People That Are Better Than Me: Dunker Edition

I can’t even get rim…this French-Algerian man puts me to shame. Don’t be fooled by the slideshow beginning, keep watching. Sick video follows.

Jules Winfield=Junior Hockey Coach

In my never-ending quest to waste my life on YouTube, I found a video of Chris Chelios reminiscing about when Jules Winfield was his coach. “Do I look like a BI***?! Do I LOOK like a BI***?!”

p.s. Who Says Jules Samuel L. Jackson has been typecast?

Dude Eats A Triple Quad

Earlier in the school year, some friends and I went to Wendy’s and doubled the meat on a classic triple.  Naturally, we thought we were hot shit.  Not anymore we don’t.  I was browsing YouTube for people doing stupid crap (a daily activity), and stumbled upon this….

Fantastic.  I love America.

We’re Bored: Podcast #1

Update: Okay, the link should actually work now. Told you we’re new at this.

Well, we got really bored waiting for the Rockies game to start, so we decided to do our first DSZ podcast. Between ripping on Mark Kiszla, saying ‘jump the gun’ a lot, discussing the two Bells, making Todd Devoe jokes, mis-using preemptively, and discussing the future of Cutler and Scheffler, we think you’ll at least be entertained by the sheer stupidity of our foray into the world of podcasting. So without further adieu:

The First Ever Denver Sports Zone Podcast

Before you leave though, a quick post script from Sam:

Sorry for using preemptively wrong. I seriously need to get on top of learning the English language. www.swishahouse.biz. Leave comments as to whether or not we should continue this absurd endeavor. Also, I did the music, and if you want someone to make you a podcast intro, I’m your man. (or anything else).

Rockies drop ‘best-dressed,’ pickup a bunch of runs

Clint Hurdle has finally taken the suggestion of the Rockies blogosphere and dropped Jorge Piedra from the lineup, calling up AAA star Ryan Spilborghs. This means the team will lose their best-dressed player (as voted by the players in the latest installment of ‘Rockies Weekly’ [if anybody can find a link to that, let me know]), but it’s okay, because that means the role of best-dressed will be taken by Choo ‘Besides me, Jorge Piedra’ Freeman, who is clearly the next-best-dressed on the team.

But apparently, Clint Hurdle should pay more attention to what bloggers say - because Ryan Spilborgh’s immediate impact was providing the catalyst for a 10-run effort to beat the Cubs in the first of three games. Way to go Clint! The main other suggestion I have to get this team back in track coincides with Mr. Mark Donohue’s comments a few nights ago.

Clint Hurdle is playing his starters way too long, and its cost us some ball-games. Granted, the starters have been nothing short of excellent of late - but that doesn’t mean a manager should ever be thinking twice about taking a starter out in the sixth or seventh inning if it seems batters are getting to him a little. Especially with the way the Rockies bullpen has been performing of late, and the way the offense has been not scoring, it makes no sense that Hurdle should be gun-shy about pulling his starters earlier than the eighth if they’re starting to be hit a little bit. And imagine the games we could have won if Hurdle had turned to the bullpen instead of allowing the starters to go too long - not to mention the wear and tear we could have saved the starters.

The moral of this story - don’t be afraid to make a good baseball move earlier than you’d like in the ballgame, even if Byung-Hyung ‘I was born to throw 127 every game’ Kim is on the mound.

This site = not funny

Uhh….this site isn’t funny, at all, and plus our writing is horrendous, so y’all best not come back. I can’t believe we call ourselves bloggers.

Hahaha, that’s great…insurgents. Wow.

Charity Tennis Tournament this weekend

I just wanted to let everyone know that there’s going to be a charity tennis tournament this weekend hosted by some local high school students at George Washington High School. If you’re free this weekend and you play tennis or know someone who does, it would be great if you would come out for this event. It’s really going to be a great time and benefit a great cause.

Here’s the info (via their press release):

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TEAM UP TO SMASH CANCER

(Denver, CO) The “Smash Cancer Tournament” is a charity doubles tennis tournament to benefit the American Cancer Society. It is hosted and run entirely by students on the George Washington High School relay for life team.

The two-day tournament will be held on August 5 and 6, 2006 from 8am to 5pm at George Washington High School, 655 S. Monaco Parkway, and Place Middle School, 7125 Cherry Creek Drive North. Match times, locations and directions will be provided at registration. We will be happy to accommodate scheduling conflicts if notified beforehand. Awards will begin at 5:30pm on August 6.

Register online by sending your Name, Phone Number, E-mail address and partner’s name to: smashcancertournament@yahoo.com or in person on August 5th at the George Washington High School tennis courts, located near Leetsdale and Exposition, at 8am. Single entries are welcome, and will be randomly paired with a partner before the event.

The minimum entry donation is $15 per person. Make checks payable to the American Cancer Society. Food and drink will be available on-site.

For more information, send an e-mail to smashcancertournament@yahoo.com, or call 720.341.3447.

Zidane Is a Jerk

Because I don’t have a real job (I work part time for no pay because I’m what experts in the field call a “moron”), I payed quite a bit of attention to the World Cup. When I say quite a bit of attention, I mean I watched every bracket game save one or two and probably two games per day during group play. Remember, I don’t have legit employment.

One thing I truly began to appreciate in the games was the sportsmanship. Those corny banners about fair play apparently had an effect, because soccer was as classy a sport as I’ve ever seen. When a player is injured, for example, play isn’t halted, so if the opposing team has the ball, they kick it out of bounds to let the injured player recieve treatment.

