Tag: Denver Nuggets

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment
  • The Olympics are here, and already we have seen some interesting storylines:
    • Charlotte Dujardin, a six-time Olympic medalist from Great Britain, withdrew from the Paris Olympics abruptly after a video of her repeatedly whipping a horse during a training session surfaced. In a statement, she said the video “does not reflect how I train my horses,” but of course it actually does.
    • It was a tough week for the U.S. men’s and women’s national basketball teams. In tune-up games leading to the Paris Olympics, the men’s team barely beat South Sudan and the women’s team lost to a WNBA all-star team composed of women who were not picked for the national team.
    • The head coach of the Canadian national women’s soccer team has been sent home after members of her staff were caught flying a spy drone over the practice of their first opponent, New Zealand. Seems like a pretty low risk-to-reward ratio. The drone probably confirmed that New Zealand planned to kick the ball around a bunch and then try to shoot it in the opponent’s goal.
    • Vandals created a series of arson fires on high-speed rail lines overnight in what officials describe as a “coordinated attack” intended to disrupt access to the opening ceremonies.
    • Meanwhile, the IOC awarded the 2034 Winter Olympic Games to Salt Lake City, but only if the United States goes easy on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA has been accused of allowing Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance to participate in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Every time you think FIFA is the most corrupt organization on the face of the planet, the IOC steps its game up.
  • It’s not exactly like Cleveland Browns fans throwing D-cell batteries at opponents, but a professional soccer match in Norway had to be suspended after fans objected to a referee’s call by throwing fish cakes onto the field.
  • The janitors who clean the office buildings in downtown Denver could strike as early as Sunday if they don’t reach a new agreement.
  • RTD police chief Joel Fitzgerald has been on administrative leave since July 1 for unspecified reasons.
  • It’s not just reporters who have an issue with what records governmental agencies hand over. Denver City Auditor Tim O’Brien is pushing to give his office subpoena power. Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Human Services is charging its own Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman $30 per hour to gather records it has requested.
  • Things are tough all over. King Charles and his British Monarchy have received a $60 million pay raise as Great Britain grapples with the impacts of inflation.
  • Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A brother of a Denver Nuggets player has been arrested. This time it was Strahinja Jokic, the brother of NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who was arrested for assaulting a man during a Nuggets playoff game against the L.A. Lakers in April.
  • Wildfires in the Pacific Northwest have caused Denver to rank in the Top 10 globally for worst air quality.
  • Former Denver Bronco and local sports radio host Chad Brown has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former business partner. Curiously, the settlement bars the business partner from defaming Brown, including any mention of “’sex, sexuality, cameras, extramarital affairs, pornography’ or a particular adult toy.”
  • Southwest Airlines announced it would begin assigning seats, ending its 50-year practice of letting passengers pick their seats when they board. Business passengers, particularly, had not been happy with the number of people pre-boarding by claiming medical, military or other reasons.
  • Climate activists in Germany forced the cancellation of more than 100 airline flights in an attempt to highlight climate change. The protesters breached security fences at Frankfurt Airport, an important European hub. Meanwhile, flights in South Korea have been disrupted by a North Korean campaign to send large balloons filled with trash into the country. The balloons have small explosive devices with timers that cause the balloons to pop and rain debris.
  • After 101 years in Denver, the Hanneck Dry Cleaners on East Sixth Avenue is closing. As Westword noted, Hanneck is older than bubble gum, parking meters and penicillin.
  • You think you are annoyed by the never-ending 16th Street Mall construction? The Clocktower Cabaret in the basement of the Daniels & Fisher Tower on 16th Street was flooded with raw sewage during a construction mishap.

Who won the week?

  • The Colorado State Rams are retiring the No. 14 across all of its sports teams in honor of Lt. Col. John Mosley. Mosley, who enrolled at CSU in 1939, was a Tuskegee Airman and the first Black person to earn a varsity letter at the university.
  • Colorado Rockies star Todd Helton was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • Denver Nuggets announcer Chris Marlowe, a volleyball gold medal winner in the 1984 Summer Olympics, is headed to Paris to serve as an announcer for his tenth Olympics.
  • Boulder was named one of six finalists to be the new host of the Sundance Film Festival.
  • The movie “Twisters” nabbed $80.5 million in its opening weekend, blowing away pre-opening estimates of $50 million to $55 million.

