Sam Adams Sam Adams joined the Rocky Mountain News in 1996, first as the Denver Broncos beat reporter before taking his current role as sports notes columnist. The Colorado Association of Black Journalists voted Adams the Print Journalist of the Year award in 2003.

If you consider football as the source, there might be a wee bit of bad blood -- separated by 1,450 miles albeit -- between the cities of Denver and Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Steelers whipped the Denver Broncos 34-17 at Invesco Field in January en route to winning Super Bowl XL. The Steelers received their championship rings on Sunday. The Broncos beat the Steelers 24-21 at Three Rivers Stadium in the 1997 AFC Championship Game en route to winning Super Bowl XXXII.

Baseball, however, is a different story. There is no bad blood. Just bad baseball.

Both the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates finished at 67-95 last season. And both franchises have struggled mightly since 1993, when the Rockies joined the major leagues.

Going into Monday night's series opener between the two teams at Coors Field, Colorado had posted a better overall record since 1993 (976-1123) with four winning seasons than the Pirates (923-1171), who haven't posted a winning record since 1992. During that span, both teams have employed four different managers. One -- Jim Leyland -- has managed both teams.

NOTEWORTHY

Do you remember former Limon High School (and Otero Junior College) athlete Sean Jarrett? He is a pitcher for Oral Roberts University, which has advanced to the super regionals of the College World Series tournament. Jarrett, a 6-foot-6 senior, has gone 7-1 in 22 appearances, with a 1.98 earned-run average and team-high seven saves.

The heat is on the Rockies to find someone to hit for high average at the lead-off and/or two-hole positions. Here's one suggestion -- trade for Kansas City Royals second baseman (and former Trinidad Junior College athlete) Mark Grudzielanek. Grudzielanek is a career .288 hitter and would come with a $4 million price tag. But he's batting over .300 in 2006 and still carries a solid glove.

Why wait on the outcome of this year's Stanley Cup finals when you can re-live the moments of Colorado Avalanche championships past? Altitude Sports and Entertainment network will air specials celebrating the Avalanche's 1996 and 2001 Stanley Cup championship seasons on the anniversaries of those title-clinching events. The Avalanche won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals against the New Jersey Devils on June 9, 2001. Altitude will air highlights on Friday at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. The Avalanche clinched its first Stanley Cup championship with a triple-overtime shutout win against the Florida Panthers on June 10, 1996. Altitude will air highlights on Saturday at 5 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

Did you know . . . that both the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks are former Midwest Division rivals of the Denver Nuggets? The Heat played its first season in the NBA (1988-89) in the Midwest, starting out with 17 consecutive losses and finishing with a 15-67 record. The team moved to the Atlantic Division the following season. Current 950 The Fan talk-show host Scott Hastings was a co-captain on the Heat's first team.

To say that Air Force men's basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik is a stand-up guy would be an understatement, considering that Bzdelik returned this reporter's call last week while standing in the Atlantic Ocean. Even though he was vacationing with family in North Carolina, Bzdelik said it was important to return the call because of the subject -- Falcons guard Antoine Hood, who worked out on Sunday for the Denver Nuggets.