Colorado

PALMER LAKE, Colo. - The red sandstone cliff to the north of Red Ranch Road looms over the valley in stark, rugged majesty. Pillars of stone, carved by the wind into strange, compelling shapes, rise from the foothills.The scene could be the backdrop of a Western movie if it weren't for all the subdivisions crawling up the slopes of the Front Range.This is not John Denver's Colorado. This is sprawl, Westernstyle, unchecked development that spreads into regions of extraordinary natural beauty and meager water supplies.

SAN DIEGO -- It looks as if someone's trying to sneak a New Year's Day matchup in a couple of days early.Tonight's Holiday Bowl game pits No. 8 Colorado against No. 13 Washington. Both teams have nine victories and missed at least a share of their conference's championship by less than a touchdown.Yet they slip into San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium for a 8 p.m. kickoff while teams with worse records will compete on or nearer to New Year's Day.What these teams can expect to experience is a lot of the other team's offense.

The Boston Red Sox's Roger Clemens is 23-7 in his career against California, and 12-0 with a 1.03 ERA in his past 12 starts against the Angels at Fenway Park.Since Mark Thompson rejoined the Colorado Rockies' rotation after the All-Star break, opposing hitters are 2-for-24 with runners in scoring position.In 19 games at Jacobs Field, the Detroit Tigers have been outscored by the Cleveland Indians 123-54.Jeff King hit his 25th homer Thursday, the most by a right-handed-hitting Pittsburgh Pirate since Bill Robinson hit 24 in 1979.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- It was far from easy, but Nebraska yesterday maintained its flickering hopes of winning a third straight national championship."It's not all in our hands, but if we win our last two games -- obviously against good opponents -- I think we've got a chance," said coach Tom Osborne, after the Cornhuskers held off Colorado, 17-12, before 75,695 fans at Memorial Stadium.The victory vaulted fourth-ranked Nebraska to a 10-1 record, an 8-0 conference mark and into the Big 12 Conference championship game next Saturday in St. Louis against Texas, which crushed Texas A&M, 51-15, earlier yesterday.

Joe Harrington's sixth season as Colorado's basketball coach was fraught with controversy, beset by an endless run of misfortune.Players made headlines for a number of reasons. There were shoplifting charges and academic suspensions and one complaint of sexual harassment.When they managed to keep the news on the court, it wasn't good, either. The Buffaloes lost regularly, if not routinely.As proprietor of the program, Harrington came in for the lion's share of the criticism. The bandwagon that sprang up after last season's NIT appearance and the signing of blue-chip recruit Chauncey Billups had long since vanished when he made this recent proclamation: "I'm full of holes.

MIAMI -- Its TV ratings are still minuscule, compared with those of the National Basketball Association and National Football League, and it never may improve its ranking as the fourth-most popular of the four major professional sports. But commissioner Gary Bettman said he doesn't measure the National Hockey League's progress against other sports."The league is at its most stable, from a team standpoint and ownership standpoint, at least in my tenure," Bettman said yesterday. "The issue is not whether or not we're in a horse race and whether our ratings are better than the other three major professional sports on TV. The issue is, are we growing?

Highest batting averages;/(April 1-8, minimum 10 plate appearances)AMERICAN LEAGUEPlayer, Team ... ... ... AB ... ... R ... H ... ... AvgBoggs, New York .. .. .. 13 ... ... 7 ... 9 ... ... 692Tartabull, New York .. .. 10 ... ... 2 ... 6 .. ... 600Davis, California .. ... 17 ... ... 3 ... 9... .529Baines, Orioles .. .. ...10 .. ...2 .. ..5... .500Sorrento, Cleveland .. ...8 .. ...1 .. ..4... .500Nilsson, Milwaukee .. ...14 .. ...4 .. ..7... .500Trammell, Detroit .. .. .15 .. ...2 .. ..7...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- As Nebraska linebacker Ed Stewart walked off the field, he was pelted by an orange from one of the many crazed fans standing outside the stadium. Stewart picked it off the cement floor, and then squeezed some juice on his jersey.Then he kissed it, juice running down his lips."There is nothing sweeter than the taste of orange in my mouth right now," said Stewart. "I think we're No. 1 again. It has been a great day."No. 3 Nebraska earned new respect by defeating No. 2 Colorado, 24-7, yesterday before a sellout crowd of 76,131 at Memorial Stadium.

DENVER -- School's almost out. The recession's almost over. We won the Persian Gulf War. We don't have to decide among Messrs. Perot, Clinton and Bush for another five months. It's vacation time.In what may foreshadow a trend across the country, the summer of 1992 in Colorado is shaping up as a real crowd scene, with already crowded mountains facing a record onslaught of solitude-seeking tourists.Experts expect 9 million tourists to converge on the state's mountain resorts between now and Labor Day, up from a record of 7.5 million last summer.

