Motoring … to the top

Sporting News, The, July 6, 1998 by Bob Hille

Denver (5) The Nuggets have to improve, right? Right? So if the Rockies and Avs could take it up a notch, and the Broncos give Elway his last dance, then the Mile High City could bounce back big time. It not? C.U. later.

Baltimore-Washington (10) Yeah, yeah, Washimore (Baltington?) residents can't stand being lumped together, But look at it this way: Combining the cities puts the two in the running for 1, as in No. 1. Otherwise, it's a DQ. The 'Skins are tough, the Caps got a taste and the O's aren't as woeful as they've played.

Phoenix (12) Jerry Colangelo's pool party has been a hit this summer (just a few W's shy of a shindig). The Cardinals are improving, and the Coyotes are playoff material. This is a metro area looking to have a Sun Devil of a time.

And 5 beyond: Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Nashville, Tenn.; Raleigh-Durham-Chaepl Hill.

RELATED ARTICLE: Your vote

Over the past month, we've been asking users of our online sites (www.sportingnews.com and AOL keyword: TSN) to give us their votes for Best Sports City. Da results? A big win for the Windy City:

City                      Votes   Percent

Chicago                   1,054     20.21
Denver                      748     14.34
Detroit                     573     10.99
New York-Long IsI.-N.J.     424      8.13
Phoenix                     336      6.44
Boston                      286      5.48
Dallas                      215      4.12
Baltimore-Washington        200      3.84
Pittsburgh                  190      3.64
St. Louis                   169      3.24
Oakland-S.F.-San Jose       153      2.93
Tampa-St. Petersburg        126      2.42
Salt Lake City              125      2.40
Seattle                     114      2.19
Atlanta                     105      2.01
Philadelphia                104      1.99
Miami                        98      1.88
Los Angeles-Anaheim          86      1.65
Toronto                      46       .88
Milwaukee                    34       .65
Minneapolis-St. Paul         29       .56

Visit TSN online for expanded coverage of the Best Sports Cities, including a historical tribute to "Hockeytown" and an opportunity to send us your thoughts.

Mo' Motown: The winner of our contest for a free trip to TSN's Best Sports City is C. Williams of Casper, Wyo. For correctly predicting our No. 1 city, Williams gets a trip for two to Detroit, plus tickets to any regular-season game. Although we can't help but think we might have saved some cash if Williams had won a trip to our Best Sports City last summer (bus fare from Casper to Denver: $94), we offer our heartiest congratulations.