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Photo by Tom Boyd
Headline RSS FeedAnother walk-off home run for the Rockies
September 29, 2009 —
For a moment, it looked like the Atlanta Braves were the team with down-the-stretch magic. Then came Chris Iannetta.
The Rockies catcher-turned pinch-hitter cracked a no-doubter one out into the 11th inning to give the team its third walk-off home run of the year. They topped Milwaukee 7-5 in game one of a three-game series.
For more coverage of the game visit www.aspendailynews.com.
I was there on photo assignment for the Daily News, so scroll down to see pics from the game. Enjoy:
The Rockies' Ian Stewart capitalized on an error at second base by the Brewers’ Felipe Lopez to slide safely into second, then advance to third.
Milwaukee pitcher Chris Narveson was pulled off the mound midway through the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Rockies Troy Tulowitski scored one of three runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the Rockies up 5-2.
Todd Helton drove in two runs and scored one himself in the Rockies 7-5 victory over Milwaukee.
The Rockies starting pitcher, Jason Marquis, was feeling the heat in early innings.
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2009 Monday Night Football beer and food specials throughout the Vail Valley
September 23, 2009 —
As a football fan, I know how important it is to know where the beer and food specials are for Monday night, so I’ve compiled a list of the 2009 season Monday Night Football bar and restaurant specials at all my favorite local sports bars below.
Just making this list made me extremely thirsty. Enjoy, enjoy responsibly, and we’ll see ya when the Broncos take the AFC championship this year. Who’s with me!?!
The Club The Club is known for it's live entertainment on a nightly basis, including the world-famous Steve Meyer, "The Good Times Man," apres-ski show. Meyer plays Wednesday through Saturday starting Nov. 27 going live at 5. Their stage become a giant 100-inch bigscreen projection TV for the game, an image not to be missed. Monday Night Football turns into Monday Night Madness at the Club each Monday, so don't miss it.
MNF specials: First MNF at the Club is Oct. 19 and runs through the season: $1 Bud and Bud Light drafts, $3 Jager shots, $5 Jager Bombs.
Location: 304 Bridge St.
Vail, CO 81657
Phone: 970.479.0556
Web: www.theclubvail.com
Vendetta’s The pizza (and it’s slopeside location) is what makes the V-bar famous, but the addition of four brand-new high-definition TVs doesn’t hurt either. The pizza bar also offers some quality people-watching out its picture-frame window, and the back patio is cool and breezy in the fall.
MNF specials: On Monday (and other nights) Vendetta’s offers 50 percent off large pizza’s (dine-in only), $2.50 draughts of Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, $4 draughts of Fat Tire, Stella Artois and Blue Moon. They also offer select pasta, seafood, and burger dishes for under $10.
Location: 291 Bridge Street, just a few yards down the street from the Vista Bahn
Phone: 970.476.5070
Web: www.vendettasvail.com
Tap Room
Perhaps the world’s nicest sports bar, this place has the weird ability to be cool and casual and yet still sport amazing hand-carved wood throughout. It’s in a nice location, too – right at the top of Bridge Street. The bartenders are all seasoned veterans, so service is prompt and a seat at the bar is a piece of prime golden real estate, especially with those 13 HD TVs.
MNF specials: $5 all-you-can-eat wings from 5-10 p.m., $2.50 Coors Lights, $7.50 patron margaritas, 5-6 p.m. Happy Hour Smithwicks Ale and Guinness $5 for 20 oz pints, house margarita $4.
Location: 333 Bridge Street, right at the top of the street, slopeside.
Phone: 970.476.0500
Web: www.taproomvail.com
Sandbar Sports Grill
This is the biggest, baddest, and most heavily populated football joint in the valley. They’ve got umpteen million high-def TVs (OK I exagerate - it's 23 TVs all told), a big projector screen, and there isn’t a couch or bar stool that isn’t filled by game time. At Sandbar all the drinking and cheering is loud and spirited.
