The Avalanche gave us the greatest Denver Sports moments since Tebow
(photo: USA Today sports)
“If we’re lucky we’ll witness a dozen or so “where were you” moments in our lifetimes as sports fans. One happened last night.”
Read More …
I remember exactly where I was when Tim Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas on an eighty-yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime against the Steelers in the 2011 AFC Wildcard game. I was at Prickly Pete’s (the sports bar not the dildo) sitting with three of my closest friends and losing my damn mind like everybody else. It was a moment like no other; impossible, stunning, incredible, amazing … unfuckinbelievable. We leaped and screamed and hugged and spilled our beer.
I watched last night’s Avalanche game alone. My wife was on the road. My daughter had been put to bed. My son had a friend for a sleepover and the both of them were playing Portal 2 in the basement. I had the nice TV and the comfortable couch all to myself. My laptop was open so that I could follow Twitter and my Schlitz was ice cold.
If we’re lucky we’ll witness a dozen or so “where were you” moments in our lifetimes as sports fans. One happened last night.
I won’t bore you with another break down of the game. If you’re reading this there’s a good chance that you were watching and if you weren’t my heart bleeds for you. Just like in that Steelers game the impossible happened at Pepsi Center last night. The Avalanche wrestled victory out of the clenched jaws of defeat via a “never say die” mentality that this city hasn’t seen since Tim Tebow.
Yes, the Broncos have been to the playoffs since Timmy left. Twice, actually. They’ve even been to the Super Bowl. But at no point in either of the past two seasons have they left us breathless.
When Patrick Roy pulled Varlamov with three minutes left Colorado collectively inhaled. When Paul Statsny tied the game with thirteen seconds left the fan base exhaled – all together at once – and lept and screamed and hugged and spilled their beer. I shouted to my son and his friend, playing quietly in the basement, “Boys, boys, come up here! You have GOT to see this!” They didn’t care.
Overtime brought the intensity that only the NHL can offer – even though everybody in “the Can” and the millions watching on TV knew that the Avalanche were not going to lose that hockey game. No way. After overcoming what they had to force the extra period they were going to get the winning goal somehow and that’s what they did. The hero who forced the free hockey wrapped up the win for the home team.
When Paul Stastny sunk his second biscuit in a span of seven-and-a-half minutes I went positively ballistic. I wasn’t the only one. From outside my house I could hear the faint celebrations of neighbors in both directions down my otherwise quiet suburban street. I can only imagine what that moment must have been like in LODO.
It’s moments like the ones the Avalanche delivered last night that make sports matter in our lives. It’s not the hours we spend watching people play games that we remember – it’s the seconds.
13.4 seconds to go. 7:27 in. Oh, those memorable seconds.
For the last several years the Denver Broncos have more than filled the competitiveness void that the Avalanche, Rockies and Nuggets have left us with. But with 18 under center they’ve been predictably good. The Broncos can’t really win; they can only lose because winning is what’s expected and when they lose it’s devastating.
While the Avalanche may be favored to beat the Wild in this first playoff series nobody could have possibly expected them to do what they did last night. They came out of nowhere to help fans forget about the Broncos. It was impossible, stunning, incredible, amazing … unfuckinbelievable.
I’ll remember right where I was when.
