First Pitch: With Norris On Mound, Astros One Win Away From Taking Series Vs. Angels

When the Colorado Avalanche shifted to special teams during practice Monday, the 10 guys who Jared Bednar would most like to use on the power play were on the ice. Those 10 guys will comprise the first and second power-play units Tuesday night against the league-leading Winnipeg Jets. On Dec. 31, in game No.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs coach Andy Reid is planning to give running back Isiah Pacheco most of the week off to rest his sore ribs. Reid hasn’t decided who else will get time off before their regular-season finale in Denver. The Chiefs (15-1) already have clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, and with it the lone first-round bye, rendering their game against the Broncos meaningless to them.

By CHARLES ODUM ATLANTA — Quinn Ewers showed off his diplomatic skills on Monday when the Texas quarterback was asked about a verbal challenge from Arizona State counterpart Sam Leavitt leading up to their College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup. Ewers, after all, has good experience in letting his play on the field settle quarterback debates.

Certainly, the final game with his sons didn’t turn out how Colorado head football Deion Sanders envisioned. A 36-14 loss to BYU in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday put a disappointing cap on the many years he has coached Shedeur and Shilo, from the youth leagues to now. The Alamo Bowl won’t take away from the journey, though. Before every game, Coach Prime has walked the sidelines with Shedeur, the Buffaloes’ star quarterback – one way as coach and one way as a dad.

Two days of hindsight and film review later, Broncos coach Sean Payton on Monday acknowledged he’s revisited his own critical decision at the end of regulation in Saturday’s overtime loss to Cincinnati. He did not say, though, that he’d have gone for two and the win rather than kicking an extra point to force overtime after Denver scored to get within 24-23 of the Bengals with eight seconds left in regulation. “Oh certainly,” Payton said when asked if he’d reconsidered since the game ended in a 30-24 Bengals victory.

While union ski patrollers walk a picket line at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, on strike for better pay and working conditions, officials at Arapahoe Basin are awaiting the results of an upcoming election that could result in the formation of a patrollers union there. More than 70% of A-Basin’s patrollers signed a petition supporting organizing efforts last month; it has since been filed with the National Labor Relations Board.