The Colorado Springs Gazette final

SPORTS

PAUL KLEE

Given that the Rockies have done little to further their rebuilding efforts during the trade deadline, columnist Paul Klee passionately suggests fans should no long concern themselves with the results and just enjoy a game at Coors Field.

DENVER • Stop! Stop caring.

Stop caring if the Rockies win or lose. Revel in the ballpark, Instagram the sunsets, sing along with Charlie Blackmon. Embrace everything that makes Coors Field the unofficial state capitol.

But stop caring. It’s not changing. The Rockies will hurt your feelings again and again. They will make no sense over and over. You, Rockies Fan, are Charlie Brown. Dick Monfort is Lucy.

In a long-ago Peanuts cartoon, pre-humidor, Lucille Van Pelt told her mark, “There’s no better emotional outlet than kicking a football. To sum it all up in one phrase, Charlie Brown, you could kick away your faults.”

Chuck responded: “Boy, you must think I’m stupid.”

Guilty. I believed for months — wrote for months — there was no way, no how, the Rockies would exit the MLB trade deadline without a significant return in trade and Trevor Story still playing here.

The trade deadline came and went Friday, and Trevor Story was still playing here Saturday.

Good grief, said Charlie Brown.

When the deadline closed Friday at 2 p.m., on the dot, I received a ticket sales email from Rockies.com: Cubs series starts Tuesday. Star Wars Night is Saturday. Faith Day is Sunday.

The Rockies were 20.5 games behind first place in the National League West, but winning is not the objective. Darth Vader bobbleheads and the Cubs series are objectives. You and I must stop caring about Ws and Ls already. Stop already.

If winning games were the objective, Trevor Story would have been traded when Nolan Arenado was traded — back in February, before Story’s elbow issues, when his value was at a high point and the return would have been considerable. Meanwhile, the Cubs held a fire sale, shipping off Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Anthony Rizzo. The Nationals traded away Trae Turner and Max Scherzer. Both unloaded core players from World Series champs. Smart teams don’t wade into a rebuild; they cannonball.

The Rockies tread water. Stop caring over wins and losses, and embrace the ambience.

Baez is a shortstop who fetched a top-five prospect from the Mets. Turner is a shortstop who helped fetch three top-100 prospects from the Dodgers. Story will not re-sign here. He will fetch a compensatory pick. Make it stop.

No sports organization infuriates and alienates its best players like the Rockies. The consistency is remarkable. Months after his Rockies exit, Troy Tulowitzki told a reporter: “You get lied to, straight to your face, (and) you get upset.” Before his Rockies exit, Nolan Arenado told Mlb.com: “There’s a lot of disrespect from people there that I don’t want to be a part of.” Trevor Story told Nick Groke on Friday: “I’m confused and don’t really have anything good to say about the situation and how it unfolded.”

It’s hard to make two Californians and a Texan leave Colorado.

The Rockies make it look easy.

I won’t advocate for a boycott of the park, especially now. Colorado people, especially the kids, have been through too much over the past 16 months to suggest skipping on Coors Field.

Nothing will change until ownership changes, and Coors

Field is the other Denver mint.

Would you sell this moneymaker?

After the Arenado trade I wrote the Rockies are the Casa Bonita of MLB. You go for the experience. So I emailed Matt Stone and Trey Parker of “South Park.” You know, to gauge their interest in buying two pillars of state history — Casa Bonita and

the Colorado Rockies.

Hey, guys. On behalf of Colorado, will you consider buying the Rockies as well? I got $5 on it. Please save us. Paul

Haven’t heard back yet. Keep you posted.

Till then, listen to Lucy: “Relax here a while, Charlie Brown. We’ll solve this problem together. The way I see it, your problem is one of emotions.”

Detach from Rockies emotions. Stop caring about wins and losses. At this point, it’s the only way.

DAILY ROUNDUP

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2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/282295323243502

The Gazette, Colorado Springs