It makes sense that C.J Cron has gone virtually unnoticed for the last nine years. The first baseman/DH spent the first four years of his major league career in the shadows of Mike Trout and Albert Pujois in Anaheim. The next three years were spent buried in the obscurity of the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, and Detroit Tigers. After batting just .190 for the Tigers, and with limited options, Cron found himself signing a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies that happened to include an invitation to Spring Training. Making the major league roster was quite the accomplishment but... Read More

Name any baseball movie and you will generally find loveable losers that conquer in the end. A drunk coach, a female pitcher, and a team of misfits turn it around in The Bad News Bears. Jake Taylor and his team of castoffs take Cleveland to the playoffs in Major League. And once Roy Hobbs finally gets his shot (no pun intended if you’ve read the book), the fledgling New York Knights are practically unbeatable in The Natural. Unfortunately, the Colorado Rockies are not a movie. The script reads like one with frugal owners, star players leaving for greener pastures, and a roster full of colorful... Read More

Maybe the trick to enjoying the NFL draft is not to participate in it. In 2021 the Denver Broncos passed on linebacker Micah Parsons. The 2020 draft gave us Jerry Jeudy instead of Justin Jefferson. Noah Fant was hardly the steal of 2019, Josh Allen was available in 2018, Garett Bolles has been holding since 2017, and the 2016 NFL Draft…..that was Paxton Lynch. The Denver Broncos ended up trading a boat load of picks for quarterback Russell Wilson, finally joining the festivities with the 64th pick, and last one of round two. But let’s be honest. By the 64th pick, the Broncos could have... Read More

The term March Madness was practically an understatement for this year’s NCAA Championships. Gonzaga couldn’t make it past the Sweet Sixteen, North Carolina had an epic battle against Duke, and Saint Peter’s knocked off Kentucky, Murray State, and Purdue. The NFL gave us its own version of March Madness with Tyreek Hill joining the Dolphins, Davante Adams going to Vegas, and Russell Wilson heading to the Broncos. Baseball joined in on the March Madness by ending its lockout, implementing the DH in the National League, and starting a Free Agent frenzy. The hope was that March Madness would... Read More

Stop me if you have heard this story before.  A young team with playoff potential trades their best player, fires their General Manager, fails to develop their pitching staff, and eventually ends up 32.5 games out of first place with a record of 74-87. Meanwhile, ownership cries about the woes of being in a small market environment, defends himself by stating that his team has the 11th highest payroll in the major leagues, and fans exit the gates as soon as “last call” is announced. It started with Matt Holliday leaving back in 2008, then Troy Tulowitzki in 2015. DJ LeMahieu left for a batting... Read More

Tourists lined the streets of LoDo, legends returned to the X Games, and the coronavirus continued to steal the headlines.  A look at the whacky week that was in the world of sports. Coors Field hosted the All-Star Game festivities this past weekend, including Monday’s Homerun Derby, a fan favorite. The balls were flying out in record numbers as the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, Colorado’s Trevor Story, and eventual derby winner Pete Alonso put on a show. Story performed well in the homerun contest but continues to struggle during his regular-season hitting a mere .246 with just 11 homeruns. The... Read More

For a moment it was if sports were all the way back.  Large galleries followed golfers around Torrey Pines at the US Open, NBA playoff games were being played with crowds at full capacity, and UFC Fight Night was no longer at Fight Island off the coast of Dubai, but rather, Treasure Island off the Strip in Las Vegas. At the Kentucky Derby thousands of fans cheered on their horse in most elegant hats, and at the Tour de France thousands more lined cobblestone streets.  Boisterous fans clamored behind home plate at the College World Series, and tennis officials were once again asked to quiet fans... Read More

Late in the third period, the outcome was obvious.  The Colorado Avalanche had just scored their seventh goal of the night and the Las Vegas Golden Knights had no answer.  The Avalanche faithful of more than 10,000 fans pounded on the glass and waved their white pom-poms.  The score was now 7-1 and the first game of the second round of the NHL playoffs was all but over.  The Knights had only one move left. Bring in the Goon Squad. The first line was pulled from the ice to make room for five Las Vegas mercenaries and their mission to make things ugly. The game finished with cheap shots, bloodied... Read More

After a year of isolation, I slowly entered the health club with a gym bag around my shoulder and a mask upon my face.  Regardless of the Peloton bike, exercise ball, and weight bench gathering dust in my living room, I was fully vaccinated, and it was time to get out. It felt like a Saturday, but in the aftermath of quarantine naming days, months, or even years remained a challenge.  The gym was quiet as I reintroduced myself to the various machines, worked out for about an hour, then headed to the jacuzzi to ease a few aches. The confusion began once exiting the locker room as a high school... Read More

The Washington Football Team recently asked for fan input to find a new name for its NFL franchise.  Once known as the Redskins, the franchise abandoned the controversial team name after years of public pressure, eventually settling on calling the team the Washington Football Team until a new name was decided upon.  The organization has asked fans to vote on possible choices such as the Red Wolves, Wild Hogs, Aviators, and more. The organization has even asked for feedback on calling the team the Washington Capitol City Football Club. Hey WFT!  WTF? The conversation had me thinking about team... Read More

