The Jill/Julia Show, Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret
Friday, June 25, and Saturday, June 26 | Read more

This one-of-a-kind show brings together singer-songwriter Jill Sobule with comedian Julia Sweeney (you’ll recognize her as Pat from Saturday Night Live) in a fusion of music and comedy. Julia’s stories become part of Jill’s songs and vice versa, creating a performance that’s both smart and hilarious.

More: Girls Only | Young Frankenstein | Grand Hotel | The Life and Times of Ol’ Alfred | Central City Opera Summer Festival | The Confession Stand

Like two heavyweights pounding each other in the late rounds of an epic fight, the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox put on a captivating show last night at Coors Field.

Ultimately, though, the Red Sox came out on top, downing the Rockies 13-11 in 10 innings, powered mostly by three home runs from pint-sized Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who had the best game of his career last night, points out MLB.com.

He also ended what would have been a storybook comeback for the Rockies, denying them a sweep against one of baseball’s best.

“I’m just happy we won, man,” Pedroia says. “That was a crazy game. Long. It was mentally draining, so I’m happy we won.”

On the other end of that last game-winning home run was Huston Street (pictured), who made his first appearance on the mound last night, returning to the closer’s role. He looked pretty good, but he made a mistake, and it cost the Rockies the game. (more…)

In most careers, offering a raise almost guarantees to keep talent in place. But that’s not always the case in the world of professional sports, as evidenced by recent news surrounding Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets.

Yahoo! Sports reports that the Nuggets have offered Melo a three-year, $65 million contract extension, hoping to avoid a potentially bank-breaking free agency battle with other teams at the end of the 2010-2011 season. But Anthony says he needs to think about it.

“I feel good about it. I appreciate them putting it on the table and wanting me to extend my career there,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s about winning. If I feel I can win there, I will stay.”

Melo is almost guaranteed to make a comparable salary no matter what happens, but if he waits until the end of the upcoming season to make a decision, other teams will get involved and the ensuing bidding war could drive the dollars even higher. Still, Melo’s focus appears to be firmly centered on winning an NBA championship. He tells The Denver Post the Nuggets have “pieces” but need to add more talent to the team in order to get over the hump.

Fort Collins is experiencing a rush for meningitis vaccines following a deadly outbreak that appears to be linked to a meningococcal disease fatality in Denver.

The Denver Post highlights efforts by Larimer County health officials to trace the source of the bacterial meningitis in the Fort Collins area, which has so far struck four people, leaving two dead and two others in critical condition. The malady, which causes a severe blood infection, appears to have been spread on June 9 during an adult recreational league ice hockey game in Fort Collins.

Larimer County’s director of health, Adrienne LeBailly, says she has never seen a cluster of meningococcal disease cases so severe in her 23 years with the county, notes the Coloradoan.

While the hockey game was a flashpoint for the outbreak, a virulent strain of meningococcal bacteria, known as “Group C,” is responsible for causing meningococcal sepsis, a blood infection “that killed a Denver resident with unknown Colorado State University connections two months ago,” LeBailly says. (more…)

Last year’s NHL draft was like hitting the lottery for the Colorado Avalanche, which picked up Matt Duchene third overall and Ryan O’Reilly 33rd overall. Both men turned out to be franchise players and are at the core of the Avalanche’s rebuilding efforts after playing significant roles in the team’s renaissance last season. This year, the Avalanche start the draft with the 17th overall pick, but it’s not clear who will claim the spot.

The Denver Post thinks if the Avalanche take the best player on the board regardless of position, Emerson Etem may be the guy. Etem, a center, is considered possibly the fastest player in the draft by hockey scouts. The YouTube video below shows off his skills, and he looks like he’d be a solid addition to the youth movement the Avs seem to be pursuing.

Avalanche director of scouting Rick Pracey tells The Associated Press the team’s desire to build through the draft and go with younger players is paying off: “That instant success [with Duchene and O'Reilly] tells us we’re on the right path.” No matter which seven draft picks the team selects on Friday, hockey fans in Denver aren’t likely to see any of them on the ice early on.

Most rookies end up developing in the minors before coming to the Avalanche—Duchene and O’Reilly notwithstanding—and the NHL’s recently released schedule shows the Avs on the road for nine of the first 16 games of the year (via The Denver Post). But the season should start off with a bang October 7 at the Pepsi Center, with the Avs hosting the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Last night’s Colorado Rockies game was only the third home game of the year to sell out, with a good portion of the fans cheering on the Boston Red Socks. But maybe that’s what the Rox needed to keep them from sinking fully into mediocrity.

