Sports, The National Anthem & Athletes On Skates // NBA: Denver Nuggets & A Skills+Power Addition

sports-notebook.blogspot.com . . . FOR MORE ANALYSIS, GO TO "MILE HIGH SPORTS RADIO," AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team---milehighsports.com. SPORTS NOTEBOOK posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner . . . // . . Sports, the National Anthem & Athletes On Skates // NBA: Denver Nuggets & A Skills+Power Addition . . . // . . Our Anthem, Skates---IT ISN’T EVERY DAY that this page’s correspondent gets to watch and hear his daughter sing the National Anthem prior to a sports event, which happened for him on Sunday at Denver’s Glitterdome. Stephanie delivered the essence of our National Anthem superbly, causing attendees to re-experience true love of country, while her Dad added a few tears + smiles of pride in her. And, it isn’t every day that this page’s correspondent gets introduced, no “re-introduced,” to a sport that deserves a lot more interest and bigger audiences than it has received of late, which is what followed the cherished National Anthem and Stephanie’s fine rendition of it. The sport? “Roller Derby,” which lost large audiences decades ago due to the staged violence that is still seen during America’s televised wrestling matches. Well, that nonsense is gone from skating. On Sunday, I watched sub-sets of the Denver Roller Dolls defeat a visiting team’s like units from another region of the country. The competition that these teams engaged in was definitely “serious sport,” not the craziness that existed long ago. In other words, Roller Derby has cleaned up its act, “it’s been civilized.” Here’s how it goes now, no longer scripted mainly for low-end Jerry Springer-type entertainment---Two opposing teams of five skate in the same direction for a series of matches upon a circular track, one team assaulting, the other defending. Each team takes its turn in offense-mode to score points by having a team-member, the “Jammer,” skate through or around the defending five. Imagine football or rugby on wheels without the use of a ball, the “Jammer” being a sort of running back attempting to crash through or get around a defensive line. . . Roller Derby, a sport that became part of our culture in the 1930’s and grew an audience greater than 4.5 million, got “suckered” in the 1950’s and 1960’s by promoters wanting to keep the dollars rolling in via planned phony jabs, kicks, elbows in the eye, knocks on the head and hammerlocks, a phoniness that became tiresome and the sport’s near-demise. But a new millennium overhaul has recreated the Derby into pure competition, worthy of interest from the IOC. If there can be “curling” in the Olympics, why not today’s version of Roller Derby? Presently, there are more than 1,200 Roller Derby athletes worldwide, approximately half from the U.S., the lion’s share being women, and ranked high in U.S. and world competition are Denver’s “Roller Dolls,” seen regularly at Denver’s Glitterdome, 3600 Wynkoop St., denverrollerdolls.org . . . NBA---WHILE the future of the Miami Heat’s Le Bron James and the N.Y. Knicks Carmelo Anthony has been occupying the minds of sports fans, the Denver Nuggets have quietly traded Evan Fournier and a draft pick to reinforce a Nuggets team with Arron Afflalo back from the Orlando Magic, a team that Afflalo had gone to after three years with the Nuggets (2009-12). With the Magic, Afflalo completed NBA’s 2013/14 season having averaged 18.2 points per game, which included 128 successful three-pointers. Had Afflalo stayed with the Nuggets for the 2013/14 season and this was his contribution, surely the Nuggets would have made the playoffs for a tenth straight year. Afflalo will bring seven years of NBA experience to the Nuggets upcoming season, and he’s ranked sixth in the NBA re. three-point FG percentage-differentials per season. Noteworthy and promising is that Afflalo’s shooting percentages have increased each season of his NBA tenure. From listening to Afflalo at a Nuggets press conference held yesterday, it seemed clear that Afflalo has had in mind the idea of becoming “the Complete Player,” expert shooter and playmaker as guard but also being above the margin re. assists and rebounding, and at transitioning to defense swiftly and to defense itself (Afflalo is six-five, 215 pounds), which is what the 2013/14 Nuggets needed more of. END/ml