Timeline 25: Remembering the biggest Colorado sports stories of 2008
Jun 18, 2020, 6:37 AM
On March 6, 1995, The Fan was born. In the 25 years since, a lot has transpired on the fields, courts and ice in Colorado, giving the hosts and listeners who’ve been part of the station during that time plenty to talk about and debate.
During the course of the next few weeks, we’ll take a look back at that history, remembering the good times and the bad, the winners and the losers, the successes and the failures. It’s a series we’re calling “Timeline 25” and it continues today with a look back at a topsy-turvy year in Colorado sports history – 2008:
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An Epic Collapse
When the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls in the late-1990s, Mike Shanahan was on top of the world. Denver’s head coach was widely regarded as one of the best in the business, as “The Mastermind” was pulling all the right strings on and off the field.
As a result, he was seen as someone with nearly impenetrable job security. Team owner Pat Bowlen had reinforced this notion by once declaring that Shanahan would be the Broncos coach for life.
That all changed in 2008, however. After three-consecutive non-playoff years, in which Denver went a very mediocre 24-24 in the regular season, the once-unthinkable occurred. On December 30, Bowlen fired Shanahan.
How did it get to that point, less than a decade after hoisting two Lombardi Trophies and just three years removed from an appearance in the AFC Championship Game? It all unraveled in a three-week span.
During the 2008 campaign, the Broncos sputtered here and there. After a 4-1 start, they lost three-straight games, including home tilts against Jacksonville and Miami. Denver rebounded, however, winning four of their next five.
At 8-5, they had a firm grasp on the division. They held a three-game lead over the Chargers with three games to play, a scenario that had produced a postseason berth at a 100 percent clip in NFL history. That is until the Broncos broke the streak.
Denver traveled to Carolina in Week 15 and laid an egg, giving up 23 unanswered points to fall 30-10 to the Panthers. The next week, the Broncos squandered a golden opportunity, falling 30-23 at home to the Bills. And in the season finale, in a game that would ultimately determine the AFC West champion, Shanahan’s team was dismantled by the Chargers, falling 52-21 in San Diego.
That was all Bowlen needed to see. The historic collapse, where the Broncos became the first team in NFL history to blow a three-game lead with three games to play, coupled with the ugly way in which Denver lost each of those games motivated the owner to make a change.
After 14 seasons at the helm, a run that included three AFC West titles, three appearances in the conference title game and two championships, the greatest coach in franchise history was let go. Shanahan posted a 138-86 record during his tenure in Denver.
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A Big Trade for Mr. Big Shot
The Nuggets were making progress under George Karl. They were a perennial playoff team, they’d won a division title and they had reached the 50-win plateau. All were positives steps, signs that things were trending in the right direction.
That said, the organization was getting restless. Four-straight first-round exits in the postseason had the front office thinking that a change was necessary.
On November 3, just three games into the season, the Nuggets made a monster trade. Denver sent future Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson to Detroit in exchange for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess. McDyess was later released, making the deal essentially an Iverson-for-Billups trade.
The Nuggets motivation was two-fold. One, they wanted to add someone to the roster with championship pedigree, something Billups had; he won Finals MVP in 2004 when the Pistons beat the Lakers to win the NBA title. Two, they wanted to clear room for J.R. Smith, a promising young guard who was seeing his minutes reduced by Iverson’s presence.
“Two teams had one common problem, or challenge,” Mark Warkentien, an executive in the Nuggets front office, said at the time. “I think the Pistons looked at (Rodney) Stuckey and saw him as the point guard of tomorrow, but you have an All-Star in Chauncey who was in his way. We’re just thrilled with the way J.R. is progressing and he had a Hall of Famer in front of him. You understand the motivation of both teams.”
Whatever the reasons, it was a move that would certainly pay dividends for the Nuggets. Denver would go on to win 54 games that season, tying a franchise record at the time, and enjoy unprecedented playoff success with Billups leading the way.
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A Strong Finish
Steve Fairchild arrived in Fort Collins with big shoes to fill. The new head coach at CSU was following a legend, replacing Sonny Lubick after 15 years with the Rams.
The new era didn’t get off to a good start, as Colorado State was soundly defeated by their in-state rivals, losing 38-17 to Colorado in the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown. A pair of close wins were followed by a stretch where the Rams lost five out of seven games in the middle of the season, falling to 4-6 and teetering on not being bowl eligible.
There was little reason to think things would turn around. But Fairchild was able to push the right buttons, righting the ship just in time.
CSU beat New Mexico at Hughes Stadium to stay in contention for a bowl invite, setting up an important season finale against Wyoming. And the annual Border War went the Rams way, as they traveled to Laramie and knocked off the Cowboys by a 31-20 score.
On the heels of that win, Colorado State earned an invite to the New Mexico Bowl. There, they’d face off against Fresno State on December 20.
For most of that game, it looked the Rams had regressed back to their midseason form. The Bulldogs held a 28-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But that’s when Gartrell Johnson took over.
The running back cut the lead to two with a one-yard run with 9:45 to play and then scampered 77 yards for what would become the game-winning touchdown with 1:46 left in the game. It was all part of a magical day, as Johnson set an NCAA bowl game record with 375 combined rushing and receiving yards.
As a result of the come-from-behind victory, Fairchild ended his first season in Fort Collins with a winning record, finishing 7-6 and leading the Rams to their first bowl win since 2001.
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Back to the Future
During the 2007-08 season, the Avalanche posted 95 points and returned to the postseason after a one year absence. And in the playoffs, they enjoyed some success, knocking off the Wild in six games before being swept by the Red Wings.
That step in the right direction wasn’t enough for Francois Giguere, however. After the season, Colorado’s general manager decided to part ways with head coach Joel Quenneville.
That was mistake No. 1, as Quenneville would go on to win three Stanley Cups with Chicago. The second blunder came when Giguere decided to promote from within when seeking a new head coach.
Tony Granato had been the top man in Colorado previously, having held the job from 2002-04. After the lockout, he was replaced by Quenneville, but remained on the staff as an assistant. That background convinced Giguere that the easiest transition would be to simply promote Granato back to his previous job.
It proved to be a disastrous decision, as the Avalanche would finish dead last in the Western Conference during the head coach’s only season of his second stint behind the bench. En route to a dismal record, Colorado would score a league-low 192 goals, while being shut out an NHL-high 12 times.
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A Big Signing
Darrell Scott was arguably the most sought after high school football player in the country heading into the 2008 National Signing Day. More than 40 colleges were recruiting, including most of the heavyweights, as Scott was drawing comparisons to the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson.
As decision day approached, the All-American running back from St. Bonaventure High School in California had narrowed his options to four. Colorado, Florida, LSU and Texas were the programs still in the hunt for his signature on a letter of intent.
On February 6, Scott’s decision was announced at the ESPN Zone in Anaheim. Many thought he would choose the Longhorns, but the running back shocked the crowd by selecting the Buffaloes, a program that was coming off of season in which they earned an invite to the Independence Bowl.
It was a major coup for CU, as it showed that the program was back on track. Just 14 months removed from a 2-10 season, Colorado was still able to compete with the big boys on the recruiting trail. Scott was the Buffs highest-rated recruit since landing Marcus Houston in 2000.
Unfortunately for the Buffaloes, Scott’s career in Boulder fizzled. He started as a true freshman, rushing 11 times for 54 yards and a touchdown in CU’s season opener. By season’s end, however, he’d only amassed 343 yards on just 87 carries.
After an even more disappointing sophomore campaign, Scott would transfer to the University of South Florida.
