Maybe what we need is Match.com:
“Colorado sports teams seek consistent, yet passionate rivals. Must be willing to mix it up on the field of play — and occasionally in the media. Trash talking is welcome. Must inspire fans to go a little bit nuts. Eagerly awaiting applicants.”
Face it, when it comes to sports rivalries in this region, the spark is gone.
Word came down this week that the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown between Colorado State and Colorado is likely headed for a nasty divorce. CU athletic director Rick George said Wednesday that it is in the “best interests” of CU to not renew its annual football series with intrastate rival Colorado State after the current contract concludes with the 2020 game.
That’s led to plenty of trash talking on sports talk radio and social media. As Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla tweeted:
“So #CUBuffs wanna take their football and go home ASAP, ending the Rky Mtn Showdown vs CSU in 2020. Maybe playing N Col more CU’s speed.”
Those type of comments tick off CU fans to no end. But it sure looks like one of the few real rivalries left in this state is going to die a slow death.
The Detroit Red Wings came to town Thursday night and Now that the teams are in different conferences, what used to be one of the NHL’s most-heated series has become a twice-a-season affair that conjures up more nostalgia than real heat.
Back in the day, Broncomaniacs hated the Raiders. Now they just laugh at them — or pity them. The Chiefs and Chargers inspire a bit of animosity, but are they really the Broncos rivals? I’m not feeling it.
The Patriots? It’s fun to hate them, but the losing at New England on an annual basis hardly qualifies as a rivalry. And let’s face it, Tom Brady has owned Peyton Manning.
The Nuggets have no rival because they simply aren’t good enough to have a rival.
The same is true for the Rockies. Back in 2007, there were signs that the Diamondbacks and Rockies were lighting a fuse when Colorado swept the D-Backs in the NLCS. But the antagonism between the two teams fizzled quickly and now both teams are perennial National League West cellar-dwellers. Arizona and Colorado may touch at the Four Corners, but proximity doesn’t create a rivalry.
For college hockey fans, the University of Denver vs. Colorado College has long been a classic match-up. at the Broadmoor World Arena in the Gold Pan showdown, but CC is a bad team this season. Bad as in a 5-18-1 record.
Oh well, we still have
Chew on this
• I saw a few tweets Thursday suggesting that Tiger Woods dropped out of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines after only playing 11 holes because he was embarrassed by his play.
True, Tiger’s short game resembles mine — now there’s a scary thought!— but the idea that he walked off the course because he’s a quitter is nonsense.
ESPN golf writer on what’s ailing Woods.
• The New York Post’s sports headline Friday morning read: “Ouching Tiger.”
• The San Diego Padres, who have already undergone a massive renovation, , the last big fish remaining in the free-agent pond. Shields pitching at Petco Park would further confound the Rockies’ road woes in the NL West.
• For all of you ’80s hair-band, hard-rock fans — Yes, I’m talking to you, Troy E. Renck, Denver Post Broncos beat writer — Axl Rose (aka William Bailey) was born on this day in 1962 in Lafayette, Ind. OK, I’ll admit that Guns & Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” is kind-of, sort-of a classic, but Axl sure butchered Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp
