Colorado
Hall of Famer Warren Sapp to join Colorado coaching staff in 2024, Deion Sanders says
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Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes have one more game left in the 2023 regular season, but they already will be adding another Hall of Famer to the coaching staff next year.
Pro Football Hall of Famer and 13-year NFL veteran Warren Sapp will be joining the Colorado coaching staff for the 2024 season, Sanders confirmed Wednesday.
“I’m excited about coach Sapp,” Sanders said. “He’s a dear friend that I love to life and he, he’s going to be invaluable to what he brings to the table. The kids are going to love him. As far as their recruits as well, they’re going to love him.”
Warren Sapp and Colorado Buffaloes
Sapp has been one of several former NFL stars and celebrities to make their way to Boulder this season to see the Buffaloes under their first-year head coach. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and Oakland Raider has had the desire for months, telling “The Rich Eisen Show” in September about wanting to join the coaching staff after his visit with the team.
“For the first time in my life, I was loved on by some defensive lineman and they wanted to know, like, the keys to the vault,” Sapp told Eisen. “I’ve never had anybody shake my pockets like that and ask for keys to the vault.
“I had five, six young men around me that were basically ready to strip-search me like, ‘I know that there’s a key to this somewhere that you’re gonna give me for this,’ and they’re willing to work,” Sapp added. “They infected me, they really infected me. And I told Prime before I left, ‘I’m coming back.’”
Sapp said Sanders told him he would have a spot on the coaching staff for him next season, and even gave a preview of what could come to the Buffaloes 2024 team.
“We gonna go out there and teach these kids these five steps to the quarterback because I know something about this game,” he said. “When you have a quarterback like Shedeur (Sanders) and if my D-line are going to hunt the other quarterback, our chances of winning just went through the roof.”
Colorado Buffaloes’ 2023 defense
Sapp could prove to be a massive help for Colorado in 2024 as they prepare for their first season back in the Big 12. While the Buffaloes offense has improved from last season, the defensive unit has struggled. The defense has given up 35.9 points per game this season, sixth-worst in the FBS, and the 296.5 passing yards allowed per game is third-worst in FBS.
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While the defense ranks 99th with 168.1 rushing yards allowed per game, Colorado has been able to get to the quarterback decently this season, with the 2.4 sacks per game ranking 45th in the country.
Sanders didn’t say what Sapp would be coaching for the team. Charles Kelly is the defensive coordinator of the team, with Sal Sunseri coaching the defensive tackles and Nick Williams coaching the defensive ends.
At 3-8, Colorado is riding a five-game losing streak into their final Pac-12 game with a road contest against Utah.
Colorado
Mines professor charged with vehicular homicide in Golden officer’s death – Colorado Community Media
The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office has charged a Colorado School of Mines professor with vehicular homicide in the death of Golden Police Officer Evan Dunn.
Stephen Geer, 43, was arrested at the scene Nov. 6 after he reportedly drove into the scene of a traffic accident along Highway 58, striking four people.
Dunn, whose funeral was Nov. 13, died at the scene. GPD Officer Bethany Grusing was transported to the hospital with serious injuries, but city officials have confirmed she’s been released and is recovering. Two civilians also sustained injuries, according to police reports, but their statuses were unknown.
Geer appeared out of custody at the Jefferson County Courthouse for a Nov. 14 hearing, where the DA’s Office formally filed five charges against him.
Along with vehicular homicide, a Class 3 felony, the DA’s Office also charged Geer with:
- Two counts of vehicular assault, a Class 4 felony, for injuring Grusing and a civilian;
- One count of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, for injuring the other civilian;
- One count of driving under the influence, a misdemeanor.
Geer and his attorney have waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 35 days.
He’s next scheduled for a review hearing at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 11 at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
On Nov. 7, Colorado School of Mines confirmed Geer as an employee. The university website lists him as a teaching assistant professor in mechanical engineering.
Mines officials shared that they grieve for the impacted Golden officers, their families, colleagues and community.
“We pray for the recovery of the injured officer,” Mines officials stated via email Nov. 7, “and we will look for ways to offer support during this incredibly difficult time.”
The Nov. 6 incident
According to the arrest affidavit filed against Geer, around 4:38 p.m. Nov. 6, Golden police officers responded to eastbound Highway 58 just east of Washington Avenue. They were investigating a crash between a Toyota Tacoma and a Subaru Crosstrek.
Amid slick and snowy conditions, the Toyota had reportedly lost control while the Subaru was trying to pass, hitting it, and both vehicles were now disabled near the median.
All involved vehicles were on the far-left side of Highway 58, according to the affidavit, with a Golden Police vehicle positioned behind the other two. All other traffic was moving to the right, away from the original crash scene.
The Subaru’s driver, the Toyota’s driver and her father, Dunn and Grusing were outside the vehicles getting photos and evaluating the scene around 4:53 p.m. when a black Mazda traveling eastbound entered the area.
The Mazda reportedly hit the Toyota and then the Subaru, pinning Dunn under the latter. He died from his injuries at the scene.
According to the affidavit, Grusing and the Toyota’s driver also sustained serious injuries, with the latter suffering a skull fracture and brain bleed. Her father, who was thrown over the jersey barrier, also sustained a large laceration to his head and elbow, the affidavit describes.
The Subaru’s driver was uninjured, as was a third GPD officer who was in the patrol vehicle behind the initial accident scene.
Shortly after the crash, authorities identified Geer as the Mazda’s driver. He reportedly told state troopers at the scene he’d been driving home after having a beer at a local bar with a coworker.
