Mark Knudson

Johnstown

X-MLB pitcher; Author, Columnist for https://t.co/B7U0nYXF0w & Mile High Sports. com. Insta: MRKMedia41 & now on BlueSky: @marknudson41.bsky.scoial HS Baseball Coach.

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Articles

Former Rockies manager Bud Black will look good in Dodger blue

2 days ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 2: Bud Black is better off now. When a team isn’t any good – and the Colorado Rockies certainly qualify – it’s almost always the manager who gets to be the scapegoat. With the team on pace for an historically terrible record, Black got the pink slip, even though the mess at 20th and Blake is not of his doing.
The big mismatch in the Nuggets series against the Thunder

3 days ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 1: As you might expect in a playoff series that’s knotted at two games apiece, there aren’t many mismatches on display that two opponents can exploit. In the case of the Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder however, there is one glaring mismatch. It’s in the general manager’s chair. And the Thunder are exploiting it.
Strike 3: Becky Hammon should have replaced Gregg Popovich

1 week ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 3: Gregg Popovich is one of the best coaches – if not the best coach – in NBA history. Now that he’s retiring, the next coach of the San Antonio Spurs – acting head coach Mitch Johnson has been named the successor – has some big sneakers to fill. It’s always tough to follow a legend. The expectations are through the roof going in. On the plus side, Johnson can look forward to the (hopeful) return of Victor Wembanyama and will have All-Star De’Aaron Fox for a full season as well.
The Broncos appear to believe their roster can win the division

1 week ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 2: During the recently concluded NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos – head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton – followed the old script perfectly. As the saying goes, “Always draft the best player available.”Not the “best player at a position of need” mind you. That’s what teams do who are trying to fill holes in their roster. Apparently in their own opinion, the Broncos have few such holes.
Strike 1: The wrong Ball Arena team won its Game 7 on Saturday

1 week ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 1: Two Game 7’s on the same day. At the same time. Would fans in the Mile High have been satisfied with a split going in? Are they okay with the split now that it did happen? Is it possible it would have been better if the results had been reversed? Yes. The fact is – even after the Nuggets amazing last second Game 1 win in Oklahoma City to start the second round of the Western Conference playoffs – it still probably would have been better had both games gone the other way.
The Colorado Rockies signed the wrong former Cub

2 weeks ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 3: It’s not a secret that Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort became infatuated with a young Kris Bryant over a decade ago, before the former National League MVP became a star for the Chicago Cubs. Those close to the situation will tell you that given the chance, Monfort would have orchestrated a Bryant-for-Nolan Arenado swap in the prime of Nolan’s hall of fame career.
Toughest part still ahead for CU's Shedeur Sanders

2 weeks ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 2: As the saying goes, “It’s not what happens to you that matters, it’s how you handle it.”We’re about to find out how Shedeur Sanders handles the first real “setback” of his football career, as well as the first true job/playing time competition of his life. There are a myriad of reasons why the former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback fell so far in the recently completed NFL Draft.
The Nuggets and Avalanche's struggles are not the same thing

2 weeks ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 1: The Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche may both be teetering in their first round playoff series, but they are in far different places. All first round playoff exists are not created equal. No one has been eliminated yet. But both the Nuggets and Avs are in tough spots, and at this point it will be an upset if either team wins their first round playoff series.
Strike 3: Rockies manager Bud Black deserves better

3 weeks ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 3: When any Major League Baseball team only wins three times in a stretch of its first 20 games, it’s pretty likely that a change of Managers is going to take place. Well, not “any” MLB team. Even with expectations coming into the season at an all-time low, the Colorado Rockies have done the impossible – exceed those bottom dwelling expectations. Now Black, the Rockies skipper since 2017 when he took two consecutive teams to the postseason – is getting heat for the team’s awful start.
Strike 2: The NBA needs to separate MVP from Player of the Year

3 weeks ago | milehighsports.com | Mark Knudson

Strike 2: You can make a solid argument that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is this season’s NBA’s “Player of the Year.”You cannot make the argument that he is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. There’s a distinct difference between the two terms. There has not and maybe never will be a player who is more valuable to a good team than Nikola Jokic. The Denver Nuggets superstar is very unlikely to receive his fourth NBA MVP Award when the winner is announced during this postseason.