Jhoulys Chacín was given the assignment of pitching against a team that’s gone 20-8 since May 18, the best record in the Bigs (via The Denver Post). He came up huge, pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning. And although he walked five batters and allowed four singles, he always seemed to get out of the jams (The Associated Press).

Another bit of good news comes via Huston Street, who was in the Rockies bullpen last night and available to pitch for the first time all season. The $22 million man was shut down in spring training with a bum shoulder, setting off a rehab process that’s endured for the past few months. Now he’s back, and he’s on a personal mission to win back his closer role, according to The Denver Post.

Manager Jim Tracy won’t start Street at closer right away, and Street’s OK with that.

“They can use me in any role they want,” he says. “Whenever I’m back in the ninth, it will be because I earned it. You look at the job the bullpen has done, and that’s a pretty high standard down there. I just want to fit in with those guys.”

The Denver Nuggets don’t have a pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, but that’s not stopping team executives and coaches from evaluating prospects in hopes of making a deal to acquire a draft pick.

That includes George Karl, who tells The Denver Post he’s been in his office a lot lately, feeling better every day and ready to fix the ailing Nuggets. Karl went through a well-publicized battle with throat and neck cancer this spring, which kept him away from the team for the last two months of the season.

“I’m feeling very good; every week is a little better,” he says, adding that he continues to use a feeding tube, but he feels good and is consistently improving.

It’s good that the Nuggets have Karl’s mind back in the building, because if they want to get back in the draft, they’re going to need some sort of trade. Karl hints that a deal to win the team a draft pick could happen this week, but he isn’t saying who or what is on the table. (more…)

For the Colorado Rockies, any good news this season seems to be tempered by something negative. Freak injuries are often to blame, from Huston Street’s bum shoulder and groin to Jorge De La Rosa’s finger.

The latest blow came Thursday night when Troy Tulowitzki was hit by a pitch in Minnesota. The extent of the injury wasn’t known until Friday, when X-rays confirmed one of the bones in his left wrist had been chipped in the incident. In his first comments since the injury, Tulo (pictured) tells The Denver Post he’s “crushed” by the situation.

“I want to play every single game,” he says. “I got my body ready all offseason to be there for my team.”

Tulo’s clearly unhappy about not being able to play for up to six weeks, but he’s confident his team will be able to manage without him on the field. (more…)

Talk of ice on 90-degree days in Colorado generally has more to do with the shaved variety than hockey, unless you work for the Colorado Avalanche, which currently is focused on putting the best team on the ice this fall.

To that end, the Avs have traded one-time promising prospect T.J. Hensick to the St. Louis Blues for Julian Talbot (via The Denver Post). The 24-year-old Talbot played for the Blues’ best minor-league team last year, scoring 17 goals in 76 games.

Hensick (pictured) was once one of Colorado’s bright, hungry young players, but he was demoted to the Avs’ minor-league team early last year and was never called back up to the pros. Since coming to the Avs from college in 2007, the most points he’s ever put up at the pro level were 21 in 2008-09, according to NHL.com.

The move shouldn’t come as any surprise to Avalanche followers, writes Mile High Hockey, which suggests that the team give up a much more established player: Scott Hannan, who will cost the Avs $4.5 million this year. The blog thinks the San Jose Sharks—one of the best teams in the league last season before they flamed out in the playoffs—should give the Avs a young prospect for the aging, expensive Hannan.

Either that, or the Sharks should offer some draft picks for him, considering the Avs have a bevy of young defenseman looking for a chance to prove themselves with the team. San Jose, which may need a veteran defenseman, would be a natural destination for Hannan, a former Shark. Such deals would also fit with the Avs’ model of building a young, inexpensive team.

Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez claimed his 13th win of the season yesterday, leading his team to a 5-1 victory at Target Field and preventing a series sweep by the Minnesota Twins.

As The Denver Post points out, Jimenez is really the only reason the Rockies’ season thus far hasn’t been a colossal failure: He’s now turned around three of the Rockies’ four losing streaks.

“You don’t want to be in that situation…but you take a lot of pride,” Jimenez says. “Especially when you’ve lost the first two games of a series and you’ve got to go out and compete for your team and get a win.”

