👋 Good Morning!

This might be an odd thought to begin your day with but isn’t it interesting the way sports shape how we look at certain cities?

The whole country got annoyed with Boston thanks in large to the Patriots dynasty. But then you add on multiple World Series wins, a couple of NBA titles and some great Bruins runs in the 2000’s as well, and everybody was just like, ‘I’ve had enough of this.’

I’ve never been out of the airport in Los Angeles, so I have no real concept of what that city is actually like. Two of the teams I hate the most in sports, though, the Dodgers and the Lakers both reside in LA. And I think subconsciously it’s influenced why I’ve never had much of a desire to get out there.

Anyways, the Rockies and Rapids both are set to play their LA-based foes this week. So that’s probably how we got to this random chain of thoughts. I hope everyone has had a nice start to their week.

— Justin Michael

After firing Calvin Booth over two months ago, the Nuggets finally announced their plan for the front office on Monday. Ben Tenzer will serve as the executive Vice President of Basketball Operations while Jon Wallace will be the executive Vice President of Player Personnel.

We’ll learn the exact specifics of how the duo will split the general manager responsibilities at Tuesday’s press conference. My understanding of the situation, though, is that Wallace will manage the roster and player decisions. Terzer will then manage the money and deal with the salary cap stuff.

I’ve read a lot of good things about both guys, so despite initially feeling like it’s a Michael and Dwight situation and judging the Nuggets like Jo Bennett did with Dunder Mifflin, I’m open to this being a good thing. Maybe these two can more efficiently handle the two key elements of running the team better than any one individual. My biggest concern is just the inexperience factor given what’s at stake here.

Obviously we’d all love to see Nikola Jokić win another ring. The organization at the very least needs to do right by him in the next stage of his career. And the biggest part of that is going to be finding a way to get more help for him. Denver fought like hell and lost to the champs in seven this year, so I don’t think it’s fair to call it a wasted playoff run. You just only have so many chances to go for it while a generational talent is still in the prime of his career.

Josh Kroenke is pretty much betting on homegrown talent, which is the way the Nuggets built the foundation of this era. “We don’t skip steps.” Only time will tell if it was the right call.

Nique Clifford will become just the fourth player in CSU men’s basketball history to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft this week. The most recent was David Roddy (23rd) back in 2022.

CSU Rams drafted in the first round:

David Roddy | 23rd | 2022

Jason Smith | 20th | 2007

Bill Green | 8th | 1963

READ: Clifford’s unique path pays off — how the former CU Buff turned into a potential lottery pick at CSU | by Justin Michael

The Rockies host the Dodgers for a three-game series starting tonight at 6:40 p.m. MT. LA swept Colorado in the only meeting between the two teams so far this year. German Marquez will be on the mound for the Rox in Game 1.

The future Pac-12 announced the first phase of its media partners for 2026 and beyond yesterday. CBS will be the primary partner and air the league’s biggest games, including the conference championship matchups for men’s basketball and football. This also means the 2029 Rocky Mountain Showdown in Fort Collins will very likely be nationally broadcasted on CBS like it was in 2024.