The Avs have an opportunity to give a couple of young (relatively) coaches a shot at their first NHL head coaching gig.

Patrick Roy has said that he doesn't want to coach in the NHL. Fine. It would have been preposterous to hire him anyway. The Avs don't need a gimmick coach.

Also popping up on the radar are Pat Burns and Ron Wilson.

Burns has a ring he won with New Jersey. But Burns wears out welcomes rather quickly and has been out of coaching in the NHL since 2005.

Wilson is another coach that has bounced around the league, coaching Anaheim, Washington, and San Jose. Wilson is a solid coach who works well with young players, but he's rather unimaginative and can't seem to take talented teams to next level (fired from San Jose for this reason).

But the Avalanche have options over the the old guard of coaches.

Kevin Dineen is currently the coach of the Anaheim's AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates. He was named AHL coach of the year in 2006 in first season. Dineen played for two years at the University of Denver before embarking on a 21 year NHL career. Considered to be one of the best minor league managers, Dineen would probably be a good fit in Denver. Not because any specific coaching style but mostly because his long career garners respectability and his hiring would be a departure from in attitude from Queneville. Plus, he has shown a fantastic hand at developing young talent which is something the Avs will desperately need if they are to continue to be a good team in the west the next few years.

The other option, which I am (and so should you) totally for the Avs to do, is see if they can bring in Red Wings assistant Todd McLelland into the fold. McLelland is a veteran of the AHL and is considered to be on offensive mastermind. And if you have seen how good the Red Wings offense has been this season, the idea of bring that system to Denver should enough to make any Avs fan salivate.

Of course in order for the Avs to talk to these candidates they are going to have to wait until Detroit wins the Stanley Cup and Portland's, currently in the AHL conference finals, playoff run also ends.

I certainly hope the Giguere skews towards giving one of the young guys a shot.

Another 5 game losing streak. A 1-8 record against division leader Arizona. The team is batting .259 for the season, well below their .280 average from last season. The team ERA is 4.81, second worst in the National League. But that is only half a run more than the pitching staff gave up last year. So I really think that the Rockies down swing is mostly to blame on a hitting lineup that has failed to take pressure off a mediocre pitching staff.

It's amazingly difficult to watch this team right now. When you see them in jams like first and third with no one out, it becomes rather pathetic to become proud of a team that only gives up three runs in that situation. Not to mention the numerous RISPs that Rockies hitters have left out in the cold this year.

At this point I wonder, if this team can even salvage a decent season.

No wonder the front office has already sent out feelers that they are willing to entertain offers for Matt Holliday, they don't want to pay him $20 million a year salary; Garrett Atkins, who is also angling for a budget breaking contract; and Brian Fuentes, also coming up on an expensive contract year.

I think that management has indicated that they are not happy with this effort and are looking to develop an even better team through the farm system. It's hard not to see the wisdom in it. I think this team's true weaknesses were exposed in the World Series. When taken away from the 21 day run, the team was out-pitched, exploited and out hit in every way by the Red Sox. Obviously, the management is looking to fill glaring gaps. And they are dedicated to doing it with young talent. Even if that means many losing seasons and wandering in the wilderness.

But eventually this has to stop. The constant rebuilding of the team through the farm system will never get the franchise to the ultimate level it just takes to long. And when a part of the team breaks down, as it has on multiple levels this year (no second baseman, no two-hole hitter, weak back side of the rotation, over-extended bullpen), it takes forever to plug the gap by developing young players in to major leaguers.

In addition, if you don't keep your home-grown talent and eventually pay-off their effort and commitment to the system, then the Rockies franchise, much like the A's in the early 2000's,will become the minor league affiliate for teams with much deeper pockets, reaping the benefits of our franchise's long-term investments.

So, I think what I'm getting at is this: I would rather wallow in the muck with this team and have them under-perform for this organization then to have the best players traded off to be successful in Chicago, New York, or Boston. Is that selfish? I don't think so. If you're going to commit to home-grown talent, then you have to pay them to stay when they demand it and endure the bad times when they don't perform.

This season will be a telling season for the Rockies front office. In regards to what their approach is. Are they committed to home-grown talent and taking it like it is or are they just committed to being cheap bastards? We will find out as the season progresses and in the of-season. But if the past is any indication, the Monforts will prove to be cheap bastards.

The Rockies fell yet again to Arizona, running their record to 1-6 against the snakes. Jeff Francis got touched for 6 runs in the first two innings, including giving up a double to Randy "I Swing With My Eyes Closed" Johnson. Despite scratching out 12 hits, the offense left 7 runners on base in scoring position.

