Tag: Gazettepreps
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Paul Klee: Ask Erie’s Blake Barnett or Palmer Ridge’s Alec Falk: How does a kid go from good athlete to Colorado state champ?
LAKEWOOD • Blake Barnett’s surprise was real. Right when he barreled across the finish line in the Class 4A boys final in the 100-meter sprint, the Erie star looked like he’d hit the Powerball. “I won that (expletive)!” Barnett howled to himself, eyes as wide as the medal he later wore. I’m surprised he was surprised.…
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Paul Klee: Another canceled event puts kids last, could help lead to ‘worst summer of violence’
AURORA — When the adults in charge start putting kids first again, things might get better. In too many places that hasn’t happened yet. The latest example was the cancellation of the A-Town All-Stars game, a fantastic showcase put on by The Sentinel newspaper. It brings together the top basketball players here in Aurora, boys…
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Paul Klee: Evangelical Christian shows beauty of Class 1A basketball in CHSAA state tournament loss
GREELEY — Hate to say it, but life doesn’t get easier after losing in the state tournament. Good news is, the boys basketball players from Evangelical Christian Academy, a school of 70-ish students in Colorado Springs, will be well-prepared for the bumps and twists and son-of-a-guns that no one’s going to avoid in a full…
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Paul Klee: Mental Health Huddle makes fantastic debut at Hanzlik’s Gold Crown gym
LAKEWOOD — “We’re not trying to change the world,” Bill Hanzlik says, leaning forward in a Nuggets polo. I don’t believe him. With a subtle tweak at his Gold Crown gym, they just might. The headquarters for the Gold Crown Foundation is the field house off Alameda on Denver’s west edge. It’s eight basketball courts,…
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Paul Klee: Great that Naomi Osaka’s mental health is important, but why are everyday kids being ignored?
DENVER — This isn’t about Naomi Osaka. Not really. The tennis superstar should take her time away, skip the next Open, whatever helps. Sound mental health is an important deal, and if hers is in rough shape, do what you need to do. But here’s my question: Where was the sports media’s sudden interest in…
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Paul Klee: How the No. 1 boys basketball team in the state, Cherry Creek, is navigating this COVID-19 season
GREENWOOD VILLAGE — If Cherry Creek wins the boys basketball state championship — and it’s trending that way at No. 1 in Class 5A — here’s hoping Greg Critchett is gifted a ring of his own. It’s the Greg Critchetts of the high school world making sure this COVID-19 season happens. Because the season’s still happening, and…
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Paul Klee: So long, mental health. ‘Masketball’ is CDPHE’s latest assault on Colorado’s kids
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DENVER — The emperors have no science. Maybe in 5, 10, 20 years the sins committed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will be exposed in a more important space than this. But for now its dangerously myopic approach to kids and COVID-19 is laid bare in none other than high school…
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Paul Klee: Colorado’s most important sports story in 2021 is returning high school athletes to the playing field — on time
DENVER — Here’s a New Year’s resolution all of Colorado should be able to get behind. Stop messing with our kids. Enough already. If anything should be considered essential, it’s our kids and their mental and physical wellbeing. Get them in a classroom, and let them play ball. High school basketball teams can practice here…
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PREPS | Protesting to Play
Students, parents, and coaches from around the state gathered in Denver to protest the decision to delay the start of high school sports this spring. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is not permitting sports to begin on Jan. 4, as previously scheduled, in response to rising COVID-19 cases in the state. (Video…
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Paul Klee: Palmer Ridge coach eyes fourth straight Class 4A state championship while speaking up about Bipolar II disorder
DENVER — As Tommy Pulford is talking about his dark days in quarantine, how he bought a can of Copenhagen so the smell would transport him to a football film room, I’m thinking about the others. All the others. Because there are a flood of others who share his daily battle with Bipolar II disorder…