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Severance’s Kevin Johnson is All-Colorado baseball coach of the year after leading Silver Knights to school’s first state championship

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

SEVERANCE — In finding someone to build its baseball program into a championship team from scratch in the rapid span of four years, no one can accuse Severance High of bringing in a coaching ringer.Because that ringer was here all along.Lifelong Severance resident Kevin Johnson, who still lives in his childhood home on a 400-acre farm just a few miles from the school, coached the Silver Knights to the Class 4A championship this spring. The feat of leading Severance to the school’s first team title in only the program’s third true season earned “KJ” the honor of 2023 Denver Post All-Colorado coach of the year.“It still doesn’t quite feel like something that’s actually happened,” Johnson said. “But it did, and it all comes back to culture, and I owe a lot of that to these kids. The coach can talk about culture all he wants. But our kids were determined to make this program good, quickly, and they did.”Johnson certainly had ta...

Rockies’ Nolan Jones makes big impact with red-hot June

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

Nolan Jones is giving Rockies fans something they haven’t had in a while.Namely, hope. And excitement.He busted out in June, becoming the Rockies’ most electrifying player and providing a ray of promise for a struggling team.“Nolan’s been awesome on both sides of the ball,” said veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon. “He’s brought energy and a little swag for us.”On June 11, the 25-year-old outfielder/first baseman hit the first walk-off home run of his career, launching a 472-foot rocket against the Padres that ranks as the longest walk-off homer in the Statcast era (since 2015). That prodigious homer came on the heels of his 483-foot blast June 7 vs. San Francisco, the second-longest home run in the majors this season. Jones is the only player with two of the top-10 longest homers in the majors this season.He entered the weekend series against the Angels on a torrid 15-game tear in which he slashed .385/.492/.712 with four homers, five ...

Wyndham Clark’s evolution into U.S. Open champion: How ex-Valor Christian star’s new mindset is unlocking a “world-class player”

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

For Wyndham Clark to achieve his true golf potential, he had to re-wire himself.He hired a sports psychologist to learn how to trade self-depreciation for relentless positivity. He ordered a duplicate of another pro’s putter to solve his inconsistencies on the green. And he firmly believed that just a few years removed from nearly losing his tour card, and a decade after losing his mom, it was his time to become a major champion.Those were the new ingredients that allowed Clark to become the first Colorado native to win the U.S. Open last week in Los Angeles, and they’re why those closest to Clark believe the 29-year-old is emerging as a premium talent amid his breakout season on tour.“The ability and the skillset that he has was always there to be a top-10 player in the world,” observed his caddie, John Ellis. “But he was way too hard on himself, and his expectations were too high. He didn’t allow himself to unlock what he was. He sort of played ...

The Denver Post’s 2023 All-Colorado baseball team

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

The Denver Post’s 2023 All-Colorado baseball team, a 40-man roster determined by statistical analysis, a player’s relative value to team success, coaches’ feedback and the old-fashioned eye test.Mr. Colorado BaseballShortstop Walker Martin of the Eaton Reds sits for a portrait in the dugout during practice on June 1. (Photo by Alex McIntyre/Special to The Denver Post)Walker Martin, Eaton, Sr SS — The most hyped Colorado prep position player since Grandview’s Greg Bird, Martin led the nation with 20 homers and posted a 1.632 slugging as Eaton ran the table to the Class 3A title.Coach of the YearKevin Johnson is the All-Colorado coach of the year after leading Severance to the Class 4A title in just the fourth year of the school’s existence. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)Kevin Johnson, Severance — The former boss at Thompson Valley and Windsor led Severance to the Class 4A title in the school’s fourth year and the program’s third season; the...

How “star” assistants Christian Parker and Marcus Dixon have helped the Broncos defense transition to Vance Joseph’s system

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

As Vance Joseph’s candidacy for Denver’s defensive coordinator position advanced from whispered theoretical to actual possibility, he encountered a couple of wrinkles in the interview process.First, of course, was the fact that he spent 2017 and 2018 as the Broncos head coach before getting fired after an 11-21 run. He and coach Sean Payton said that era didn’t take up much of their early conversations.Another unique element: Payton included defensive backs coach Christian Parker and defensive line coach Marcus Dixon, the two only two assistants he planned on keeping from Nathaniel Hackett’s 2022 staff, in the interview process for coordinator candidates.Payton had the final say, of course, but he wanted the highly regarded young coaches to hear what Joseph and others had in mind for a Broncos defense that they knew better than anybody left in the building. He wanted them to listen for what fit Justin Simmons and Pat Surtain II and D.J. Jones and Josey Jewell. To take a clear-minded...

