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Watching Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez has been really fun

Some quick thoughts on how much fun the Rockies' stars are to watch, especially when they dominate.

By Mitch Hahn
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to the 21st Purple Row edition (and 126th overall) of Tuesdays With Mitch, where Labor Day is behind us, but we're happy to remind you that there are still two weeks of summer left. Let's get into it...

The fun, long holiday weekend means I don't have much time on the blogging schedule this week. So today will be a shorter post and we're jumping straight into the weekly departments...

Stud(s) of the week:

It's easy to get caught up in the big picture. Being the educated and enlightened Rockies fans that we are, it's easy to focus on what each game, each homer, or each strikeout means for the organization on the whole. This is especially true during a season as dismal as this one. The games don't matter. We need to focus on the future. I agree with all this, of course. It's natural to play the "If I were GM" game as the Rockies head toward a rebuild.

But you know what? Sometimes it's awesome to simply watch a couple of your favorite players on your favorite team in your favorite sport perform at an incredibly high level. And for the past week or so, Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez have been two of the best baseball players on the planet. For me, it's been a pleasure to put aside the murky future of CarGo in Colorado and the concerns about the possibilities of building around Arenado and simply watch those two dudes play baseball.

I'm sure you've seen plenty of the mind-boggling numbers that have come out of their recent performances. Arenado had a six-game stretch from September 1st through September 5th when he went 14-26 with a homer in each game. Cargo had a five at-bat stretch when he went homer, homer, homer, double, homer. It was the second time this year CarGo has hit multiple homers in consecutive games. He's only the eighth player ever to accomplish such a feat.

CarGo is going all-out in the outfield again, which can also be a joy to watch.

This season is no-good and rotten and foul and bad and stupid, but sometimes you just gotta sit back and enjoy the beauty of the game. Watching CarGo and Nolan dominate in early September was one of those times.

It was awesome.

Ass(es) of the week:

Really weird story and crazy footage here. These two fellas don't appear to be the brightest of high school football participants.

Vine of the week:

Rocky, the Nuggets' mascot, really seemed to enjoy lighting this kid up. Maybe a little too much?



Some other stuff from around the internet:

Here's an old, fat dude making a slick, smooth and downright sexy play in the field. I love that he's smirking the whole time.


This high school hook-and-ladder was awesome. Way cooler than assaulting referees, IMO.


Between-the-legs tennis shots are the coolest. This one from Kristina Mladenovic is no different.


Troy Tulowitzki was kind of caught in no-man's land around first base, but he solved that problem in pretty sweet fashion.


...and that same play in GIF form.

This rabbit was loose on the field durnig a CFL game, but look at this bizarre leap! What the hell is going on there?


Decent spin move, from Braxton Miller last night, I guess.


A link I enjoyed from the past week:
And finally, I was able to watch the first edition of the new "SportsCenter" last night with Scott Van Pelt. I'm very intrigued by the premise and enjoyed the first episode. It's essentially Van Pelt's own show and he appears to have the freedom to do whatever he feels like. There's highlights, there's interviews, there's point-spread gambling references (gasp!), there's the humorous oddities from around the sports world that I include here. It's very different from whatever SportsCenter has become, which is a good thing.

Van Pelt is one of the few ESPN personalities that might be able to get me to tune in each night to hear his commentary on the day in sports and I look forward to seeing how his show evolves.

Last night, he interviewed Dan Patrick in Patrick's first appearance on ESPN since he and the network parted ways on bad terms. It was pretty interesting television.


Happy Tuesday, everybody. Thanks for readin'. See ya next week.

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Comment on any of this stuff below, or email me at mdhahn1@yahoo.com with post ideas, videos, or other media I should know about. Follow me on Twitter @TuesWithMitch.

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