Denver, Colorado’s History Of Hosting Sports All-Star Games

By Jordan Long

Denver, Colorado will now host the MLB All-Star Game.  The game was supposed to take place in Atlanta, Georgia but their controversial voting law propelled MLB to move it.  MLB was looking for another city and Colorado is the choice.  This will be the second MLB All-Star Game in Denver but they have hosted other games.

                The first major league All-Star Game in Denver, Colorado was the NBA All-Star Game at McNichols Sports Arena in 1984. This was the first time the NBA held the Dunk Contest. The winner of it was Larry Nance who represented the Phoenix Suns. After that, the Dunk Contest became a staple in the NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

                The game in 1984 was East vs West.  Some of the big names on the East squad included Isiah Thomas, Robert Parish, Julius Erving, Kevin McHale, and Larry Bird.  For the West, the roster included Magic Johnson,  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alex English, and Kiki Vandeweghe.  The East outlasted the West by a final score of 154-145 in overtime.  The MVP of the game was Isiah  Thomas who put in 21 points.

                Denver had to wait another 21 years before hosting the NBA All-Star Game in 2005.  I was fortunate enough to have tickets to this event at what was then called the Pepsi Center.  It is now Ball Arena.  The league’s first event of the weekend was the NBA Rising Stars which featured 1st year rookie players playing against athletes in their second year.  The sophomore team included Udonis Haslem, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, DeWayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Kyle Korver to name a few.  The rookie team had Luol Deng, Dwight Howard, and Ben Gordon.  The sophomores outlasted the rookies by a score of 133-106 with Carmelo Anthony winning the MVP with 31 points.

                All-Star Saturday Night featured the 3-point contest and the Dunk Contest.  Quentin Richardson was victorious in the 3 point contest.   The Dunk Contest was entertaining.  Chris “Birdman” Anderson, who was in a New Orleans uniform at the time, tried to show off in the dunk contest.  He ended up missing a lot of them and it took him a while to make a dunk.  In the end, Josh Smith ended up with the trophy as the winner.

                The All-Star Game itself was entertaining.  It was East vs. West.  The East came out with a 125-115 triumph.  The MVP went to Allen Iverson who poured in 15 points for the East.

                Denver hosted the NHL All-Star Game once back in 2001.  The format for that game was North America vs the World.  On the North America side, the skaters included Rob Blake, Ray Bourque, Brett Hull, Patrick Roy, and Joe Sakic.  On the World team athletes were Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk, Mats Sundin,     Dominik Hasek, and Marian Hossa to name a few.  This was a tight game throughout but North America took the game 14-12.  The MVP of the game was Bill Guerin who scored 3 goals and added 2 assists.

                The last time the MLB All-Star Game came to Coors field was in 1998.  That is best known for Ken Griffey Jr. winning the Home Run Derby.  The game was American League vs. National League. The ball players for the American League were Kenny Lofton, Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Thome, Alex Rodriguez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, and Cal Ripken, Jr.  For the National League their athletes were Craig Biggio, Tony Gwynn, Larry Walker, Walt Weiss, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Chipper Jones, and Mike Piazza.  The American League beat the National League 13-8. Roberto Alomar was named MVP.  He was 3 for 4 at the plate with 1 RBI.

                Coors Field is a smart choice for this years’ MLB All-Star Game.  The players will put on a show for the fans.  Hopefully, it’s just as exciting as the other All-Star Games Denver has held.

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