Author: Mark Kiszla mark.kiszla@denvergazette.com
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Mark Kiszla: How best little hockey town in USA made it Brock Nelson’s destiny to play in Winter Olympics
MILAN – The river is frozen hard as granite in the real Hockeytown, USA, where the wind chill out on Muskeg Bay is: Don’t ask. But inside the Nomad Tavern – where if the piping-hot pizza doesn’t warm the cockles of your heart, a shot of Fireball might do the trick – there’s a Winter Olympics…
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Kickin’ It with Kiz: Was Buffs legend Christian Fauria wrong to pancake Coach Prime with criticism?
Hey, Kiz! I know you’re at the Winter Olympics in Italy. But did you see former CU Buffs football star Christian Fauria unload on Coach Prime with criticism? Just want to say: Thumbs up to Mr. Fauria! – J.G., honeymoon’s over Kiz: Welp, that was a bruising pancake block Fauria put on Deion Sanders. Fauria,…
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Mark Kiszla: ‘Quad God’ trips over his Olympic hype, takes tumble off medal stand
MILAN – The “Quad God” crashed to earth with an icky thump. How the heck did that happen? “I blew it,” U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin said Friday. He not only failed to win gold that had been deemed a foregone conclusion, but tumbled off the medal stand and plummeted all the way to eighth…
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Mark Kiszla: Anybody back in USA griping about Avs center Brock Nelson being on the Olympic team now?
MILAN – With his heart aching and Mark Stone struggling to find the words to express how much he feels duty-bound to win Olympic gold, tears did the talking for an NHL star paid a salary of $8 million to play hockey. “I just want to give everybody in Canada something to cheer about,” Stone…
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Mark Kiszla: Elizabeth Lemley appears from thin Colorado air to be Olympic hero nobody saw coming
MILAN — Whether in an airplane or on skis, Elizabeth Lemley digs flying upside down. What’s the crazy appeal to her? A big shot of adrenaline, Lemley will tell you, before adding: “I love the risk.” Every Olympics needs a “Rocky” story. An underdog counted out. A champion of the peeps. This one comes straight…
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Mark Kiszla: Free Bird! U.S. women flying high after 5-0 win over bitter hockey rival
MILAN – Holy schnikes! Team USA knocked the ever-loving poutine out of Canada, eh? I went to the hockey version of a border war on Tuesday night, and a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert broke out. Free Bird! That’s the classic rock song the arena DJ plays every time a U.S. woman scores a goal in the…
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Mark Kiszla: Mikaela Shiffrin again wearing thorny GOAT horns of doubt at Olympics
MILAN — She’s the GOAT who chokes on Olympic slopes. Mikaela Shiffrin was painfully reminded it’s nearly impossible to ski with a nervous heart in your throat and the five Olympic rings shackled tightly around your boots. In a new event that seemed invented for her benefit, presenting a golden opportunity to cure a wicked…
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Mark Kiszla: How Colorado skier got caught in crossfire of U.S. culture wars over the Olympics
MILAN — If mudslinging ever becomes an Olympic sport, the United States will certainly win gold, silver and bronze. The vitriol has gone viral in a media-fueled debate about what it means for an athlete to be a true American patriot at the Winter Games. Pressed for his nonsports opinions, a 23-year-old skier from Winter…
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Mark Kiszla: The mountain doesn’t care. It laughed at skier Lindsey Vonn’s plans for a fairy-tale ending in Italy.
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – Every ski racer has a plan until the mountain wrecks ’em at 60 mph. American downhiller Breezy Johnson was sizzling Sunday, screaming down the mountain to win a gold medal. But what will leave the impossible-to-erase marks on our memory from this race are the agonizing shrieks from teammate Lindsey Vonn,…
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Kickin’ It with Kiz: Would Broncos be in Super Bowl today if John Elway got QB he liked in 2018 NFL draft?
I hate the Seahawks. I abhor the Patriots. I’ve never heard of Bad Bunny and already can’t stand his “music.” Can’t stand NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth. But I probably watch the Super Bowl anyway. – J-Dawg, Boulder Kiz: Two years ago, when Sam Darnold was trying to rehabilitate his NFL career as a seldom-used reserve…