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment
  • Former Denver Broncos and current (for the moment) Washington Commanders kicker Brandon McManus is being sued by two women who say he sexually assaulted them on a team flight last year when he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He denies the allegations.
  • A man in Michigan joined a Zoom court hearing about his suspended drivers license while he was driving. The judge immediately revoked his bond.
  • A necklace straight out of the Mr. T collection likely saved a Colorado man’s life when it stopped a bullet, according to Commerce City police.
  • Deion Sanders‘ son Shiloh has filed for bankruptcy. Shiloh has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in NIL money, but he appears to be trying to get out from under an $11.3 million judgment against him from a civil trial alleging that he assaulted a school security guard when he was 15.
  • American Airlines quickly fired its outside law firm after its lawyers filed court documents blaming a 9-year-old girl for allegedly being secretly recorded in one of its airplane’s bathrooms by a flight attendant. The filing claimed that the young girl “knew or should have known” about the secret recording device. This should serve as a reminder to C-level executives that some lawyers care only about winning in court and do not consider what brand damage they may cause in pursuit of that.
  • Newcomers may complain about the skunky smell coming from grow houses along I-70, but those of us who have been here more than few decades know that the Purina pet food plant is the OG of I-70 nasty smells. Now, a group of nearby residents has filed suit, claiming that the plant emits “rancid” and “noxious” odors.
  • If you are headed to Red Rocks, you may want to closely follow the speed limit. The Town of Morrison‘s new radar camera system ticketed more than 10,000 speeders in its first two weeks. At that rate, Morrison will generate more than $10 million in annual revenue from the system.
  • The Denver Post‘s editorial page team is tightening its requirements for contributed articles after an open-records request identified that a lobbyist actually wrote a column submitted under the name of the mayor of Pueblo.
  • A freak lightning strike in Jackson County, Colo., east of Steamboat Springs, killed a rancher and 32 head of cattle.
  • Denver-based STK Steakhouse had its newest restaurant in Washington, D.C. reviewed by The Washington Post, and it was ugly. Describing his meal, food critic Tom Sietsema noted, “For a moment, I imagine(d) myself at 30,000 feet, eating an airplane meal.”
  • If you were wondering how fashion designer Alexander Wang got Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Ariana Grande and Kylie Jenner to appear in an ad campaign, it turns out they are actually celebrity look-a-likes. I wouldn’t want to be the person that has $1,500/hour attorneys, the FTC and the BeyHive after him.
  • TV networks are scrambling for advertising dollars as the median ages of their viewers continue to climb. Fun fact: the median age of MTV viewers is 51.
  • Nissan issued a rare “do not drive” warning for nearly 84,000 of its cars due to potentially exploding airbags.
  • An Ohio billionaire who apparently does not read the news has announced an audacious new plan – traveling to the wreck of the Titanic in a submersible.
  • Pope Francis has issued an apology after it was reported that he used an offensive slur to refer to gay men in a meeting with bishops.
  • June is Pride Month, but PR Week reports that “many brands are taking a break from Pride this year due to the economy or political opposition to DEI and ESG programs.”
  • Denver’s Carrie J. Austin wrote a letter to the editor of The Denver Post complaining about all the growth that Denver has experienced since she “relocated here in 1995 after having spent more than 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Manhattan and Brooklyn.”
  • Bill Walton was a Hall of Fame basketball player and one of the all-time eccentric basketball announcers. Like all of the all-time greats, he was loved by most and hated by some. He died at the age of 71 after a lengthy battle against cancer.
  • Correction: Last week, I expressed surprise that CPR agreed to a settlement with former host Vic Vela that included leaving the door open to collaborate on his “Back from Broken” podcast. CPR’s Clara Shelton let me know that the agreement is that Vela can continue his podcast on his own and that CPR would not be involved in any future editions.

Who won the week?