Is it too soon to jump back on the Rockies’ bandwagon?

Just when it looked like the Colorado Rockies were well on their way to redefining the word “pitiful,” the team has done the seemingly impossible: won five games in a row, including yesterday’s 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. But before you start digging out your 2007 World Series…

J.R. Smith’s case of chattus interruptus

The NBA playoffs raised the profile of Nuggets streak-shooter J.R. Smith to the degree that he was included in “65 in 65,” a series of NBA chats facilitated by ESPN. Problem is, he didn’t show up for the session, which was supposed to take place yesterday — although he apparently…

Yorvit Torrealba kidnapping drama puts Rockies’ woes in perspective

The kidnapping and subsequent safe return in Venezuela of Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba’s eleven-year-old son and brother-in-law certainly makes matters like the firing of manager Clint Hurdle seem minor by comparison. And yet the holding of athletes’ family members for ransom is hardly novel in that country. As noted in…

New Avs coach Joe Sacco’s starpower deficit

The Colorado Avalanche didn’t wait long after the sacking of beleaguered good-guy coach Tony Granato to name his replacement. Yesterday, the team introduced new head man Joe Sacco, who most recently helmed the Lake Erie Monsters, the excellently named Avs’ affiliate in the American Hockey League. From all reports, Sacco…

Calling Dwight Howard: Here’s why you can avenge the Nuggets

Yes, I know that the Nuggets-beating Los Angeles Lakers are supposed to school Orlando in the NBA finals series, which begins tonight. But although I’d have to give the edge to the Lakers, too, I’m not ruling out a sweet, ever-so-satisfying Magic victory. No doubt the refs will give every…

Former Avs coach Tony Granato: Nice guys get sacked

Yesterday afternoon, during a conversation with Sandy Clough and Mike Evans of FM 104.3/The Fan, Tony Granato, who’d beeen canned as head coach of your Colorado Avalanche a short time earlier, came across as the classiest of class acts, expressing gratitude to the franchise that treated him like excess ice…

A parkour-fueled tour of Denver’s APEX Movement

This week’s cover story, “Colorado’s Parkour Pioneers are Running With It,” is all about APEX Movement, the new facility opened by parkour experts Ryan Ford and Matt Marshall that’s the largest parkour gym — anywhere. To experience APEX for yourself, here’s a video tour of the place — featuring lots…

Parkour videos? Yes, please!

As we note in this week’s cover story, “Colorado’s Parkour Pioneers are Running With It,” the discipline of parkour is best described not through words, but through videos. With that in mind, we’ve collected a variety of parkour movies, from locally filmed Colorado Parkour clips like the one above to…

Pigs fly — and Brandon Marshall dodges suspension

The NFL has informed Brandon Marshall’s agent that the Broncos receiver won’t be suspended for a since-dropped March charge of disorderly conduct aimed against him and his current fiancée, Michi Leshase Nogami-Campbell. And as the Denver Post’s Mike Klis implies in the article linked above, Marshall’s representatives will no doubt…

Rockies’ lack of power becomes laughing matter

The Bleacher Report piece “Colorado Rockies No. 1 In Denver Columnist’s MLB Power Rankings” claims that the local ballers have sat Denver Post scribbler Woody Paige’s roster all season, for reasons like these: “This team is showing a lot of determination this season,” said Paige in the article. “Even during…

Why the Nuggets need to re-sign Chris Andersen

When the Denver Nuggets brought back Chris Andersen last year, I had absolutely no problem containing my excitement. But during this past season, including the playoffs, the Birdman proved to be the type of bench player every successful NBA squad needs: one who not only spells the starters, but provides…

Another sex dispute between a Colorado woman and an L.A. Laker

Maybe Los Angeles Lakers players should keep it zipped when they visit Denver. Earlier this decade, Kobe Bryant spent month after month in legal hell after a woman said he’d sexually assaulted her, precipitating a media free-for-all in Eagle County that only ended after his accuser stopped participating in the…

Rockies finally get over Clint Hurdle

This morning, we published a blog asking the musical question, “Clint Hurdle: How Many Times Has He Not Been Fired?” Don’t have to ask that anymore: Believe it or don’t, the Rockies pulled the trigger a few hours later. Bench coach Jim Tracy will serve as interim manager — and…

Shmuck of the Week: Anyone wearing stripes

I was feeling a little Shmuck Light this week, unsure that anyone had really risen their shmuck game to a level deserving of this honor, which is fast becoming the Teen Choice Awards of the half-baked-insult-blog world. I engaged our Twitter friends, and even they, at first, were a little…

Clint Hurdle: How many times has he not been fired?

Yesterday afternoon, I was listening to the Klatt and Kreckman Show on Mile High Sports Radio/AM 1510 when the conversation turned to an item just put online by the Denver Post: To wit, Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle hadn’t been fired yet. That the Post considers a non-event to be…

The Nuggets aim to break up the Kobe-LeBron love match

Okay, okay: I get it. After watching LeBron James’ epic performance during the fourth quarter of Cleveland’s 112-102 victory over the Orlando last night, when he essentially schooled the entire Magic squad singlehandedly, I understand why the NBA, Nike and assorted TV networks would like to see him and Kobe…

Why did Patrick Roy say “no” to Avalanche head coaching gig?

There’s no doubt that the Colorado Avalanche needed Patrick Roy to take over the team as head coach — and when team president Pierre Lacroix decides to obtain someone’s services, he usually succeeds. But not in this case. Shortly after the Denver Post reported that Lacroix had offered him the…