By Jordan Long
The Coronavirus has shut down the sports world for the time being. It will be a while until sports, in general, will be played. This had me thinking about if I could re-watch one season from my favorite teams over again, what season would that be from the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA.
I have been lucky as a Broncos fan to watch them capture 3 Super Bowl titles. There is one year that stands out, the 1997-1998 Denver Broncos. In the previous season Denver was coming off one of their most disappointing losses in franchise history, losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round 30-27.
Denver was the favorite to win the division and make noise in the playoffs. The Broncos were off to a great start at 6-0 entering the bye week. The Broncos headed into Arrowhead Stadium on week 12 with a record of 9-1. Kansas City was 7-3. Kansas City managed to win that game on a Pete Stoyanovich 54 yard field goal that barely went over the crossbar with no time remaining. Little did I know this game would have large playoff implications for seeding.
The Broncos finished their final 5 games at 3-2, ending with a record of 12-4. Kansas City went 5-0 to win the AFC West and clinched the #1 seed in the playoffs. Denver was the #4 seed.
Denver was the #4 seed since there were only 3 divisions at the time. Denver earned a home playoff game and a repeat playoff matchup against Jacksonville. They had revenge for the loss the year before with a 42-17 victory. Next up was Kansas City. Denver squeaked past the Chiefs 14-10 on a last minute goal line stand. In the AFC Championship Game, Denver survived a tough road contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-21.
Denver reached the Super Bowl to play the defending champion Green Bay Packers. Denver entered the game as an 11-point underdog. Nobody expected Denver to win or compete in this game. The score went back and forth. Denver took the lead at 31-24 on a Terrell Davis rushing touchdown with 1:45 left in the game. On Green Bay’s next possession, the Packers drove to the Denver 32-yard line before Green Bay turned the ball over on downs with 28 seconds left. Denver Broncos’ quarterback John Elway kneeled down to give Denver their first ever Super Bowl win.
In Hockey, it would have to be the 2001 Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche went into the season with one goal in mind, winning the Stanley Cup for defenseman Ray Bourque. Bourque was in his 22nd year. He was traded to Colorado from Boston with the hopes of joining a team that could win the Cup. He was going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer for his play. The only accomplishment left was winning a Stanley Cup. The year before, Colorado advanced to the Western Conference Finals but were knocked out in game 7 by Dallas.
The Avalanche cruised in the regular season with a record of 52 wins 16 losses 10 ties and 4 overtime losses for a total of 118 points, the most in the NHL. They won the President’s Trophy for the league’s top record. But, that was not the ultimate goal.
In the playoffs, Colorado swept Vancouver in the first round. In the 2nd-round it looked like Colorado was well on their way to beating the L.A. Kings. They were up in this series 3-1. Somebody forgot to tell the Kings this series was over. L.A. ended up winning game 5 1-0 and game 6 in overtime, also 1-0. The Kings forced game 7 but Colorado came out on top with a 5-1 victory. In the Western Conference Finals Colorado knocked off the St. Louis Blues in 5 games to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
Colorado faced the defending Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils. Colorado entered game 6 in New Jersey down 3-2. It looked like New Jersey would win back to back titles. Colorado had other plans win a 4-0 victory and it was back to Colorado for game 7. The Avalanche jumped on New Jersey early with 2 goals from Alex Tanguay and a power play goal by Captain Joe Sackic to take a 3-0 lead. New Jersey managed to score 1 goal in the second period. Colorado held on 3-1, giving the city of Denver their 2nd Stanley Cup win and Ray Bourque his first.
For Major League Baseball, being a lifelong Colorado Rockies and Cubs fan, there haven’t been many seasons to be proud of. Of course, the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016 was an exciting moment, but they were expected to win that World Series since they had the league’s best record. Colorado’s year I would replay is the 2007 Colorado Rockies.
Colorado looked like they were going to miss the postseason. They got hot at the right time winning 13 out of their last 14 games to force game 163 against the San Diego Padres. Colorado barely beat them 9-8 in the bottom of the 13th when outfielder Matt Holiday scored on a sacrifice fly. There is still a question to this day if he touched home plate, but it was the 1st time since 1995 the Rockies were headed to the postseason.
Colorado swept the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Divisional Series and the Arizona Diamondbacks in the League Championship Series which meant Colorado won 21 out of 22 games to reach the only World Series in Colorado Rockies history. Unfortunately, Colorado had too much time off between the National League Championship Series and the World Series. The wheels came off and the Boston Red Sox swept them to take home the 2007 World Series.
The Denver Nuggets haven’t been as successful in my lifetime. There have been more losing seasons especially in the middle to late 90’s. The season that sticks out is 2009. Denver ended the regular season at 54-28, the 2nd best record in the Western Conference. Denver beat New Orleans and Dallas in both series 4-1 to face the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Denver fought hard but lost the series in 6 games. Had they beaten the Lakers, they might have knocked off the Orlando Magic for the franchise’s 1st ever NBA Championship.
There have been many great sports seasons that I have been lucky to watch. These are the ones I would watch again. What years from your teams would you want to see again?
Leave a Reply