Rockies "mania" has helped the team "buck the baseball
slump," according to Chance Conner in this morning's DENVER POST.
Yesterday, the club honored the millionth fan to visit Coors
Field, and local TV ratings have been setting records. The team
also announced that seven players are donating thousands of
dollars "to foster youth baseball by building new baseball fields
and fixing up old ones around the Denver area" (DENVER POST,
6/16). The Rockies became the first MLB to pass 1 million in
attendance for '95. Tracy Ringolsby writes that "after waiting 30
years to get a big-league franchise, baseball fans in the Rocky
Mountain region aren't jaded yet." The team has sold 93% of its
tickets for games at Coors Field (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 6/15).
DENVER BIDS IHL FAREWELL: If Salt Lake wins the 2002 Games
today, it "almost certainly" will get the IHL Denver Grizzlies as
well, according to Adrian Dater of the DENVER POST. Salt Lake
"is a good place for the Grizzlies" because of a 12,000 seat
hockey arena that would be built for the Olympics, and "the lack
of competition from other sports" (DENVER POST, 6/16). David
Elmore, owner of the IHL champion Denver Grizzlies, has
reportedly met with Delta Center officials Scott Williams and Tim
Howells to discuss the possibility of playing there until the new
arena is complete (Brett Prettyman, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 6/15).
