Sports & Recreation

First things first: Matrix Fitness-Spa is not cheap. You pay for every amenity. But, oh, the amenities. The posh new place in the Beauvallon is packed full of them, from the locker rooms to the spa to the gym floor. The weights are made of urethane, so there’s no clanking and clanging. Each piece of cardio equipment has its own flat-screen TV monitor, so there’s no fighting over the remote. Plus, the screen gives you Internet access and allows you to order food from the Beauvallon restaurants and read magazines online. And best of all, it’s not packed or full of meatheads, so you can get in, get a serious workout and get out. Feel the burn.

The Colorado Mountain Club has plenty going on. Active since 1912 (though without a website back then), the group has helped foster a love of wilderness here and elsewhere. With activities ranging from hikes to investigations into science, art and literature, this is a portal that can open minds to the possibilities of getting outside. The CMC reminds us why we live here.

This ten-year-old nonprofit helps preserve environmental giants by enlisting volunteer crews to rebuild trails, pick up garbage and generally buff up Colorado’s biggest, and often most used, peaks. Last year, Mount Massive (14,421 feet), south of Leadville, and Wetterhorn Peak (a puny 14,015 feet), near Lake City, got makeovers. Volunteers don’t get paid, but they do get equipment, food and a lofty sense of satisfaction.

The Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort is open year-round, tapping the geothermal springs in Chalk Creek. When the 135-degree water mixes with the icy river flow, it causes a double-barreled blast of relaxation. There are two man-made pools on the sometimes funky site that offer more tepid waters, at 85 and 105 degrees. Those who’ve climbed one of the Collegiate Peaks or Mt. Elbert — or nothing at all — will find the hot springs a welcome respite for an afternoon. Just pray that the summertime thunderstorms don’t roll through: The operators close the place in case of lightning.

For a state obsessed with fourteeners, it’s odd that many overlook Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado at 14,433 feet. Part of the disdain may be because Elbert’s neighbor, Mt. Massive, is thought to be more impressive; a few fanatics reportedly even piled rocks on top of Massive to make it more, well, massive. But Elbert’s still the king. The approximately five-hour hike up, which experts call “relatively moderate,” hasn’t gotten any harder since the hill was first summited in 1873. But if you camp nearby — Mt. E. is located about 140 miles west of Denver — and get up early, you can bag the best by noon.

The DOW conducts workshops around the state that amount to a four-hour crash course in how to sharpen your senses, pick the right binoculars, read the habitat and turn yourself into the Crocodile Hunter. Each course ends with a nature walk to put your new skills into action — for example, studying a coyote family making the rounds of Aurora’s Plains Conservation Center. With enthusiastic instructors and a cost of $15 per family, getting wild proves contagious.

Just an hour and a half from Denver — and a short, soul-restoring drive out of Colorado Springs — Manitou Springs has got to be one of the most wonderfully weird places in Colorado, if not the world. Laden with kitschy mementos of the auto-mad ’50s, when travelers motored west to mountains and drive-up motels, Manitou is a combination tourist trap and liberal enclave, an artists’ community with a disproportionately large number of cigar-store Indians and ice-cream parlors. Victorian houses lie in colorful clusters across a mountain valley, and nutritious, mineral-laden spring water runs freely from taps all along the charming main street. There’s an old-fashioned arcade, complete with nickel pinball machines and shooting games, and kiosks that sell lollipops and rock candy. Santa Claus sets up shop here in the off-season. And who can blame him? Manitou’s a quick, easy escape from city life — and reality.

Rocky Mountain Audio Guides, which produced a CD titled Walking Tour of Denver’s Historic Lower Downtown in 2003, expanded its reach last year with a cell-phone hookup. Founder Barb Rigel’s idea was to have folks who might want to tune into the cityscape dial a number, enter a credit-card number (for $15), and then listen for up to eighty minutes as a recorded expert tells them where to go in LoDo. While the CDs are still available at places such as the Tattered Cover, Rigel hopes this will allow folks to get even fresher insights on places such as Skyline Park. Good call!

What, you thought vaulting was a gymnastics event? Well, hold your horses: It’s an equine sport, too. Combining single-rider and team displays of acrobatic moves with horseback riding, the ancient sport of vaulting has an unusually strong hold on the state of Colorado, which is home to eight of the fewer than 100 clubs that promote this old-world sport nationwide. What’s more, the 2005 National Vaulting Championships are scheduled for this August in Denver.

Giving of your time is hard; so is finding enough time to work out. The Colorado Humane Society has the perfect solution: Walk a dog. Or two, or three. With no training, a volunteer family, classroom or scout troop can pop by the CHS any time and take a frisky Fido out for a frolic. Everyone wins: The dogs calm down — and perhaps get adopted — and their walkers get exercise, too. The shelter logged just shy of 1,000 dog walks between April and December last year. These dogs are made for walking.

Denver has greatly expanded its off-leash options for canine lovers in the past year, but Greenway Park wins high marks for security, cleanliness and doggie good vibes. Amenities include several hydrants, plenty of plastic bags and shaded benches, but it’s the community feeling of the place that makes it work. It’s a great place for residents to become neighbors.

A simian sprint in which participants were encouraged to dress like apes? Only in our animal-lovin’ urban jungle. For a $150 registration fee, participants in the Denver Gorilla Run received their own gorilla suit and the chance to roam five miles through the heart of downtown Denver. Climbing high-rises was optional, but for hairy fun, this was the one. All proceeds from the run went to the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund. The second edition — with a sliding fee scale — is set to escape on October 22. Start stocking up on bananas: This race has appeal.

The Nuggets’ barely sophomore star has endured plenty of hardships — and we’re not just talking about the All-Star Game snub. Melo’s life gets a frank examination in Carmelo Anthony: It’s Just the Beginning, a 48-page hardcover authored by sportswriter Greg Brown, who has also profiled the lives of Vince Carter and Dan Marino. “I lived in depressed places, and I’ve felt depression,” Carmelo told Brown. “My biggest goal growing up was surviving.” With the addition of a new coach and gal pal LaLa, it seems that Melo may be moving ahead.

Boulder photographer John B. Weller fell in love with the Great Sand Dunes years ago, and he began documenting the beautiful sand swells on repeated trips. His compilation, Great Sand Dunes National Park: Between Light and Shadow, released by Westcliffe Publishers last year, is a stunning introduction to a unique part of our state. And while Weller was torn about over-publicizing the fragile area, he believes that the more people come to love the Dunes, the better the chances of preserving them.

Dolph Grundman, a Metro State history professor, became interested in a lost chapter of Denver’s sporting history while doing research for a class. He discovered that for a few decades, Denver was a center of the basketball universe, hosting the annual AAU men’s basketball championship on the stage of the Auditorium Theatre. And while the game was light-years away from today’s run-and-gun NBA, Grundman found that the corporate-sponsored teams — including the Denver Piggly Wigglys — helped pave the way for today’s hoopsters. Heck, there was even a squad called the Nuggets. The era lives again in Grundman’s tome The Golden Age of Amateur Basketball: The AAU Tournament, 1921-1968.

Of course you want to Live Strong. But what if you don’t have a multimillion-dollar U.S. Postal Service or Discovery Channel sponsorship: Can you still be like Lance? Yes, thanks to Carmichael Training Systems and the Internet. For anywhere between $39 and $500 a month, the Colorado Springs-based CTS — and, yes, Chris Carmichael does train Lance Armstrong — will train you for your next big athletic event via your computer. Packages range from the Classic — send your training questions to a chat forum — to the Ultimate, which entitles you to a daily phone conversation with your personal coach. The actual sweating is up to you.

Like most women with similar goals, you head to the gym with visions of sugar buns dancing in your head, but the sad truth of the matter is evident in those hammy hocks you continue to inspect in the mirror each day. In fact, half the challenge of working out in public is overcoming the self-consciousness you feel when you must expose your jiggling contours to the world, particularly to members of the opposite sex. Truth, we’re afraid, ain’t always beauty. But there’s safety in numbers at Ms. GoodBody, where the only people looking are most likely in the same boat as you, body-wise, and the workouts and exercise programs cater particularly to women’s concerns and needs. What a boon for your buns.

Looking for a little girl-on-girl action? Then head over to the 20th Street Recreation Center on Wednesday nights for the women-only boxing class. For one hour a week, a half-dozen street-savvy ladies practice their right hooks, uppercuts, jabs and roundhouses. Although this is strictly a no-contact class, 20th Street is a serious boxing gym, with fighters in the ring around the clock. So don’t expect some chichi tae bo or kickboxing class — and don’t forget to bring shampoo and conditioner, because the locker rooms are the epitome of stripped down. But for just $5 a class or $125 a year (includes access to all of Denver’s recreational facilities), this is a deal that kicks serious ass.

Team CWW may not boast the most race winners or state records, but if you’re a woman looking to enter the sweaty world of triathlons — yet are too intimidated by the prospect of swimming, biking and running farther than you’ve driven your car in the past month — CWW is a fine place to begin. Founded by Celeste Callahan (who did her first triathlon on a dare more than twenty years ago, at the age of 42) and two friends, CWW is a non-profit corporation dedicated to helping non-athletic women prepare for the Denver Danskin, Tri for the Cure and Boulder Peak triathlons. “If you can swim across a pool with a gun to your head, ride your bike to the end of your driveway and run if someone’s chasing you, you can do a triathlon,” promises Callahan. Training begins with a “get your face wet” pool session in January, progresses to a teeny, tiny triathlon in May, and builds to standard, race-length distances by summer. The cost is $175 for a year of training and support.

This volleypalooza has been going for more than three decades in Aspen. With some 700 teams competing on eighty courts over Labor Day weekend, it sports the title of the nation’s largest volleyball party. Players range in ability from international competitor to laid-back park-grass warrior. Spectators can watch for free, but look out for those the 110 mph shots: If you get beaned, you’ll be seeing stars — and not the normal kind for Glitter Gulch.