It’s quite accurate to say that Jimenez has been carrying the Rockies, even though it’s impossible to say where the team would be without him, since we don’t know who’d be pitching in his place. Indeed, the Rockies seem to be treading water, barely staying alive in the National League West (via MLB.com). (more…)

Lindsey Horan, a devout young soccer player, wants to be the best. That passion, writes The Denver Post, has made the 16-year-old Golden High School student one of the nation’s most talented midfielders in the class of 2012, landing her on the recruiting shortlist of many top college soccer teams.

She also plays on the national U-17 team, a role that has taken her across the world for tournaments.

Horan is on track to achieve her goal of playing professionally, but the decisions she’s made in order to pursue that dream have put off some of her classmates, and even some of her current teammates.

In 2009, Horan, who has played with the Littleton-based club-soccer powerhouse Colorado Rush for several years, bypassed Golden High in order to play with Rush’s male teams and push herself even harder. The decision led to derision from her classmates, who say she could have made her school team a lot better, helping them chase a state championship. (more…)

When the University of Colorado made the decision to bounce from the Big 12 Conference for the sunnier (and more lucrative) confines of the Pac-10, it was assumed that the Texas schools and the Oklahoma schools would follow, creating a Pac-16 super-conference.

But when the University of Texas demanded more money than the other schools, the deal imploded, and CU now stands as one of just two schools that left the Big 12 (Nebraska went with the Big Ten). Now, the Pac-10 has settled on inviting Utah to join the conference, creating a natural travel partner and hopeful rival for CU.

The Denver Post reports that Utah will now be a part of the Pac-10’s southern division with Colorado, as well as Arizona, Arizona State, USC, and UCLA. CU has played Utah more than any other non-conference partner, besides Colorado State University, with CU leading the head-to-head matchups 30-24-3.

It’s hoped that future match-ups between CU and Utah will create some sort of border war (similar to the rivalry between CSU and Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference). (more…)

Most of us hope our lives will play out in a way that will allow us to pursue our passions without sacrificing everything else. Too often, though, reality sets in, and we settle for a good-paying job.

Not Jason Preeo, a golf instructor for MetaGolf Center at Broken Tee Golf Course in Englewood and a boys golf coach at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch.

As The Denver Post writes, Preeo played well enough during a local qualifier to make the cut for the U.S. Open later this week, getting one more chance to fulfill his lifelong dream of playing with the game’s best and making a name for himself.

He’s tried to make it as a golf pro in the past. But after spending 20-25 weeks a year sleeping in motels across the country, while his wife was expecting the couple’s first child, he decided he had to let it all go. Until now. (more…)

Whenever the Colorado Rockies take the field, it’s prudent to check who’ll be on the mound. When Ubaldo Jimenez pitches, you know the Rockies have a good chance of winning. But if another pitcher is slated, it’s not such a sure bet.

Aaron Cook, the Rockies’ one-time opening-day starter and the team’s winningest pitcher, may be Colorado’s biggest liability as a starting pitcher right now. Cook was shelled last night at Target Field in Minnesota, giving up five runs in the fourth inning and heading to the showers early.

MLB.com reports that Cook (pictured) is now 0-4 on the road, with an ugly 7.38 ERA. He’s given up 56 hits and 22 walks. Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about baseball in Colorado without him.

“How exactly do I need to be out there?” Cook tells MLB. “Do I need to make a perfect pitch every time? Well, maybe next time, I’ll try to make a perfect pitch every time. But for me, if I’m pitching to contact and getting ground balls that aren’t hit hard, that’s all I do.” (more…)

It’s widely believed that because Elvis Dumervil has signed a one-year, $3.16 million contract with the Denver Broncos, his involvement with the team is a done deal.

But that’s not the case. The Broncos merely extended the time period they have to negotiate with last year’s NFL sack leader, and a very real possibility remains that Dumervil will leave the team.

The Denver Post reports that Dumervil didn’t have much choice in signing yesterday’s deal. If he didn’t, he’d make just $630,000 this year, roughly 10 percent more than he made last season. That’s a lot of money for most of us, but not for a guy who’s in line to make roughly $40 million.

While the Broncos continue to negotiate a new contract with Dumervil’s agent, questions are beginning to arise. “Why won’t the Broncos reward Elvis Dumervil?” asks Fox 31.