MNF specials: $5 cheese pizzas and $5.95 burgers your choice cheese and fries, $2.50 Coors and Coors Light draughts, Happy hour Mon-Friday from 4-7 p.m. $2.50 domestics, $2 tacos, $4 shot list, ½ wells.
Location: West Vail mall, 2161 N Frontage Road
Phone: 970.476.4314
Web: www.sandbarvail.com
The Red Lion
At the heart of Bridge Street, this sing-a-long, live music bar has done much to improve its TV situation of late, so now they’ve got 19 TVs and a great atmosphere.
MNF specials: 20-ounce drafts Coors Light, Sam Adams, Heineken, Blue Moon, 1554, fat tire, $3, plus $3 wells.
Location: 304 Bridge Street
Phone: 970.476.7676
Web: www.theredlion.com
Paddy O’Day’s
Paddy’s is in Eagle-Vail and draws some hard-core fans and families to its 22 televisions, partly because the kids can play in Paddy’s game room. It’s also a long, long-time local’s favorite bar, so if you’re looking for the touristy thing, this isn’t your place.
MNF specials: Half-price pizzas, $2.50 pints Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, draft, $8.50 pitchers during the game. Mon-Fri happy hour from 3-6 p.m.: $5 hot wings, $6 apps, and $1 off all the drinks.
Location: 40801 Highway 6&24 in Eagle-Vail (across from the Vail Daily building).
Phone: 970.949.6093
Web: www.paddysvail.com
Altitude Club and Café
Big screens, couches, pool tables, and a good view from anywhere in the bar makes this a favorite for locals as well as guest in the Evergreen Lodge, where the bar is located. It’s small, which makes it easier to get service, and it’s lively without being obnoxiously crowded on game day.
MNF specials:$9.50 burger and a beer, $10 for drumsticks and a beer, $10 peierogis and a beer.
Location: Inside the Evergreen Lodge in Vail, 250 S. Frontage Rd
Phone: 970.476.7810
Web: www.EvergreenVail.com
Finnegan’s Wake
A huge Irish bar in comparison to others in the Valley, there’s always something going on at Finnegan’s – in fact there’s usually two or three events at a time ongoing. Upstairs features an entire wall of televisions, as well as pool and video games, and downstairs features live music and karaoke.
MNF specials: Happy Hour Mon – Fri 4-7 p.m. includes ½ price domenstic bottles and drafts, half price wells, half price wine, as well as $3 tacos and $5.50 wings.
Location: Beaver Creek Blvd, Avon. Take I-70 west from Vail to the Avon exit, go through three round-a-bouts and hang a left at the building that looks like a big boat. Look on the far side of that building for Finnegan’s.
Phone: 970.748.4610
Web: www.finneganswakeavon.com
1 Comment on "2009 Monday Night Football beer and food specials throughout the Vail Valley"
Reid — September 24, 2009
Hey, went to Finnigans on Monday for the game with T. The place has turned into a dump, poor lighting, bad service, and the restrooms are gross.....what happened??
Photo by Louie Boyd
Hunting the right way to live in Colorado
September 15, 2009 —
It’s always the bleeding-heart types with the rescue dogs. They’re trying their best to love the dog, treat it the way they would a child who had suffered from abuse. But the dog doesn’t get it. It’s out of control, or scared, and next thing you know it’s bitten a person or some other dog and everything gets awkward on that otherwise enjoyable trail hike.
Then I come along with my dog, and I’m getting wary looks and nervous treatment from serious hikers who are unsure if my 85-pound Labrador is cute or dangerous, cuddly or mentally disturbed. So I have him “sit” on command and “hold” until the people see he’s a nice dog, and then I release him or, if the hikers seem scared, I guide him off the trail or hold him at heel until they pass.
Most dogs on the trail can’t follow these kinds of commands even when they’re on a leash, not because the dogs are bad, but because their owners aren’t hunters.
