The saying goes that “every dog has his day,” but even after the Bad News Bears turned their season around with a ringer in Kelly Leak and an ace pitcher in Amanda Whurlitzer, they still lost to the Yankees in the championship game.
Maybe some victories just aren’t in the cards or the stars or whatever sports fate hangs over perpetual flops.
Since the Edmonton Rush entered the National Lacrosse League as an expansion team in 2006, it has faced the West Division rival Colorado Mammoth in seven games. In those seven games, Colorado has seven victories.
The Rush travels to Denver to face the Mammoth on Saturday. An Edmonton victory would improve its percentage against Colorado to .125. A loss would keep it at a .000 winning mark.
Ouch.
Of course, no fair victory is predetermined, and Colorado and Edmonton early this season are tied in the standings. The Mammoth, though, could use Saturday’s matchup with the Rush as a propeller.
Colorado plays three of its next four games at home before a wicked four-game road swing through Canada and central California.
Just two games into their 2009 schedule, the Mammoth is already in a hole. The Calgary Roughnecks (3-0) lead the NLL’s West Division. And the Mammoth’s one loss was to the Portland LumberJax (1-3), the last-place team in the division.
But Saturday’s matchup with Edmonton — the first of three games the division rivals will play this season — gives the Mammoth a chance to gain early ground in the West. Edmonton and Colorado have 1-1 records.
Colorado’s season so far has been grand and inferior. In the season- opening win at Portland, the Mammoth rolled behind the play of Brian Langtry (six points on five goals and an assist) and Gavin Prout (six points on two goals and four assists).
But the following night in Denver, the Mammoth managed just five goals in a loss to the LumberJax.
A Mammoth win over the Rush might be in the cards, but it’s no guarantee.
AROUND TOWN
Nuggets’ real rival: Jazz.
The Nuggets this season have battled the Portland Trail Blazers for the top spot in the Northwest Division. But make no mistake: The Utah Jazz is Denver’s real contender.
Jerry Sloan’s team has won two consecutive division titles and five since 1997 (when the Nuggets and Jazz were in the Midwest Division). The Nuggets have just one division championship in that span.
So Sunday’s 6 p.m. tipoff between the rivals at the Pepsi Center will give one team an early boost in the division. The Nuggets (28-15) lead Portland (25-17) by 2 1/2 games and are three games ahead of Utah (25-18). Sunday’s game airs on Altitude.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Margarito, Mosley square off.
By most accounts, Manny Pacquiao is the current “pound for pound” best fighter in the world. But he’s not the most feared.
Boxers are lining up for a piece of the Pacman. But very few, it seems, want to fight Mexican welterweight Antonio Margarito.
In his first bout since an impressive 11th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto last year — in what many called the fight of the year — Margarito will try to defend his WBA title Saturday in Los Angeles when he takes on veteran “Sugar” Shane Mosley.
The fight at the Staples Center airs on HBO at 8 p.m.
Mosley, one of the quickest and most successful boxers this decade, will have to slug it out with Margarito, who has perhaps the toughest chin in prize fighting.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Hoping for rain and snow.
That organizers of Saturday’s Fast and Flurry-ous 4-miler cross country race in Boulder are hoping for rain and snow should be an indication of how fun the jaunt should be.
The men’s, women’s and kids races, starting at 9 a.m., go through Harlow Platts Park, the site of the 2007 U.S. Cross Country Championships. The course features open terrain — ideal for runners who thrive in muddy and wet races.
Check for more information.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Plenty of hoops on tap.
A busy schedule of men’s college basketball this weekend should give area hoops fans plenty to savor.
Colorado is asking its fans to dress in white for a matchup with Kansas State in Boulder on Saturday at 4 p.m. A “white-out” win would be the Buffs’ first in the Big 12 this season.
Denver hosts a key Sun Belt Conference game Saturday at 7 p.m. at Magness Arena. The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky and the Pioneers start at 7 p.m., with the game airing on FSN.
And Colorado State and Wyoming take the “Border War” to the court in Laramie for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
