BRONCOS SHOW VETERAN RUNNING BACK THE DOOR
ENGLEWOOD (AP) – The Denver Broncos have released Willis McGahee, their leading rusher last year. The 31-year-old running back is the NFL’s active leader with 33 100-yard games. McGahee is coming off a right knee injury that sidelined him for the final two months last season. The 11-year veteran was set to make $2.5 million in 2013. McGahee skipped all of the team’s 10 voluntary workouts but returned to Dove Valley for their three-day mandatory minicamp that ends Thursday. With second-year pro Ronnie Hillman and rookie Montee Ball getting most of the work out of the backfield this week, McGahee was relegated to a handful of snaps. McGahee said Tuesday he was confident he’d keep his starting job and didn’t regret skipping the workouts. He says he “probably would have been behind the 8-ball either way.”
BRONCOS LINEMAN PRAYING FOR FAMILY IN BLACK FOREST FIRE
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – Denver Broncos guard Ben Garland says his thoughts and prayers are with families near the Black Forest wildfire – including his own. His grandparents Hal and Sharon Garland lost their home in the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs last summer. His grandparents recently moved into a new home in the Black Forest neighborhood near Colorado Springs, and now they’re seeing smoke from the Black Forest Fire billowing nearby. Ben Garland said Wednesday his family is safe. He says it’s unbelievable they are so close to a devastating wildfire for a second straight summer. Garland attended the Air Force Academy and still has friends in the Colorado Springs area who also are affected by the fire.
ROCKIES LOSE TO NATIONALS
Denver—The Colorado Rockies lost to the Washington Nationals last night at Coors Field, 5 to 1. Jorge De La Rosa suffered his 4th loss of the season. The Rockies close out the series with the Nats this afternoon before welcoming the Phillies to town for the weekend.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORTS…
NEW YORK (AP) – Current Mets manager Terry Collins and former skipper Davey Johnson have been selected as coaches for next month’s All-Star game at Citi Field. Johnson, currently Washington’s skipper, managed the Mets to their last World Series title in 1986. They were picked Thursday by San Francisco’s Bruce Bochy, the NL’s manager Detroit’s Jim Leyland, the AL manager, also chose coaches with Mets’ ties: Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox and John Gibbons of the Toronto Blue Jays. Ventura played for the Mets’ last NL pennant winner in 2000 and Gibbons is a former Mets player and minor league manager. The All-Star game is July 16.
ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) – Play has resumed at the U.S. Open after a 3 1/2-hour delay due to a severe thunderstorm. Players picked up where they left off shortly after noon. The first group had completed seven holes in about two hours when the horn sounded Thursday morning. Thunder, lightning and drenching rains soon sent fans scurrying for cover. Ian Poulter held the lead with three birdies in three holes when play was stopped.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – David Robinson was 37 years old when he retired, his legacy as the greatest player in San Antonio Spurs history firmly intact. It’s been 10 years since Robinson left the team in the hands of Tim Duncan and a couple of young guards named Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Now it’s Duncan’s legacy that is being debated as the Spurs entered Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night with a 2-1 series lead over the Miami Heat. Duncan is now 37.
He and Robinson became friends when Duncan was drafted No. 1 overall in 1997. Duncan would tease Robinson about getting old, and now it’s the 47-year-old Robinson who sees his younger friend dealing with those same issues.