To his credit, Dumervil is taking the high road. (more…)

The gloomy, wet weather lingering over Colorado isn’t dampening the spirits of those participating in the 25th Ride the Rockies, which began yesterday in Grand Junction. The rain and hail may have caused some of the riders to take shelter in the Visitor Center of the Colorado National Monument, but the unseasonal conditions are at least helping to keep the approximately 2,000 cyclists cool in what is the longest Ride the Rockies tour to date (via The Denver Post).

By the time it’s over, riders will have pedaled 545 miles in seven days through some of the most beautiful parts of the state, with some stages comparatively mellow and others that include thousands of feet in vertical gain.

Tom Trinidad of Jackson, Tennessee, tells the Grand Junction Sentinel he’s been training for three months for this event. Trinidad, originally from the Philippines, says he’s been dreaming about starting the tour: “It was wonderful, breathtaking. I’ve never seen a ride like this before.”

Seven towns are hosting the ride—Grand Junction, Delta, Ouray, Durango, Pagosa Springs, Alamosa, and Salida, where the tour wraps up next weekend—and one charity in each locale will be rewarded with a $5,000 donation from Denver Post Charities, which is sponsoring the event.

Later today, the cyclists will descend upon Delta, a small town between Grand Junction and Montrose, where Families Plus, an organization that helps low-income children buck the trend of failure, will receive a check, reports the Delta County Independent.

After dropping three of four games to the Houston Astros, the National League’s second-worst team, the Colorado Rockies really needed a win—or three—this weekend. And they got them, sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays on a drenched Coors Field and improving the season record to 33-30.

The Rockies managed to outscore the Blue Jays 16-6 over the three games, showing signs that Colorado’s elusive offense is definitely there—it just needs to be coaxed out from time to time.

Yesterday’s 10-3 explosion came largely through the bat of outfielder Ryan Spilborghs, a fan favorite who has struggled at the plate for much of the season. The team’s perpetual joker hit two home runs and a triple, finishing the series against the Blue Jays 7-12 at the plate, with a triple, two doubles, and three home runs (via The Denver Post).

Spilborghs (pictured) has been tweaking his swing with hitting coach Don Baylor and thinks he may have found the right spot. (more…)

Usually sports teams dream of dominating opponents, so putting up 48 points against an opponents’ combined eight en route to a third consecutive championship would be a good thing.

That’s exactly what the Colorado State University club baseball team did last weekend, once again winning the National Club Baseball Association World Series, its sixth in the NCBA’s 10 seasons (via The Denver Post).

The CSU club team’s record was a mind-boggling 46-7 in 2010, far beyond dominant at the club level. But because CSU and the University of Colorado axed their Division I baseball programs in 1992 and 1980, respectively, club baseball is the only option.

“I’d be willing to say that in a one-on-one game, with our ace going against anybody else’s ace, we’re the best team in Colorado,” says senior catcher Tommy Johnson (pictured), a former Mullen High School star. (more…)

The University of Colorado has put an end to all the conference-switching speculation by accepting an invitation to join the Pacific-10 Conference. After going back and forth for months on whether to leave the Big 12 and waiting to see what other schools would do, CU took the first step and set in motion a conference realignment with national implications.

“The once-mighty Big 12 appears to be crumbling amid the seismic shift in the college football landscape,” writes the New York Daily News. “The NCAA, as we know it today, could be the next to go.”

Indeed, now that CU has taken the first step, the University of Nebraska is expected to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten Conference, and most of the major Texas schools, as well as the two big Oklahoma schools, could follow CU’s lead (via The Denver Post).

CU won’t begin playing games as a Pac-10 team until the start of the 2012 season, but observers are already reacting to the news, with many looking forward to the Buffs playing games in new, predominantly West Coast cities. (more…)

Most football observers know that Tim Tebow had problems with his throwing mechanics before leaving the University of Florida—from taking too long to throw the ball to the way his upper body turned too much as he threw, causing him to lose accuracy at times.

For those reasons, many were shocked when the Denver Broncos traded several draft picks to take Tebow in the first round. Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels apparently sees something in Tebow others don’t.

Now, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King takes a look at their relationship from inside the Broncos’ Englewood training camp, showing the intensive work required in acclimating Tebow to pro-level play. It’s all somewhat overwhelming for him.

“I’m very young,” Tebow says. “Right now, in this offense, I’m in elementary school. I’m understanding the concepts, but now I have to get comfortable with every one. I know I’ll get them down. I know it.” (more…)