While pumpkins take their share of abuse around Halloween, no one seems too upset when these squash go sailing through the blue sky. Denver Urban Gardens’ Aurora-based Delaney Farm hosts the annual Jack-O-Launch, in which participants compete to see how far they can fling the fall fruit via ingenious catapults. Paging Billy Corgan…

Most pitching machines are pretty easy to figure out: They throw fastballs, fastballs and more fastballs. At the Triple Crown Sports Center, however, the gadgets are considerably more sophisticated, tossing curveballs and sliders as well. The joint as a whole is just as notable, with a throwing tunnel, an AstroTurf field, rental cages, a pro shop and more scattered across a 22,000-square-foot space. Individual instruction is available, too, sometimes delivered by fledgling pro players, who use the facility to stay in shape during the off-season. Smacking a curve tossed by a mechanical contraption may not be the same as taking Randy Johnson over the wall, but compared to most pitching machines, the ones at Triple Crown are nasty.

Every other Friday, game fanatics seeking an unbridled go at Warcraft or Counter-Strike sign up to be locked in this facility from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next morning. Unless the computer combatants are over eighteen years old, they must stay inside the site, working away at one of the thirty PCs linked into a gaming server. Drinks are available, but many parents supply goodie bags, complete with an ocean of bottled water. It may not be everyone’s cup of Red Bull, but for some, this is what pulling an all-nighter is all about.

Not long ago, ex-Nugget-turned-sportscaster Bill Hanzlik was even more excited than normal on TV: He announced that there were some 300 Gold Crown coaches at the Pepsi Center for a game with the Portland Trailblazers. The fact that there are 300 basketball coaches anywhere in this once-hoops-starved state is testimony to the boost that Gold Crown — under CEO Hanzlik — has given to the sport. In particular, the foundation has offered much needed support to middle-school teams left high and dry by shortsighted school districts. And unlike some lesser organizations, Gold Crown (which also backs other youth sports) always seems to get its enterprises right. This one’s a slam dunk.

Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball coach Pryor Orser doesn’t get a lot of press, even though his Orediggers play solid hoops and upset the then-number-one-ranked Metro State Roadrunners this past season. But Orser, who can’t rely on getting monster players at what’s called the “School of Minds,” does make use of all-star gunners such as Stephen Bahl. During the summers, emerging Carmelos can learn the fine art of firing the rock during Orser’s summer camps. Don’t expect your kids to learn to showboat and ball-hog, though: Orser is a firm believer in teamwork and the fundamentals.

It goes without saying that the Marx Brothers know just what makes kids tick. Oh, not those zany vaudevillian siblings of old: We’re talking about Tom and Rick Marx, local look-alike brothers with backgrounds in teaching and software development who together founded what is truly a playground for geeks in training. Bits, Bytes & Bots offers year-round classes, drop-in activities and science-inspired pizza parties during which youngsters can create working Lego robots, make movies, or just get a leg up on new technology. The concept is a modern-day natural for summer camp, an openly educational cure for kids who just want to spend their vacation twiddling an Xbox in the den. Start lining up now.

A non-profit venture located along the Sand Creek Greenway at Stapleton, the Urban Farm makes its greatest mark during the school year, when hundreds of kids of all ages pass through its gates to do everything from milk a goat to develop a breeding program for the whole herd. But the farm also supports year-round 4-H and equestrian programs, geared especially toward city kids who otherwise wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to be around animals. Kids in need of a little horse sense but not lucky enough to attend a school that takes advantage of the facility can test the waters during the farm’s summer horsemanship education program, which offers week-long and summer-length classes for all abilities. The program’s price and heart are in the right place, too, so what are you waiting for? Saddle up!

The debate about the perfect campground has probably raged in these parts since Og the Magnificent conked Thorg the Stupid with a saber-toothed tiger jaw during a heated debate. About ten miles southwest of Leadville lies a 22-site gem that can stand the test of even Og’s debate. Located on Halfmoon Creek and nestled at the base of Colorado’s highest peaks, Halfmoon Campground is truly a place to rediscover the reason Coleman makes so much camping gear. They don’t take reservations, so it can be a gamble on weekends, but odds are you’ll find a space at Halfmoon. And maybe a bit of a tiger jaw.

Amusement-park aficionados who feel pukey when confronted with the theme-park fluff of Six Flags Elitch Gardens should head to Lakeside and settle their stomachs on Colorado’s most venerable roller coaster, the Cyclone. But don’t expect to experience the gliding G-forces of today’s modern steel rides: Built in 1940, the Cyclone clangs and jerks passengers through the dives and crests of the weatherbeaten wooden superstructure, making for some serious air time as thighs strain against the meager restraints and rears slide across the seats. Appropriately, the Cyclone is ranked as one of the few remaining classics by the American Coaster Enthusiasts, a group with over 8,000 active members.

Golf is like sex: You want to do it as often as possible in as many places as possible. Another course, another notch on your belt. Should mini-golf be any different? At Putting Edge, you even do it in the dark, for crying (moaning?) out loud. But in real life, mini-golf is for kids, and to that end, Putting Edge is a juvenile showstopper — and a good way to keep youngsters out of trouble. Everything in the place glows, and the usual lame-o windmills have been replaced with challenging, high-tech, sci-fi-looking holes that rush the sport well into the 21st century. It’s a regular hole in one!

With so many new skateparks being constructed in recent years, it’s easy for the latest generation of metro-area riders to forget that street skating originated in the streets. While the concrete playpen known as the Denver Skatepark has an unbeatable urban location in the Central Platte Valley, it’s still true that the most fun and innovative places to skate are those that weren’t created for the activity. Some of the city’s top spots can be hit quickly in a geographical loop — which is necessary to stay one step ahead of the cops. Try the ten-stair in Civic Center Park, the beautiful brick banks of the nearby Colorado History Museum, the selection of benches on top of Market Street Station, or the classic pink ledges at 16th Avenue and Lincoln Street.

Over the past few months, local skaters have been skeptically monitoring the progress of the new concrete skateboard park being constructed behind the Westminster Recreation Center at 10455 Sheridan Boulevard. They have good reason to be wary: The park’s architects, Architerra Group, are responsible for the wonky designs of parks in Federal Heights and Littleton. Luckily, Architerra was aided by some knowledgeable skateboarders, and this park appears to be shaping up nicely. The street course, while a little cramped, has a great-looking pyramid along with some well-angled rails, stairs and ledges. The bowl, which features a loveseat, an over-vert section and a spine transfer, should please the most advanced pool rider. Gnarly. Props to the contractor, American Civil Constructors, and Architerra for a nice addition to the skatepark scene. Here’s a tip for both companies: Hire those skateboarders on as real consultants for future projects — and this time, pay them.

A former coal-mining town in southern Colorado is probably the last place on earth that skaters would expect to find a world-class skatepark. But ever since 2003, when this 14,000-square-foot concrete masterpiece was carved into a gravelly hillside above the city of Trinidad, skaters from all points of the compass have come to pump through its meandering snake run and vertical bowls. The Seattle-based skatepark construction outfit Grindline, which designed and built the creation, once again demonstrated how only a skateboarder’s touch can master the subtleties that make a skatepark both fun and challenging. Some of the most engaging obstacles are the unassuming mogul-like bumps and the small spine ramp — where both experts and amateurs can find a line.

Founded by Colorado college buddies in 1999, trailcentral.com has evolved into a multi-faceted portal for riders throughout Colorado and beyond. Whether it’s the reviewed Ride of the Month or a lively chat triggered by some flatlander looking for advice, the site gives savvy cyclists the goods to stay in gear.

Slowly but surely, the pieces for this thirteen-mile route that cross the old Stapleton Airport site are filling in. Eventually, the soft-surface trail, which is open to non- motorized vehicles only, will connect part of a fifty-mile loop of urban trails, going from the High Line Canal Bikeway in Aurora to the Platte River Greenway. Riders have to adapt to some construction sites, but backers insist that there is light at the end of the tunnel — and plenty of room to roam in the future.

For years, Fruita was known for its orchards filled with fat peaches. Gradually it became know for its intoxicating vineyards. Not surprisingly, this heritage has fostered a love of fat-tire biking. Every spring, the town hosts the Fat Tire Festival, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The fest kicks off with a marathon eighteen-hour ride on April 29, with single-trackers grooving in Highline State Park. Road-bike tours, prizes and other surprises make this event — more than a week’s worth of stuff — a fat load of fun. Though Fruita is still a haul, it’s closer than Moab.

Everyone knows about the pernicious effect of money in politics: Fancy-cat lobbyists use gobs of cash to sleaze their evil corporate agendas into sweetheart legislation. That’s exactly what Jenn Dice, the government liaison for the Golden-based IMBA, does…not. In place of the regular cocktail-party circuit usually plied by Beltway lobbyists, IMBA dispatches Dice, 33, to introduce legislative staffers to its bike-friendly agenda by convincing them to get outside and on a mountain bike. Each year, the organization sponsors spring and fall rides in Riverbend Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. A literal breath of fresh air, the muddy gatherings give the desk-bound policy wonks a saddle-side opportunity to see what mountain biking is all about. And it doesn’t suck for Dice, a former lobbyist for Colorado counties, either. “It’s really cool,” she admits. “It lets me combine what I love doing with my government experience.”

Just because you paid $3,000 for your new titanium-and-carbon-fiber ride doesn’t mean the bike fits your physique. And having the right-sized cycle can mean the difference between hours of blissful injury-free pedaling and weeks of constant rehab for your clicking knees. Many bike shops now offer a bike-fitting service. But why mess around? Go to the guy who literally invented the concept: Andy Pruitt, director of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. At $180 for a “performance” fit or $400 for a three-dimensional cycling analysis, Pruitt or one of his staff will customize your bike to your body’s twisted idiosyncrasies. Ride on!

The logic of snowshoeing became apparent around here two years ago this March, when some blizzard-socked folks used the devices to get from their living rooms to their garages. But snowshoeing has benefits beyond survival — and ‘S No Wonder! Tours, run out of the Breckenridge Nordic Center, offers folks the chance to get on the mountain without being run over by a crazed snow-cyclist. A half-day trip up Peak 7 to the Hallelujah Hut is just the thing to make winter cool again.

With the traffic and crowds, sometimes you just have to leave the I-70 corridor to get a relaxing skiing experience. Try driving west another hour to Glenwood Springs. Ten miles outside the city, you’ll find Sunlight, a nostalgic world away from the hustle and bustle of the Summit County madhouse. Decent-sized — the longest ride is four miles long — Sunlight sells lift tickets all season for only $36, 1980 prices at most other resorts. Parking is free; a studio rental in the well-worn, nearly forty-year-old ski-in, ski-out Brettelberg condos is just $120 a night; and a lift line is as rare a sighting as a Yeti.