He told troopers he’d noticed “yellow flashing lights and attempted to stop,” but wasn’t able to, the affidavit describes.
Investigators detected alcohol on Geer’s breath, the affidavit continues, and he initially agreed to voluntary roadside sobriety tests. However, after he was informed of his Miranda rights around 6:06 p.m., he refused to talk further or complete the sobriety tests.
After receiving a search warrant, investigating troopers completed a blood draw around 8:46 p.m. at the Jeffco jail, the affidavit continues.
It also states that Geer has no previous criminal history.
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Colorado
MCU’s Captain America, Anthony Mackie, talks about filming “Elevation” in Colorado, Coach Prime and more
Anthony Mackie wants to get something off his chest before answering any questions.
“That Meow (Wolf Denver) museum is the craziest (stuff) I’ve ever seen in my life,” said the 46-year-old actor, unprompted, referring to the surreal installation just west of downtown.
That’s saying something, given Mackie’s career as an action hero and low-key heartthrob. As a veteran of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s finally making his film debut as the new Captain America in Marvel’s “Captain America: Brave New World” on Feb. 14, 2025 — following the groundwork laid by his 2021 Disney+ series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
More recently, Mackie’s been battling monsters in the post-apocalyptic thriller “Elevation,” which was shot mostly in Boulder and Golden and is in theaters now. He plays Will, a father desperate to find medical supplies for his ailing son. That forces him to descend the 8,000-foot-and-higher safety zone of the Rocky Mountains, and into the lower-elevation danger zone where vicious monsters roam free.
That danger zone? Boulder — which is rendered as an empty town just starting to be reclaimed by nature, following the disaster that violently erased most of the human race. The film co-stars Morena Baccarin (in arguably one of her best roles) as disillusioned scientist Nina, and Maddie Hasson as salty young traveler Katie. Together, they navigate abandoned tunnels, an empty hospital and other spooky locales while taking center-frame in gorgeous drone shots of Colorado’s piney expanses.
“I was surprised at the level of chill of everybody in Boulder. Maybe they were all high? But a lot of them weren’t,” Mackie said. “Except for that one old lady in the gym. You know who you are, and you’re mean.”
Mackie likes to do superset workouts, he said, so he would do a heavy press with a medium fly, for example, without taking breaks between machines. Mackie’s elderly nemesis, who stared him down throughout his workouts, copied everything he did.
“So I’m like, ‘Fine, I’m just going to do some rows and pull-ups.’ And she comes around and is like, ‘You can’t even do a pull-up!’ ” he said with a laugh. “And I’d have my headphones in, and she’d be like, ‘Excuse me, no phone in the gym.’ I was about ready to fly my sister in to fight this girl and go Liam Neeson on her.”
He jests, but he took his promo duties for “Elevation” seriously. Mackie and “Elevation” director George Nolfi (“The Adjustment Bureau,” “Spectral”) visited the Denver Film Festival on Nov. 4 to screen and talk about the movie. Mackie even made it up to visit with buddy Deion Sanders in Boulder, hosting a screening for Coach Prime, the University of Colorado Boulder football team, and Super Bowl champ Warren Sapp — as well as a separate Boulder cast-and-crew screening, followed by the Denver Film Fest visit. Phew.
“I did go to a lot of University of Colorado football games while we were shooting,” Mackie said. “But (Sanders) had told me Boulder was like the Atlanta of the West Coast. I must have missed it by two months! When I was in Boulder I was the only Black dude there. Kiss my (butt), Deion Sanders.”
Mackie’s first few weeks of filming in Colorado in late 2022 were challenging in a different way. As a New Orleans resident, he went from sea level to elevations of up to 11,000 feet, he said. He and his stunt man would jog together every day, and go hiking every third day in the Flatirons.
“It was painful coming back from Colorado to New Orleans because the air is so heavy and I was so opened up,” he said. “I felt like I was taking in so much water with my breathing.”
He loved Colorado, but doesn’t miss Boulder much, dubbing it an isolating place that’s “myopic” in its approach to communal dwelling and living in general. The isolation helped with his performance in “Elevation,” he said, since his character Will goes through the same feelings.
“I’ll tell you what I learned in Colorado,” Mackie said. “I thought there would be good fishing, beautiful countryside, all of that. And I was right. The fly fishing was amazing, I got a lot of brookies (trout), but I didn’t go hunting, which I was mad about. Next time I’m coming back hard.”
Colorado
Downtown Colorado Springs sees changes before the new year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV)—Starting on Friday, the city will shorten metered parking hours to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday, metered parking will start at 1 p.m.
“We have some customers who say they don’t come downtown because parking is a nightmare or because they have to pay for parking,” co-owner of Cronk Art and Curiosities Andrew Cronk said.
On Sunday parking at the city-owned garages and lots will be free.
“Having abbreviated hours of paid parking definitely would help,” Cronk said.
This is just one of five areas the city is focusing on during the holiday season. Other areas include security, clean-up, homelessness response and business support. The mayor also granted overtime for CSPD’s downtown response team and homeless outreach team.
“I think help is the keyword rather than drive out or move away as long as they’re helping people that makes me feel better,” Cronk said.
The city says the effort is geared toward driving more business downtown, something Cronk says he would love to see more local customers in his store.
“It’s all new people it’s tourists, it’s people visiting, that’s wonderful. but some of our regulars feel like it is out of the way now,” Cronk said.
The results of these changes will be evaluated in January. They plan to see what aspects need to be carried on through the next year.
Copyright 2024 KKTV. All rights reserved.
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