Denver Sports

I moved to Denver during the height of the Tim Tebow craze. And although I wasn’t a particular fan of Tebow or the Broncos or even football, I appreciated the blue and orange filled city. I loved the bars packed with enthusiastic fans and I hid smiles when my high school students would strike dramatic Tim-Tebow-on-one-knee poses when asked to do arduous tasks like write complete sentences.I’ve missed sports. I’ve missed the way a city comes together during a playoff series. I took the Seahawks, Mariners, and SuperSonics for granted when I lived in Seattle. I didn’t even know that I’d found comfort in being part of a sea of blue and green clad people until I moved away.Gambling being what it is in Vegas, no professional sports teams call the city home. Nevada residents have to cheer on L.A. teams if they have no other allegiances. Now that I’m in a decidedly un-sinful city (as long as you ignore the rampant marijuana use), I can be part of a fan base again. I can smile proudly when my students ask “miss, did you see the game last night?”Although not a huge basketball fan, I found myself quite enjoying the Denver Nuggets a few months ago at the Pepsi Center. My basketball night involved parking by the capitol to avoid paying, taking the free 16^th street mall ride up to the bars at LoDo, doing some drinking, and the finally picking up cheap scalper tickets sometime after the game started. Fun stuff. If you want to see the 2011-2012 Nuggets, you’d better hurry. They are working game-by-game to avoid elimination.But all winter long, baseball was what I’d been waiting for. I’d been wanting to move to Denver even since watching Carlos Gonzalez hit for the cycle with a walk off home run a couple years ago. That 2010 game I’d seen was dubbed one of the most exiting major league game of the year, so I was afraid that my return to Coors Field would be anti-climatic.Not so.I’ve been to two game so far this year, both were great wins for the Colorado Rockies. The April 27^th game I witnessed with my mom included an 11 run inning (for the Rockies), a grand slam (for the Rockies), six errors (for the Mets), AND a cycle (for the Mets). Most baseball fans are lucky to see one cycle in their lifetime. I’ve seen TWO in Denver. I think it’s a sign that this city is exactly where I need to be.Next week my Seattle Mariners will be playing the Rockies in the Mile High City, and although I’ve decided to raise my daughter as a Rockies fan (she doesn’t have a name or a home yet, but I’ve got the important things figured out!), there is no way I can root against my Mariners. I’m excited to wear my blue and teal for the series, but I’ll be glad to bust out my newly acquired purple Dexter Fowler shirt for the rest of the season.Parking around Coors Field is between $5 and $20. For a great slice of pizza before the game, bead to  the Wazee Supper Club on 15^th and Wazee. Cheap seats start at $4, but for a view of the Rockies (the mountains, not the players), sit up high on the 1^st base side.