Most professional snowboarders are all about themselves: What move can I bust today? Will my picture be in the next magazine spread? Breckenridge’s Jesse Csincsak is the rare exception: a snowboarder who gives back to his sport. Four years ago, the Ohio native started J-SAK Snowboarding, a non-profit corporation that raised money — and then gave it away to promising young riders. The cash isn’t about to make anyone rich; a season pass and some tournament entry fees are standard endowments from J-SAK. But for a demographic that is marginally employed to begin with, a few extra bucks can keep a boarder in ramen for an entire season.

At a time when it seems that every ski area is turning into a real-estate venture with a faux Ye Olde Alpine Village at its base, Loveland is a welcome throwback. The runs may be shorter than those at nearby mega-resorts, but what you get in return is priceless. There are no condos or ski-in, ski-out chalets slopeside, no golf course to pull in guests when the snow is gone. In other words, the only reason to come here is the riding. Parking is free, and even if you’re on the far edges of the lot, you’re never more than a three-minute walk to the lift. Unlike the resorts on the far side of the Divide, there is also no atmosphere of privilege suffocating the place. The food is reasonably priced — ask the french-fry guy to pile your plate high; he will — and the people who work at Loveland all seem to love what they do. Families come here year after year for the short drive, the homey feel and the prices: A kid’s full-day lesson costs about 40 percent less than it does at a resort just up the road.

Longtime Colorado mountain dweller, avid third-generation skier and keeper of a vintage ski museum Richard Allen is more than a collector. He wears his love for dated clothing and equipment — wooden skis, bindings, lace-up boots — on his sleeve and everywhere else, and he’s known for dressing like he just stepped out of a 1950s ski-town snow globe, all reindeer sweaters and low-tech woolen stirrup pants. Now he’s found a way to share his zeal: Vintage Ski World is lined with antique skis, boots and poles, classic posters and other memorabilia, just when old-style is suddenly good style on the slopes.

The golden years never looked more righteous than at the Starbucks inside the flagship REI store, which acts as a hub for cyclists who have all day to ride — and the looks to prove it. Converging in droves from the Platte River, Clear Creek and Cherry Creek bike paths, senior cyclists stop here for their mid-morning beverage break. Bike racks are placed conveniently next to a paved pathway leading to a scenic patio where java junkies can check out the aging action; about 10 a.m. on summer weekdays is peak time. You’ll be counting the minutes until you’re eligible for that AARP discount.

You don’t have to drive hours to get a whitewater thrill. Confluence Kayaking makes a spur-of-the-moment immersion easy. The business rents inflatable kayaks and gear and hosts weekly instructional classes in the University of Denver’s Ritchie Center pool, allowing urban adventurers to test the basics before they shoot the rapids. Once you’re ready, hit the short course along the South Platte River through Confluence Park; from there, it’s just a splash to bigger water elsewhere.

Ahoy, mateys! When the season fer swimmin’ the briny deep’s upon us, get ye down to Englewood, where the Jolly Roger flies o’er Pirates Cove. The City of Englewood water park, replete with three pools, debuted last summer to rave reviews by just about everyone, from the tots in swim diapers to swimmers with serious agendas, and no wonder: There are six lanes for lap swimmers, a lazy-river feature and a leisure pool with play islands, a super-soaking 750-gallon dump bucket (look out below, me buckos!), smoke-belching cannons, a spray park, slides and sound effects. Load up your towels, beach toys, sunscreen, flip-flops, peg legs and eye patches, and head for the pool. Opening day is May 28.

Busy downtown worker bees who still have a jones for hauling in lunkers could be forgiven for thinking that northwest Denver’s Lake Carol Anne is the best thing since climbing walls went indoors. Located ten minutes from downtown, this fourteen-acre catch-and-release private lake is open between March and December. Early season, Carol Anne (named for co-owner Carol Anne Bohn, who, with her husband, Punch, bought the place in 1991) is stocked with several varieties of trout. As the temperature rises, largemouth bass becomes the fish of choice. One thing the swimmers all have in common, though, is size: The trout can weigh as much as fifteen pounds; the bass can tip the scales at eight. “And we have two-pound bluegill,” the real-life Carol Anne says. “Your chances of catching a huge fish here are wonderful.” Of course, great fishing within casting distance of LoDo isn’t free. The Bohns, who limit membership at their pond to 100, charge $500 per year to cast ‘n’ commute.

Most metro-area indoor rec centers struggle to decide what they are. A splash area for kids? A workout pool for adults? As a result, many end up inadequate. Not Wheat Ridge Recreation Center. One side of this massive complex boasts a 120-foot water slide, fountains, a lazy river (free flotation devices available) and an outdoor patio for summer. On the other side, separated by a glass wall, is an eight-lane, 25-yard pool large enough to accommodate anything from a gaggle of geriatric breast-strokers to an entire competitive swimming meet. For the more daring, the adult side also has a springy one-meter diving board where grownups can practice their very mature cannonballs.

For an honest, old-fashioned game of billiards and some of the best action in the area, head to Paradise. This ancient hall is the closest thing you’ll find in Denver to the sort of underground, New York-style dark room where the true pool players lurk. Most days the snooker tables are held by old-timers playing Golf, and the Thursday-evening 9-ball tournament is probably the toughest game around. Road players often stop by when passing through, and the city’s three women pros — Melissa Little, Megan Minerich and Laura Smith — frequently practice here, too.

Northwest Denver is blooming around Tennyson Street, with new restaurants and chichi shops turning the already eclectic enclave into a hipster oasis. But Elitch Lanes, one of the area’s most enduring attractions, remains pleasantly stuck in the past: Every night of the week, it’s just balls, bad shoes and devoted bowlers knockin’ ’em down the well-waxed pine lanes. Elitch’s prices, and the grandpa’s-basement interior, recall an earlier time, too: During Quarter Mania on Tuesday and Thursday nights, games, shoe rental and hot dogs run 25 cents a pop (with a $4 cover); College Night takes over on Wednesdays, with dollar games, shoes and beer. It’s an inexpensive and fun way to check somebody out: After a few hours on the lanes, you’ll have a good sense of whether you’re rolling strikes or gutter balls.

Sometimes bowling in a clean, well-lit, family-friendly alley just isn’t what you’re after. You want the chipped-linoleum bathroom, the dissolute attendant with the half-inch of ash hanging off his cigarette, the scarred and oddly colored balls that never fit your fingers quite right, the heavy-metal jukebox, the attached bar serving only urine-colored beer and barely heated frozen food. In other words, a bowling alley in the mold of Rocky’s meat locker. Enter Golden Bowl, where there never seems to be a wait for a lane and the pencils are always sharp for that “old-time” scoring (you remember how to score a spare, right?). Besides, you haven’t really bowled until you’ve hit Monday’s “dollar night”: kamikazes and bowling for a buck each. Now, that’s entertainment.

Clean, well-kept and well-maintained, these thirty lanes are where some of the city’s best bowlers congregate. Owner Dave Allen has been in the game for nearly as long as people have been rolling heavy spheres down shiny wooden floors at a pyramid of pins, and his experience shows. The lanes are always consistently and meticulously oiled — conditions conducive to high rolling. The result is no surprise: According to the Denver Bowling Association, more 300 games and 800 series are recorded at Holiday than at any other local lanes.

Who cares that the All-Star Jam, which the NBA unleashes annually, was crassly commercial when it arrived here? The Jam had more product endorsements than an infomercial, but there were several flashes of inspiration among the sellabration of all things bling. One took place on the day before the actual All-Star Game, when Shaq Daddy himself played a little one-on-one with some local kids, including a few from the Montbello High School boys’ team. And even though Shaq was surrounded by security and ads for a candy bar, it was one of the few occasions when fans met the big names.

In a rush for the honor of being first to shell out 120 bucks for the new Michael Jordan sneakers at Niketown, visitors to February’s NBA All-Star festivities shoved, jostled and exchanged harsh words with each other on the 16th Street Mall. No one was shot, knifed or clubbed, but by the time happy consumers laced up their new Jordans and returned to the pavement outside, the real motivation behind NBA marketing became clear: Sell brand-name products, and lots of them.

For decades, hardly anyone knew the University of Denver even had a women’s tennis team. But when coach Dana Young’s charges unexpectedly won the Sun Belt Conference title last spring and earned an NCAA tournament berth, even the Williams sisters couldn’t have caused a bigger stir on campus. The team’s number-one singles player, then and now, is a steady blond slugger named Yanick Dullens from Susteren, Netherlands, who went 26-7 in matches last year and continues to lead the Pioneers, whose 8-2 mark this season promises another NCAA appearance. A senior who also plays number-one doubles, Dullens is 16-8 in singles matches and 20-9 in doubles this year.

It may be that Mike Dunlap, a fiery Alaskan who led the Metro State Roadrunners to NCAA Division II Basketball titles in 2000 and 2002, is the best sports coach in Colorado at any level. A master motivator who pressures his young men as fiercely as they apply pressure defense on the court, Dunlap has recently overseen 35 straight home wins, took league and regional titles again this year, and seeks national tournament glory once more for the 19,000-student commuter school on Denver’s Auraria campus. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champs are 29-3 this year and ranked number two in Division II. To their relief, Dunlap is staying put: Long the hiring target of Division I programs, he’s just rebuffed the latest feelers — from Loyola Marymount, in California.

Talk about dramatic turnarounds. When hard-nosed George Karl, late of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Seattle Sonics, took over as the Denver Nuggets’ head coach on January 27, they had a dismal 17-25 record under fired Jeff Bzdelik and fill-in Michael Cooper, and fans had begun to boo the lackluster efforts of highly paid stars like Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby. Since then, though, the resurgent Nugs have played 18-5 ball, and they’ve apparently nailed down a Western Conference playoff spot. The difference appears to be the no-nonsense leadership of Karl, who has a rep for treating young players harshly but now seems to be getting the best out of teenager Anthony and Brazilian work-in-progress Nene. The team’s 8-4 record in February earned Karl Coach of the Month honors; he’d prefer to win the award in April.

