Wake Up Denver

First, I apologize for the lack of posting. It was a long weekend, off Monday, and I was still grieving over my inability to sink a 10 footer when needed. But also, there was seriously nothing to write about yesterday. What...the Spurs won? No one saw that coming...

So today, we divulge into the mountains...or at least about 100 miles East of Vail to talk about the teams in Denver. Yeah, that's right DENVER. What you are probably thinking is what in God's name would provoke someone to write about DENVER concerning sports. Well, now you get to find out.

Last night, the Colorado Rockies (who play in DENVER) won their seventh game in a row beating the World Champion, and 20-29, St. Louis Cardinals 8-3 giving the Rockies a 25-27 record in the NL West. If you know anything about sports, the NL West is always up for grabs. I don't really care how good John Kruk says the Dodgers are, anyone can win that division if their record is a few games over .500. How they have put together this streak is fairly impressive.

The Rockies have a team ERA of 4.58. Now, I understand that is nothing really to be proud of but they do play in DENVER and the Rockies have never had decent pitching. This is decent. Next, they have scored 210 total runs in their 51 games this season. If those same 51 games, they've given up 251! They have been noticeably outscored by their opponents, but they are still almost a .500 team. What does this mean? The young team is finding a way to win.

In the past week, Todd Helton has gone 5-18 (.278) with an RBI and a run scored. PS, 4 of those hits came in one night. Garrett Atkins has gone 5-26 (.192) with 2 runs and 2 RBI. Two of their studs not really participating in a great run and yes Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe have been hitting normally, but they are getting exceptional play out of their other players. Kaz Matsui is playing like he was supposed to when he came over the Pacific and rookie Troy Tulowitzki is playing his way into ROY consideration. For the first time, ever, the Rockies are playing like a team...picking up for those struggling and learning as the young team they are. Playing like a team...a page taken out of the Bronco's playbook.

The Rockies are coming around and are a very young team. They will ditch Helton's contract, all $16.6 million of it which will make Kaz Matsui their most financially obligated player. The Nuggets are going to be good while Melo and AI learn to play together. Everyone in Colorado loves the Avalanche and as long as the running game is still a legal form of offense in the NFL, the Broncos are going to be contenders. Don't look now America, but DENVER is becoming a legit sports town and a good one at that. As long as they continue to grow, their young teams will learn to produce...and the Broncos will run the football. But how can I possibly forget the final factor that makes DENVER a great sports town; their baseball field...Coors Field.


P.S. A friendly reminder...the French Open has begun.