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Rockies are in first place … for now and other thoughts

Chris Freud
KRISTIN ANDERSON |

As Johnny Carson would say, we are back.

I’m sure you missed me, but someone has to play golf in an obsessive manor in South Carolina, so what the heck. (It does renew one’s appreciation of the concept of altitude.)

So what I miss?



The rundown…

The Rockies are in first place

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Well, I do approve of this, as the alternative is either the godless Dodgers or the Diamondbacks. We are past the “it’s early” stage, so for those of you waiting for me to be snarky, well, that will come.

What you like as a Rockies fan is the road record being equal to that at Coors Field. Colorado is also doing a great job of beating the crap out of the NL West, though what the Rockies have been doing to the Giants borders on cruel and unusual. On a serious note, you have to beat your divisional foes to win the darn division. (Yes, this seems somewhat obvious, but the Rockies have historical issues here.)

What you worry about is starting pitching and the godless Dodgers. We are nearly at the halfway mark, and only Tyler Chatwood is close to a pace of 200 innings. This young staff is pitching well, given that half of its games are in a cruel place for hurlers. Rockies starters have to go deeper into games, so that the pen doesn’t burn out.

There’s also the matter of Los Angeles. I’m thinking the Diamondbacks will fade, but the godless Dodgers are a fact of life in this division. They’re talented and they’ll spend to make a move at the deadline in July.

Let’s also see how the next roadie goes — at L.A., at San Francisco and at Arizona.

This is a marathon, and we’re on about mile No. 11.

Brooks Koepka wins U.S. Open

First off, minus-16 isn’t a winning score at the U.S. Open. What. The. Heck. Erin Hills did better as a venue than Chambers Bay — holy terrible greens, Batman. (R.I.P. Adam West.)

But was this a stringent test of golf? Nope.

The issue with Erin Hills wasn’t length. The course was defenseless without wind.

We’ll see if the U.S. Open comes back to this loop — the tournament is spoken for through 2026 with traditional locales with the exception of the Los Angeles Country Club in 2023.

The Warriors and Penguins take titles

Not much drama in the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers had to shoot 60 percent from 3-point land to take one from the Warriors in Game 4. What is interesting is the complaining about the trilogy of Warriors-Cavaliers.

Yes, now two teams have ever met in the Finals three years in a row, but the NBA essentially grew up on Lakers-Celtics, Celtics-Lakers. Having dominant teams, salary cap or no, is the history of the NBA.

Heck, if Michael Jordan didn’t take two years off for baseball, then the Chicago Bulls would have won eight in a row during the 90s.

Steph Curry seems like he will resign with the Warriors, so expect more of the same.

Huzzah to Sidney Crosby and the Pens for repeating. Leave it to the NHL to shoot itself in the foot by waiving off that Nashville goal during the second period of Game 6. This league cannot get out of its own way.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.


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