Fans of the Colorado Avalanche are definitely feeling the pain of the ongoing work stoppage, which threatens to cancel the entire season. But is the antidote really a bunch of news stories covering videogame simulations of the games that are being lost due to labor strife? That's what the Denver Post has been providing readers during the lockout. These "sports stories" seem more like a cheap excuse to give some free publicity to a videogame manufacturer. If the papers feel compelled to run some kind of NHL game coverage while there are no NHL games being played, the better approach is the one being taken by the Rocky Mountain News, which has been re-running old stories of actual games that it considers key moments in Avalanche history. At least this is coverage of actual sporting events, not just something that went on in some teenager's play room. But really, both approaches seem like weak efforts to avoid the unpleasant fact that there may not be any pro hockey played in Colorado this year.