You say tomato, I say notes. …
A Rockies pitcher – Jeff Francis, in this case – being subjected to the Sports Illustrated cover jinx? All right, Rox fans, on cue … Turn up the humidor!! …
On the off chance you didn’t know the Rockies have entered the Twilight Zone, mild-mannered Todd Helton got tossed the other night by an umpire who looked all of 16….
Forget timely hitting and consistent pitching. The time has come for the Rox to switch to Plan B: sandpaper and cork. …
Not that the Rockies’ Lost in America Tour has been a complete disaster. They had this kick-butt Chardonnay on the team charter the other day. …
Going into Saturday night, the Rox had lost 10 of their past 11. And you thought Mark McGwire didn’t want to talk about the past. …
Word out of Las Vegas is that Team USA coaches view Carmelo Anthony as one of the top five players in camp. And please note that Melo has been getting some work at power forward, a position he’ll play next season when George Karl throws his changeup – a smaller, quicker lineup – at the opposing coach. …
Bottom line on Melo: He’s been every bit as good as advertised, but he needs to become more of a complete player. Dwyane Wade, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 5.7 rebounds a game last season compared to 4.9 for the Melo Fellow. …
Happy trails to Francisco Elson, one of the nicest guys to wear a Nuggets jersey in recent years. Don’t waste too much time, though, wondering whether the Nuggets can replace him. To wit: He averaged 6.4 fouls a game last season, prorated over 48 minutes. …
If newest Nugget J.R. Smith doesn’t become a solid NBA player, it wouldn’t be for lack of support from his family. Dude has tattoos of his grandparents, parents and five siblings scribbled on his arms. …
Smith had committed to North Carolina two years ago before deciding to skip college. So what happens? The Tar Heels win the national championship in what would have been his freshman year. Does he think about what might have been? “All the time,” he said. “Coach Karl and I were just talking about that.” …
The British Open is being played at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Makes you wonder why we haven’t heard some poor sap in a pot bunker screaming “‘Help! I need somebody, help! Not just anybody, heeeeelp!” …
Talk about your long, strange trips. How weird is it watching a major championship being played on a brown golf course? It’s like watching Boise State on that blue carpet. …
True, but strange: Only one-quarter – eight of 32 – of NFL head coaches played in the league. That’s compared to Major League Baseball, where 25 of 30 managers made it to The Show. …
How cool is this? Fans of Barry Bonds can get all the latest news on their hero by simply dialing up www.barrybonds.com. Either that or the FBI’s official website. …
And now for today’s reality check: As creepy as this whole Bonds mess has become, Bud Selig would have no business suspending him if he gets indicted down the road. It’s a suspicion, not indisputable proof of guilt. If Selig wants proof of guilt, he should have checked out Brett Myers’ wife’s swollen face. You don’t hear Da Commish threatening to suspend Myers, do you? …
Point is, as much as we’d all like him to, Selig can’t single out Bonds just because he’s a bad guy and happens to be chasing Hank Aaron’s home run record. Who’s kidding whom here? We’ve got an entire generation of ballplayers on our hands who’ve been using illegal drugs as if they were chewing gum. …
Broncos training camp is almost upon us, meaning the most overplayed story in sports is about to hit the headlines. That being, of course, draft choices signing their contracts. This will become a story just as soon as the first draft pick decides to skip the NFL to teach phys ed for 30 grand. …
It took more than a century, but we had a major-league first in Toronto last week. They fired one of the players instead of the manager. Speaking of Shea Hillenbrand, don’t be surprised when he emerges as a key figure in the NL West race now that he’s a Giant. …
And finally, not that ESPN is beating a live horse, but one more update on the Kentucky Derby winner, and Barbaro will have gotten more career air time than Mr. Ed.
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.