19 pitchers have thrown in a game for the Rockies this season, the most in the majors. Colorado used a major league-record 30 pitchers last year.

Clint Hurdle said after the game:

"We have to find a way to stir some things up, and that comes down into my lap, my desk. We have to put a better product on the field."

What else can Hurdle do really? He's tried multiple combinations in the field and something like nine different pitchers have started a game. The whole season to this point has been one big shake up. If he wasn't forced to stir it up, then the Rockies would have a hell of a lot more than 15 wins right now.

All this pontificating about what's wrong with the Rockies would not even be necessary if the expectations weren't so high coming into this season. If we didn't know how good this team's potential is, would we really care that they are struggling? Not really. The fans would be resigned to another year of mediocre baseball and would be calling for changes, next year. We know this team can win with the personnel they have. It's just not working. And it makes me think that the team has stopped buying into Hurdle's system.

Hurdle has a career .465 win percentage, but he has coached some awful Rockies teams. My main concern about Hurdle though is if he can take a team to the next level. The Rockies were absolutely poised to do that this season. Yet, the team has regressed.

The litmus test which often gets applied to baseball managers is what kind of effort they can get out of their players. Are manager's restricting or holding back talent from full potential? Are they getting the maximum potential? Or are they coaching players to get play which even exceeds potential? At the end of last year, the Rockies were exceeding potential. I think that is clear from this year's effort, that the Rockies are at best a .500 team. Which also means that this year's incarnation is performing below potential. And when that happens the blame is going to be squarely shouldered by the manager.

One thing is for sure, the Monfort's won't let Dan O'Dowd buy his way out of this rut. This team is either going to thrive, be mediocre or struggle with the talent they have in the system. So for me it all comes down to what Clint Hurdle can do with the talent he has to try to salvage this miserable season.

If he's unable to invoke the winning spirit in these players, he probably should be out on his ass after the season.

So Queneville is leaving the Avs. Everyone was so high on this guy when he rode into town. And as he leaves, I feel at least, cheated, but also dismissive and happy. I beg the question: Given his poor track record in St. Louis, why did Avs fans think that the returns under Queneville would be any better because he was coaching the burgundy and blue. I really feel suckered. If anything, the experience with Queneville should make Avs fans more skeptical about how new coaches will perform.

While the Queneville years were generally successful, the Avs winning more than losing in an age of parody, the team seemed to be the incarnation of Joel's coaching ability. And I can mark that one word: Inconsistent. Up and down, good and bad, solid and porous. These all described the Queneville coached Avs. Last year's team finished 1 point out of the playoffs after an incredible season ending run; But where was the effort all year? This year's team was marred by injuries, yet seemed lose ground after a strong start and before the injury bug hit. The end of this season, losses to last place Edmonton and wins over first place Minnesota represent the dichotomy of the teams ability. These trends are a bad reflection on the coach. Solidly coached teams are not Jeykll & Hyde, they win consistently, almost pattern like. But face the facts, under Quinville, the Avs were frustratingly inconsistent. And in light of this revelation, I think that getting rid of Quinville is a positive move for the franchise.

Queneville was Lacroix's coach. Queneville represented an icon of the past, the glory years of the franchise. Lacroix was hoping to establish confidence in a team whose identity was decimated by the strike and the new CBA with a coach that could inspire belief in the franchise as if its greatness could be invoked like a storied college football program. Queneville was that coach. But it turned out memories of past glory was not enough. Queneville wasn't the answer because the next period of greatness for the Avalanche won't come from drumming up ghosts of the past. All along, the team needed a new identity and a fresh face behind the bench. Queneville wasn't that, not that he ever could have been, and that's why he was ultimately a failure.

The next coach of the Avs, number 5 in 13 seasons if your keeping track at home, will be Frank Giguere's coach, as he continues to strive to break free of Lacroix's penguinish shadow and establish his own mark on the franchise.

Nine Days.

That's how long the Nuggets playoff run lasted. The first time the Nuggets Organization has ever been swept in a playoff series. It's time to say goodbye to these Nuggets as they go off to their summer time pleasure, Iverson to make another horrible rap album, Nene to play soccer on the beaches of Brazil, Martin to bed down the rest of the Nuggets Dance squad, and Carmelo to shoot pro-drug, oops, I mean anti-drug videos (not to mention his impending court date).