When George Gwozdecky’s underrated DU Pioneers team won the NCAA national championship last spring, college hockey was shocked. No surprise if the Pis repeat this season. After trailing archrival Colorado College in the polls for most of the year, DU (28-9-2) knocked off the Tigers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title game last Saturday with a 1-0 win and moved on to the NCAA tournament as a solid second choice behind Boston College. Look for the high-scoring Pioneers, backstopped by a pair of fast-developing young goaltenders, to come out as tough-minded and confident as ever in another surge to the Frozen Four.

Former Montreal Canadiens star and University of Denver coach Ralph Backstrom has struck gold as general manager of the scrappy, high-scoring Colorado Eagles, the second-year minor-league hockey team that’s giving game-starved NHL fans a happy (and inexpensive) alternative at the sold-out Budweiser Events Center (aka the “Bud Barn”) near Loveland. The Eagles led the Central Hockey League with a daunting 43-10-7 record, and forward Greg Pankiewicz, who has NHL experience, was voted the CHL’s best player.

Rather than banish pro hockey from its pages after NHL owners locked out players, editors at the Post wisely decided to have a little fun, recruiting kids between ages eight and fourteen to square off against each other in Xbox hockey clashes. Not only has this gimmick been a great way to introduce members of the Internet generation to newspapers, but it’s given hockey scribes such as Adrian Dater an opportunity to try their hand at creative fiction. In the February 28 Post, for instance, Dater had Avs GM Pierre Lacroix denying that he’d responded to a loss by shouting “Heads will roll!,” insisting that he’d actually said “Let’s get on a roll.” Sportswriting like that takes the sting out of the work stoppage.

With the 2004-2005 National Hockey League season officially in the grave, Colorado Avalanche fanatics have only one place to turn: Altitude. The new cable-sports network, founded by Stan Kroenke as a showcase for the professional teams he owns (most prominently, the Avs and the Denver Nuggets), may not have any new matches to broadcast, but it’s got plenty of old ones. Programmers have the luxury of picking and choosing based on the final outcome, and thus far, they’ve selected thrilling victories, not discomfiting defeats. There’s precious little suspense, but loads of icy satisfaction.

What a sublime moment for Colorado’s two dominant college hockey teams to rise to the top of the national standings. While the National Hockey League cools its skates off the ice, last season’s surprising NCAA champions, the Denver Pioneers, are seeded second in the sixteen-team NCAA tournament field; their hated rivals from Colorado College are — wouldn’t you know it? — number three. The Pis (28-9-2) and the Tigers (29-8-3) split the four games they played this season, and DU beat CC 1-0 to win the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title. Next, it’s on to the NCAAs and the renewal of a bitter rivalry that dates back to 1949 and encompasses 254 match-ups.

The Colorado Avalanche may have seen the last of its beloved two-time Stanley Cup hero, Peter Forsberg. This year’s National Hockey League owners’ lockout has driven hundreds of NHL players to Europe, including former league MVP Forsberg. He was playing for Modo in his native Sweden’s well-respected, finesse-oriented Elite League until a serious concussion felled him earlier this month. “Foppa” had announced last September that he would remain in Sweden for the entire season, even if part of the NHL schedule was saved. But the latest injury to the 31-year-old star is likely to end his career altogether.

One of Major League Soccer’s staunchest play-breakers and a leading attacker as well, Argentina-born defender Pablo Mastroeni is, at age 29, one of the league’s most respected players. Named the Colorado Rapids’ team captain last year, the 5’10”, 170-pound speedster has split time between the Rapids and the U.S. National Team since arriving in Colorado in 2002, and his peerless work ethic earned him the team’s 2004 Black and Blue Award, given to the player who best exemplifies the team’s never-say-die spirit. He played his college soccer at North Carolina State.

What can you say about the National Lacrosse League’s all-time leading scorer as he plays his fourteenth and final season, except that he is the standard by which all other players are measured? Having led the Mammoth since the team arrived in Denver from Washington in 2002, Gary Gait is the Michael Jordan of his sport; he’s been the NLL’s most valuable player six times, a seven-time goal-scoring champion and a seven-time points leader. Every year, he’s been selected as a first-team All-Pro. Gait began his pro career in 1991 with the Detroit Turbos (he was Rookie of the Year), and will finish here in Denver. “This game, this team and this town have been great to me,” he says. “Now it’s time to say goodbye.” Lacrosse fans will never see another like him.

The foundation for all that might be in the Colorado Rockies’ uncertain future, first baseman Todd Helton is one of the greatest players in baseball — a perennial Gold Glove candidate whose .339 lifetime batting average is highest among all active players and whose .616 slugging average (the number of total bases divided by the number of at-bats) is the fourth-highest in major-league history — even better than Barry Bonds’s number. Signed through 2011 with a club option for 2012, the eight-year veteran from Tennessee remains the rock on which the young Rockies are built. Call them Todd and the Toddlers.

Shannon Sharpe’s on the pre-game set, yakking away. Ed McCaffrey’s in his easy chair. The guy with everything — or everything to gain — is University of Northern Colorado wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who should go high in next month’s NFL draft, despite the presence of some big-name receivers from big-name schools. A 6’5″ senior out of Widefield High School in Colorado Springs, Jackson had 1,462 yards and 21 touchdowns as a junior for the Bears, and this fall, when the team was overmatched in its move up to Division I-AA, he still caught eighty passes for 1,382 yards and eleven touchdowns, annihilating the UNC record book and winning All-American honors. Did we mention that Jackson weights 245 pounds and runs the forty in 4.4 seconds? Wow.

Who let the dogs out? The Mile High City is host to one of the winningest football teams in history: the Denver Bulldogs. The Australian Rules Football team has won four national championships — three of them consecutive — in just six seasons playing, the most of any U.S. footy team. And this ain’t no Sunday in the park: Padding is prohibited, and hard hits are de rigueur. The only downside to Bulldog fanaticism is that most games are on the road; until recently, the closest teams to match up against were the Salt Lake Seagulls and the Arizona Hawks. But sports fans ready for some football — some serious, manly football — can head over to Bible Park at 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings to watch training once the season starts at the end of March. Go, Dogs!

Was it simply a coincidence that the 2004 Denver Broncos started careering downhill at roughly the same time that quarterback Jake Plummer let his chin pubes blossom? Yeah — but the correlation between the team’s losing skid and the knot of tangles that took over Plummer’s mug was too irresistible to ignore. Talk-radio hosts debated the connection, sportscasters made sarcastic remarks about Grizzly Adams (a pop-culture reference lost on anyone under age forty), and the average fan on the street wondered if a rechargeable Norelco might save another lost season. No doubt everyone will rest easier if, for the 2005 campaign, Plummer has close shaves off the field as well as on.

Many NFL players dismiss kickers as undersized freaks who rarely take a bone-jarring hit. But where would the Denver Broncos be without steady, unflappable Jason Elam? The twelfth-year pro out of the University of Hawaii ranks fourteenth on the all-time NFL scoring list, and 2004 marked his twelfth consecutive 100-point season — the longest such streak in league history. Last year, the three-time Pro Bowler connected on 29 of 34 field-goal attempts (with a long of 52 yards) and now stands third in Broncos history in regular-season games played (188). One last thing: Elam’s two Super Bowl rings remind current teammates of the Broncos’ late-’90s glory days.

The future of the new-look Nuggets may be Carmelo Anthony, but the soul of the team’s tough, take-no-prisoners attitude is multi-millionaire forward Kenyon Martin. The 6’9″, 234-pound K-Mart came to Denver last summer from the New Jersey Nets with four years of NBA experience, 51 playoff games and a reputation for tireless, bruising play on his resumé — in other words, everything GM Kiki Vandeweghe and coach George Karl could ask for as the Nuggets fight for a post-season berth again this year. Martin is Denver’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, and the embodiment of the team’s newfound grit.

If he were, say, a member of another species, the Denver Nuggets’ agile, sharpshooting mascot, Rocky the Mountain Lion, could probably solve the team’s outside scoring problem. For fifteen years, he’s been draining it from half-court — backwards — and he’s not bad slam-dunking off a trampoline, either. With his floppy red sneakers and a rakish bolt of lightning for a tail, this perennial crowd favorite remains the league’s most popular mascot — as evidenced by the love players and fans showered on him at this year’s NBA All-Star Game.

In the pre-George Karl era, there was nothing much for Nuggets fans to get excited about. Except one thing: Nesting Doll giveaway nights. The sheer absurdity of the promotion was irresistible, compelling crowds to stream into the Pepsi Center despite the potential loss. On December 26, early fans scored Nene nesting dolls. They weren’t disappointed with the three Nenes stacked inside each other, and the true believers came back in droves for Andre, Kenyon and Marcus. By the time Melo — the last in the five-part series — was offered, the Nugs appeared to be back, lending a luster to those five grinning dolls.

Vodka rocks? Hooker in the hotel room? Little weed? Hey, while they’re at it, why don’t the mooks in the University of Colorado athletic department lay something really special on their football recruits: A pep talk from Professor Ward “Sacred Buffalo” Churchill. Instead of explaining X’s and O’s (or even court orders to appear before the grand jury), Coach Churchill could stress the value of crisp downfield blocking against the U.S. Justice Department and the importance of listening to everything quarterback Osama bin Laden says in the CU huddle. Go, Buffs! Beat Eichmann State!

She doesn’t own a nearby liquor store, which is a major plus. But Ceal Barry, who bowed out this year as basketball coach of the Lady Buffs, does hold a winning record that would be hard for any other candidate for CU’s next athletic director to beat. Through two-plus decades in Boulder, she’s kept her eye on the ball. That means she knows her student athletes are students, first and foremost, and deserve to experience all the best that a CU education can bring (which is plenty — not that you’d know it from the headlines these days). And if those student-athletes win some important titles along the way, so much the better. Barry recognizes that at CU, it’s not whether you win or lose, but how the game is played — with honor and integrity and honesty. Which makes us wonder: Why waste her on the AD job? There’s that presidency open, too.

The Colorado Mountain Club has plenty going on. Active since 1912 (though without a website back then), the group has helped foster a love of wilderness here and elsewhere. With activities ranging from hikes to investigations into science, art and literature, this is a portal that can open minds to the possibilities of getting outside. The CMC reminds us why we live here.