So, when Zidane decided to headbut an Italian player in overtime of the World Cup final, in his last World Cup, it left a scar on the vibe that prevailed throughout the tournament. Rather than remembering a thrilling game that came down to PKs after Italy barely hung on to get there, we’ll remember a golden-shoed, balding baby that couldn’t curb his emotions for the sake of the game of soccer and his country. Way to go, ya big jerk.

Interview: Chad Stoffel at the World Series of Poker

I’m doing a short series (which may end up being an article and a blurb) on local poker players playing in this years’ World Series of Poker.

For those of you not familiar with the event, the World Series of Poker is a tournament run by Harrah’s Entertainment each year which is largely considered one of the best and most prestigious tournaments around. Held at various casinos throughout Las Vegas, poker players who win WSOP events win a World Series ‘bracelet’ in addition to cash. Some people use these bracelets as a measuring tool for how good a poker player is. ESPN started showing the World Series of Poker on TV just a few years ago, and it has become one of the network’s biggest shows. Largely as a result of its TV popularity, WSOP attendance has skyrocketed in recent years, with over 7500 entrants expected to play in this years’ Main Event alone.

This years’ WSOP is on-going as we speak, and will end August 10 with the final table of the ‘Main Event,’ which is a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold’em tournament. This Main Event is the most prestigious tournament in the world, and the winner, besides hauling in $7.5 million, will instantly turn into a poker celebrity. ESPN will be showing taped coverage of the WSOP starting on July 18.

Today, we’re talking to Denver resident and poker player Chad Stoffel. Chad, 29, will be attending the 2006 World Series of Poker in event #17, which is the $1,000 no-limit hold’em event. Below is an abridged transcript of the conversation.

Denver Sports Zone: How long have you been playing poker?
Chad Stoffel: I’ve been playing for about 10 years. I first got serious about Texas Hold’em when the first World Poker Tour [WPT] came out on TV three or four years ago.. I had played hold’em in college, but we’d only play one hand at a time, and then we would move on to another game. So I never really learned about the nuances of hold’em until they played it on TV. After that, I picked up some books and really got into [hold’em].

DSZ: Is this your first WSOP?
CS: This is my first time at the World Series. I’ve been saving money since January for the trip to Vegas. I wired my $1,000 buy-in a few days ago. It’s going to be really a crap-shoot, because you don’t get much play out of the chips you get. The blind structure is the same for every event, even though the chips are different. On smaller events you need to get your hands early, and those hands need to hold up. If I made it through the first day, I’d be happy.

DSZ: Do you have any suggestions for players who are just getting started?
CS: If you’ve already played a little bit, the free online stuff is pretty good, but it gets obnoxious. Just for the play that you get to learn and the tournament structures, the Full Tilt one is pretty good. Buy some books if you’re getting started. The Dan Harrington books, volumes one through three are probably going to be the best for quite a while as far as tournament no-limit hold’em strategy and discussion. Then there’s Supersystem 2 by Doyle Brunson and Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. Small Stakes Hold’em by Ed Miller and David Sklansky is good for Colorado readers. It’s kind’ve related to what’s up in Blackhawk. But I did read the book and go up there [to Blackhawk] with $125 and lose it in an hour and a half, so you never know. DenverPoker.com is a good site for local users. It’s fairly active, but you’re not overwhelmed by trying to read all these posts. And they talk about the local stuff, so I definitely recommend that.

DSZ: Have you ever met any pros, and what will it be like playing with them at the WSOP?
CS: I haven’t played with any of them, thank God, because I’d be broke…but I was at the Golden Nugget heads up tournament in Vegas in March, which was an invite tournament of 64 of the best pros. So I was standing at the Golden Nugget watching a cash game at the poker room, where Brunson, Chang, Johnny Chan, Paul Phillips were all sitting. It was ridiculous. I asked the foreman what they were playing, and he said “anything they want.” They were playing $2,000/$4,000 blind limit. Each one of them had $100,000 on the table. Then later, Howard Lederer was in town for a conference, and I talked to him, asked him how he liked Denver, and he said, ‘oh yeah, I had a good time.’ So he likes our city.

I’m not sure how many of the pros are gonna waste their time on the $1,000 event. And the pot limit Omaha event is that Sunday, so if they’re playing in that, they won’t be there for the start of the $1,000. And then the H.O.R.S.E event starts. So I’m not sure how many pros are going to be in the $1,000 buy-in. But it would be cool. What I love about the game is that anybody can play and be up against the best. You can’t play Michael Jordan in a basketball game or John Elway in football. But in poker, you can sit next to ten of the best players in the world and try your shot at it. Doyle Brunson said, ‘it’s a lottery, the pros just have more tickets,’ aka more experience. So I’m starting out with my first ticket, and it’s a lottery, so we’ll see what happens.

Welcome to the New DSZ

Welcome to the new Denver Sports Zone.

After a few painful months of trying to keep up with our promises after the Rockies season started, we realized that we couldn’t possibly deliver daily scores and coverage of all four major teams, much less do it on four separate blogs. So rather than half-ass it through the season, we’ve re-built ourselves from the ground up, and now feature just one blog to cover all of Denver’s sports. This will allow us to report on much more interesting topics, as well as cover events that we could not under our old format, like the World Cup, World Series of Poker, and local Denver-area sports.

Our new promise to yon faithful visitors: To deliver less frequent, but more interesting, entertaining, in-depth, and perhaps most importantly, edited coverage. Instead of just reporting the scores every day, we’re going to focus exclusively on stories and ideas that are really interesting and fresh, more complex and more fun to read.

We hope you enjoy the new coverage as much as we’re going to enjoy bringing it to you. Welcome back to the Zone.

Sam Handler and Gabe Stein
Co-Owners
sports@denversportszone.com