This will not be the same team next year. Silent Stan did not spend $80 million to have the team finish 8th once again. The stated goal of this team was to win the series they failed to do last night. Hopefully, it's over for this crop. If the Nuggets brass fails to make moves to shore up the defense, i.e. still think that the current team is good enough to win, then I will firmly believe my long-standing suspicion that this is a cursed basketball city. Denver is incapable of having good basketball teams because of the lack of oxygen deprives the minds of basketball GM's to make quality decisions.

To wrap up this series: Kobe Bryant owned the Nuggets. There that's it. When it mattered he put the dagger in the heart. Hitting sick jump shots both open and with a hand in his face. When he wasn't scoring he was dishing the ball to other Lakers who would score in bunches. The Nugs were focused on Bryant that they forgot about Gasol, Odom, and Walton, not to mention pesky Derek Fisher. I can break it down even further for you Nugget apologists with a word association:

Kobe is to Clutch Superstar, as Melo is to ______?

Any guess?

That's right. LOSER.

We have an exclusive here. Kobe Bryant had some words for Melo after the game. Through secret micro phone we were able to determine that Kobe said, "Get the hell out of this town as soon as possible. Get away from Martin and Camby and George Karl. Don't become another victim of playing Karl's loser ball."

Heed the old hand's advice young one.

So where do the Nuggets go from here. Melo will be back, he's still the face of the franchise. AI will be back because no other team would take him. Camby will be back because the Nugs brass is still under the ridiculous delusion that he can play defense. Martin will be back because they can't trade his salary away. JR Smith will be back because he's young and developing. Nene will be back, he still has yet to play a healthy season, so not team would trade for his unproven salary command. Karl will be back, but if this happens again he's gone. And if the team struggles in the middle of the season, he'll leave. Role players Najera and Carter are probably gone, and I'm not sure about Kleiza.

In essence, the team will remain the same. And everyone will be high on the Nuggets again next year. But it will be the same old show. It's just a matter of when Kroenke will pull the final curtain closed.

2 wins their last 10. Ouch. Incosistent hitting and poor pitching have made for a miserable spring for the Rockies. The only bright spot has been the pitching of Aaron Cook, but he can only do some much for this team

In baseball, teams get hot and teams win games. But the best teams are consistent. These are teams like the Yankees and Red Sox and Cubs (I'm talking about this year only), that know how to win and expect to win. That have a bear down attitude toward the the season. An attitude that wins you 90 to 100 games and always gets teams into the playoffs. The Rockies don't have it becuase it's something that franchises develop over the years.

I'm calling out the entire Rockies organization for this pathetic month of baseball. I thought they could rise above after going 8-3 following their 1-5 start. Good teams build on past successes. Last year's team was good, a team that could build upon its successes around a nucleus of young talent. The organization has done nothing but regress since the end of last year, falling back to the mediocrity that Rockies fans know so well. The high hopes of this twon have been dashed against the very boulders of the very namesake of our beloved team.

Fall dreams are fizzling in the April for this club. They have to rise above the losses to even manage a respectable season. There's nothing worse than being labeled a fluke team, a title the 2008 Rockies are steadily earning their 2007 counter-part.

But they have 5 months to prove me wrong.

One thing you don't expect come this time of year in the NHL playoffs, when there are only 8 teams left, is that one team is going to be substantially better than another. Series in this round are tight and goals, hard to come by, are earned with grinding work and extraordinary skill.

This has not been the case in the Avalanche-Red Wing series. The Red Wings are remarkably better than the Avalanche. And it has to do with every facet of the game: better skaters, youthful talent, stronger goaltending, more disciplined defense, and superior coaching. Look at this series through three games.

- The Red Wings' Chris Osgood has outshone Jose Theodore, [Not that Theodore has played badly and he's been hung out to dry by his defense a lot in this series] as the three goals Osgood surrendered last night were tip-ins. He's made the strong saves when necessary, like the one on Liles in Game One.

- The Avalanche have had zero room the transition and carry the puck into the zone. The Red Wings trap has been superb and while the Avs have been successful in forechecking at times, they have been unable to cycle the puck in front of the net or back to the blueline for shots.

- I thought going into this series that the veteran leadership on this team would be an asset, but [aside form Burnette] the veterans have looked old, a step slow, and woefully over-matched. Where Foote was an asset in the Minnesota series, he has been a liability in this series. On the flip side, the Red Wings have been youthful and productive. Their veterans have looked solid, if not at least unexploited.

- In the offensive end, the Wings have been nothing short of spectacular. They pass the puck with confidence, they hold the puck on the blueline, they forecheck with authority, they screen the goaltender with efficiency, and they score an unsettling number goals off rebounds and into open nets. It's a beautiful thing to watch if you weren't so miserable that it's causing the downfall of your beloved Avalanche.

