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Sport’s Good Old Days in the Mile High City — and We’re Living It Today

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WKND 20251114 GoodOldDays

“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them”

– Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), The Office

In late January of 1998, I was traveling to see old friends in the Los Angeles area when one of them offered to take me to see the Denver Nuggets play the Los Angeles Clippers, in an era that no one was eager to watch either team, and tickets were easy to come by. I’d already seen several games in Denver that season, as I was helping a group sing the national anthem on several occasions. There weren’t even too many singers enticed by free tickets that season, so we were getting a lot of opportunities to return.

The reason for the lack of interest was the quality of play that year by the Nuggets (and the Clippers, for that L.A. game) after injuries, apathy, and personalities had left the team with the hoops equivalent of a can of spam to work the season out with. I left the arena that night both shocked and invigorated that Denver had pulled off their third win of the season, and their first road win.

That was Game 41 for the year.

I’d also attended a game against the Clippers in Denver in which me and around 7,500 of my dearest Nuggets fan-companions cheered on the win that made us 2-15. There were so few people there you could hear people coughing across the arena. Even when we got into it, the noise was overwhelmingly underwhelming. It was 23 losses over seven weeks and a thousand miles away later when I got to see the Nuggets beat the same embarrassingly bad Clippers squad.

Those were not the good times. Like it felt for fans of the 2010 Denver Broncos. Or the 2008-09 Colorado Avalanche. When you’ve been a fan of a franchise, especially one that’s seen any semblance of “Glory Days” in their history, there are years in that timeline that will make the long-suffering fan straight out shudder.

So when a golden year or three comes along for any one of your franchises, you try to bask in the warmth of that moment in the sun, as you remember what it feels like in the cold of an embarrassingly bad season. To feel the light of that sports star sinking deep into your homer-infused bones.

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When a few of yours stars align to shine brightly at the same time, it’s even rarer than an actual celestial alignment.

More than a few folks noticed that Denver’s three currently-playing teams are undefeated in Denver halfway through November, and are all looking just as lethal on the road, with no one wanting to mess with the Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, or Denver Nuggets this season. While there are some inevitable bumps to come in their respective campaigns, their torrid starts have each of their respective leagues paying close attention to whether each of them is real or not. Even if none of them ends up winning their league’s championships this year, none of them can currently be ignored as a possibility for it.

The Avs have a depth they have not had in years, fashioning themselves into “something scary“, as DNVR Avs Nathan Rudolph calls them. Their 12-1-5 start has them producing points at a pace they’ve never sustained over any past season. While the odds are decent they’ll regress to a bit of a norm, they are also doing this with wave upon wave of firepower, backed by stout D and goalkeeping. While they are facing the inevitable injuries already, they are built to withstand that better than in years past. It’s statistically more than a lucky start when you’re nearly a quarter of the way into your season.

The Broncos may have seen a few inconsistencies in their offense and special teams, but have a special enough defense and just enough contributions from the other two phases to find themselves amongst the league’s leaders over halfway into the season. Because the other phases have shown the sparks of something special at moments during the season, no one is discounting Denver’s possible ascension if the team can figure those bumps out before playoff time. With a great mix of veterans and young leadership alike, and a ton of high-characters up and down the roster, the Broncos look to have set themselves up for contention for a while.

The Nuggets worked hard this last offseason to add the best available guys to suit their main core and ever-present MVP. A couple of dumb late-game lapses are all that is separating them from a 11-0 start to their season, and they are still a couple steps away from playing their best basketball on either end of the floor. Their new-found depth performs much like their hockey brethren, insulating them from some of the avoidable losses they’ve suffered in years past when some of the areas below the core five were paper-thin. There’s a togetherness, lightness, and seriousness-of-task to this squad that is very reminiscent of their last championship run.

You can actually say that about each of the three. The Broncos just pulled off their longest winning streak since they won their last Super Bowl. The Avalanche are exercising their will they way they did the last time they brought home the Stanley Cup. All of these franchises that have seen the ultimate success in their leagues at least has a lot of the flavors of what got them there in this moment as well. Astoundingly, all at the same time. While it would be incredible to bring home one, two, or dear-god, even three championships to Denver this year, it’s ridiculously heady stuff to even be able to envision the idea without being laughed out of your favorite sports bar. A heady moment to be a Denver sports fan, indeed.

So bask in the glow and warmth of these Denver stars, friends. There will be another losing season coming somewhere down the road, and you have to take these moments that are good ones to drink it in a little. Have no doubt about it, we are in the midst of a moment that will someday be “the good old days”.

Or as an admired friend said much more succinctly:

I don't know how it gets better as a sports fan in a city right now. The late 90s were special, but the last few years have brought us 3 NBA MVPs and a finals MVP, a Larry OB, A Stanley Cup, 2 Norris Trophies, a Hart Trophy, a DPOY, and constant contention. It's the golden era.