a pos ... More >>

Anti-civil unions lawmakers: Fight Back Colorado asks which should be sent packing

Fight Back Colorado, a group devoted to defeating lawmakers in November's election who voted against a bill to legalize civil unions, is soliciting input on exactly which lawmakers to target. The campaign has launched a survey called Send 'Em Packin' that asks supporters to pick their three least fa ... More >>

Robert Ayers latest Josh McDaniels draft pick to underperform for Broncos

Denver blog posts have the quicks. Bronco Talk's Monty thinks Broncos training camp may be the last chance for two top draft picks from the Josh McDaniels era: Robert Ayers and Knowshon Moreno. Denver Egotist on the USA Pro Cycling Challenge campaign. At Square State, Jack Van Ens asks, "Is succe ... More >>

Missy Franklin wins another gold medal in 200 meter backstroke, breaks world record

Sorry, Missy Franklin, but unless Senator Marco Rubio's bill to exempt medal-winning Olympians from paying taxes passes, you're going to owe Uncle Sam another $8,000-plus. That's because Franklin just won a gold medal in the 200 meter backstroke, setting a world record in the process.

Photos: Mitt Romney talks report cards, Obamacare, Missy Franklin in Jeffco

Underscoring the importance of Colorado in the presidential election -- and the significance of Jefferson County in the race to win this key swing state -- Mitt Romney held a rally today in Golden, marking his first campaign stop since returning from his trip in Europe.

Missy Franklin as impressive falling short of medal as winning one

Centennial's Missy Franklin is among the breakout stars of the London Olympics -- and not just because of her edge-of-seventeen excitement over Justin Bieber's tweet after she won a gold medal. Thus far, she's displayed a tremendous ability to balance youthful exuberance and beyond-her-years maturi ... More >>

Happy Colorado Day: Here are 50 reasons you should be glad you live here

It's been a tough summer for Colorado -- the toughest in memory. But on this August 1, Colorado Day, there are still many, many reasons to celebrate life in the Centennial State. And Missy Franklin's gold medal is just the most recent. The oldest? Just take a look to the west. Can't think of any? W ... More >>

Missy Franklin wins Olympic gold -- and tweet from Justin Bieber

Local teen-queen-of-the-pool Missy Franklin has won her first gold medal, in the 100 meter backstroke -- and pretty much no one thinks it'll be her last. Now the question: Which means more to her -- that medallion or the congratulatory tweet she received from Justin Bieber?

If you're going to watch the Olympics on TV, at least do it at the gym

I often go to the gym to watch television. The primary reason is because, at my commune, the Witch House, we haven't figured out how to hook up the flat-screen we scored in an awesome barter situation (someone we know was going on a "life journey" and had to get rid of all earthly possessions.) But ... More >>

John Henderson, Denver Post writer, says "horny" Olympics tweet a mistake

Update: Yesterday, Denver Post sportswriter John Henderson, in London covering the Olympics, tweeted that an event made him "horny" -- a statement that inspired a vigorous (and mostly negative) debate on a national sports-journalism discussion forum; get details in our original coverage below. Momen ... More >>

Aurora theater shooting: Missy Franklin, The Fray and more react on Twitter

Twitter lets folks from all walks of life to share their thoughts about tragedies like the shooting at the Aurora Town Center Century 16, celebrities included. Many stars who've weighed in have connections to Colorado, including Olympic hopeful Missy Franklin, The Fray and budding minister Peter Teb ... More >>