In 2007, the Colorado Rockies were getting ready to start the most important series in franchise history — one in which the hometown heroes would win a one game playoff against the San Diego Padres to make it to the postseason. As Colorado sports fans know, The Rockies eventually swept the Diamondbacks, then made it to the World Series. There was so much hope for the Rockies. The sad part is, nothing this good has happened since — not to The Rockies or any other Colorado team.
So, lets start with The Rockies. Before they got swept, a lot of people thought this was the beginning of a new baseball era in Colorado and that Denver would be considered a baseball town, similar to New York or St. Louis. That never happened. The Rockies did make it back to the postseason in 2009, but have fallen off the cliff since. The 2010 squad almost made it back to the playoffs but faded in the end. And the 2012 Rockies have probably turned-off any potential baseball fans in the mile-high city.
Five years ago, the Denver Nuggets had two stars in Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. Nuggets fans were hoping this new duo could lead the Nuggets to their first NBA title in franchise history. In Spring 2008, the Nuggets won an outstanding 50 games; yet, were an 8th seed in the playoffs.
They got swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
After the playoff debacle, Iverson was traded and Chauncey Billups returned to Denver. Billups’ impact on the franchise skyrocketed the Nuggets to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, where they went all the way to the Conference Finals and sadly fell to the Lakers again. Then in February 2011, ‘Melo and Billups were traded. Since the infamous trade, the Nuggets have had a respectful record but have done little in the postseason to exercise any demons that haunted the Nuggets of old. This season could be a rehash of years past, with such poor performance in the postseason.
Then, the Colorado Avalanche — the last franchise to bring a championship home. The start of the 2007-2008 NHL season was supposed to be promising. After missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993, although the team was in Quebec at the time, the Avs reloaded. They got Ryan Smyth and were able to bring back the great Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote. The Avs, however, faded in the playoffs as they got swept by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference quarterfinals. After a rough couple of years the Avs appear ready to make a push into greatness again with their future stars in Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene. But there is one problem. There will be a lockout this season and I highly doubt we will see the NHL drop the puck anytime soon.
Finally, there is the king of Colorado sports the Denver Broncos. In 2007 the Broncos had a young quarterback in Jay Cutler and a young nucleus of stars that included Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler. The Broncos struggled that year. But a lot of Broncos Nation had hopes they would rebound in 2008. They did to an 8-5 record before they collapsed. After Mike Shanahan was given the axe Josh McDaniels was given his opportunity to shine. After 28 games, he was fired. Then comes John Fox and some quarterback named Tim Tebow.
What Tebow did for this franchise was unbelievable. Taking a team that was 1-4, going nowhere, leading them to a playoff victory over the No.1 ranked defense. Yet he was a lighting rod for controversy. No matter what he did the haters would not be satisfied. So Vice President of Football Operations John Elway (who was a hater himself) wanted to get Tebow out of Denver. Luckily for him, Peyton Manning happened to be cut from the Indianapolis Colts and was available.
Of the all the games, of all the moments, the best sports scene since The Rockies took on the Boston Red Sox in 2007 was revived when Peyton Manning signed with the Broncos back in March. It’s sad but true. There have been playoff failures and season failures, so when Manning took his talents to Denver, it almost took the sting out of the incompetent play that we have seen over this five year span. Almost.
People: Nick Ohlig
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