If you have an event taking place in the Denver area, email information to carlotta.olson@gazette.com at least two weeks in advance. All events are listed in the calendar on space availability.
Thursday
Otis Taylor — 6:30 and 9 p.m., Dazzle at Baur’s, 1080 14th St., Denver, go online for prices. Tickets: dazzledenver.com/#/events.
Advertisement
RubyJoyful — Featuring Drew Emmitt (Leftover Salmon) and Rob Ickes, 7 p.m., Swallow Hill Music, Daniels Hall, 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver, $35-$40. Tickets: swallowhillmusic.org.
National Veterans Creative Arts Festival Stage Show Performance — 7 p.m., Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., Denver; tinyurl.com/addecenw.
MaMuse — With Ashley Willfire, Lotte Walda, 7 p.m., Mercury Café, Ballroom, 2199 California St., Denver, $20-$25. Tickets: mercurycafe.com.
Interrogation: True Crime Stories — 7:30 p.m., Comedy Works South at the Landmark, 5345 Landmark Place, Greenwood Village, $14. Tickets: comedyworks.com.
Last Podcast on the Left: JK Ultra Tour — 8 p.m., Paramount Theatre, Denver, $39 and up. Tickets: ticketmaster.com.
Inna Vision — With Logan LaValley and Coronation, 8 p.m., The Oriental Theater, 4435 W. 44th Ave., Denver, $10 and up. Tickets: theorientaltheater.com.
Judd Hoos — With Peach Street Revival & Denham, 8 p.m., Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver, $16. Tickets: globehall.com.
Advertisement
Messa — With The Flight of Sleipnir and Circling Over, 8 p.m., Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver, $15-$18. Tickets: hi-dive.com/events.
Chet Porter — With Geller, 8:30 p.m., Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St., Denver, $17-$22. Tickets: larimerlounge.com.
Welcome to The Daily’s photo blog: Captured. This is a space for The Daily’s photographers to share their best work, including photos from weekend performances and events around the community. You can contact the photo editor by emailing [email protected].
Coming off a loss to Notre Dame on Friday, Northwestern struggled to defeat Denver, ending the day with a score of 4-3. Freshman Cooper Han secured the win for the ’Cats in a match that went to three sets. The next matchup for the ’Cats is next Saturday against UIC.Cydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily NorthwesternCydney Waterman/The Daily Northwestern
Email:[email protected]
Related Stories:
—Men’s Tennis: Northwestern sweeps sets in home doubleheader wins against Illinois State, Marquette
Advertisement
— Men’s Tennis: No stopping Pate and company in 4-2 win over Memphis
— Men’s Tennis: Northwestern’s strong early-season play leads to seven game win streak
The Denver Nuggets are coming off their most dominant regular season win in franchise history, beating the Portland Trail Blazers by 54 points on Friday night. Now, they are heading into a challenging matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, but the recent dynasty will be missing some star power.
The Nuggets have been one of the most banged-up teams in the league this season, but one positive is that there is optimism they will be fully healthy for the playoffs. A team like the Warriors, on the other hand, has to deal with a season-ending injury to six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, casting a feeling of doubt on the rest of their 2025-26 campaign.
Nuggets could be without Jamal Murray vs. Warriors
Advertisement
Feb 20, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) dribbles past Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday (5) during first half at Moda Center. | Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images
The Nuggets know they will be without standout forwards Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson for the coming weeks, but they have also ruled out backup guard Jalen Pickett for Sunday’s game, while listing Jamal Murray as questionable. The Nuggets’ full injury report:
Murray was also listed as questionable heading into Friday’s game in Portland, but ultimately suited up and contributed 25 points, six rebounds, and six assists on 6-12 shooting from beyond the arc in their blowout win.
The Nuggets were on a cold streak heading into their historic win on Friday, losing five of their previous seven games, but a win in San Francisco on Sunday would certainly help them build some much-needed momentum.
Advertisement
Warriors rule out Steph Curry vs. Nuggets
Feb 5, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Golden State Warriors injured guard Stephen Curry against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Advertisement
The Warriors have been without superstar point guard Steph Curry since late January, and he is now set to miss his seventh straight game on Sunday. Curry typically gives the Nuggets some fits, as he erupted for 42 points in a Warriors win against Denver earlier in the season.
Advertisement
With Curry and Butler both sidelined, the Warriors will be missing some beloved star power, and Kristaps Porzingis is also going into Sunday’s game with an injury designation. The Warriors’ full injury report:
Steph Curry – OUT (right patellofemoral pain syndrome)
The Warriors are just 6-11 through 17 games without Curry this season and 3-9 without both Curry and Butler. Golden State could be in trouble against this Nuggets team coming off a dominant win, especially while the Warriors are on a cold streak of their own, losing their last two games and five of their last seven.
Advertisement
The Nuggets undoubtedly have a leg up on the Warriors for Sunday’s matchup, although Murray’s final status could certainly change things. If both teams are missing their All-Star point guard, it would somewhat even the field, although Denver’s three-time MVP Nikola Jokic is the ultimate decider.
The Nuggets and Warriors are set to tip off in San Francisco at 1:30 p.m. MT, available to watch on ABC.
If you want to be Pomona, you’re going to have to join them.