This ten-year-old nonprofit helps preserve environmental giants by enlisting volunteer crews to rebuild trails, pick up garbage and generally buff up Colorado’s biggest, and often most used, peaks. Last year, Mount Massive (14,421 feet), south of Leadville, and Wetterhorn Peak (a puny 14,015 feet), near Lake City, got makeovers. Volunteers don’t get paid, but they do get equipment, food and a lofty sense of satisfaction.

Herman’s Gulch, just off I-70 at Exit 218, can sometimes have a clutter of cars at the trailhead, but don’t worry: These are similar sorts seeking a quickie escape. And what an escape it is. Once you get beyond the cars — and out of earshot of the Ski Way, which is only about a mile from the gulch — all hikers will hear is the sound of a running stream and the birds. Bring a lunch to fend off a grumbling stomach while taking in the views of a pristine lake. The round-trip trek takes only a few hours, but it can seem like a getaway. If it’s still not far enough, more determined hikers can take a fork at Jones Pass toward the Continental Divide.

The Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort is open year-round, tapping the geothermal springs in Chalk Creek. When the 135-degree water mixes with the icy river flow, it causes a double-barreled blast of relaxation. There are two man-made pools on the sometimes funky site that offer more tepid waters, at 85 and 105 degrees. Those who’ve climbed one of the Collegiate Peaks or Mt. Elbert — or nothing at all — will find the hot springs a welcome respite for an afternoon. Just pray that the summertime thunderstorms don’t roll through: The operators close the place in case of lightning.

For a state obsessed with fourteeners, it’s odd that many overlook Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado at 14,433 feet. Part of the disdain may be because Elbert’s neighbor, Mt. Massive, is thought to be more impressive; a few fanatics reportedly even piled rocks on top of Massive to make it more, well, massive. But Elbert’s still the king. The approximately five-hour hike up, which experts call “relatively moderate,” hasn’t gotten any harder since the hill was first summited in 1873. But if you camp nearby — Mt. E. is located about 140 miles west of Denver — and get up early, you can bag the best by noon.

The DOW conducts workshops around the state that amount to a four-hour crash course in how to sharpen your senses, pick the right binoculars, read the habitat and turn yourself into the Crocodile Hunter. Each course ends with a nature walk to put your new skills into action — for example, studying a coyote family making the rounds of Aurora’s Plains Conservation Center. With enthusiastic instructors and a cost of $15 per family, getting wild proves contagious.

Just an hour and a half from Denver — and a short, soul-restoring drive out of Colorado Springs — Manitou Springs has got to be one of the most wonderfully weird places in Colorado, if not the world. Laden with kitschy mementos of the auto-mad ’50s, when travelers motored west to mountains and drive-up motels, Manitou is a combination tourist trap and liberal enclave, an artists’ community with a disproportionately large number of cigar-store Indians and ice-cream parlors. Victorian houses lie in colorful clusters across a mountain valley, and nutritious, mineral-laden spring water runs freely from taps all along the charming main street. There’s an old-fashioned arcade, complete with nickel pinball machines and shooting games, and kiosks that sell lollipops and rock candy. Santa Claus sets up shop here in the off-season. And who can blame him? Manitou’s a quick, easy escape from city life — and reality.

Rocky Mountain Audio Guides, which produced a CD titled Walking Tour of Denver’s Historic Lower Downtown in 2003, expanded its reach last year with a cell-phone hookup. Founder Barb Rigel’s idea was to have folks who might want to tune into the cityscape dial a number, enter a credit-card number (for $15), and then listen for up to eighty minutes as a recorded expert tells them where to go in LoDo. While the CDs are still available at places such as the Tattered Cover, Rigel hopes this will allow folks to get even fresher insights on places such as Skyline Park. Good call!

What, you thought vaulting was a gymnastics event? Well, hold your horses: It’s an equine sport, too. Combining single-rider and team displays of acrobatic moves with horseback riding, the ancient sport of vaulting has an unusually strong hold on the state of Colorado, which is home to eight of the fewer than 100 clubs that promote this old-world sport nationwide. What’s more, the 2005 National Vaulting Championships are scheduled for this August in Denver.

Giving of your time is hard; so is finding enough time to work out. The Colorado Humane Society has the perfect solution: Walk a dog. Or two, or three. With no training, a volunteer family, classroom or scout troop can pop by the CHS any time and take a frisky Fido out for a frolic. Everyone wins: The dogs calm down — and perhaps get adopted — and their walkers get exercise, too. The shelter logged just shy of 1,000 dog walks between April and December last year. These dogs are made for walking.

Denver has greatly expanded its off-leash options for canine lovers in the past year, but Greenway Park wins high marks for security, cleanliness and doggie good vibes. Amenities include several hydrants, plenty of plastic bags and shaded benches, but it’s the community feeling of the place that makes it work. It’s a great place for residents to become neighbors.

A simian sprint in which participants were encouraged to dress like apes? Only in our animal-lovin’ urban jungle. For a $150 registration fee, participants in the Denver Gorilla Run received their own gorilla suit and the chance to roam five miles through the heart of downtown Denver. Climbing high-rises was optional, but for hairy fun, this was the one. All proceeds from the run went to the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund. The second edition — with a sliding fee scale — is set to escape on October 22. Start stocking up on bananas: This race has appeal.

The Nuggets’ barely sophomore star has endured plenty of hardships — and we’re not just talking about the All-Star Game snub. Melo’s life gets a frank examination in Carmelo Anthony: It’s Just the Beginning, a 48-page hardcover authored by sportswriter Greg Brown, who has also profiled the lives of Vince Carter and Dan Marino. “I lived in depressed places, and I’ve felt depression,” Carmelo told Brown. “My biggest goal growing up was surviving.” With the addition of a new coach and gal pal LaLa, it seems that Melo may be moving ahead.

Boulder photographer John B. Weller fell in love with the Great Sand Dunes years ago, and he began documenting the beautiful sand swells on repeated trips. His compilation, Great Sand Dunes National Park: Between Light and Shadow, released by Westcliffe Publishers last year, is a stunning introduction to a unique part of our state. And while Weller was torn about over-publicizing the fragile area, he believes that the more people come to love the Dunes, the better the chances of preserving them.

Dolph Grundman, a Metro State history professor, became interested in a lost chapter of Denver’s sporting history while doing research for a class. He discovered that for a few decades, Denver was a center of the basketball universe, hosting the annual AAU men’s basketball championship on the stage of the Auditorium Theatre. And while the game was light-years away from today’s run-and-gun NBA, Grundman found that the corporate-sponsored teams — including the Denver Piggly Wigglys — helped pave the way for today’s hoopsters. Heck, there was even a squad called the Nuggets. The era lives again in Grundman’s tome The Golden Age of Amateur Basketball: The AAU Tournament, 1921-1968.

Of course you want to Live Strong. But what if you don’t have a multimillion-dollar U.S. Postal Service or Discovery Channel sponsorship: Can you still be like Lance? Yes, thanks to Carmichael Training Systems and the Internet. For anywhere between $39 and $500 a month, the Colorado Springs-based CTS — and, yes, Chris Carmichael does train Lance Armstrong — will train you for your next big athletic event via your computer. Packages range from the Classic — send your training questions to a chat forum — to the Ultimate, which entitles you to a daily phone conversation with your personal coach. The actual sweating is up to you.

First things first: Matrix Fitness|Spa is not cheap. You pay for every amenity. But, oh, the amenities. The posh new place in the Beauvallon is packed full of them, from the locker rooms to the spa to the gym floor. The weights are made of urethane, so there’s no clanking and clanging. Each piece of cardio equipment has its own flat-screen TV monitor, so there’s no fighting over the remote. Plus, the screen gives you Internet access and allows you to order food from the Beauvallon restaurants and read magazines online. And best of all, it’s not packed or full of meatheads, so you can get in, get a serious workout and get out. Feel the burn.

Like most women with similar goals, you head to the gym with visions of sugar buns dancing in your head, but the sad truth of the matter is evident in those hammy hocks you continue to inspect in the mirror each day. In fact, half the challenge of working out in public is overcoming the self-consciousness you feel when you must expose your jiggling contours to the world, particularly to members of the opposite sex. Truth, we’re afraid, ain’t always beauty. But there’s safety in numbers at Ms. GoodBody, where the only people looking are most likely in the same boat as you, body-wise, and the workouts and exercise programs cater particularly to women’s concerns and needs. What a boon for your buns.

Looking for a little girl-on-girl action? Then head over to the 20th Street Recreation Center on Wednesday nights for the women-only boxing class. For one hour a week, a half-dozen street-savvy ladies practice their right hooks, uppercuts, jabs and roundhouses. Although this is strictly a no-contact class, 20th Street is a serious boxing gym, with fighters in the ring around the clock. So don’t expect some chichi tae bo or kickboxing class — and don’t forget to bring shampoo and conditioner, because the locker rooms are the epitome of stripped down. But for just $5 a class or $125 a year (includes access to all of Denver’s recreational facilities), this is a deal that kicks serious ass.

Team CWW may not boast the most race winners or state records, but if you’re a woman looking to enter the sweaty world of triathlons — yet are too intimidated by the prospect of swimming, biking and running farther than you’ve driven your car in the past month — CWW is a fine place to begin. Founded by Celeste Callahan (who did her first triathlon on a dare more than twenty years ago, at the age of 42) and two friends, CWW is a non-profit corporation dedicated to helping non-athletic women prepare for the Denver Danskin, Tri for the Cure and Boulder Peak triathlons. “If you can swim across a pool with a gun to your head, ride your bike to the end of your driveway and run if someone’s chasing you, you can do a triathlon,” promises Callahan. Training begins with a “get your face wet” pool session in January, progresses to a teeny, tiny triathlon in May, and builds to standard, race-length distances by summer. The cost is $175 for a year of training and support.

This volleypalooza has been going for more than three decades in Aspen. With some 700 teams competing on eighty courts over Labor Day weekend, it sports the title of the nation’s largest volleyball party. Players range in ability from international competitor to laid-back park-grass warrior. Spectators can watch for free, but look out for those the 110 mph shots: If you get beaned, you’ll be seeing stars — and not the normal kind for Glitter Gulch.