Opinion: We have not left the world a better place for the graduating classes of 2023

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

Graduation season means the annual parade of ceremonies has been taking place at the Ritchie Center on the University of Denver campus. Dozens of area high schools use the spacious venue for commencement exercises.It’s the most wonderful time of the year in the University Park neighborhood as far as I’m concerned thanks to my bird’s eye view of the building.However, I understand why some residents dread the weeks between mid-May and early June because of increased traffic and the din people make on our relatively quiet street.As many as four ceremonies can be held at DU in one day. A recent example had students in black caps and gowns in the early morning, green ones at midday, dark blue in mid-afternoon, and red in the evening.One group arrived just as newly-minted graduates of a different school were leaving, forming a temporary blend of colors punctuated by a variety of ethnic heritage and academic achievement sashes and ropes.Members of The Class of 2023 deserve a special round ...

Walters: Right to housing proposal could backfire on California

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

Virtue signaling is the bane of contemporary civic life. Politicians, political parties, nonprofit organizations and even corporations loudly proclaim support for whatever cause is either trendy or beloved by a certain segment of the population – while lacking the ability, or often even intention, to see it prevail.While such expressions of moral support may warm the hearts of a cause’s fervent believers, they mean little in the real world where, as the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words.Examples of virtue signaling abound, such as a bill passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to create a commission to recommend reparations for Black Californians whose ancestors were enslaved.Newsom, et al, were enthusiastic supporters of the cause when it was proposed. As he signed the 2020 legislation, Newsom said it would correct the “structural racism and bias built into and permeating throughout our democratic and economic institutions.”However, with the c...

Moscú dio un paso atrás en la guerra civil con Wagner pero el peligro no ha terminado, advierten los expertos

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

(CNN) — En un día y medio, Rusia se enfrentó a la amenaza real de una insurrección armada, con el presidente Vladimir Putin prometiendo castigar a los combatientes del grupo Wagner que marchaban hacia Moscú y ocupando ciudades por el camino; antes de que un repentino acuerdo con Belarús pareciera desactivar la crisis tan rápidamente como surgió.Pero aún queda mucho por hacer, y los expertos advierten de que no es probable que la insólita revuelta desaparezca tan rápidamente sin consecuencias.Tras una serie de acontecimientos vertiginosos que han sido observados de cerca –y con nerviosismo– por todo el mundo y vitoreados por Ucrania, Putin debe afrontar ahora las secuelas del desafío más serio a su autoridad desde que llegó al poder en 2000.El elocuente jefe de Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, fue enviado a Belarús, aparentemente indemne, pero puede que se haya pintado una diana en la espalda como nunca antes.Esto es lo que sabemos.¿Cuáles son las últimas noticias?Prigozhin, el altis...

Putin doubles down on Ukraine war

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to carry on with the war in Ukraine, speaking in a pre-recorded interview that was broadcast on state television on Sunday.The interview was taped on June 21 but broadcast after the Kremlin resolved the first attempted coup against Moscow in three decades.“I’m focused primarily on the special military operation,” Putin said in the interview with Rossiya-1 TV, using his regime’s term for the invasion of Ukraine. “My day begins and ends with this.”“Lately, I stay up quite late” monitoring the situation, he added. “Of course, I always have to be communicating.”Putin’s message of being in control was broadcast after the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary force on which Moscow has depended for the war against Ukraine, attempted a lightning march on Moscow from the Russian-Ukrainian border, taking the Russian elite establishment and the world at large by surprise.On Saturday, Putin ha...

Republican candidates for US president urge focus on China amid Russia conflict

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:05 GMT

GOP presidential candidates weighed in on the emerging security situation in Russia on Saturday, drawing into sharp focus their differing views on the Ukraine conflict and how they would handle foreign policy issues as president.Former President Donald Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to warn, “A big mess in Russia, but be careful what you wish for. Next in may be far worse!”“Biden will do about Russia whatever President Xi of China wants him to do,” he added.He further referred to China “wanting large portions of unpopulated land to have for their much larger population,” calling the current conflict an “unthinkable opportunity” for them to move on Russia.“This is one more piece of evidence that Russia is likely a paper tiger,” candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said in a Saturday morning interview on Fox News. “The idea that Russia has the capabilities that go for Poland or other parts of Western Europe looks increasingly farcical.”He also largely focused on...