“I know people get tired of (certain teams) winning all the time,” former Ponderosa wrestling coach Tim Ottmann told me late Saturday afternoon as Pomona’s Panthers inched ever closer to a Colorado-record eighth straight state wrestling title at Ball Arena.
“But you also have to wonder why. And I think it’s important for those that are (trying) to dethrone him to find out what (coach Sam Federico) does and how he does it. And then be able to to build what he’s built.”
Ottmann, a 2022 CHSAA Hall of Fame inductee, knows the formula inside out because he lived it. His Mustangs were Colorado’s last big-school wrestling dynasty, with Ottmann in charge for six of what turned into eight straight state crowns from 2003-10.
Advertisement
“I don’t see (Pomona’s run) ending anytime soon,” Ottmann continued. “When I talked to Sam a few months ago, he said this was his best team that he’s had, and it’s his eighth (state champion) in a row.
“They’re not going anywhere. I think it’s good (for the state). I don’t have any issues with it. It’s a call to others to maybe step it up a little bit and figure out how he does it.”
The bigger the tree, the longer the roots. Feeder programs. Coaching consistency. Rinse. Repeat, en route to the Panthers breaking their own state meet points record on Saturday at Ball Arena.
Pomona fans cheer as Maddux Naera after he defeated Northglenn’s Eli Stevens in a Class 5A 215-pound state championship match on the final day of the Colorado high school wrestling state tournament, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Photo by Rebecca Slezak/The Denver Post)
“Eight for me is (just) a number,” Federico told me Saturday before the finals. “Our goal is to get as many state champs as we can, every year. It’s an individual sport. We want to win championships at the end of the day. It’s hard. When they get second, it’s not fun. It’s a rollercoaster as a coach.”
Yeah, but what a ride. The Panthers are the Front Range’s gold standard, its barometer and benchmark. If you can hang with them, you can hang with anybody. What’s impressed Ottmann the most about Pomona’s current run is the degree to which the Panthers have followed Ponderosa’s two core pillars from a generation ago.
Advertisement
“I’ve been retired since 2008 and (Federico is) doing the things that we did,” the former Mustangs coach said.
“And we talked actually quite a bit about ups and downs and that kind of thing, picking my brain on longevity and how you stay focused and how you keep having the energy to do that.”
Ottmann’s advice?
• Keep that pipeline of kids coming. Plant those seeds.
“When you’ve got four or five freshmen coming into your program every year, you don’t get hurt by the three or four seniors that graduate,” the former Mustangs coach noted. “So you’re always maintaining that quality. What (Federico) does is what we did. His program feeds only Pomona. And he works at it. Other programs may farm that out, or combine it with other schools. I don’t believe in that. I believe in doing it yourself.”
Advertisement
• Once you’ve found lieutenants on your staff, assistant coaches and teachers who complement your skills and parrot your mantra, lock them the heck down.
“The biggest thing to me is just outstanding assistant coaches,” Ottmann stressed. “I know Sam’s the same way. He’s had assistants (stay) with him for a long time. That consistency means everything.”
• Don’t be afraid to test yourself against the big boys in other states. Ottmann took Ponderosa to Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, letting iron sharpen iron.
“It increases your levels here,” Ottmann explained.
Federico’s walking on rare air, indeed. Cherry Creek’s boys and girls tennis teams once put up state-title streaks of 19 straight each. Fort Collins High won 16 consecutive boys state track titles on either side of World War I. Cheyenne Mountain boys tennis notched 11 straight crowns. Limon and Sedgwick County currently share the state record for consecutive football titles, with six apiece. (Valor Christian won four in a row from 2009-13; Cherry Creek did the same from 2019-2022.)
Advertisement
Merino and Faith Christian won five straight crowns in boys’ basketball; Broomfield notched five in a row in girls basketball. Evergreen won eight straight volleyball titles from 1978-85. TCA won nine straight girls cross-country crowns.
“It’s extremely difficult to win one, much less two or three, right?” Ottmann noted. “There’s just a lot of things that have to fall into place.”
And not just fall there. Stay there. Constancy isn’t a bug at Pomona — it’s a feature. Federico is the Panthers’ third wrestling coach over the last five decades. Its youth program is widely regarded as among the best in the state, the backbone of a grappling empire.
“It always has been,” Federico said. “I made sure of that. You have to have it.”
It’s like that old NFL adage: When you see something that works, copy the living heck out of it. Cherokee Trail coach Jeff Buck beefed up his feeder program, the Junior Cougars, in order to solidify his program’s standing as a perennial 5A contender.
Advertisement
“Pomona’s youth program … that’s a huge part of their program and many programs,” Buck said. “Success breeds success, and winning, and kids want to wrestle for (Federico) because of the program he’s built.
“(It’s) not something that Sam hides. He’ll let anybody practice with them. When Pomona’s good, they’re making the state look good. I don’t think it’s bad at all.”
Fair enough. Dissecting a beauty is one thing. But how do you dethrone a beast?
“I know Sam is probably close to retirement in a couple years,” Ottmann said. “A new coach always presents a challenge (as far as) keeping it going … you have programs such as Grandview and Ponderosa, to an extent, and others that are challenging them. But their program is just so much better than anybody else’s, currently.”
After this weekend, it wasn’t hard to see why.
Advertisement
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.