There’s nothing tangible at stake when West meets East in the Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game at 8 p.m. Thursday at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Yet pride is a powerful motivator.
“It will be competitive, even more so than the indoor All-Star Game because all-star games that are less physical by nature tend to be more competitive,” said Denver Outlaws all-star midfielder Brian Langtry, referring to the vast stretches of Invesco, as opposed to the Pepsi Center, where checking into the boards is common.
With players representing six teams from the East versus only four in the West, the East is favored.
“The West has a lot to prove,” Langtry said. “The East has a lot more depth.”
As defending champion of the fastest-shot contest, which he won with a 104 mph blast, Langtry expects to be challenged by Chris Fiore of Long Island and rookie Steven Brooks of Chicago. Teammate Jeff Sonke also is in the halftime event, comprised of two shots each from 30 feet.
A 2-point line contest replaces the accuracy contest and features Denver’s Benson Erwin, an aide for U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Md.), when he’s not roaming the defensive midfield for the Outlaws.
Rochester’s John Grant Jr., the MLL scoring leader with 25 goals and seven assists, is among the contestants who have 60 seconds to shoot 15 balls from beyond the 2-point arc.
The freestyle event pits four exceptional athletes: brothers Ryan Powell of Denver and Mikey Powell of Boston, Long Island’s Stephen Berger and Chazz Woodson of Los Angeles. Mikey Powell is the two-time defending champion.
Major League Lacrosse all-star events
WEDNESDAY
6-8 p.m. — Media party (not open to the public), ESPN Zone, 16th Street Mall; features all-stars, including eight representatives from the Denver Outlaws, and MLL founder Jake “Body by Jake” Steinfeld.
THURSDAY
6 p.m. — Sports Legends Mall on the south side of Invesco Field at Mile High: Outlaws players, Esurance representatives and The Park People, along with local youth lacrosse players and volunteers, plant trees.
8 p.m. — Invesco Field at Mile High: West all-stars vs. East all-stars; tickets: call 303-OUTLAWS; television: ESPN2.
Halftime —Skills competition: Fastest shot, 2-point shot, freestyle.
Postgame — All-Star Game jerseys will be auctioned off at . Proceeds benefit Special Olympics.
THE WEEK AHEAD
PUBLINX TEES OFF
The start for some PGA stars.
Now in its 83rd year, the U.S. Amateur Public Links golf championship — at Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora beginning today — is one of the oldest and most-respected tournaments on the U.S. Golf Association schedule.
Save the U.S. Open, the Publinx championship is the top draw among American golfers without tour cards.
First played in 1922, the tournament will have its highest stakes this year in Aurora. Trevor Immelman in April became the first former Publinx champ to win the Masters. He won the amateur title in 1998 and 10 years later was on top of the professional world. And he wasn’t alone. Right behind him at Augusta was 2003 Publinx winner Brandt Snedeker.
In other words, keep a close eye on the leaderboard during the final round at Murphy Creek on Saturday. The names may well be future PGA Tour stars.
TV GAME OF THE WEEK
Starring on Tuesday.
Let us count the ways baseball’s All-Star Game is clearly more fascinating than the other major sports’ versions.
• The players and managers actually care about the outcome, and the game is not a defenseless display of showoffs.
• The players aren’t required to wear hideous special one-time uniforms, like they are in other sports.
• The introduction of lineups, as a display of baseball’s best, is classy and does not include any over-produced ridiculousness that the NBA seems so fond of.
Rockies fans have an excuse to cheer during the pregame pageantry. Outfielder Matt Holliday will start for the National League team, replacing injured Cub Alfonso Soriano.
The Midsummer Classic at Yankee Stadium airs on KDVR-Channel 31 at 6 p.m., with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in charge of talking us through.
EYES ON ENGLAND
The British jewel.
If film director John Ford had designed a golf course, it might look something like Royal Birkdale Golf Club, site of the 137th British Open championship starting Thursday in Southport, England.
Like Ford’s favorite American Southwest landscapes, with plateaus screaming up out of otherwise flat horizons, Birkdale has a similar dramatic layout. Dunes and hills jut out between fairways and border long holes, forcing pinpoint tee shots.
It also makes for a beautiful backdrop for golf’s best players. Well, most of golf’s best players. Without Tiger Woods on the leaderboard, the rest of the field will be scrambling to get a win while the gettin’s good.
For favorites, see Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who, at 10-1, is odds-on to win. Ernie Els follows at 12-1, and Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Lee Westwood carry 15-1 odds.
Television coverage starts bright and early, at 5 a.m. on TNT, on Thursday and Friday.
DIAMOND NOTES
Sky Sox fill void.
Colorado baseball fans clamoring for games to watch in person don’t have to wait for the Rockies to return to Denver on Thursday.
Now is the perfect time for a trip to Colorado Springs to see the Triple-A Sky Sox at Security Service Field. The Sky Sox host the Fresno Grizzlies today at 12:30 p.m. before taking their all-star break.
Check out pitcher Franklin Morales’ progress since dropping from the big-league club earlier this season.
– Nick Groke
