• The Big 12 publicly reprimanded and fined the University of Colorado $50,000 for a derogatory chant – “F— the Mormons” – from Buffaloes fans that targeted BYU during last weekend’s football game. Colorado coach Deion Sanders also apologized on behalf of the athletic department.
• How badly behaved were the American fans at this year’s Ryder Cup golf tournament? Legendary golfer and two-time U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson apologized to the winning European team, saying, “As a former player, Captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened” when drunken fans lobbed profanities and insults – and a few beers – at the European competitors.
  • The PGA, which hosted the tournament, had helped incite the fan behavior and then denied that it was excessive. After Tom Watson‘s apology, PGA officials finally realized they couldn’t gaslight the public any longer, and PGA President Don Rea Jr. issued his own apology to the European golfers.
• The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced it is reopening the investigation into the 2005 death of gonzo journalist and author Hunter Thompson at his Aspen-area home, 20 years after local authorities originally ruled it a suicide. CBI investigators acknowledge there is no new evidence.
• WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert appears to have the support of no one at the moment – not fans, not players and not owners – and reports are that she has already agreed to resign once a new collective bargaining agreement is reached with players. We’ll see if she lasts that long.
• A tow truck driver who stole nearly 50 cars across the Denver area and sold them to salvage yards was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
• Netflix is facing calls for a boycott from Elon Musk, who is not happy it offers the animated show “Dead End: Paranormal Park” that features two transgender characters.
• The internecine battle between the Brinkerhoffs, owners of La Loma restaurants, seemed to come to an end several weeks ago, only to flare up again after yet another lawsuit has been filed.
• Members of the Trump administration lost their minds when the NFL announced that Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny would perform at the halftime of the Super Bowl. Corey Lewandowski, chief adviser to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, announced that ICE would have a presence at the Super Bowl, because we all know that Home Depot parking lots, restaurant kitchens and Super Bowls are where people here without authorization often congregate.
• Disability advocates are blasting RTD board members for their decision to begin charging for its “Access-on-Demand” service that covered the cost of ride-share services for disabled passengers. The program costs RTD $17 million annually, which is approximately 1.42% of the transit system’s budget.
• Congratulations to FIFA for finding innovative new ways to price gouge. Most sports leagues would be content to just jack up the face value of tickets to events like the soccer World Cup, but FIFA has introduced a new wrinkle: in addition to jacking up the face value of tickets, it will charge both sellers and buyers a 15% fee for tickets on its official ticket resale platform. Tickets are already listed for tens of thousands of dollars, and some are more than 10 times higher than their face value.
• ESPN had an awkward moment this week when two of its playoff baseball announcers promoted the NHL’s season opening slate of games that will be carried by ESPN. After the first announcer shared the NHL games that will be shown, the second announcer, not a hockey fan, dryly shared, “There is zero chance I’ll be watching; I’m just gonna be honest with you.”
• A Gallup poll finds that the advertising and PR community is viewed favorably by only 29% of the public, ahead of only the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government. Perhaps even worse, the airline industry is viewed more favorable than us.

Who won the week?

• Pax8 named Tom Gavin as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer. He formerly was with Salesforce, Coupa, Workato and the ONE Campaign.
• The addition of Chef Hosea Rosenberg’s Santo restaurant at DIA makes it the only airport in the world with three Michelin-listed restaurants under one roof, joining Mister Oso and Mercantile Dining & Provision. Katie Shapiro has the details.
• Reporters normally hate to be part of a story, but the Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office is crediting reporters with CBS4 and Fox31 for recognizing and reporting an armed burglary suspect who was in the background of their live morning shots from Clear Creek County.
• Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokić didn’t agree to a contract extension this summer, which caused some concern about his long-term future. But Jokić told reporters this week that his “plan is to be a Nugget forever.”