Warm weather in April as spectators clammer to their seats.  The sound of laughter echoing off the brick walls of Coors Field.  Thousands of fans singing in unison as Charlie Blackmon strolls to the plate.  Cold beer.  Hot dogs. And losing three-out-of-four to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Baseball is back!  And here are some of the highlights of the opening weekend.   Nolan Arenado was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals and subsequently replaced at third base on Opening Day by his cousin, Josh Fuentes. In other news, the Albuquerque Isotopes, a Colorado Rockies minor league affiliate, signed... Read More

Jeff Bridich has been in a leadership role for the Colorado Rockies organization for more than 14 years.  A graduate of Harvard University and former major league player, Bridich was named Executive Vice President and General Manager back in 2014. Surely a man with an Ivy League education and plethora of experience would know the trade value of a 29-year-old, 5-time All-Star like Nolan Arenado.  Bridich must have had a class or two in negotiation, or at least read a book on deal-making before shopping the 8-time Gold Glove third baseman to the St. Louis Cardinals.  After all, Arenado had averaged... Read More

As congressional leaders continue to work on the latest Coronavirus Relief Bill, a major point of contention between the two parties is how they should handle the expired unemployment benefits.  One side has argued that the $600 a week benefit, which expired on July 31, should be extended by the Federal Government as families continue to struggle in an environment that includes double-digit unemployment, a struggling economy, and a dangerous pandemic. The other side argues that the $600 was too generous as it discouraged Americans from going back to work, often paying the unemployed more than... Read More

As I headed downstairs to make coffee the other morning, I stared at the empty calendar hanging in the kitchen. The quarantine had turned the days and months irrelevant.  My sports-themed, Drew Litton calendar, usually marked up with family activities, summer road trips, and neighborhood barbeques, hung empty. Past July’s had meant trips to the Coast for days on the beach, small town festivals filled with music and food, and visiting family across the states. The highlight of this summer was watching Hamilton on Disney Plus. It was then that I noticed that, according to my calendar, Tuesday,... Read More

While the hungry sports fan has to settle for games of H.O.R.S.E, NBA2K, and replays of March Madness from 1992 as the world quarantines, there has been some optimism recently as many leagues start to brainstorm about returning to their games. The NHL has reported that cities across the country have shown interest in hosting playoff games at neutral-site locations. MLB has reportedly discussed the possibility of the rearrangement of leagues, increased double-headers, and reduction in games.  And the NBA has even toyed with the thought of moving the entire league to the Bahamas until COVID-19... Read More

As teams report to spring training, tension in the Rockies organization has reached an all-time high.  Rumors are flying around that All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado is unhappy with the direction of the ball club, and the treatment he is getting from General Manager Jeff Bridich, who has apparently offered up Arenado in multiple trade discussions. It is so hard for me to pick sides on this one. On the one hand, Arenado is a seven-time Gold Glove coming off another season in which he hit over 40 HRs, drove in more than 100 RBIs, while hitting over .300.  He’s the best player on the team,... Read More

As the final votes were tallied for this year’s Hall-of-Fame and the results confirmed, only two major league baseball players would be going to Cooperstown: New York Yankee great Derek Jeter and Colorado’s own Larry Walker. Both could be called a surprise. The selection of Derek Jeter in his first year of eligibility wasn’t too shocking considering his 20-year career as a Yankee in which he appeared in 14 All-Star games, won five gold-gloves, and won five World Series. The surprise was that the selection wasn’t unanimous as Jeter received 396 out of 397 votes, meaning one sportswriter... Read More

As we take the empty champagne bottles to the recycling bin and begrudgingly grab our gym bags, deep inside we know the inevitable is just days, or weeks away.  The New Year’s Resolutions we have made to give up drinking, or finally get back in shape, just aren’t sustainable. The general problem is that we tend to make our goals too lofty.  We can renew our gym membership, but our five-days-a-week turns into much less than that, and by the time February comes around our New Year’s Resolution is just a faint memory.  Giving up alcohol seems plausible considering the new year generally begins... Read More

It’s barely August. There are more than fifty games left in the regular season, and Colorado Rockies fans have seemed to have given up. Where is your faith? Where is your belief? Colorado has tasted the playoffs two years in-a-row and you sit there like the season is already over. Yes, the Rockies are nine games under .500, more than 20 games behind the Dodgers, and sit in last place in the NL West, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. Just because the Rockies won only 6 out of 24 games in July and gave up 100 runs over a ten-game-stretch from July 13th to July 23rd doesn’t mean it’s over. Sure,... Read More

How fun is baseball these days.  Major League players put on a show in the Home Run Derby last Monday, the All- Star game presented a pitching performance for the ages, and the Colorado Rockies were well represented with All-Stars Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, Charlie Blackmon, and David Dahl. And yet, after 99 games the Rockies are one game under .500. After two years of playoff appearances, Purple Nation is scratching their collective heads over this year’s 44-45 start.  Traditionally, it would be easy to blame it on ownership, youthful exuberance, and skeptical trust in the process. But the... Read More