A new football season dawned last week, and it looked a lot like the last.
Four Front Range big-college teams started the 2008 season as they did 2007. Colorado beat Colorado State at Invesco Field at Mile High, Air Force won big over an oddball opponent and Wyoming kicked off with a victory. Auspicious starts, then and now.
But unlike 2007, which had a bunch of great games late with conference matchups as the highlights, the 2008 season is front-loaded, from high schools to the pros. This weekend will see a slew of top-notch games:
UNC — If this season starts for Northern Colorado as it did in ’07, it’ll be bad news for the Bears. UNC traveled last season to start against a Colt Brennan-led Hawaii team looking to make a statement. Hawaii won 63-6. On Saturday, UNC again faces a big-deal team, this time the Big 10 Conference’s Purdue. The Bears play the Boilermakers on Saturday at 10 a.m. in West Lafayette, Ind.
AFA-WYO — The area college game of the week has to be Air Force at Wyoming, an unusual early September matchup between the Falcons and Cowboys. AFA and Wyoming didn’t face off last season until late October. Cowboys coach Joe Glenn has already taken some flak for a one-point win last week against Ohio. But a win is a win — and he’ll need one against Troy Calhoun and the Falcons to stay afloat in the Mountain West.
CSU-Pueblo — One team that won’t follow a year-old path is CSU-Pueblo, which will play its first season of Division II football since 1984, when the ThunderWolves host Oklahoma Panhandle on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.
Preps — The Colorado high school scene, too, is stacked top to bottom with Top 10 matchups. There might not be a week the rest of the season with so much movement in the rankings:
• Class 2A: No. 3 Eaton at No. 5 Platte Canyon, Saturday. • Class 1A: No. 2 Burlington at No. 3 Wray, tonight. • Class A 8-man: No. 2 Hoehne at No. 4 Sanford, tonight. • Class A 6-man: No. 1 Hi-Plains at No. 4 Kit Carson, tonight.
NFL — And as a bonus to the weekend, the Broncos travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders on Monday night at 8:15 p.m. (ESPN, KTVD-31).
AROUND TOWN
Wear Beckham’s autograph, help a worthy cause.
Former Colorado Rapids midfielder and Arapahoe High School product Seth Trembly is hosting a fundraiser downtown Saturday to benefit former Real Salt Lake teammate Andy Williams, whose wife was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.
The event, which begins at 9 p.m. at Delaney’s Pub, will include live music and a silent auction. Items up for bidding include a Los Angeles Galaxy jersey autographed by David Beckham and Landon Donovan; luxury watches; a 20-person suite to a Rapids game this season; a World Series edition baseball bat; a round of golf with your favorite Rapids player; a Nintendo Wii; and many others.
Marcia Williams requires chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant. Despite insurance, costs are projected to exceed $150,000. Text by Brian Forbes; Post file photo by Hyoung Chang
STAY ON THE COUCH
Saturday night’s all right for fighting.
Denver-area mixed martial arts fans will have a hometown fighter to root for Saturday when Nate “The Great” Marquardt takes on Martin Kampmann in an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout in Atlanta.
UFC 88, airing on pay-per-view at 8 p.m., will be highlighted by a light-heavyweight fight between Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and undefeated “Sugar” Rashad Evans.
Marquardt, who holds a 29-8-2 record over nine years, is aiming for a middleweight title-bout opportunity. Kampmann (13-1-0) will cause trouble — he’s a former Danish Thai boxing champ. Check for more information.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Spit up and take notice.
Summertime running races in Colorado extend from the serious to the ridiculous, and some are family-friendly with kids’ runs. But you’d be hard-pressed to find an infants’ race.
The Hop, Skip and Jump Start 5K on Saturday, hosted at the Denver Children’s Museum in the Platte Valley, also includes a toddler trot and an infant crawl. What’s the world- record time in the infant crawl?
The race starts at 9 a.m., and registration includes admission to the museum, a prize in itself.
Check for more information.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Come one, scrum all.
Eddie O’Sullivan, a former coach of the Irish national rugby team and current assistant on the U.S. national team, will be the featured guest at a clinic, co-hosted by the Denver Barbarians, at the University of Denver.
O’Sullivan and Barbarians head coach David Hodges will oversee a skills camp for high school players and coaches at DU today through Sunday.
O’Sullivan led the Irish squad to its first Triple Crown in 19 years — and two subsequent crowns — and its first victory over South Africa since 1965. His appearance should be a treat for area ruggers.
For more details, call 303-871-7728 or go to .
