Denver.BloggersPub

If you love skiing and snowboarding, here’s a combo that’ll probably get you drooling!

Volunteer to work at an upcoming race or other competition being held at Winter Park.

a)  You’ll get to watch the competition up close and personal while you work.

b)  You receive a free day pass for the day you are working, so once the event is finished, you can hit the slopes.

c)  For every 4 hours you work as a volunteer, you ALSO get a free, full-day lift ticket which you can use for yourself or give to a friend.  There is no limit to the total number of free lift tickets you can earn, so the more you volunteer, the more you ride for free.

As you can imagine, volunteer spots are limited, and some events are already filled.  Read more about the volunteer system on this Winter Park volunteer page, where you’ll also find contact information and a list of the 2007/2008 Winter season events needing volunteers.

Former Rocky pitcher Joe Kennedy died this morning in his Florida home. Details on the cause of his death are elusive, but I’ve heard speculation of aneurysm/heart failure. Kennedy put in a superb year with the Rox in 2004, and I think he had the biggest curveball I’ve seen thrown at a mile high. Anyway, ESPN has more on the story here.  He and his family are in our thoughts and prayers.

I’m glad I caught one of the rare Frank TV commercials during the NLCS, because otherwise I might not have known that it premiered last night. But it did, and let me tell you, that is one awesome show. It relates both to an older, Seinfeld-loving generation and to the future generations watching in 2047. It’s also timely, because nothing says Thanksgiving like Madden-inspired Turducken jokes.

To be honest, I turned it off shortly after 11:15 because I don’t want to get hooked to another show; as Sam would say, my vigorous TV-watching schedule is already jam-packed with stuff, and Battlestar Galactica Razor is coming up on Saturday and all. But if there was one show I would add if I had time, it would be this one. For the record, I thought that part where Frank took the dude from the audience and laid down on his lap was hilarious.

Daylight savings time is gone for a while, the days are shorter and the nights longer, and lots of holidays are coming.  Aha!    Let’s light up the evenings with some
Lights!  Parades!  Action!

So, if you enjoy pretty lights and love a parade, these next couple of months should keep you very, very happy.  Here are some light parades you may enjoy:

Lights of December Parade (Boulder)
December 1, 2007 at 6 PM - downtown Boulder
The parade begins and ends at 15th and Pearl, winding around downtown Boulder.

Christmas Parade of Lights (Cañon City)
December 1, 2007
Contact the Chamber of Commerce at 719-275-2331 for details.

Festival of Lights (Colorado Springs)
December 1, 2007 at 5:50 PM - downtown Colorado Springs
(corner of Tejon and St Vrain Street, moving south on Tejon to Vermijo Avenue, turning west to Cascade Avenue, then north to Kiowa Street)
The events include cultural and artistic programs, performances and other festivities.

Parade of Lights (Delta)
December 7, 2007 from 6 to 7 PM
Grand Marshall Santa Claus (the REAL Santa) leads the parade down Main Street from 9th to 3rd. Each year, dozens and dozens of floats compete for prizes and YOUR affection.  After the parade, Santa greets all the children at the Wells Fargo Bank lobby, at 5th and Main.

Parade of Lights (Denver)
November 30 at 8 PM, and December 1 at 6 PM - Downtown Denver
(starts in front of Civic Center Park and the City & County Building on Bannock Street at 14th Avenue)
Spectator viewing for the Parade is free all along the two-mile route.  Marching Bands, Floats, giant balloons, horse-drawn carriages, and numerous performers will keep the crowds oooh-ing and aaah-ing.

Catch the Glow Holiday Celebration & Parade (Estes Park)
November 23, 2007 at 5:30 PM - along Elkhorn Avenue
Theme floats from across America, storybook figures, angels, snowmen, marching bands, entertainers, wildlife characters, the Colorado Crush Arena Football League team will be represented … and Santa ends the parade.  Other events start at noon, including visits with Santa, pony rides, hay rides and adorable walking characters along Elkhorn Avenue.

Parade of Lights (Grand Junction)
December 1, 2007 at 5 PM - Main Street, Downtown Grand Junction, from 9th St. to 2nd St.
Christmas Past, Present, and Future - Watch over 100 floats light up the night on seven blocks of Main Street. 

Country Christmas/Parade of Lights (Holyoke)
December 3, 2007
Holiday kick-off with stores open offering discounts, a parade of lights, soup supper, carolers, hot apple cider, Mr. & Mrs. Santa pictures, free movie, hayrides, and much more.

Hometown Holiday Parade (Longmont)
December 8, 2007 at 5 PM - Main Street
Enjoy 70 parade entries of lights, music and parade action.

