Comment on Welcome aboard the Vander Esch Express

Now in the spirit of the holiday weekend, the wise-apples in the Grading The Week offices swear they’re asking this question with no malice, no agenda, no anger, no animosity, no bias, no enmity, no predilection: Could Tad Boyle wind up producing more first-round draft picks out of CU in the next 10 months than Deion Sanders? You … haters!

For a handful of teams around the NHL, it is existential crisis season. Early playoff exits lead to macro-level discussions like does Team X have the right core players or does Team Y’s style of play not work when the calendar flips to May. The Colorado Avalanche has a different kind of offseason ahead, but the road might be just as arduous. This core group of Avs has reached the mountaintop.

The days are long, but the years are short. This advice is advanced to parents about raising children. It applies to life, but in our case sports. My wife and I were thrilled our two sons showed interest the first time they held a bat and threw a ball. It was in the family DNA with her past as a cheerleader and her brothers playing football and my life growing up as an identical twin with my father serving as a coach for all seasons. I was ecstatic when our oldest son Dagin first used a spoon left-handed as a baby, viewing him as a pitcher.

Philadelphia star Bryce Harper was ejected after striking out in the first inning of the Phillies’ game at the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. Harper struck out on a 0-2 curveball from Ty Blach, dropped his bat and threw his helmet. The two-time NL MVP said something to plate umpire Brian Walsh and immediately was ejected. Bryce Harper got ejected in this exchange pic.twitter.com/MVwsgmwdAP — Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 25, 2024 Harper and Phillies manager Rob Thomson argued to no avail following Harper’s 21st big league ejection.

The Rockies’ wobbly bullpen received some much-needed support Friday. In the wake of their relievers’ workload and reoccurring meltdown, the club made a pair of roster moves ahead of its game against the Phillies. The Rockies called up right-hander John Curtiss and Matt Carasiti from Triple-A Albuquerque. To make room on the 26-man roster, they optioned right-hander Peter Lambert to Triple-A and designated right-hander Matt Koch for assignment.

The way this ended will stick with the Nuggets for much longer than one offseason. It’ll be remembered as one of the more painful what-if moments in Denver sports history. Whether the Nuggets would have repeated as champions will never be answered. It’s easy to conflate one climactic failure with the full body of work.