Sports Night

Sporting events often make for some of the most exciting television. Last night was no exception, with some of the best games in all arenas that I have seen in quite some time. The Nuggets were playing in Salt Lake City against the Jazz (traditionally one of the toughest places to play in all sports), the DU Pioneer hockey team played in the finals of the Denver Cup, and there were plenty of entertaining bowl games to watch. I haven't had a night in quite some time that I could dedicate to my passionate pursuit of enjoying spirited sporting events (wow, quite a mouthful!), but last night broke that streak. I was feeling a bit tired and worn out, so the couch seemed like a good spot to take up residence, and enjoy the slated events for the night.

The Nuggets, who have been without star point guard Chauncey Billups for more than a week and were missing Carmelo Anthony due to a bone bruise, played their best defensive game of the season. The Nugs forced 25 turnovers en route to a 105-95 win over their division rivals, and cemented in sports fan's minds that this team is indeed capable of big wins even without their two superstars. The Jazz may have been having an off night, but over the past 5 seasons Utah has won nearly 90% of their games at home, including 'off nights'. Denver simply outplayed them in every facet of the game, not to mention Ty Lawson, who embarrassed one of the best point guards in the league in Deron Williams. The Nugs had lost 5 straight in Utah, and this win won't be soon forgotten.

Despite the outstanding performance from the Nuggets, the game was a distant second to the Pioneers hockey game. DU was riding high after a blowout win over UNO yesterday, in which Denver jumped out to 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. A quick apology to my Omaha readership, but the Mavs were on the opposite end of a dominating performance from one of the best DU hockey teams in years. Denver won back to back national championships in 2004 and 2005, and some (myself included) regard this team to be even better than the team that towered above the hockey world for 2 years. Let me be clear about something: I am not a huge hockey fan. In the 4 years I attended DU, I probably went to 3 hockey games, and watched the telecast of about 20 or so out of 100 televised contests. After last night, I will be sure to catch the games a lot more often.

The first two periods did not go Denver's way: Boston College jumped out to 2-0 lead, and threatened to score at least twice more on breakaway attempts. Lucky for DU, they are blessed with a phenomenal goal tender in Marc Cheverie, who kept them in the game until their late surge in the 3rd period. Down 2-0, the Pioneers came out firing and scored their first goal of the game to cut the deficit to 1, only to quickly give up a fast break goal on the other end. Trailing 3-1, Denver looked like a team possessed, and quickly made an elite team in BC look like a pee-wee hockey organization. DU put on a performance for the decade, scoring 3 goals in 10 or so minutes, and doing it in a very exciting fashion. I was so excited when Denver scored the tying goal after a frenzy in front of the net, that I accidentally tossed the remote halfway across the room. Denver took the lead for good about 5 minutes later, managing to hold off a late surge by BC. Ill tell you one thing for sure: If college hockey isn't on your must see TV list, it should be...

Its a slow day here at work, and that should provide me with the opportunity to track the last week of the NFL season, and finish "Travels with Charley". As I noted in previous blogs, I have been experiencing trouble finishing that damn book, and today I think I'll force myself to complete the last 10 or so pages. My summary and thoughts on Steinbeck tomorrow.

A.S. Bloom