My sister Susan and I flew back to Denver from Florida Tuesday, arriving home via Uber around 6:30 P.M. After a dinner at Spanky's, just to the west of the University of Denver campus, we began unpacking and doing all the other stuff you do after returning home after nine weeks. Unfortunately, I had to get up at 5:15 the following morning to report for jury duty downtown. I know many people feel jury duty is a civic responsibility and are proud to serve, but all I thought about was being assigned to a murder trial and spending days - or weeks - listening to testimony. Meanwhile, sitting in the jury room, waiting for things to get started, we were all treated to a DVD of what to expect while serving as a juror, narrated by Ed Sardella, a well-known Denver television news anchor who retired back in 2001. Talk about a bit of nostalgia. Thankfully, my juror number wasn't called for the first trial, and after a while, the head jury person came in and announced that the second and only other trial that day was being postponed and we were all free to go. I rushed out of there before they could change their minds and headed back to the light rail station and home. While waiting for the connecting train at Broadway Station, I took the photograph above showing the future stadium location for the Denver Summit FC, a National Women's Soccer League expansion franchise. The Summit played their inaugural home opener at Empower Field, home of the Denver Broncos, this past March, and drew 63,004 fans, a record turnout for the league. And so, I guess women's soccer might have a chance to catch on here. Unfortunately, that future stadium location is cursed. Originally the site of the Gates Rubber Factory, it was torn down to make way for a mixed-use development, but the project was canceled when the Great Recession began in 2007, and the site has been vacant ever since. And will that soccer stadium actually be built? Time will tell. I was tempted to call and tell team management about the curse but decided the hell with it. Back in Chicago, both the White Sox and Cubs have dealt with curses for decades, and so why should the Denver Summit get off scot free? And no, I am not bitter.
