Points To Check For

COLORADO SPORTS: Some high-powered Lacrosse magazine has named Our Town as the "Best Lacrosse" town in the world. Right now, Larry in Northglenn is saying "la-what?" At first glance that ranking might seem a bit off, but take a look and it might be well-deserved. When I was in high school there was one kid I knew who played lacrosse, and he had teammates from as far away as Vail and Colorado Springs on his squad, just so they could field a competitive team. Nowadays, scan the suburban fields and you'll see more lax players than baseball. (I'm even using their lingo, "lax.") And even as the SG pokes fun at the Denver Outlaws and Colorado Mammoth, both draw extremely well; and DU hired away a pretty damn good coach frm none other than lax power Princeton to play in their new lacrosse stadium. When I was in college, my roommate got me mini lacrosse sticks and they were exclusively used to chuck beer cans, which I think I will try when I'm near a local youth lax team practice.

HIP HOP: I usually think "followups" to previously released albums by rappers are a pretty lame idea. Seems like just a branding idea: name it the same as your most successful album and people will think it'll be that good. Nearly 15 years ago, Raekwon released his best joint Only Built For Cuban Linkx and since then has dropped unmemorable albums. His new Only Bulit For Cuban Linkx 2 sounds like it could've been released in 1997 as a true followup to the original (although you could argue Ghostface's Ironman was a followup to OBFCL.) The hype surrounding its release is well deserved, as Rae and Ghost hit right off the bat with "House of Flying Daggers" which is a throwback headnodder complete with Shaolin fighting featuring Deck and Meth. Other guests as scattered throughout- Jadakiss, Slick Rick, Cappadonna, Styles P, Beanie Sigel, and production from Marley Marl, Erick Sermon, Pete Rock, and the usual RZA fare (the grimey "Black Mozart".) Lyrically, you're get the coke/crack inspired rhymes that litter the original on tracks like "Pyrex Vision" and an ODB tribute on "Ason Jones." The commercial/hit of the lot ala the Summer of 95's "Ice Cream" could be "Catalina" with the hook by Lyfe Jennings. Overall, this is one sequel worth checking, unlike the seven bucks I'm still owed for Rocky V.

BEER: In just the last decade the Great American Beer Festival here in Denver has morphed into the biggest beer event in the country, as brewers abound descend on the Box State to showcase their wares. This weekend sees the festival again as cab companies, brewers, SG readers, and greasy breakfast hangover joints see their bottom lines or liver enzymes increase.