Top 10 Colorado Sports Moments 2022

 

I haven't posted to this blog much in 2022, but I still kept track of big sports events during the year.  Enough to publish an annual list of my top 10 Colorado sports moments.  Two championships are among this year's list along with other highlights - overall thanks to hockey it was a good year!

Number 10: June 27th: Rockies 3 Dodgers 0. The Rockies Chad Kuhl had a complete game shutout surrendering three hits, at hitter friendly Coors Field no less.  Kuhl was just mediocre the rest of the season so this performance was a surprise, especially against a Dodger team that won 111 games in the 2022 regular season. The Rockies, by contrast, only won 68 games in 2022.

Number 9: February 16th: Nuggets 117 Warriors 116. Monte Morris hits a 3 pointer at the buzzer to beat Golden State on the road.  The Warriors would go on to win the NBA championship later in the year. . Watch the game winning shot here: 

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1494184927612456963?s=20&t=T_4ZUi3vhGZ6aAartQZAgg

Number 8: Sept 25th: Broncos 11 49ers 10.  Russell Wilson leads a come from behind win in the 4th quarter as the Broncos starting quarterback.  A defensive battle, Wilson struggled but then produced some big plays at the end before a national tv audience on NBC's Sunday Night Football.  In retrospect this was a quality win as the 49ers at year's end are one of the NFL's best teams.

Number 7: May/June A couple of Denver athletes honored league wide for their play: Nuggets Jokic wins second consecutive NBA MVP., and the Avs Cal Makar wins the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman.  The first defenseman in franchise history to win the award.

Number 6: Dec 3rd: Deion Sanders named new football coach of the CU Buffs.  That the 1 win 10 loss Buffs could get such a dynamic, big name coach was a big surprise and bodes well for the future of the school's football program.

Number 5: April 9th DU Hockey Pioneers win National Championship with a come from behind win against Minnesota State.  Denver scored 5 goals in the 3rd period to win 5-1, their 9th national championship!  I've been following DU hockey since Murray Armstrong was coach in the 60's - good to see the program get another title!

Number 4: May 23 Avs 6 Blues 3 Nazem Kadri scores the Avs first ever road hat trick in a game where St Louis tries to rough him up. Avs take a 3-1 series lead on the way to closing out the Blues.  A Kadri unintentional  hit on goalie Jordan Binnington had put the Blues goalie out of the series in the previous game.

Number 3: May 27 Avs 3 Blues 2.  Avs come from behind to beat the Blues and advance to the Western Conference finals.  One of the most dramatic goals in team history as veteran 4th liner Darren Helm scores the winner with less than 5 seconds left in regulation. Watch it here:  https://youtu.be/K9cPykH7cTw

Number 2: June 16th: Avs 4 Tampa 3 Stanley Cup Final Game 1 Overtime.  Avs come out fast and lead 3-1 before Tampa ties it 3-3.  Andre Burakovsky gets the winning goal 1 minute 23 seconds into OT to send the home town Denver crowd into a frenzy.  The first Stanley Cup Final game in Denver in 21 years.

Number 1: June 26th: Avs 2 Tampa 1 Avs win the Stanley Cup 4 games to 2!  The 3rd title in franchise history and first since 2001. Watch the final seconds here:

https://youtu.be/Yx9bg4Xq7Ig

photo courtesy of espn

LA Chargers/Denver Broncos Road Trip January 2022

 

I was with a group of Denver Broncos QB Club fans who attended the Broncos/Chargers game on January 2nd. While the game didn't turn out as we had hoped (a 34 to 13 loss to the Chargers) our group enjoyed the experience of seeing a game in the NFL's newest and largest stadium!

Sofi Stadium had the latest in technological advancements, including this unique wrap around video board above the field. With this setup you could sit anywhere in the stadium and have a good view of the replays on the scoreboard. There just wasn't enough replays of good Bronco plays this day!

I liked the wide concourses Sofi had. Compared to past Bronco QB Club road trips to Arizona's, Minnesota's, and Dallas' stadiums these were the widest concourses I have seen. The stadium refreshment stands were plentiful with lots of options for food and drink.

Is Sofi an indoor stadium or an outdoor stadium?? It's both! I hadn't seen this unique setup in other stadiums where the ends of the stadium had concourses open to the outside air, while the field was covered with a retractable dome. The stadium was built on the grounds of the old Hollywood horse race track. The lake you see in this picture was in the infield of the horse track - they kept the lake and built the stadium grounds around it.

The next day our QB Club group got a private tour of the stadium - just for us! Here our guide is explaining the many features of the stadium. There were short video presentations that gave us more information on the tour.

After touring different seating areas, suites, and stadium lounges as part of the tour we got to go on the field! We walked through a tunnel from the Chargers locker room to the field just like the players did on game day.

On the field different challenges were set up for us. The passing drill shown above, with field staff providing us footballs was one. There was also a field goal challenge (my kick was just under the crossbar from extra point range - I don't have the leg Brandon McManus showed on game day where he kicked his Bronco road record 61 yard field goal!)

Here I am recreating on the field the spot where Drew Lock just came up short of a 4th down touchdown. The artificial turf of Sofi was very soft and would be easy to play on. Not like the concrete like Astroturf from stadiums years ago.

A Bronco QB Club road trip also gives fans the opportunity to explore the city we visit the day before the game. Our group had free time on that Saturday. One couple of our group attended the Rose Parade and sent us this picture!

To conclude our stadium tour we visited the LA Rams locker room. We had to visit the locker of one of the greatest Broncos ever - Von Miller!

Sofi was the best stadium I have been to yet! I enjoy going on these Bronco road trips. While I didn't see the Broncos win like I had on other road trips, the chance to experience the NFL's newest stadium was worth it.