👋 Good Morning!

Baseball season is typically winding down by now for most youth leagues. With the fall sports season about to ramp up, though, I thought it would be a good time to just remind everyone that the process should be fun.

Don’t get me wrong here. I love being committed to a cause and I love encouraging competition. The truth, though, is that it’s absurd how time consuming and expensive it has become to participate in just about any sport these days. It’s even crazier that the general mentality has become less centered around development and fun because too many coaches want to live out their pro coach fantasies with a bunch of 9 year-olds.

My younger brother and I grew up on the field. Some of my favorite memories are associated with the grind. Ie. early morning tournaments, playoff games in the snow, etc.

Just remember it’s supposed to be fun. Your kid likely isn’t going to the league. Not everything has to be travel ball, AAU circuits, etc. There’s nothing wrong with an old fashioned rec league.

— Justin Michael

The drama has been put to rest. Jonas Valanciunas will honor his contract with the Nuggets and play in Denver this season.

In an interview with BasketNews, the veteran big man admitted that an opportunity to play for Panathinaikos in the Greek EuroLeague and be closer to home was something that he was interested in, but that it will have to wait.

“I am fully committed to honoring my contract and I will give it my all to compete for a championship,” he said.

It was a bit of an odd beginning to his Nuggets tenure. But I’m honestly just glad that the situation is resolved and everybody can move forward. Valanciunas is the best big that Denver has had to play behind Jokić. His addition to the rotation has a chance to be one of the most significant moves of this era of Nuggets basketball.

I love what the team did this offseason from a roster management standpoint. I’ll miss seeing MPJ out there. But Cam Johnson is going to be phenomenal playing off of ‘Joker’. And they’re finally going to have some consistent scoring off the bench again with the return of Bruce Brown and addition of Tim Hardaway Jr.

This team is stacked. Let’s go win another ring.

WATCH: Valanciunas breaks silence on future with the Nuggets

There is a lot to be sorted on the field as we get closer to the 2025 season. Our guys, Scott, Jake and RK, all gave their thoughts on the biggest position battles in Boulder this fall.

WATCH: Breaking down Coach Prime & CU’s biggest position battles

Things didn’t go so great for the Rockies in Game 1 against Nolan Arenado and the St. Louis Cardinals. Our former star third baseman went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk in his return to Coors Field in a 6-2 Cardinals victory.

Game 2 is tonight at 6:40 p.m. MT.