Notes Madness …
Colorado the Cradle of Coaches in hoopdom? Not exactly. Then again, former Nuggets coach Mike D’Antoni, ex-Nuggets guard Avery Johnson and former Air Force assistant Gregg Popovich are the proud owners of three of the NBA’s four best records. Not only that, Detroit’s Flip Saunders once vacationed in Vail. …
From the age-is-only-a-number dept.: Our State is home to two of college football’s oldest coaches. Sonny Lubick, who’ll turn 69 a week from today, is the fifth-oldest coach in Division I-A. Fisher DeBerry, meanwhile, is sixth at 67. The four oldest coaches in da bid’ness? Joe Paterno (79), Bobby Bowden (76), Howard Schnellenberger (71) and Bobby Ross (69). …
Then there’s Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema and K-State’s Ron Prince, at 36 the youngest coaches in I-A. …
A handful of my spies spotted Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson last week in downtown Denver. No, that doesn’t mean he was headed for Dove Valley. Word is he was on a business trip. …
NBA all-star, NBA finals MVP, NBA championship ring bearer … and now the most popular athlete in the state of Michigan. The good times keep rolling for Chauncey Billups. He recently finished first in the Detroit Free Press’ annual Best of Michigan reader poll, outdistancing Brendan Shanahan by more than a 2-to-1 margin. …
So anyway, I’m listening to all this speculation that checkbook football is around the corner. That the NFL, staring at an uncapped 2007 season, will go the way of baseball. That Dan Snyder is destined to be the next George Steinbrenner. When pigs land at DIA, sports fans. NFL owners prefer fans to build their stadiums and players to put money in their pockets, not vice versa. …
Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, on the many wonders of curling: “You never hear it in the same sentence with ‘collective bargaining agreement.”‘ …
By the way, that sound you’ve been hearing was CU playing its way out of the NCAA hoops tournament. Question now is how CU AD Mike Bohn will respond. Let’s see now, what did he do to his last coach whose team petered out late in the season? …
Mark it down, pigskin junkies. De- Berry and Dan Hawkins speaking at the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation Kickoff Luncheon on June 21. Site, details to follow. …
From the e-mail bag: “In view of the disconnect between the Rockies’ spin machine and the Vegas view (69 wins), perhaps we should change the Rox’s marketing theme to ‘R You In-sane?”‘ …
Don’t know much, but I know this: If the Rockies win 69 games, they’re going to do it in front of a whole lot of empty seats. …
For the record, I’m thinking 74 to 76 W’s for the Men of Monfort. Shouldn’t be asking too much considering all the tall talk coming out of Tucson. …
Talk about a team ahead of its time. Ohio State is the best hoops team in the Big Ten and all-world recruit Greg Oden, the 7-footer from Indy, has yet to arrive on campus. …
Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press, speculating that Vince Young would be a perfect fit for the Lions after reportedly scoring a 6 on the Wonderlic test: “He settled for two field goals.” …
Young says he feels “disrespected” that his score was leaked to the media. Disrespected? You might as well get used to it, kid. You might end up with the Texans. …
Not that Gary Kubiak intends to select Young with the first pick in the NFL draft. It’s possible, of course, but only if Young grades out as a better offensive tackle than Virginia’s D’Brickashaw Ferguson. …
Forget Paula Abdul’s looks. If only Barry Bonds had her legs. ESPN “Baseball Tonight” host Karl Ravech tells ESPN radio he doesn’t believe Bonds’ knees can hold up for 20 games. …
The relievers are running the asylum in Major League Baseball. To wit: Juan Marichal pitched 30 complete games in 1968. The entire National League West had 24 last season. …
Add Saints center LeCharles Bentley to the list of those who’ve left New
Orleans and aren’t going back. Rumor has it he’s a lock to sign with the Eagles when the free-agent signing period commences. …
The Iditarod started Saturday with 1,340 dogs running through downtown Anchorage, Alaska. No word on whether the Knicks had a scout in the crowd.
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