While pumpkins take their share of abuse around Halloween, no one seems too upset when these squash go sailing through the blue sky. Denver Urban Gardens’ Aurora-based Delaney Farm hosts the annual Jack-O-Launch, in which participants compete to see how far they can fling the fall fruit via ingenious catapults. Paging Billy Corgan…

Most pitching machines are pretty easy to figure out: They throw fastballs, fastballs and more fastballs. At the Triple Crown Sports Center, however, the gadgets are considerably more sophisticated, tossing curveballs and sliders as well. The joint as a whole is just as notable, with a throwing tunnel, an AstroTurf field, rental cages, a pro shop and more scattered across a 22,000-square-foot space. Individual instruction is available, too, sometimes delivered by fledgling pro players, who use the facility to stay in shape during the off-season. Smacking a curve tossed by a mechanical contraption may not be the same as taking Randy Johnson over the wall, but compared to most pitching machines, the ones at Triple Crown are nasty.

Every other Friday, game fanatics seeking an unbridled go at Warcraft or Counter-Strike sign up to be locked in this facility from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next morning. Unless the computer combatants are over eighteen years old, they must stay inside the site, working away at one of the thirty PCs linked into a gaming server. Drinks are available, but many parents supply goodie bags, complete with an ocean of bottled water. It may not be everyone’s cup of Red Bull, but for some, this is what pulling an all-nighter is all about.

Not long ago, ex-Nugget-turned-sportscaster Bill Hanzlik was even more excited than normal on TV: He announced that there were some 300 Gold Crown coaches at the Pepsi Center for a game with the Portland Trailblazers. The fact that there are 300 basketball coaches anywhere in this once-hoops-starved state is testimony to the boost that Gold Crown — under CEO Hanzlik — has given to the sport. In particular, the foundation has offered much needed support to middle-school teams left high and dry by shortsighted school districts. And unlike some lesser organizations, Gold Crown (which also backs other youth sports) always seems to get its enterprises right. This one’s a slam dunk.

Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball coach Pryor Orser doesn’t get a lot of press, even though his Orediggers play solid hoops and upset the then-number-one-ranked Metro State Roadrunners this past season. But Orser, who can’t rely on getting monster players at what’s called the “School of Minds,” does make use of all-star gunners such as Stephen Bahl. During the summers, emerging Carmelos can learn the fine art of firing the rock during Orser’s summer camps. Don’t expect your kids to learn to showboat and ball-hog, though: Orser is a firm believer in teamwork and the fundamentals.

It goes without saying that the Marx Brothers know just what makes kids tick. Oh, not those zany vaudevillian siblings of old: We’re talking about Tom and Rick Marx, local look-alike brothers with backgrounds in teaching and software development who together founded what is truly a playground for geeks in training. Bits, Bytes & Bots offers year-round classes, drop-in activities and science-inspired pizza parties during which youngsters can create working Lego robots, make movies, or just get a leg up on new technology. The concept is a modern-day natural for summer camp, an openly educational cure for kids who just want to spend their vacation twiddling an Xbox in the den. Start lining up now.

A non-profit venture located along the Sand Creek Greenway at Stapleton, the Urban Farm makes its greatest mark during the school year, when hundreds of kids of all ages pass through its gates to do everything from milk a goat to develop a breeding program for the whole herd. But the farm also supports year-round 4-H and equestrian programs, geared especially toward city kids who otherwise wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to be around animals. Kids in need of a little horse sense but not lucky enough to attend a school that takes advantage of the facility can test the waters during the farm’s summer horsemanship education program, which offers week-long and summer-length classes for all abilities. The program’s price and heart are in the right place, too, so what are you waiting for? Saddle up!

The debate about the perfect campground has probably raged in these parts since Og the Magnificent conked Thorg the Stupid with a saber-toothed tiger jaw during a heated debate. About ten miles southwest of Leadville lies a 22-site gem that can stand the test of even Og’s debate. Located on Halfmoon Creek and nestled at the base of Colorado’s highest peaks, Halfmoon Campground is truly a place to rediscover the reason Coleman makes so much camping gear. They don’t take reservations, so it can be a gamble on weekends, but odds are you’ll find a space at Halfmoon. And maybe a bit of a tiger jaw.

Amusement-park aficionados who feel pukey when confronted with the theme-park fluff of Six Flags Elitch Gardens should head to Lakeside and settle their stomachs on Colorado’s most venerable roller coaster, the Cyclone. But don’t expect to experience the gliding G-forces of today’s modern steel rides: Built in 1940, the Cyclone clangs and jerks passengers through the dives and crests of the weatherbeaten wooden superstructure, making for some serious air time as thighs strain against the meager restraints and rears slide across the seats. Appropriately, the Cyclone is ranked as one of the few remaining classics by the American Coaster Enthusiasts, a group with over 8,000 active members.

Golf is like sex: You want to do it as often as possible in as many places as possible. Another course, another notch on your belt. Should mini-golf be any different? At Putting Edge, you even do it in the dark, for crying (moaning?) out loud. But in real life, mini-golf is for kids, and to that end, Putting Edge is a juvenile showstopper — and a good way to keep youngsters out of trouble. Everything in the place glows, and the usual lame-o windmills have been replaced with challenging, high-tech, sci-fi-looking holes that rush the sport well into the 21st century. It’s a regular hole in one!

With so many new skateparks being constructed in recent years, it’s easy for the latest generation of metro-area riders to forget that street skating originated in the streets. While the concrete playpen known as the Denver Skatepark has an unbeatable urban location in the Central Platte Valley, it’s still true that the most fun and innovative places to skate are those that weren’t created for the activity. Some of the city’s top spots can be hit quickly in a geographical loop — which is necessary to stay one step ahead of the cops. Try the ten-stair in Civic Center Park, the beautiful brick banks of the nearby Colorado History Museum, the selection of benches on top of Market Street Station, or the classic pink ledges at 16th Avenue and Lincoln Street.

Over the past few months, local skaters have been skeptically monitoring the progress of the new concrete skateboard park being constructed behind the Westminster Recreation Center at 10455 Sheridan Boulevard. They have good reason to be wary: The park’s architects, Architerra Group, are responsible for the wonky designs of parks in Federal Heights and Littleton. Luckily, Architerra was aided by some knowledgeable skateboarders, and this park appears to be shaping up nicely. The street course, while a little cramped, has a great-looking pyramid along with some well-angled rails, stairs and ledges. The bowl, which features a loveseat, an over-vert section and a spine transfer, should please the most advanced pool rider. Gnarly. Props to the contractor, American Civil Constructors, and Architerra for a nice addition to the skatepark scene. Here’s a tip for both companies: Hire those skateboarders on as real consultants for future projects — and this time, pay them.

A former coal-mining town in southern Colorado is probably the last place on earth that skaters would expect to find a world-class skatepark. But ever since 2003, when this 14,000-square-foot concrete masterpiece was carved into a gravelly hillside above the city of Trinidad, skaters from all points of the compass have come to pump through its meandering snake run and vertical bowls. The Seattle-based skatepark construction outfit Grindline, which designed and built the creation, once again demonstrated how only a skateboarder’s touch can master the subtleties that make a skatepark both fun and challenging. Some of the most engaging obstacles are the unassuming mogul-like bumps and the small spine ramp — where both experts and amateurs can find a line.

Founded by Colorado college buddies in 1999, trailcentral.com has evolved into a multi-faceted portal for riders throughout Colorado and beyond. Whether it’s the reviewed Ride of the Month or a lively chat triggered by some flatlander looking for advice, the site gives savvy cyclists the goods to stay in gear.

Slowly but surely, the pieces for this thirteen-mile route that cross the old Stapleton Airport site are filling in. Eventually, the soft-surface trail, which is open to non- motorized vehicles only, will connect part of a fifty-mile loop of urban trails, going from the High Line Canal Bikeway in Aurora to the Platte River Greenway. Riders have to adapt to some construction sites, but backers insist that there is light at the end of the tunnel — and plenty of room to roam in the future.

For years, Fruita was known for its orchards filled with fat peaches. Gradually it became know for its intoxicating vineyards. Not surprisingly, this heritage has fostered a love of fat-tire biking. Every spring, the town hosts the Fat Tire Festival, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The fest kicks off with a marathon eighteen-hour ride on April 29, with single-trackers grooving in Highline State Park. Road-bike tours, prizes and other surprises make this event — more than a week’s worth of stuff — a fat load of fun. Though Fruita is still a haul, it’s closer than Moab.

Everyone knows about the pernicious effect of money in politics: Fancy-cat lobbyists use gobs of cash to sleaze their evil corporate agendas into sweetheart legislation. That’s exactly what Jenn Dice, the government liaison for the Golden-based IMBA, does…not. In place of the regular cocktail-party circuit usually plied by Beltway lobbyists, IMBA dispatches Dice, 33, to introduce legislative staffers to its bike-friendly agenda by convincing them to get outside and on a mountain bike. Each year, the organization sponsors spring and fall rides in Riverbend Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. A literal breath of fresh air, the muddy gatherings give the desk-bound policy wonks a saddle-side opportunity to see what mountain biking is all about. And it doesn’t suck for Dice, a former lobbyist for Colorado counties, either. “It’s really cool,” she admits. “It lets me combine what I love doing with my government experience.”

Just because you paid $3,000 for your new titanium-and-carbon-fiber ride doesn’t mean the bike fits your physique. And having the right-sized cycle can mean the difference between hours of blissful injury-free pedaling and weeks of constant rehab for your clicking knees. Many bike shops now offer a bike-fitting service. But why mess around? Go to the guy who literally invented the concept: Andy Pruitt, director of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. At $180 for a “performance” fit or $400 for a three-dimensional cycling analysis, Pruitt or one of his staff will customize your bike to your body’s twisted idiosyncrasies. Ride on!

The logic of snowshoeing became apparent around here two years ago this March, when some blizzard-socked folks used the devices to get from their living rooms to their garages. But snowshoeing has benefits beyond survival — and ‘S No Wonder! Tours, run out of the Breckenridge Nordic Center, offers folks the chance to get on the mountain without being run over by a crazed snow-cyclist. A half-day trip up Peak 7 to the Hallelujah Hut is just the thing to make winter cool again.