Sometimes I abuse my crops. I scream at the spinach for growing too slow, and rattle the cages of tomato plants that refuse to set fruit.There is method to my madness. Research suggests that plants respond both to voice and vibrations. I believe it. Screamed spinach tastes awfully good.Each week, I walk down the garden rows, fussing like a football coach at the players that aren't producing. I bark at the beets and cuss at the cabbages."Don't you onions go soft on me," I'll say. Or: "You peas are too immature.

Henry E. Becker Jr. A memorial service is scheduled for a later date. Arrangements were made by Crippin Funeral Home and Crematory of Montrose, Colorado.

WASHINGTON - John McCain's fresh momentum is changing the contours of the presidential contest and making a close finish more likely than ever. With the race a virtual dead heat in national polling, the presidency could, once again, be riding on the voters of a single state. In 2000, Florida was pivotal. Last time, it was Ohio. This fall, the place to watch may be out west. Colorado could be the ultimate swing state of 2008. Statewide polling puts it squarely in the tossup category. Frequent visits by both presidential tickets attest to the importance of winning there.

It took until the fourth inning of the series' second game for everything to make sense. The Orioles were scoring runs in bunches, Colorado's starting pitcher couldn't get anyone out, the Rockies were being bludgeoned on the road. Wasn't it supposed to be this way all along? Wasn't it just a matter of time? The Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate in the pivotal inning last night, getting back-to-back homers from Miguel Tejada and Sammy Sosa. Eight consecutive hitters reached base, and a 7-2 victory before 43,067 at Camden Yards had taken shape.

DENVER -- On a tough night for Democrats nationwide, some small hope could be found in Colorado, where Democrat and former rancher Ken Salazar narrowly defeated beer baron and Republican Pete Coors to win an open seat in the U.S. Senate. Coors delivered his concession speech at 11:30 p.m. MST. With 80 percent of the precincts reporting, Salazar held a 50 percent to 48 percent lead. The win was a significant pickup for Democrats because the seat is held by Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who is retiring.

A Denver judge struck down Colorado's new school voucher law yesterday, ruling that it violates the state constitution by stripping local school boards of their control over education. "The goals of the voucher program are laudable," wrote District Judge Joseph E. Meyer III. "However, even great ideas must be implemented within the framework of the Colorado Constitution. By stripping all discretion from the local district over the instruction to be provided in the voucher program, the General Assembly has violated article IX, section 15."

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - In a crowded courtroom here yesterday, half the spectators gasped in dismay and half whooped with joy as a judge denied bail to a Harvard graduate student accused of fatally stabbing an 18-year-old cook. Michael Colono died early Sunday after an altercation with Alexander Pring-Wilson outside a pizza parlor. Dozens of Colono's friends and relatives shouted "Yesssss!" when Judge Severin Singleton issued his ruling. Pring-Wilson, the son of prominent attorneys from Colorado, is accused of stabbing Colono, the son of Puerto Rican immigrants, to death in a street fight.

SALIDA, Colo. - There is perhaps no more polarizing issue among Westerners than water: who uses it, how much and when. Even here, where the Colorado River delivers plenty of water, squabbling over it is a time-honored tradition. But restrictive and confusing state laws regarding public access to rivers and streams have spawned a new wrinkle in the debate: Who may float where along Colorado's waterways? Elsewhere in the West, states have written laws that allow recreational use of private stretches of rivers and streams as long as boaters or rafters enter from public land.

A Colorado judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the state of Maryland failed to supervise a dangerous parolee who raped and killed a young woman in Denver. Patricia Tuthill sued Maryland in February, charging that the state was responsible in her daughter's death because it had sent the prisoner to a drug treatment program in Denver without notifying Colorado authorities. The Maryland prisoner, Donta T. Paige, was thrown out of the treatment program for bad behavior in February 1999.

PALMER LAKE, Colo. - The red sandstone cliff to the north of Red Ranch Road looms over the valley in stark, rugged majesty. Pillars of stone, carved by the wind into strange, compelling shapes, rise from the foothills.The scene could be the backdrop of a Western movie if it weren't for all the subdivisions crawling up the slopes of the Front Range.This is not John Denver's Colorado. This is sprawl, Westernstyle, unchecked development that spreads into regions of extraordinary natural beauty and meager water supplies.

SAN DIEGO -- It looks as if someone's trying to sneak a New Year's Day matchup in a couple of days early.Tonight's Holiday Bowl game pits No. 8 Colorado against No. 13 Washington. Both teams have nine victories and missed at least a share of their conference's championship by less than a touchdown.Yet they slip into San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium for a 8 p.m. kickoff while teams with worse records will compete on or nearer to New Year's Day.What these teams can expect to experience is a lot of the other team's offense.