BOULDER, Colo. — Just as the sun peeked over the horizon, the line to get into The Sink started to form. By 6:45 a.m., roughly 100 people were wrapped around the block, waiting for the iconic 100-year-old bar and restaurant to open its doors for what promised to be a historic day.
“There hasn’t been this much energy here in 25 years,” said Mark Heinritz, who took ownership of the beloved Boulder institution in 1992.
As fans waited outside, some traded undergraduate stories. Others heckled red-clad Nebraska fans. Mostly, though, they shared their amazement of the moment. Less than a year after Colorado finished one of the worst seasons by a Power 5 football team in the last few decades, there was a palpable predawn buzz for the Buffaloes’ home opener under coach Deion Sanders.
“We bought [The Sink] two years off the national championship and it was intense,” Heinritz said. “People showed up right off the bat; they’re ready to go. They would get up on a Saturday, we would fill right up and be busy all day. And through, let’s call them the hard years, that dissipated quite a bit.”
For now, those days are over.
Even for an establishment like The Sink, which is so engrained in the local community that it has an exhibit at the Museum of Boulder, Saturday was special. This is a place that has been featured on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Man vs. Food,” and welcomed the likes of Anthony Bourdain and President Barack Obama. But those visitors didn’t necessitate Heinritz opening four hours early to serve breakfast beers.
By 7:20 a.m., the place was so crowded they had to briefly stop letting people in, and inside it might as well have been 2 p.m., as servers deftly navigated the standing-room-only bar area, carrying trays of shots and pizzas.
“I tell you what,” Heinritz said. “The [athletic director] makes one of the most important economic decisions for the city of Boulder. It’s night and day between Deion Sanders’ potential and a 1-11 team. Night and day. The restaurant’s sales are incredible. We’ll go from just having some extra business on a Saturday to where we’ll actually get business Friday and Sunday. It turns into a three-day deal.”
The Prime effect has been felt all over town. On Pearl Street, Boulder’s eclectic brick-paved downtown strip, all kinds of shops and restaurants have bought into the craze. One clothing store offered a 21% discount on a single item, as an homage to Sanders’ number in the NFL. Prime Time merch is everywhere.
All of that came without a ball being snapped at Folsom Field.
When the gates opened two hours prior to kickoff, thousands of students burst through like they were trying to escape from Ralphie, the Buffaloes’ live mascot, and ran to claim the best seats possible. As the stadium filled with 53,241 people — the largest crowd in Boulder in 15 years — there was an anticipatory intensity that exists only before truly meaningful games in college football.
“It was phenomenal just feeling the energy of the student body as well as the fan base here,” Sanders said. “It was unbelievable. That was my first time. We didn’t get to really feel it in the spring because there was snow. I didn’t want to go out there. It was cold. So, I really didn’t get to feel it. But we felt it today.”
Had this game been played in Boulder a year ago, there would have been a real risk — maybe even an expectation — the stands would have been overrun by red shirts. And while Nebraska fans still traveled well, their impact on the atmosphere was negligible.
“I’ve seen the pictures of red in the stands a couple years ago,” Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders said, referencing a recent Colorado-Nebraska game in Boulder. “I don’t know when that was, but I’ve seen that. This looked totally different. Our fans came out to support.”
New fans and old.
Since the spring, the school has been preparing for the parade of celebrities expected to make their way to Boulder this season. Saturday’s VIP list included the Wu Tang Clan, former NFL receivers Michael Irvin and Terrell Owens, rapper Cam’Ron, and Denver Nuggets players Peyton Watson and Collin Gillespie, among others. The athletic department set a record for media credentials distributed.
Everything that occurred before kickoff was a product of hype and hope. Hiring Sanders ensured the first part. His larger-than-life presence guaranteed the Buffs would be relevant again, but it would only stay that way if they started to win.
So far, so good.
Even on a day where the Buffs had plenty of sloppy moments they’ll want to get cleaned up, they had no trouble swatting away an overwhelmed Nebraska team, whose own first-year coach, Matt Rhule, signed an eight-year, $74 million contract in November.
The game’s outcome was determined long before the Cornhuskers scored a touchdown with one second left to make the final score 36-14. As the clock wound down on that final Nebraska drive, Colorado students forced their way to the lowest rows behind the south end zone, preparing to storm the field.
A call for them to remain off the field from the stadium’s PA system — at the request of Coach Prime, no less — had no impact, and before Nebraska could kick off to officially end the game, delirious students spilled over the barrier.
