Morton: Embracing the NBA playoffs in an NFL town
“There is, however, something very odd about how many people and pundits in Denver view the various other professional sports outlets in the city. Particularly basketball, which the town seems to have a love/hate relationship with. For a brief history lesson, keep in mind, the Nuggets are just 7 years younger than the Broncos”
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Denver is a football town.
The Denver Broncos have ruled the roost in Denver sports since roughly the mid 1960’s, when rumors of a possible sale to investors in Atlanta spurred minority owners Gerald and Alan Phipps to take controlling interest in the team. Big drives were held to raise funds to expand Bears Stadium (later, Mile High Stadium) led by Floyd Little. and by 1968 the Broncos had solidified their regional fanbase … encompassing a majority of the mountain west states. So it is entirely understandable why the Broncos remain number one in the fans hearts.
There is, however, something very odd about how many people and pundits in Denver view the various other professional sports outlets in the city. Particularly basketball, which the town seems to have a love/hate relationship with. For a brief history lesson, keep in mind, the Nuggets are just 7 years younger than the Broncos, beginning their first season in the ABA in 1967 (as the Denver Larks). So it’s not like the Nuggets are the new team on the block. In fact (outside of the brief experiment with NHL Hockey in the late 70’s and early 80’s with the Rockies) The Nuggets and the Broncos were the only professional sports teams in Denver until 1993 when the Colorado Rockies (baseball) came to town.
I have a theory (stay with me here) as to why Denver has such a hard time getting fully behind the Nuggets. Listen closely. It’s because people have a very hard time getting out of “NFL” mindset….
…What do you mean by that?, you ask.
The NFL is, and always has been, it’s own entity. It exists outside the regular sports world and always will. You can’t duplicate how well it translates to TV. You can’t duplicate the one game every seven days format (by and large). It just won’t happen. Additionally, the business of the NFL and competitive balance (aka: every team is average, but you can win with a good quarterback) formula can only work when each game is event television. Ask the National Hockey League how “competitive balance” has worked out for their ratings.
People who watch the NFL, by and large, bring that same mind-set to watching other sports without understanding the reality that each sport has their own unique appeal. The Denver Nuggets have managed to drive more interest OUTSIDE of Denver than in Denver. I really do believe it’s because of this unrealistic NFL-esque expectation that if your team is perceived to “not have a chance” they aren’t worth watching. In the NBA, we have learned to enjoy the journey with no caveat.
The NBA, regardless of your natural disposition toward the game, if you are watching it you are SEEING the players. There is no other sport where the disconnect is so small. You see their emotions. You see the reaction when they are happy, sad, frustrated, angry, excited, intense, cold-blooded and every other emotion you can think of. In the NFL you have helmets and are far away, even in stadiums. In the NHL they wear helmets. In Baseball, they are far away. In the NBA you can’t get away from how raw emotionally it gets. Perfect example was after Danilo Gallinari went down with his ACL tear on April 4th, you could see how it much of a blow it was for the Nuggets on their faces and slumped shoulders. You can’t escape that.
Why not enjoy that aspect of it? Why not enjoy the ride?
You can still expect a championship and enjoy the ups and downs of the NBA season. There are those who think the NBA deck is naturally stacked against the Nuggets due to superstar calls and league bias. There’s some validity to that, but why on earth does that stop you from enjoying a GOOD team? Why? There has been no more enjoyable SPORTS team in Denver in the last 15 years to watch than this Nuggets team. They are young, exciting, competitive, and most importantly for Denver … they are all good people. What’s not to embrace? What’s not to like?
If you are not watching the NBA or this Nuggets team based on an NFL mentality, you are seriously missing out. I finally came to the conclusion that my habit of railing against the monolithic media coverage of the Denver Broncos was shortsighted and dumb. This is a Broncos town. However, if you can manage to separate out your enjoyment for Broncos football and really start enjoying this Nuggets team for what it is … you will find yourself wonderfully entertained.
When the Nuggets make a very deep run in the playoffs this year, remember to ENJOY it. Don’t put qualifiers on it and protect yourself emotionally. Embrace the ride, because in the end you will be rewarded far more than you ever expected.