With the traffic and crowds, sometimes you just have to leave the I-70 corridor to get a relaxing skiing experience. Try driving west another hour to Glenwood Springs. Ten miles outside the city, you’ll find Sunlight, a nostalgic world away from the hustle and bustle of the Summit County madhouse. Decent-sized — the longest ride is four miles long — Sunlight sells lift tickets all season for only $36, 1980 prices at most other resorts. Parking is free; a studio rental in the well-worn, nearly forty-year-old ski-in, ski-out Brettelberg condos is just $120 a night; and a lift line is as rare a sighting as a Yeti.

Most professional snowboarders are all about themselves: What move can I bust today? Will my picture be in the next magazine spread? Breckenridge’s Jesse Csincsak is the rare exception: a snowboarder who gives back to his sport. Four years ago, the Ohio native started J-SAK Snowboarding, a non-profit corporation that raised money — and then gave it away to promising young riders. The cash isn’t about to make anyone rich; a season pass and some tournament entry fees are standard endowments from J-SAK. But for a demographic that is marginally employed to begin with, a few extra bucks can keep a boarder in ramen for an entire season.

At a time when it seems that every ski area is turning into a real-estate venture with a faux Ye Olde Alpine Village at its base, Loveland is a welcome throwback. The runs may be shorter than those at nearby mega-resorts, but what you get in return is priceless. There are no condos or ski-in, ski-out chalets slopeside, no golf course to pull in guests when the snow is gone. In other words, the only reason to come here is the riding. Parking is free, and even if you’re on the far edges of the lot, you’re never more than a three-minute walk to the lift. Unlike the resorts on the far side of the Divide, there is also no atmosphere of privilege suffocating the place. The food is reasonably priced — ask the french-fry guy to pile your plate high; he will — and the people who work at Loveland all seem to love what they do. Families come here year after year for the short drive, the homey feel and the prices: A kid’s full-day lesson costs about 40 percent less than it does at a resort just up the road.

Longtime Colorado mountain dweller, avid third-generation skier and keeper of a vintage ski museum Richard Allen is more than a collector. He wears his love for dated clothing and equipment — wooden skis, bindings, lace-up boots — on his sleeve and everywhere else, and he’s known for dressing like he just stepped out of a 1950s ski-town snow globe, all reindeer sweaters and low-tech woolen stirrup pants. Now he’s found a way to share his zeal: Vintage Ski World is lined with antique skis, boots and poles, classic posters and other memorabilia, just when old-style is suddenly good style on the slopes.

The golden years never looked more righteous than at the Starbucks inside the flagship REI store, which acts as a hub for cyclists who have all day to ride — and the looks to prove it. Converging in droves from the Platte River, Clear Creek and Cherry Creek bike paths, senior cyclists stop here for their mid-morning beverage break. Bike racks are placed conveniently next to a paved pathway leading to a scenic patio where java junkies can check out the aging action; about 10 a.m. on summer weekdays is peak time. You’ll be counting the minutes until you’re eligible for that AARP discount.

You don’t have to drive hours to get a whitewater thrill. Confluence Kayaking makes a spur-of-the-moment immersion easy. The business rents inflatable kayaks and gear and hosts weekly instructional classes in the University of Denver’s Ritchie Center pool, allowing urban adventurers to test the basics before they shoot the rapids. Once you’re ready, hit the short course along the South Platte River through Confluence Park; from there, it’s just a splash to bigger water elsewhere.

Ahoy, mateys! When the season fer swimmin’ the briny deep’s upon us, get ye down to Englewood, where the Jolly Roger flies o’er Pirates Cove. The City of Englewood water park, replete with three pools, debuted last summer to rave reviews by just about everyone, from the tots in swim diapers to swimmers with serious agendas, and no wonder: There are six lanes for lap swimmers, a lazy-river feature and a leisure pool with play islands, a super-soaking 750-gallon dump bucket (look out below, me buckos!), smoke-belching cannons, a spray park, slides and sound effects. Load up your towels, beach toys, sunscreen, flip-flops, peg legs and eye patches, and head for the pool. Opening day is May 28.

Busy downtown worker bees who still have a jones for hauling in lunkers could be forgiven for thinking that northwest Denver’s Lake Carol Anne is the best thing since climbing walls went indoors. Located ten minutes from downtown, this fourteen-acre catch-and-release private lake is open between March and December. Early season, Carol Anne (named for co-owner Carol Anne Bohn, who, with her husband, Punch, bought the place in 1991) is stocked with several varieties of trout. As the temperature rises, largemouth bass becomes the fish of choice. One thing the swimmers all have in common, though, is size: The trout can weigh as much as fifteen pounds; the bass can tip the scales at eight. “And we have two-pound bluegill,” the real-life Carol Anne says. “Your chances of catching a huge fish here are wonderful.” Of course, great fishing within casting distance of LoDo isn’t free. The Bohns, who limit membership at their pond to 100, charge $500 per year to cast ‘n’ commute.

Most metro-area indoor rec centers struggle to decide what they are. A splash area for kids? A workout pool for adults? As a result, many end up inadequate. Not Wheat Ridge Recreation Center. One side of this massive complex boasts a 120-foot water slide, fountains, a lazy river (free flotation devices available) and an outdoor patio for summer. On the other side, separated by a glass wall, is an eight-lane, 25-yard pool large enough to accommodate anything from a gaggle of geriatric breast-strokers to an entire competitive swimming meet. For the more daring, the adult side also has a springy one-meter diving board where grownups can practice their very mature cannonballs.

For an honest, old-fashioned game of billiards and some of the best action in the area, head to Paradise. This ancient hall is the closest thing you’ll find in Denver to the sort of underground, New York-style dark room where the true pool players lurk. Most days the snooker tables are held by old-timers playing Golf, and the Thursday-evening 9-ball tournament is probably the toughest game around. Road players often stop by when passing through, and the city’s three women pros — Melissa Little, Megan Minerich and Laura Smith — frequently practice here, too.

Northwest Denver is blooming around Tennyson Street, with new restaurants and chichi shops turning the already eclectic enclave into a hipster oasis. But Elitch Lanes, one of the area’s most enduring attractions, remains pleasantly stuck in the past: Every night of the week, it’s just balls, bad shoes and devoted bowlers knockin’ ’em down the well-waxed pine lanes. Elitch’s prices, and the grandpa’s-basement interior, recall an earlier time, too: During Quarter Mania on Tuesday and Thursday nights, games, shoe rental and hot dogs run 25 cents a pop (with a $4 cover); College Night takes over on Wednesdays, with dollar games, shoes and beer. It’s an inexpensive and fun way to check somebody out: After a few hours on the lanes, you’ll have a good sense of whether you’re rolling strikes or gutter balls.

Sometimes bowling in a clean, well-lit, family-friendly alley just isn’t what you’re after. You want the chipped-linoleum bathroom, the dissolute attendant with the half-inch of ash hanging off his cigarette, the scarred and oddly colored balls that never fit your fingers quite right, the heavy-metal jukebox, the attached bar serving only urine-colored beer and barely heated frozen food. In other words, a bowling alley in the mold of Rocky’s meat locker. Enter Golden Bowl, where there never seems to be a wait for a lane and the pencils are always sharp for that “old-time” scoring (you remember how to score a spare, right?). Besides, you haven’t really bowled until you’ve hit Monday’s “dollar night”: kamikazes and bowling for a buck each. Now, that’s entertainment.

Clean, well-kept and well-maintained, these thirty lanes are where some of the city’s best bowlers congregate. Owner Dave Allen has been in the game for nearly as long as people have been rolling heavy spheres down shiny wooden floors at a pyramid of pins, and his experience shows. The lanes are always consistently and meticulously oiled — conditions conducive to high rolling. The result is no surprise: According to the Denver Bowling Association, more 300 games and 800 series are recorded at Holiday than at any other local lanes.

Who cares that the All-Star Jam, which the NBA unleashes annually, was crassly commercial when it arrived here? The Jam had more product endorsements than an infomercial, but there were several flashes of inspiration among the sellabration of all things bling. One took place on the day before the actual All-Star Game, when Shaq Daddy himself played a little one-on-one with some local kids, including a few from the Montbello High School boys’ team. And even though Shaq was surrounded by security and ads for a candy bar, it was one of the few occasions when fans met the big names.

In a rush for the honor of being first to shell out 120 bucks for the new Michael Jordan sneakers at Niketown, visitors to February’s NBA All-Star festivities shoved, jostled and exchanged harsh words with each other on the 16th Street Mall. No one was shot, knifed or clubbed, but by the time happy consumers laced up their new Jordans and returned to the pavement outside, the real motivation behind NBA marketing became clear: Sell brand-name products, and lots of them.

For decades, hardly anyone knew the University of Denver even had a women’s tennis team. But when coach Dana Young’s charges unexpectedly won the Sun Belt Conference title last spring and earned an NCAA tournament berth, even the Williams sisters couldn’t have caused a bigger stir on campus. The team’s number-one singles player, then and now, is a steady blond slugger named Yanick Dullens from Susteren, Netherlands, who went 26-7 in matches last year and continues to lead the Pioneers, whose 8-2 mark this season promises another NCAA appearance. A senior who also plays number-one doubles, Dullens is 16-8 in singles matches and 20-9 in doubles this year.

It may be that Mike Dunlap, a fiery Alaskan who led the Metro State Roadrunners to NCAA Division II Basketball titles in 2000 and 2002, is the best sports coach in Colorado at any level. A master motivator who pressures his young men as fiercely as they apply pressure defense on the court, Dunlap has recently overseen 35 straight home wins, took league and regional titles again this year, and seeks national tournament glory once more for the 19,000-student commuter school on Denver’s Auraria campus. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champs are 29-3 this year and ranked number two in Division II. To their relief, Dunlap is staying put: Long the hiring target of Division I programs, he’s just rebuffed the latest feelers — from Loyola Marymount, in California.

Talk about dramatic turnarounds. When hard-nosed George Karl, late of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Seattle Sonics, took over as the Denver Nuggets’ head coach on January 27, they had a dismal 17-25 record under fired Jeff Bzdelik and fill-in Michael Cooper, and fans had begun to boo the lackluster efforts of highly paid stars like Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby. Since then, though, the resurgent Nugs have played 18-5 ball, and they’ve apparently nailed down a Western Conference playoff spot. The difference appears to be the no-nonsense leadership of Karl, who has a rep for treating young players harshly but now seems to be getting the best out of teenager Anthony and Brazilian work-in-progress Nene. The team’s 8-4 record in February earned Karl Coach of the Month honors; he’d prefer to win the award in April.

