Forget the Denver Broncos. For a kid from Los Angeles where there are currently no NFL teams, it may be easy to say, but it is the truth. The excitement among Denverites for the Broncos soon will be and is becoming a thing of the past.
The answer to the good ‘ol question of what have they done for me lately, is, well, nothing really except take our money and miss the playoffs.
The past six months or so have seen the post-season come to the city of Denver often and for all the major sports except the Broncos.
It all started with the magical run of the Colorado Rockies and their trip to the World Series, where they must have set a record for the number of fans jumping onto a banwagon.
They definitely set the record for worst ticket selling process in the history of any sport or event, for that matter.
Denver then had a nice break until March when the post-season madness truly began.
The Pepsi Center played host to the first and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in which Washington State and Michigan State both advanced.
Just a couple weeks later, the Pepsi Center hosted the Frozen Four minus a disappointed DU hockey team that had been hoping for a dream come true championship run in front of the home crowd. It was not to be, and Boston College captured the trophy in a very well run tournament by Denver.
Just as the NCAA logos were being wiped off the ice, the Avalanche’s were being painted on. The Colorado Avalanche fell behind two game to one in the best-of-seven series against the Minnesota Wild, but came back to win three straight and the series to advance to play either Detroit or Dallas in the second round of the NHL playoffs.
The Avalanche missed the playoffs last season for the first time since the franchise moved to Colorado and are looking in great shape with star players Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and former DU student Paul Stastny.
And then there are the Nuggets, who once again saw poor coaching and lethargic defense lead to their demise and a shot at a first-game upset against the No. 1 seeded Los Angeles Lakers Sunday afternoon. The Nuggets are coming very close to being the same type of team that the Broncos are, talented but disappointing. Sure it is one of the best Western Conferences the NBA has ever seen and the Nuggets are one of the first eight seeds to have 50 wins, but look at their roster. Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin and Nene lead this star-studded roster that did more watching than performing on defense on Sunday.Look for a new head coach next season for the Nuggets, especially if they get swept by the Lakers.
Denver was twice named best sports city by Sporting News in 1995 and 1997, but has since fallen to No. 7 on the list this year behind surprising No. 1 Detroit.
That fall could largely be thanks to the Broncos’ (the kings of the sports scene in Denver) struggles of late, but to a true sports purist this post-season in Denver has had a true mixture of offerings and will be one to remember- minus the Broncos.
