Just Short or Not Even Close?

It's a depressing time to be a Denver sports fan. I've covered some of the local teams' failings ad nauseam in this blog (well, maybe not that much but close) and watching yet another late-season swoon by the Nuggets has lead me to a question that I've debated many times in my sports life: is it better to have the teams you root for be perpetually awful/mediocre non-contenders, or to have them get close and always come up short?

Here's how this applies to the Denver sports scene. The last championship in the city of Denver was won by the Avalanche in 2001, shortly before hockey became irrelevant in the United States. Before that, we were blessed to get back-to-back Super Bowl victories from the Broncos in 1998-99, so I know it may not have been long enough since our last major title to really start the complaining process, but we're going on 8 years here! Since the Avs' last title, the team has gone from very good (immediately after the title) to good to mediocre to the point where they likely won't even make the playoffs this season, for the second time in the last three years, a far cry from the nine consecutive division titles the Avs won immediately after moving to Denver from Quebec in 1995.

The other local teams have been equally as frustrating. First, the aforementioned Broncos have had one realistically good season since the Super Bowls (and coinciding retirement of John Elway), a 13-3 season in 2005 that ended with an embarrassing 34-17 home conference championship loss at the hands of the sixth-seeded (and eventual champion) Steelers. Also in that span the Broncos gave us the Brian Griese era, consecutive blowout playoff losses to the Colts (2003-04, along with the much-"enjoyed" (read: endured) Jake Plummer era), the soon-to-be-infamous blown three-game division lead with three to play (capped by a wonderful 52-21 loss to the rival Chargers in the final game to seal the collapse), and now the Josh McDaniels era that is off to an inauspicious start as he seeks to alienate his young franchise quarterback in his first month on the job. Certainly not a fun time to be a Donkeys fan.

Second, the Rockies have come the closest to breaking the title drought with their improbable run to the 2007 World Series, but a four-game sweep at the hands of the heavily-favored Boston Red Sox put an end to that dream season. The Rocks made a significant splash in the Denver area as they won the first NL Wild Card ever in 1995, the franchise's third year in existence. After that, mediocre would be a generous way to put things as they wallowed in the cellar of the NL West for the next 11 years, rarely even threatening the .500 mark before the breakout 2007 season. Even in '07, concerns lingered that it was a "lightning in a bottle" situation where a so-so team got hot at the right time with the exact right set of circumstances to make a playoff run. Of course Rockies fans will never forget the young team reeling off 14 wins in 15 games to force a 1-game playoff with division-rival San Diego, and then the 13-inning epic that game became and finally the 7-straight wins to sweep their way to the NL Pennant. Unfortunately, 2008 brought the feared back-slide, and the Rox have already begun disassembling (read: selling off) their most successful roster ever with the trade of their best player, outfielder Matt Holliday. While I still hold out hope as all baseball fans do in March, I fear this year's Rockies will be little better than last year's.

Finally, there's the Nuggets. For a team that has historically been one of the NBA's most exciting to watch, never have they been a legitimate title contender and particularly not in the last 8 years. The team only gained any sense of competitiveness in 2003 because of sheer luck, winning third in the lottery behind a Detroit team that had inexplicably fallen in love with a foreign big man named Darko. Because of that love affair, the second-best prospect in the draft (behind a certain forward currently playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers), Carmelo Anthony, fell into the Nuggets' laps and the franchise was relevant for the first time in a decade. 'Melo made an immediate impact, leading a rag-tag Nuggets team to the playoffs for the first time since 1995. Suddenly Denver began to believe they had a shot, and began making free agent acquisitions to improve their contending status, such as signing Andre Miller, Kenyon Martin and eventually moving Miller for Allen Iverson. Unfortunately, these moves (which were both lauded and derided at the time they were made) all had the same inevitable result: first round playoff losses. In Anthony's first four season in the NBA, the Nuggets lost first round playoff series's all by the result 4 games to 1. Finally, they broke the streak last year, getting swept by the Lakers.

So now I sit here watching my new hometown team, the Houston Rockets, face my true hometown team, the Nugs, and as the Nuggets trail by 12 at home in the fourth quarter, I wonder if this year will be any different. Yes, all signs point to the Nuggets making the playoffs again and if they can get hot, they might even have homecourt advantage for the first round for the first time in the Melo era. Heck, they might even win TWO games with Chauncey Billups, their first real point guard in this era, manning the 1. But will they win a series? Maybe. Two? Probably not. A title? Flatly, no.

And now finally I return to my first question with you having a full understanding of where I'm coming from: is it better for your favorite teams to be downright awful or to be good but not good enough? For Denver fans, we are smack in an era of not quite good enough for all of our teams. None are so bad that they will flat-out rebuild and try to become better in a few years, but also none seem to be close enough to winning it all to be a team to rally behind. I thought the Rockies, with considerable youth, had the talent to start a string of successful seasons. Instead, they're a team whose window may have opened and closed in an 18-month span as ownership's purse strings are too tight to make the needed moves. For the Nuggets, my hopes have been raised and dashed so many times I'm becoming numb to them. The Broncos are closer to rebuilding than winning it all. And the Avs? Well, they basically died to me at the 2004-05 lockout and don't appear to have the talent or direction from ownership/management to become relevant again any time soon.

Alright, now that I'm thoroughly depressed, let me know what you think. Which situation are your teams in, and which would you prefer?

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