It’s hunting season again, time for me to begin lodging comments on what has, for some reason, become a controversial issue in our society.
Today I’m not just writing about how hunting is OK, or should be tolerated, but how there’s a lot that the rest of you can learn from us hunters.
Like how to train your dog, for starters. A good bird dog needs to be able to sit, heel, and come on command, by voice and by whistle. He/she also should also be able to follow hand signals … and do all of this at a distance.
On the 340 days a year I’m not hunting with my Labrador, we still have plenty of situations where his hunting commands come in handy.
But the training is more than a one-way street where I command the dog. The Wolter’s method I’ve used since childhood has taught me much more than I’ve ever taught the dogs. I’ve learned to open lines of communication with the animal, understand it and work with it. We’re a team out there, and if he’s confident in what he’s doing I’m just as likely to follow him as he is to follow me.
This unity between man and animal came about directly because of hunting … and to me it’s one of the beauties of the world’s original sport.
This facet of hunting – along with some of hunting’s other positive attributes – are often lost on the public at large.
A current box-office hit movie portrays hunting and hunters in the typical way. A man falls in love, meets the perfect girl, but then finds out that her dad is a jerk. She’s an artist, the father doesn’t understand. He’s an intelligent thinker, but the dad is a nuts-and-bolts type. He’s a lover, but his lover’s dad has a cold, cold heart.
The movie portrays all this about the girl’s father with a few simple scenes … how do we know he’s a jerk? A Republican? A man who has no appreciation for the arts?
All we need to know about this character is that he likes to shoot skeet, and from that we are able to gauge everything else about him. Hunting is a powerful literary device in the modern era. Hunter = Republican, Hunter = jerk. Hunter = someone who doesn’t understand art.
Surely, there is some truth behind this ruse or it wouldn’t otherwise be effective. And yes, some hunters are jerks, many hunters are Republicans, and some hunters don’t understand art. But the stereotype is wide of the mark. I know a few hunters who are spectacular guitar players or painters. I know hunters who’ve run for state and U.S. Senate on the Democratic ticket. And most every hunter I know is kind and courteous, old-style, nice to his neighbors, the first one to help a stranded motorist pull himself out of a snowy ditch.
We even understand love.
After all, hunting is one of the original ways to care for a family, a tribe. It has been an activity of humankind since the very dawn of man – perhaps even longer. The argument continues over exactly when hunting emerged, yet strong evidence suggests human ancestors were hunting in organized groups as of 500,000 years ago (www.anthropology.si.edu).
Before hunting, our australopithecine relatives scavenged (and possibly hunted) for meat long before the first homo habilis and homo erectus walked the earth. Hunting may even be the reason we developed large brains and group interaction in the first place. A leading scientific theory contends that eating meat, which is a sure-fire way to provide elevated levels of protein in the diet, helped mankind become the dominant force he is today (press.princeton.edu).
Another historical theory posits that the Mongols thrived as much because of their everyday meat-eating diet as their unique battle tactics and unwavering leadership.
There’s a lot of evidence that a vegetarian diet is healthier (and better for today’s society) than a meat-eating diet. Remember, however, that it’s not a diet of meat itself that is a leading cause of heart disease, but rather the type of meat we are eating (www.springerlink.com). Hunters, by comparison, eat leaner, healthier, and largely fat-free kinds of meat.
The same holds true for the social and environmental issues surrounding a meat-eating diet. Hunters are more than passive, leave-no-trace observers of the natural world. We are stewards of the ecosystem, directly and passionately involved in the processes that lead us through the life cycle. Republican or Democrat, Libertarian or Unaffiliated, almost all hunters can agree that caring for the habitat of the creatures we hunt is of utmost importance.
Don’t believe me? Cross reference the political identities of the members of Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, and the The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
I think you’ll find the members of these remarkable institutions are far from the dogmatic, heartless, ideologues Hollywood wants us to be.
