Fuck.
Sure, pick any weekend the Broncos lost one of their 5 Super Bowls and you’d have a decent argument one of those was the worst weekend in Denver sports history. I say nay, this weekend was worse.
It wasn’t just that the Nuggets and Avalanche both lost in heartbreaking fashion near the end of their second round series, it was that both teams had championship expectations. And I’m not talking just locally. Going into the playoffs, the Nuggets had the 2nd best odds to win the title behind the Boston Celtics at +270. After beating the Celtics twice in the regular season, I think it’s fair to say the only reason the Nuggets weren’t the odds on favorites to win it all was because of how much tougher their Western Conference opponents were compared to the Celtics road to the Finals in the East. The Avalanche, meanwhile, had the 4th best odds to win the Cup at +800, but with two of the best players in the league in Mackinnon and Makar, along with the rest of their top tier talent, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who’d actively bet against the Avs.
But here we are.
We all know know what happened. The Avs, trying to force a Game 7, went into the 3rd period leading 1-0 against the Dallas Stars, only to blow that lead and eventually lose in double overtime on a goal by former Avs player Matt Duchene. The Nuggets, leading by 20 points in the 3rd quarter of Game 7 against the Timberwolves, completely fell apart and ended up losing by 8.
Absolutely soul crushing.
I have nothing else to say. The only solace I can give you is that both of these teams have won championships in the last few years and we still have those memories. But this sucks, plain and simple. We once had dreams about being the only city in history to have both a basketball team and hockey team win it all in one year. Now all we have for the rest of the Summer is a few fun nights drinking on the rooftop of Coors Field, actively not paying attention to the team we’re there to “watch” losing 110+ games this year.
Kill me now.
I’ll leave you with a little advice – Get outside. Play with the dogs, or kids, or whatever you distract yourself with when there’s not sports. Don’t turn on ESPN. Don’t listen to Altitude Radio or 104.3 The Fan talking ad nauseum about if Bo Nix is the Broncos savior for 8 hours/day 7 days/week. Unplug and enjoy the Summer. Let’s just all agree to wait to get our hopes up again until next year.
-Mustache Man
