With the NCAA Tournament being canceled due to the new coronavirus pandemic, it seems like every outlet has their own version of March Madness. (Shameless plug: Vote in our greatest Colorado athlete championship tournament.)
The Knoxville News Sentinel last week with a pair of Colorado sports figures included in the field. Former Rockies first baseman Todd Helton was a No. 9 seed and former Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was a No. 1 seed. Both played for the University of Tennessee football team.
Helton defeated Tennessee women’s head basketball coach Kellie Martin in the first round and then upset No. 1 seed Johnny Knoxville of MTV’s “Jackass” fame in the second. But he lost in the Sweet 16 to acclaimed zookeeper Jack Hanna, a No. 4 seed.
Manning took out No. 16 Lane Kiffin, who was head coach for Tennessee football for one year, in the first round. Then he took down another former Vols quarterback in No. 9 Josh Dobbs. In the Sweet 16, he defeated Tennessee basketball star Chamique Holdsclaw, a No. 5 seed. He won the quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 Candace Parker, another Vols basketball legend. In the semifinals, Manning defeated No. 2-seeded country star Kelsea Ballerini.
But then came Dolly Parton.
“The finals saw Dolly facing Peyton, two people who really only need their first names to be identified in East Tennessee,” News Sentinel’s Ryan Wilusz wrote.
Parton would go on to win the final.
— , The Denver Post
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