When George Gwozdecky’s underrated DU Pioneers team won the NCAA national championship last spring, college hockey was shocked. No surprise if the Pis repeat this season. After trailing archrival Colorado College in the polls for most of the year, DU (28-9-2) knocked off the Tigers in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title game last Saturday with a 1-0 win and moved on to the NCAA tournament as a solid second choice behind Boston College. Look for the high-scoring Pioneers, backstopped by a pair of fast-developing young goaltenders, to come out as tough-minded and confident as ever in another surge to the Frozen Four.

Former Montreal Canadiens star and University of Denver coach Ralph Backstrom has struck gold as general manager of the scrappy, high-scoring Colorado Eagles, the second-year minor-league hockey team that’s giving game-starved NHL fans a happy (and inexpensive) alternative at the sold-out Budweiser Events Center (aka the “Bud Barn”) near Loveland. The Eagles led the Central Hockey League with a daunting 43-10-7 record, and forward Greg Pankiewicz, who has NHL experience, was voted the CHL’s best player.

Rather than banish pro hockey from its pages after NHL owners locked out players, editors at the Post wisely decided to have a little fun, recruiting kids between ages eight and fourteen to square off against each other in Xbox hockey clashes. Not only has this gimmick been a great way to introduce members of the Internet generation to newspapers, but it’s given hockey scribes such as Adrian Dater an opportunity to try their hand at creative fiction. In the February 28 Post, for instance, Dater had Avs GM Pierre Lacroix denying that he’d responded to a loss by shouting “Heads will roll!,” insisting that he’d actually said “Let’s get on a roll.” Sportswriting like that takes the sting out of the work stoppage.

With the 2004-2005 National Hockey League season officially in the grave, Colorado Avalanche fanatics have only one place to turn: Altitude. The new cable-sports network, founded by Stan Kroenke as a showcase for the professional teams he owns (most prominently, the Avs and the Denver Nuggets), may not have any new matches to broadcast, but it’s got plenty of old ones. Programmers have the luxury of picking and choosing based on the final outcome, and thus far, they’ve selected thrilling victories, not discomfiting defeats. There’s precious little suspense, but loads of icy satisfaction.

What a sublime moment for Colorado’s two dominant college hockey teams to rise to the top of the national standings. While the National Hockey League cools its skates off the ice, last season’s surprising NCAA champions, the Denver Pioneers, are seeded second in the sixteen-team NCAA tournament field; their hated rivals from Colorado College are — wouldn’t you know it? — number three. The Pis (28-9-2) and the Tigers (29-8-3) split the four games they played this season, and DU beat CC 1-0 to win the Western Collegiate Hockey Association title. Next, it’s on to the NCAAs and the renewal of a bitter rivalry that dates back to 1949 and encompasses 254 match-ups.

The Colorado Avalanche may have seen the last of its beloved two-time Stanley Cup hero, Peter Forsberg. This year’s National Hockey League owners’ lockout has driven hundreds of NHL players to Europe, including former league MVP Forsberg. He was playing for Modo in his native Sweden’s well-respected, finesse-oriented Elite League until a serious concussion felled him earlier this month. “Foppa” had announced last September that he would remain in Sweden for the entire season, even if part of the NHL schedule was saved. But the latest injury to the 31-year-old star is likely to end his career altogether.

One of Major League Soccer’s staunchest play-breakers and a leading attacker as well, Argentina-born defender Pablo Mastroeni is, at age 29, one of the league’s most respected players. Named the Colorado Rapids’ team captain last year, the 5’10”, 170-pound speedster has split time between the Rapids and the U.S. National Team since arriving in Colorado in 2002, and his peerless work ethic earned him the team’s 2004 Black and Blue Award, given to the player who best exemplifies the team’s never-say-die spirit. He played his college soccer at North Carolina State.

What can you say about the National Lacrosse League’s all-time leading scorer as he plays his fourteenth and final season, except that he is the standard by which all other players are measured? Having led the Mammoth since the team arrived in Denver from Washington in 2002, Gary Gait is the Michael Jordan of his sport; he’s been the NLL’s most valuable player six times, a seven-time goal-scoring champion and a seven-time points leader. Every year, he’s been selected as a first-team All-Pro. Gait began his pro career in 1991 with the Detroit Turbos (he was Rookie of the Year), and will finish here in Denver. “This game, this team and this town have been great to me,” he says. “Now it’s time to say goodbye.” Lacrosse fans will never see another like him.

The foundation for all that might be in the Colorado Rockies’ uncertain future, first baseman Todd Helton is one of the greatest players in baseball — a perennial Gold Glove candidate whose .339 lifetime batting average is highest among all active players and whose .616 slugging average (the number of total bases divided by the number of at-bats) is the fourth-highest in major-league history — even better than Barry Bonds’s number. Signed through 2011 with a club option for 2012, the eight-year veteran from Tennessee remains the rock on which the young Rockies are built. Call them Todd and the Toddlers.

Shannon Sharpe’s on the pre-game set, yakking away. Ed McCaffrey’s in his easy chair. The guy with everything — or everything to gain — is University of Northern Colorado wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who should go high in next month’s NFL draft, despite the presence of some big-name receivers from big-name schools. A 6’5″ senior out of Widefield High School in Colorado Springs, Jackson had 1,462 yards and 21 touchdowns as a junior for the Bears, and this fall, when the team was overmatched in its move up to Division I-AA, he still caught eighty passes for 1,382 yards and eleven touchdowns, annihilating the UNC record book and winning All-American honors. Did we mention that Jackson weights 245 pounds and runs the forty in 4.4 seconds? Wow.

Who let the dogs out? The Mile High City is host to one of the winningest football teams in history: the Denver Bulldogs. The Australian Rules Football team has won four national championships — three of them consecutive — in just six seasons playing, the most of any U.S. footy team. And this ain’t no Sunday in the park: Padding is prohibited, and hard hits are de rigueur. The only downside to Bulldog fanaticism is that most games are on the road; until recently, the closest teams to match up against were the Salt Lake Seagulls and the Arizona Hawks. But sports fans ready for some football — some serious, manly football — can head over to Bible Park at 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings to watch training once the season starts at the end of March. Go, Dogs!

Was it simply a coincidence that the 2004 Denver Broncos started careering downhill at roughly the same time that quarterback Jake Plummer let his chin pubes blossom? Yeah — but the correlation between the team’s losing skid and the knot of tangles that took over Plummer’s mug was too irresistible to ignore. Talk-radio hosts debated the connection, sportscasters made sarcastic remarks about Grizzly Adams (a pop-culture reference lost on anyone under age forty), and the average fan on the street wondered if a rechargeable Norelco might save another lost season. No doubt everyone will rest easier if, for the 2005 campaign, Plummer has close shaves off the field as well as on.

Many NFL players dismiss kickers as undersized freaks who rarely take a bone-jarring hit. But where would the Denver Broncos be without steady, unflappable Jason Elam? The twelfth-year pro out of the University of Hawaii ranks fourteenth on the all-time NFL scoring list, and 2004 marked his twelfth consecutive 100-point season — the longest such streak in league history. Last year, the three-time Pro Bowler connected on 29 of 34 field-goal attempts (with a long of 52 yards) and now stands third in Broncos history in regular-season games played (188). One last thing: Elam’s two Super Bowl rings remind current teammates of the Broncos’ late-’90s glory days.

The future of the new-look Nuggets may be Carmelo Anthony, but the soul of the team’s tough, take-no-prisoners attitude is multi-millionaire forward Kenyon Martin. The 6’9″, 234-pound K-Mart came to Denver last summer from the New Jersey Nets with four years of NBA experience, 51 playoff games and a reputation for tireless, bruising play on his resumé — in other words, everything GM Kiki Vandeweghe and coach George Karl could ask for as the Nuggets fight for a post-season berth again this year. Martin is Denver’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, and the embodiment of the team’s newfound grit.

If he were, say, a member of another species, the Denver Nuggets’ agile, sharpshooting mascot, Rocky the Mountain Lion, could probably solve the team’s outside scoring problem. For fifteen years, he’s been draining it from half-court — backwards — and he’s not bad slam-dunking off a trampoline, either. With his floppy red sneakers and a rakish bolt of lightning for a tail, this perennial crowd favorite remains the league’s most popular mascot — as evidenced by the love players and fans showered on him at this year’s NBA All-Star Game.

In the pre-George Karl era, there was nothing much for Nuggets fans to get excited about. Except one thing: Nesting Doll giveaway nights. The sheer absurdity of the promotion was irresistible, compelling crowds to stream into the Pepsi Center despite the potential loss. On December 26, early fans scored Nene nesting dolls. They weren’t disappointed with the three Nenes stacked inside each other, and the true believers came back in droves for Andre, Kenyon and Marcus. By the time Melo — the last in the five-part series — was offered, the Nugs appeared to be back, lending a luster to those five grinning dolls.

Vodka rocks? Hooker in the hotel room? Little weed? Hey, while they’re at it, why don’t the mooks in the University of Colorado athletic department lay something really special on their football recruits: A pep talk from Professor Ward “Sacred Buffalo” Churchill. Instead of explaining X’s and O’s (or even court orders to appear before the grand jury), Coach Churchill could stress the value of crisp downfield blocking against the U.S. Justice Department and the importance of listening to everything quarterback Osama bin Laden says in the CU huddle. Go, Buffs! Beat Eichmann State!

She doesn’t own a nearby liquor store, which is a major plus. But Ceal Barry, who bowed out this year as basketball coach of the Lady Buffs, does hold a winning record that would be hard for any other candidate for CU’s next athletic director to beat. Through two-plus decades in Boulder, she’s kept her eye on the ball. That means she knows her student athletes are students, first and foremost, and deserve to experience all the best that a CU education can bring (which is plenty — not that you’d know it from the headlines these days). And if those student-athletes win some important titles along the way, so much the better. Barry recognizes that at CU, it’s not whether you win or lose, but how the game is played — with honor and integrity and honesty. Which makes us wonder: Why waste her on the AD job? There’s that presidency open, too.