And we know how to train a dog, too :)
1 Comment on "Hunting the right way to live in Colorado"
Larry Benway III — September 17, 2009
Tom, Thanks for brushing everyone up on the responsibility of being a dog owner and the freedom of pursuing upland game in our national forest lands. You didn't mention that you may have had a shotgun over your shoulder while you were in command of your dog. I'm sure you were exiting out from your favorite grouse hunting spots on one of our local trails and encountered hikers or bikers, receiving a strange look or two. I think a lot of people forget that it is hunting season and they shouldn't get too excited about a man, his gun and his dog walking around in the woods. We hunters enjoy the early morning hikes with our best friend pursuing game and the outdoors. We don't hunt on trails. We are careful and aware that we are not the only visitors on Public Lands and our courtesy to others maintains our privilege to do so. Conversely; other trail users should remember that they need to have their dogs leashed while on trail or within close visual and vocal command while on the trails this fall. Stay on the trail as much as possible, be audible at times while hiking (for the bears and mountain lions), wear visible clothing and pick up after your pet. Thanks for reminding your readers about our sometimes forgotten American Heritage and lets keep each other and our pets out of harms way. Thanks Tommy, (I think I can still call that since I've known you from day one.) and lets get together and take our dogs for a walk in the woods to pursue the Dusky Grouse. Sincerely, Larry B.
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By Bronco Dude i31.tinypic.com/fm5agz.gif
Preparing for a dismal Denver Broncos season
August 18, 2009 —
Vail is known for a lot of things besides football - but it's still orange-and-blue Bronco country.
It's not my job to cover the Broncos, but after reading the Denver Post Online today, I felt I had to share a sad, but true, animated comic with our readers (click here to view).
The DP's comment section reads like a tearful break-up between 20-year lovers. Some Bronco fans are trying to hang on, others are saying the "thrill is gone."
There are those out there who are ready to give up on the team – but I suspect they won't be able to let go of all those years of fanhood just because of one bad year. So I recommend doing what I plan on doing: booing new head coach Josh McDiapers every time he makes even a microscopic mistake.
I know, we risk becoming one of those boo-prone, Philidelphia-style NFL teams. But I now see the wisdom in their ways.
Colorado is Bronco country, and the only way any coach should survive this year (even if it were Shanahan) is with 10-plus wins and a playoff victory.
Since it's hard to do that without a defense or a decent QB, or when you dump a 2nd round pick for a 1st round pick, or chase a pro-bowl QB out of Elway-town, or alienate our pro-bowl wide receiver, or fire a popular and high-performing long snapper, or overlook your best running back (Hillis), or pay huge bucks to an injury-prone, aging Brian Dawkins, who now has a busted hand ... well ... then it looks like it's going to be a dismal year.
Everyone knows the over-under for victories this year is 5.
So we must boo, and boo with all our hearts. Making Josh miserable is the only way we can encourage Bowlen to fire him after this one, miserable season.
After that he can bring in a REAL coach to rebuild our dismantled, disheartened team in time for a good season in, say, 2015?
I hope I'm wrong. I hope McDaniels turns out to be the Doogie Howser of NFL coaches. I hope he can re-stoke Colorado's long-lasting love-affair with the Broncos and turn Kyle Orton into the next Tom Brady.
But he won't, which means we're gonna have to saddle up and ride little Joshy out on a splintery, orange-and-blue rail.
1 Comment on "Preparing for a dismal Denver Broncos season"
bronco fan in hiding — August 18, 2009
in a perfect world... Hillis would be starting behind cutler. Shannahan would have hired a defensive coach and got five more defensive players and Broncos are superbowl champs 2010... but in this nightmare we have to watch players we dont reconize play for a short coach who thinks he has all the answers... at least we will have a high first round pick next year.. oh wait did we trade that away already???? the nightmare continues
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