“The hallmark of excellence, the test of greatness, is consistency.” – Jim Tressell To say it was unexpected is an understatement. Possibly no one said it better than Nikola Jokic himself, sitting in front of a small stable while in a conversation with TNT’s Ernie Johnson… Johnson: Did you always consider yourself a long-shot? Jokic: If it’s not me, who…...

MISSION 16W It was a saying that Ray Bourque hung up in the Colorado Avalanche locker room to refer to that season’s championship plans. It meant that only one thing should matter to the Avs, as it did to Bourque. Getting to the postseason, and putting themselves in the best position possible to get 16 wins in the postseason. In…...

“Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” – Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption Hope is the name of at least three cities in the United States. Hope is the name of a cousin of mine. Hope is a dessert at this cool little place I went to in Arkansas.…...

“And if it’s bad, don’t let it get you down You can take it And if it hurts, don’t let them see you cry You can make it Hold your head up Hold your head high” – Argent, “Hold Your Head Up” Turns out the Denver Nuggets are facing just a few too many heads at the moment. Heads held…...

“My team is on, Papa!” “That’s not our team, buddy. Our team is called the Rockies.” “Nuh uh. I like the Red Sox.” My heart sank. My four-year old grandson was showing out to be a fan of another insufferable New England area team, just like his mother, the Patriots diehard. I struggled to grasp how I’d failed him so…...

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” – Stephen Covey “I was reading a book… ‘the history of glue’ – I couldn’t put it down.” – Tim Vine I’ve been really lucky to get to spend the last three decades of my life singing in…...

“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” – Plato Until Sunday evening, the “Slap Heard ‘Round The World” was either something to do with the WWF and a reporter or Sidney Poitier, depending on your frame of reference. If you associate it with tights and 20/20, then you remember an investigative report that was about to…...

The water was a million miles below me, and I couldn’t do it. I could not make the jump. With a little time, and water, to reflect upon it all, the water was about 33 feet below me, and I was six years old and mildly acrophobic. I was taking a class my mom insisted upon as our new backyard…...

“If your thoughts are as tall as the height of your ceiling, you can’t fly above your room.” – Israelmore Ayivor I’d played soccer for ten years when my last coach came into my life. With that much time and practice under my belt, I though I had a pretty good idea, not only of the game, but of my…...

One of my best friends cannot read an analog clock. He literally stares at it for a moment, and finally says, “Why do you not just look at your phone?”. While some small-and-no-I’m-still-not-old part of me rails at this disagreement, it’s a sadly losing one. At this stage in our digital lives, it’s actually hard to fault his argument. Reading…...

“The fatal flaw of gravity. When you are down, everything falls on you.” – Sylvia Townsend Warner Some superstructures are built to stand the test of time. Or are at least set up to be. When the names Hindenburg and Titanic first entered the lexicon, it was for their strength, size, and durability. In hindsight, we have the luxury of…...

“I will not be ‘famous,’ ‘great.’ I will go on adventuring, changing, opening my mind and my eyes, refusing to be stamped and stereotyped. The thing is to free one’s self: to let it find its dimensions, not be impeded.” -Virginia Woolf True greatness is a rarity in any universe, and professional sports recognizes true greatness in special ways. All-Star…...

“Find the sweetness in your own heart, then you may find the sweetness in every heart.” – Rumi My grandma had a reputation around her neighborhood. She was always chipping in with a bake sale. Always volunteering at the shelter. Always handing out cookies to kids dropping by to say hi. If she was in the kitchen, whatever she was…...

“Welcome back, my friends To the show that never ends We’re so glad you could attend Come inside! Come inside!” – Emerson, Lake, and Palmer The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. I still can’t hear those words without thinking of the agony of defeat, picturing Slovenian ski jumper Vinko Bogataj crashing off the edge of a ski…...

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Several years back, my at-the-time-wife and I had a group of friends over to go out and do some Christmas…...

“In real life endings aren’t always neat, whether they’re happy endings, or whether they’re sad endings.” – Stephen King Sometimes great stories wrap up with endings that I hate. Even as a huge Stephen King fan, there are a few of his books I’ve thrown across the room when those last few pages were done. Sometimes the ending just feels…...

“And you scramble down And you look below And the world you know Begins to grow The roof, the house and your Mother at the door The roof, the house and the world you never thought to explore And you think of all the things you’ve seen And you wish that you could live in between And you’re back again…...

“The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.” – Albert Einstein “Normal is not something to aspire to, it’s something to get away from.” – Jodie Foster When the Golden State Killer was finally captured four…...

“Just take any step, whether small or large. And then another and repeat day after day. It may take months, maybe years, but the path to success will become clear.” – Aaron Ross As a wildly irresponsible young man, I’d committed for the umpteenth summer to mow my grandparent’s lawn, and for too many weeks in a row, I’d not…...