Cheers and Jeers: Put the Rockies season out of its misery, and more
Sep 27, 2019, 8:43 AM | Updated: 8:43 am
This week will see the merciful end of the Colorado Rockies season down at 20th and Blake. It could see the resurgence of the Colorado Rapids down at Dick’s Sporting Good Park as they make a push for the postseason.
Down at the Pepsi Center, there’s optimism about the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. But down in Dove Valley, this week saw one Denver Broncos star stay relatively silent this week.
Here’s the best and worst of what happened in sports the past seven days:
Cheers | Goodbye to 2019 at 20th and Blake
For a team that, at least on paper, had enough promise back in spring training to elicit a World Series berth prediction, 2019 has truly been a miserable season for the Colorado Rockies.
After winning its first two games (holding first place in the National League West for the only time this season), the Rockies pretty much took care of divisional crown aspirations by losing 12 of 13 in April.
But by mid-July, things seemed to have turned a bit. Colorado was right in the wild card hunt on July 20, when they were a season-high six games above .500.
Since that point, the Rockies have won just a third of their games, going 28-56 (.333).
So, at this point, after Colorado wraps up its season with a home series against the Milwaukee Brewers, let’s chalk it up to a lost year and start our hoping for better days to come in 2020.
Jeers | A Rockie road
As 104.3 The Fan’s esteemed Rockies Insider Patrick Saunders pointed out Thursday, Colorado’s 2019 season was particularly rough on the road.
Away from the comfy confines of Coors Field, the Rockies went 28-52 this season, the worst mark for the club since 2014.
Striking, since late June, Colorado only won eight games on the road (30 losses) and failed to win a series away from Denver in July, August and September.
Cheers | The rapid rise of the Rapids
After starting off the MLS season with a historic 0-9-2 mark — losing or drawing every game through the first two and a half months — the Colorado Rapids are remarkably still within striking distance of a postseason berth.
For a franchise often overlooked when performing well, it’s hard to imagine any traction when early in the MLS season it looked like a historically poor campaign was shaping up for Colorado.
But, give the Rapids their due. With just two games remaining, the team has a shot — albeit a fairly long one — of making the MLS playoffs.
Cheers boys. He’s to getting it done.
Jeers | Von Miller’s brief briefing
After suffering what was arguably one of the most humiliating Super Bowl losses in NFL history, way back in 2013 Peyton Manning took his media lumps with class.
Manning answered questions about Denver’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks with grace and class.
And we know this because two years later, Broncos Country (and the rest of the football world) dragged Cam Newton for walking out of his postgame press conference following the Carolina Panthers loss in Super Bowlo 50.
Circumstances Thursday were certainly not the same when Von Miller took the podium at UCHealth Training Center. And his motivations could have been entirely benign.
But addressing the media for only 12 seconds, taking no questions during likely his only media availability this week, is unprofessional on Miller’s part.
The prolific pass rusher by all accounts is beloved by his teammates. He’s incredibly charitable and giving with his time off. He’s one of the best defensive players in NFL history, with a shot at becoming the best.
And, truly, Thursday’s media mishap is relatively insignificant. But boy is it a bad look.
Cheers | Optimism down at the Pepsi Center
On Thursday, USA Today released its 2019-’20 NHL projections, a self-described “semi-scientific guess” at how the league will shake out this season.
And things look good for the Colorado Avalanche.
Not only are the Avs projected to win the Central Division but the entire Western Conference, on the backs of Nathan MacKinnon and Calder Trophy contender Cale Makar.
And earlier this week, speaking with “Stokley and Zach,” Denver Nuggets president Tim Connelly exuded confidence about his roster in 2019-’20.
“I’ve never won a championship, so I don’t know how to speak on this with any real authority, but I think now it’s, ‘Why not us?’” Connelly said.
“You look around, why can’t we win at the highest level? Why can’t we advance to the Finals? Why can’t we be an elite Western Conference team? I know we have the coaching staff. I think we have the talent.”
The air of confidence and optimism down at the Pepsi Center is refreshing. But heed the tale of the 2019 Colorado Rockies, whose own high expectations this spring fizzled out fairly quickly.
