The Bank

Since this awesomely Comic Sans letter in which Dan Gilbert "personally guaranteed that the Cavs would win one before LeBron" and "you can take that to the bank"...

The Cavs have won 40 games.
The Heat have won 134 games.

Including two consecutive Finals appearances, 1 title, 1 Finals MVP and 1 Season MVP for the self-proclaimed king.

So which bank can I take his guarantee to?

8th Seed Hoists the Cup

Here's what I wrote in freaking December:

Going back for the last ten years, here are the regular season records for the Cup winners:

2011: Bruins (7th best record in NHL)
2010: Blackhawks (3rd)
2009: Penguins (8th)
2008: Red Wings (1st)
2007: Ducks (4th)
2006: Hurricanes (4th)
2004: Lightning (2nd)
2003: Devils (4th)
2002: Red Wings (1st)
2001: Avalanche (1st)

I think this is pretty revealing. For seven seasons, the Cup winner had a top-4 record in the league. Over the last three years, it's expanded, but not by much. The Bruins were a 3-seed and the Penguins were a 4-seed.

So in modern hockey, in a league where SIXTEEN teams get in the playoffs, you still have to be a top team to win it all. I suppose the 7-game series nature helps that quite a bit.

The LA Kings had the 14th best record in the NHL. And only lost four games in four playoff series on the way to hoisting Lord Stanley's mug.

For the last ten seasons, only top-4 seeds have won it all, and usually a 1 or a 2 seed. This year? A freaking 8th seed.

Colorado Sky

I've seen better sunset and sunrises in a year in Colorado than I have the rest of my life. Maybe Colorado's not the best in the world...maybe the midwest is just dreary.

Anyways, about two months ago I put our point & shoot in my car. Here are some shots that I happened to catch while getting groceries and driving to curling.

This next shot features downtown Denver in the distance and the Rockies beyond that.