Sportsget yourSPortS newS at gazette.com

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orton: no excuSeSQB Kyle Orton says he is sore but not injured. Page 4

THURSDAY ❘ December 16, 2010719-636-0250 or SPortS@gazette.com

nhl >

avs turn it on in thirdMatt Duchene, right, and the Avs win at Chicago after flurry of goals in final period. Page 2

finally, time offAFA men look to come back from finals refreshed. Page 5

SAN FRANCISCO • The U.S. Olympic Committee is pre-pared to talk money.

Finances should be a hot topic, as the USOC will dis-

cuss its stra-tegic plan, budget and list of grants for next year, as well as Olympic T r a i n i n g Center capi-tal projects and a rev-enue plan for 2013 through

2016 in a 7-hour board meet-ing today in Redwood City, Calif.

The last time the 11-person board convened, at the U.S. Olympic Assembly in Sep-tember in Colorado Springs, USOC chief financial officer Walt Glover reported the USOC was doing “favor-able on both cash flow and headcount,” with yearend revenues “expected to be favorable to budget as well, though not quite as much as had been forecast in June.”

budgets are good, but not great

by brian gomezbrian.gomez@gazette.com—

usoc

Revenue plan through 2013 will be discussed

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See uSOC • PAge 2

online > Video

Beat writer

Brian Gomez previews the USOC board meeting in California. gazette.com/sports

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Air Force defensive line-man Rick Ricketts, left, is confident the Falcons can contain Georgia Tech.

KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE FIlE

injured or not — afa has a united frontline

There’s never a good time to be ravaged by injuries on the defensive line. Air Force, however, might have picked

the worst time.

Air Force will go into the Indepen-dence Bowl against Geor-gia Tech, the best rushing offense in college foot-ball, short-handed. In the regular-

season finale, the Falcons lost starting end Zach Payne and nose guard Bradley Connor to injuries. Both are likely to miss the bowl game. The Falcons already had lost end Wylie Wikstrom to a sea-son-ending injury earlier in the season, and Caleb Kone-mann also missed time.

by frank schwabfrank.schwab@gazette.com—

air force football

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see falcons • Page 4

nextIndependence Bowl: Air Force vs. Georgia Tech, Shreve-port, La., 3 p.m. Dec. 27, ESPN2, 740 AM

Cheyenne Mountain’s Canyon Barry, who is also a state champion in tennis, is continuing to improve on the basketball court. KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE

gazette preps

Barry doesn’t feel pressure from having Hall of Fame father

Canyon Barry has always been sur-rounded by his basketball family.

And it’s quite a family. Rick, his father, is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and led the Golden State Warriors to the 1975 NBA title.

Lynn, his mother, earned aca-demic All-American honors as a forward at William & Mary. Three of Canyon’s half-brothers, Jon, Brent and Drew, played in the NBA.

But at this moment, Canyon is alone as he considers the bless-ings and burdens of the Barry legacy. He’s just walked off the court following a Cheyenne

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see ramsey • Page 3

ALMOST RIPE

opinion

david ramseydavid.ramsey@ gazette.com / 476-4895

Mountain High School victory.“I don’t feel I have to be a

Barry,” Canyon says in a steady voice. “I don’t want to be like my dad or my brothers. I want to be my own player.”

And he’s moving toward this goal. Canyon is a 6-foot-41/2, 155-pound junior forward who averages 8.5 points. He remains an unfinished product, a player

I don’t feel I have to be a

Barry. I don’t want to be like my dad or my brothers. I want to be my own player.”CANYON BARRY — Cheyenne Mountain junior and son of Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry

“

still growing into his body.But there’s no hiding his

potential. He wears size 15 sneakers and has enormous hands and a longer reach than his father, who stands 6-foot-7.

He wears his heritage lightly. He’s hyper supportive of his teammates, applauding after baskets and steals and re-bounds. He’s from a family of basketball celebrities, but seeks to blend with the crowd.

Cheyenne Mountain coach Chad Belveal talks with admira-tion for Canyon’s team-first approach.

“He has the perfect demeanor for what he’s living in,” Belveal says. “He’s the son of an NBA

Hall of Famer and to have that kind of pressure on you is tremendous, but he doesn’t act like he feels pressure.

“And he never walks around acting like, ‘I’m the son of an NBA legend so it should be all about me.’ He’s the ultimate team player. He’s a team guy. He really is.”

At times, the team guy struggles. His shooting touch wavers and he struggles against muscular opponents.

But there are glimpses of what could be ahead. Today against Denver’s Thomas Jef-ferson, a perennial state power,

As usuAl, OutCOMe Is deCIded At eNd

gazette preps wrestling

After squaring off in the 5A Metro League championship dual the past three years the timing of the annual battle be-tween Pine Creek and Corona-do changed, but the intensity did not.

The early season clash of the Colorado Springs titans drew enough hype that USA Wres-tling webcast the event on The-Mat.com and the two teams didn’t disappoint.

The host Cougars entered ranked No.1 in the state in Class 5A in Tim Yount’s On The Mat Rankings, with Pine Creek at No. 4.

Both teams won seven match-es, but in the end the Cougars prevailed 37-31, with senior

by justin pedersonpreps@gazette.com—

Coronado tops Pine Creek in battle of heavyweights

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see wrestling • Page 3

The Gazette honors the area’s best fall high school athletes in a special section that can be found in today’s paper. Think we left someone off All-Area teams? Want to check out all-league lists? Then visit gazettepreps.com�.

peak performers

Coronado’s Jared Rieck celebrated with fans after the Cougars de-feated Pine Creek 37-31 Wednesday at Coro-nado High School. Rieck de-feated Jess Roberson in their 215-pound match.

KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE