Our 2008 SportsBiz wish list.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS biz

This column sometimes points out how business considerations can compromise the very product of the sports business itself--the game. But for the moment we're going to set aside the cynicism, given that it's still sort of the holidays, and there's one more Winter Ale chilling in somebody's refrigerator somewhere.

Instead, we're embracing the perspective that it's better to light a candle, cheap cigar or an illegal Roman candle from Wyoming than to curse the darkness.

Herewith: 10 trends we'd like to see happen for Colorado's sports-business community in 2008.

1) Mike Shanahan discovers his inner Clooney. I don't know if the good coach does those Trice Jewelers radio commercials because he needs a little extra spending dough, or if he donates proceeds to a worthy cause. Either way, listening to Shanahan grind his way through a radio script is torture. Can somebody over at DCPA offer the guy a free method-acting lesson? Or at least slip him a happy pill?

2) The Denver Sports Commission bags the 2016 Olympics. True, it's possible we've slurped one eggnog too many. But man, these announcements about bringing to our fine state events along the lines of the international tavern shuffleboard semifinals are murder.

3) Dean Bonham sells naming rights to the Continental Divide. The international sports business consultant from Greenwood Village has done it all in stadium sponsorship deals, so it's time to move on.

4) Taco Bell, which got big publicity in '07 by giving America a free taco for a stolen base in the World Series, extends the stunt by offering up a free Burrito Supreme every time the words "Brian Fuentes" and "game-winning home run" are combined in a sentence. By September, the fast-food company files for Chapter 11 protection.

5) Kroenke Sports Enterprises recognizes the enduring value of a decent pronoun. Look, we all slumbered through fifth-grade grammar class, people. Can we all just agree that saying "Pepsi Center" instead of "The Pepsi Center" is utterly vapid?

6) The Rockies win a second consecutive NLCS, but this time the team's front office corrects the 2007 World Series ticketing snafu...