Since it was so much fun to write about the miserable state of Denver sports on Monday, I've decided to give Houston, my current hometown, the courtesy of joining the party. With the exception of the Major League Soccer Dynamo, who won the league title in 2006 and 2007, their first two years in Houston, the city has actually endured a longer title drought than Denver. Since Houston does not have an NHL team, the Dynamo are the clear #4 in the city, but as much pride as this community feels for the soccer team (especially the large Hispanic population), I still feel like the city would quickly trade both Dynamo titles (and maybe even a third) for one title in the other three major sports.
I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the now-defunct Houston Comets, the most successful team in WNBA history. Founded in 1997 as one of the original franchises in the league, the Comets won the first four WNBA titles. The success waned, however, and with it so did attendance and when the owners attempted to sell the team in 2008 but found no takers, the team folded. This is more of a statement on the viability of the WNBA (a league that has operated at a substantial loss throughout its history but has been propped up by the NBA as David Stern's brain-child) than on the state of the Houston sports community. Now the Comets' wikipedia page reads like an obituary.
Now on to the meaningful sports in the city. The most successful franchise in recent years has been the Astros who made the playoffs in 2004 and 2005 as a wild card each year. In 2004, the 'Stros advanced to the NLCS before falling in 7 games to the eventual World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. That year's run was highlighted by the eight postseason home runs hit by Carlos Beltran, a mid-season addition to the Astros who played less than half a season with the team before leaving for greener pastures in New York (pun definitely intended). The following year, the Astros made the only championship appearance of any Houston team since the mid-90s, beating the Cards in the NLCS this time on their way to the World Series where they were swept by the Chicago White Sox. While the Astros have been competitive the last three years, there were few expectations of a deep playoff run in that stretch and the future isn't exactly bright.
The only current Houston team in the big 3 sports with a championship victory is the Rockets who won the NBA title in 1994 and 1995. However, I don't know if any team in any sport has had to deal with the kind of asterisk to their titles that these Rockets have. As you may recall, a certain Chicago Bulls player had mysteriously chosen to pursue minor league baseball in that two year stretch, only returning in 1995-96 to win the next 3 titles with the Bulls. It seems any time anyone discusses the Rockets' championships, it must be mentioned that Jordan was "retired" for those two seasons. Of course no one mentions the fact that "45" returned to the Bulls midway through the 1994-95 season but the Bulls would be eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by Shaq, Penny and the Magic (that year's Eastern conference champs). Regardless, this disrespect is a clear chip on the shoulders of Houston fans that won't be removed until a Houston team, and specifically the Rockets, wins another title. In 1996, the Rockets would fall in the second round of the playoffs and the team has not advanced passed the first round since. As for this season, things do look surprisingly promising as the Rockets have climbed to 3rd in the Western Conference standings and appear poised to have homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Whether the team can capitalize on this and win a series remains to be seen and with the Lakers looming as the dominant force in the West, the city is trying to temper its enthusiasm.
Finally, there's the NFL in Houston. As we all know, the Houston Texans have existed since 2002 but have yet to achieve a winning record, much less make the playoffs. Before the Texans came the Oilers, one of the NFL's most frustrating franchises for its fanbase. The Oilers were a charter member of the AFL in 1960 but didn't find any success until the late 1970's when they made the playoffs three straight years from 1978-80, the first three years of University of Texas product Earl Campbell's career. Those playoff appearances would be fruitless, however, with two of them ending in AFC Championship losses to the Pittsburgh "Steel Curtain" Steelers. The Oilers would fall into oblivion again until 1987 when, under quarterback Warren Moon, they became one of the most successful teams in the AFC over the next 7 years, making the playoffs each year. Despite their regular season successes, the team was never able to get over the proverbial hump and never reached the Super Bowl. Included in this run was the infamous 1992 playoff loss at Buffalo in a game known simply as "The Comeback" in which the Oilers blew a 35-3 lead to lose 41-38 in overtime, the biggest comeback/choke job in league history. After a second round playoff loss in 1993, Warren Moon was traded and the team began a new downward spiral eventually ending in the team's acrimonious stadium dispute with the city and finally the move to Tennessee in 1997. It was this move that has made Bud Adams, current Titans/former-Oilers owner, one of the most despised men in Houston. It is also the reason that a lot of Houston fans still root for the Titans, a perplexing attachment that I myself have been guilty of. I've heard it described, accurately so, as having a nasty divorce with a vindictive wife and then somehow rooting for her to find true love and be happy in the future. You should want her life to be miserable, right? Right?!?
So again, back to the topic at hand. As I mentioned, the city of Denver has had the luxury of living in the world of "just short" with most of its teams. Houston is facing the same situation with the Astros and Rockets and is quickly approaching this point with the Texans. With the Rockies and Texans, I have known the numbness of rooting for a team with no chance at contending. With the Broncos and Astros, I've had the thrill and the disappointment of rooting for teams that get ever so close only to fail in the end. As a sports fan, you start to wonder when, even if, you will feel the joy of victory again. Sometimes so much so that you become the absolute worst thing in all of sports fandom: a bandwagon jumper. You pick the hot team and attach yourself just to try to recapture the glory of victory again, but the feeling is hollow and if the team wins, you feel like you've just cheated on your team for a one-night stand.
Once again, where do your teams fall? Would you prefer an all-out loser or a soul-crushing failure in the postseason? Post your comments below.
To get updates and notices each time there's a post, subscribe above. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
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?
To get updates and notices each time there's a post, subscribe above. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
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?
To get updates and notices each time there's a post, subscribe above. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.
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