Another reminder from the PA announcer that the game was not over was equally ineffective, and with a second still on the clock, the officiating crew called it. Chaos ensued.
“I’ve never been on the field when it was stormed,” Sanders said.
And he didn’t get to experience much of this one, either, as his security detail quickly escorted him away. His son, however, wasn’t about to miss out this opportunity.
“This is my first time when somebody rushed the field, so I’m excited for it,” Shedeur Sanders said. “Then it was bittersweet. I started getting beat up in there. It looked fun, but I’m telling you, stay out of that. They tried to tell me, but with me being so hard-headed, I’m like, ‘Nah, I want to enjoy it.'”
PHILADELPHIA — Mick Abel couldn’t sustain his sublime major league debut and is headed to the minors.
Taijuan Walker is back in Philadelphia’s rotation. And anticipation that prized prospect Andrew Painter could be headed to the Phillies will stretch past the All-Star break.
The Phillies demoted Abel, the rookie right-hander who has struggled since he struck out nine in his major league debut, to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies also recalled reliever Seth Johnson from Lehigh Valley ahead of Friday’s loss to Cincinnati.
The 23-year-old Abel made six starts for the Phillies and went 2-2 with 5.04 ERA with 21 strikeouts and nine walks.
“Mick needed to go down and breathe a little bit,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Just get a little reset. It’s not uncommon.”
A 6-foot-5 right-hander selected 15th overall by the Phillies in the 2020 amateur draft, Abel dazzled against Pittsburgh in May when his nine strikeouts tied a Phillies high for a debut, set by Curt Simmons against the New York Giants on Sept. 28, 1947.
Abel hasn’t pitched beyond the fifth inning in any of his last four starts and was rocked for five runs in 1⅔ innings Wednesday against San Diego.
Abel was 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA last year for Lehigh Valley, walking 78 in 108⅔ innings. He improved to 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA in eight minor league starts this year, walking 19 in 46⅓ innings.
“This guy’s had a really good year,” Thomson said. “His poise, his composure is outstanding. He’s really grown. We just need to get back to that. Just attack the zone and get through adversity.”
The Phillies will give Walker another start in Abel’s place against San Francisco. Walker has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen over the past two seasons. He has made eight starts with 11 relief appearances this season and is 3-5 with one save and a 3.64 ERA.
Thomson had said he wanted to give Walker an extended look in the bullpen. Abel’s struggles instead forced Walker — in the third year of a four-year, $72-million contract — back to the rotation. For now.
“He always considers himself a starter and ultimately wants to start,” Thomson said. “He’ll do anything for the ballclub, because he’s that type of guy, but I think he’s generally happy he’s going to go back into a normal routine, normal for him, anyway.”
Wheeler, Suárez and Sánchez have been lights-out in the rotation this year and helped lead the Phillies into first place in the NL East. Jesús Luzardo was a pleasant early season surprise but has struggled over the past two months and gave up six runs in two-plus innings in Friday’s 9-6 loss to the Reds.
“I still have all the confidence in the world in Luzardo,” Thomson said. “Everybody’s going to have bad outings here and there. I think we’re still fine.”
Thomson said he had not made a final decision on who will be the fifth starter after the All-Star break. Painter has two more scheduled starts in Triple-A before the MLB All-Star break and could earn a spot in the rotation. The 22-year-old will not pitch in the All-Star Futures Game as part of the plan to keep him on a hopeful path to the rotation.
Painter hurt an elbow during spring training in 2023 and had Tommy John surgery later that year. He was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 amateur draft and signed for a $3.9 million bonus.
Because of the All-Star break and a quirk in the schedule that has them off on all five Thursdays in July, the Phillies won’t even need a fifth starter after next week until July 22.
Aaron Nola could be back by August as he works his way back from a rib injury. Nola will spend the All-Star break rehabbing in Florida and needs one or two minor league starts before he can rejoin the rotation.
Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.
Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.
“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.
Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.
“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”
The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.
Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.
The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.
“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”
Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.
“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”
CLEVELAND — Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas left during the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers due to mild plantar fascia symptoms with his right foot.
Thomas missed 11 games in late May and early June because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is batting .160 this season and .197 (13-for-66) since coming off the injured list on June 9. He does have four homers in his past 10 games.
“We think he’s good. The plantar fasciitis flared up a little bit again and I just didn’t like the way he looked running around the outfield. So rather than take a chance, I got him out of there,” manager Stephen Vogt said after the 2-1 loss to the Tigers.
Thomas also missed five weeks due to a right wrist bone bruise after getting hit by a pitch during the April 8 home opener against the Chicago White Sox.