All of these factors lead be to this conclusion: That the series was won by the coaches. Mike Babcock's team is solid, grounded and disciplined. The play their lanes, cycle the puck in the offensive zone, move around to create havoc with defenses, and clean up the garbage in front of their own goal. Babcock is a much superior coach to Quinville, in what he gets out of his team. Yes, they have the tons of talent on the team, but [as we learned from the Nuggets] talent don't mean diddly if you can't get the players to come together as a team. The Wings are that team top to bottom. Quinville's decisions on the other hand have been questionable at times, like why start a sick Theodore in Game One, and why not give Budaj a shot in Game 3. Quinville is not the answer for the Avs hopes to return to the promise land. But that's a subject for another day.

I always say that there is a difference between being beaten and losing. Losing is when you play well below your ability. Being beaten is when the opposition is undeniable. The Wings are beating the Avs, and there's nothing Colorado can do about it. The golf course is calling for the Avs. But, as much as it pains me to say it, the Avs should not be embarrassed to be beaten by vastly better and technically sound team. They should aspire to become the Red Wings.

Carmelo Anthony's drinking and driving bust is not a big deal in the grand scheme of the Nuggets season. The fact that he didn't kill anyone is amazing and if you have ever seen how these idiot basketball freaks drive when they're sober, it's amazing this is his first reckless driving charge. Too give you an idea of how bad it is, I once saw JR Smith Drive over a tree on the grounds of Pepsi Center. It's true, I can show you where. Why did he do it? He was driving to fast in snow storm and lost control. But all of the moron's on the Nuggets drive the same way. (I also once saw Melo almost run over some kids trying to get autographs after a game)

We've had many prominent DUI arrests among sports figures in this town, but it really doesn't effect the team or it's preformance in the season. I don't condone drinking and driving, it's just a stupid thing to do. We can chastise Melo for it all we want, but that's not my point. This episode is more a reflection on Anthony's lack of moral character and habitual offender of public decency and laws. The exploits of Anthony have everything to do with two things: one, the wealth among professional athletes and the pervasiveness of stupid choices young stars make in spending their money; and two, the corrupt influences of inner-city America, where most trouble players come from.

Carmelo is a product of the inner-city of Baltimore. How he dresses, speaks and acts is reflection of his poverty stricken upbringing. A single mother in the ghetto. If he didn't play basketball so well, he would be surrounded by poverty in Baltimore, probably in and out of prison and on his way to permanent incarceration, and quite possibly dead. Remember the "Don't Snitch" video? Anthony probably would have been one of those gang members in the tape. Anthony doesn't care about being educated. Have you ever heard him speak? Syracuse probably did all they could so Anthony could pass NCAA clearing house rules. Anthony participates in activities that are common to the urban poor, such as drinking heavily and doing drugs, especially marijuana. And he does these things with friends of his from his ghetto life because "they understand the experiences and have earned my trust and only they understand where I'm coming from." So rather than use his wealth to prop himself up, become a model citizen and avoid the trappings of poverty, Anthony use is wealth to fund his ghetto life-style. A high quality life-style with fast cars and expensive booze and drugs, but a ghetto life-style all the same.

But then Anthony is an adult by law, and he makes decisions and reaps the consequences. But given what we know of this man-child I can't understand why people in this city support and defend Anthony and his actions. What do we get out it? A good basketball team? Who gives a crap. Sports these days is all about perception. Sports figures are out there, in the public eye, setting examples for the impressionable.

Anthony's defenders on the web are saying things like "when I was 23, I made those same mistakes." Like it's ok and expected an thing for late-teen and early-twenty somethings to break the law. Forgiveness for a few youthful transgressions is one-thing. But expecting the bad behavior and apologizing and explaining away a pattern of law-breaking behavior sets a bad example for your children. We should be teaching kids to aspire to avoid these stupid mistakes, not trying to say that it's no big deal when they will be or are committed.

What lessons do Anthony's rise to fame and wealth teach the children? Be good at a sport and you don't need education. If you have money you can drive really nice cars and party with hot women all the time. Be true to your friends even if they are criminals who advocate for violence against law enforcement and "snitches." These lessons are not what we aspire to teach the kids in this country, they never have been and never will be. There's no golden rule to find in looking up to this thug who shoots well. What do you get out of it? A winning NBA team?

Well, I for for one propose that, I would much rather support a hometown team of mediocre talent that finishes last in the league, than support a successful team populated with a bunch of over-paid thugs and morons like Kenyon Martin, JR Smith, and Carmelo Anthony.