Parade of Lights (Lyons) 
December 1, 2007 - 6:30 PM - Parade starts at Main Street and Broadway
7:15 PM - Live music and entertainment - Raul Vasquez Community Stage - Sandstone Park 4th & Broadway
7:45 PM - Fireworks (west of main street) Viewable from Sandstone Park.
8:00 PM - Awards ceremony at the Raul Vasquez Community Stage - Sandstone Park 4th & Broadway

Pueblo Parade of Lights (Pueblo)
November 24, 2007 at 5:30 PM
100 floats, bands, animals, vehicles and individual walkers traverse the 1.2 mile parade route from the Mesa Junction, down Union Avenue and Court Street to Pueblo Bank & Trust for the award ceremony and cider and cookies.  Fireworks, Music and Festive Fun!

Lighting of Christmas Mountain USA (Salida)
December 23, 2007 - Historic Downtown Salida
Come enjoy the festivities, refreshments, decorations, parade and Santa.  Parade of Lights Theme is Christmas through the eyes of a child. 

Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade (Winter Park)
December 24, 2007 at 5:30 PM - Base of Winter Park Resort
The event begins with Christmas carols around the bonfire at the base of Winter Park Resort, next to the Zephyr Lift.  At 5:30 PM, a procession of torch-bearing skiers begin their way down Lower Hughes trail, followed by Santa Claus and his helpers.  A fireworks display and snowcats adorned with Christmas colors light up the slopes in a Christmas tree formation to conclude the festivities. 

Jarvis Moss busted his leg in practice yesterday.  Dude broke his leg, tore some ankle ligaments and is out for the season.  Fuck.  His rookie year wasn’t spectacular, finishing with 12 tackles and a sack in six games, but his injury will only sideline him for three to four months, so he’ll be able to work out for most of the offseason.

In related news, Rod Smith’s out for the year too.  Balls.

On the plus side, the Nuggets are 1-0 and should win tonight against the Timberwolves.  Randy Foye is out for a few weeks and won’t be playing this evening, and the Garnett-less T-Wolves are in a rebuilding mode.

With all of the recent uh, unpleasantness, in the Denver sports world, the Nuggets’ season-opening victory over the Sonics was cathartic. I wasn’t fully attentive to the game (on account of Halloween festivities/booze), but it still felt good to have a solid outing from a Denver team. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like.

In his NBA debut, Kevin Durant looked solid, though his shot was cold. (Hey fellas! What’s cooler than bein’ cool!? Kevin Durant!). For the Nuggets, Melo was his old self, notching 32 points, while AI had 25. Camby was in single digits points-wise but dominated the boards with 15 rebounds. The Vanilla Gorilla came off the bench for 18, stroking it from 3 and helping the Nugs pull away late in the game.

Linus Kleiza looking pixelatedly ferocious:

p.s. I know that comment about Durant is going to come back to haunt me.  The Nuggets won’t be able to hold him to 18 for long…

It’s over. The Rockies aren’t gonna win the World Series this year. It hurts my soul, yes, and unless you’re some kind of monster, it hurts yours too.

To the folks at Coors last night and tonight, you rock. Because of your non-stop raucousness and persistent, thundering “GO…ROCKIES,” I was proud to be from Colorado. Even with our embarrassing performance in game 1. I was watching the game with some other dudes, and a Yankees fan among them complemented me on our fans’ indefatigability. If nothing else, the Rockies’ losses at home at least reaffirmed my love of Colorado and Coloradans.

So remember people, we’re Colorado sports fans. Mourn tonight, root for the Broncos tomorrow.

November 25 - December 15, 2007

Free.  Totally, absolutely free.  Nothing to buy, no sales pitches to sit through; just ski or ride for FREE.

“Ski Free” is back, and it’s for real!  Here’s the blurb on the Crested Butte Mountain Resort site if you don’t believe it.

 See you on the slopes at Crested Butte!

Wow — Free!

The Red Sox are invading. Let’s show them how real people behave (courteously, not like assholes with extreme entitlement issues) and then show them how real outfields treat fake outfielders. I can’t help but be an optimist: this series is going to be the most dramatic in recent memory. It’s going to fit the rest of the Rockies season perfectly; in other words, gentlemen, start your defibrillators. In the end, though, we’re going to come out on top.

Josh Fogg is pitching Saturday, and before the series began, I felt good about him being on the mound for game 3 should the Rockies lose the first two. He’s that calming, reliable influence that we desparately need right now. We figured out their hitters tonight, and if the offense can get going and the pitching can build on Thursday’s performance, we’ve got them right where we want them.

To all you Boston fans honking your horns and yelling outside my window right now: get ready for a quiet weekend.

Take a look at this simulation of the World Series. It has the Rockies winning it all in seven games, and let’s hope they’re right. But look a bit closer at the game 1 prediction: Red Sox 11, Rockies 2. That’s scary accurate, but look even closer at the box score. It has Mike Lowell, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz combining for 8 hits and 8 RBI. The real game? 7 hits (though “only” 4 RBI). It had 2 Boston runs in the first as well. Real life: 3 runs.

The good news is, tonight it has the Rockies winning 8-4. I hope it’s right, but if Matt Holliday hits a two-run homer in the first, I’m calling “Back to the Future” on that thing.