We need one parade this summer for Avs, Nuggets seasons to be successful

Let’s not be picky.

Just one parade will do the trick.

While there are exclusively Avalanche fans and strictly Nuggets diehards, there are a whole lot more Denver sports junkies who love all the teams in this town. You can put me in that category. As long as we gather downtown for at least one parade this summer, it’ll be a successful Avs / Nuggets season.

Two different sports, two different teams, two different goals. I get that. But I also remember from 2002-2021, we had a single parade. The Super Bowl 50 champion Broncos were our lone excuse to get together in February of 2016, the only championship team in a 20-year span.

That’s tough to do in a market that possesses all four major sports. The Rockies came close in 2007, their first World Series appearance. The Avalanche won it all in 2001, but needed many painful Round 2 exits to final break through again. And the Nuggets have never played for the whole enchilada, recently coming close in the COVID “bubble” in the fall of 2020.

Yes, in a perfect world Denver’s basketball team would capture the Larry O’Brien Trophy, while the Avs go back-to-back in their quest for another Stanley Cup. Two parades in a span of a few days? Now we’re talking. Sadly, the odds of that are long.

A parlay on the two teams to be left standing pays out at +7100. That means the oddsmakers give it a 71-1 chance they’re the respective champion in each sport this year. 71-1 isn’t buying a lottery ticket, but it’s not far behind.

However, I don’t think it’s greedy to ask for one. The Nuggets are 8-1 to do that, the Avalanche are 7-1. I like those chances a lot better. Give me one and I’ll be a happy camper.

Everyone’s going to have an opinion on who they’d rather see snag a trophy: Colorado’s hockey team just got a title last year, it’s time for basketball fans to have their moment in the spotlight!

There’s no doubt that will be a popular line of thinking.

And it’s fair. This city is tortured when it comes to hoops history. Some golden opportunities have been squandered over the years, for things as simple as being unable to get the ball in-bounds against the Lakers in 2009.

Unfortunately, even with the Nuggets as the No. 1 seed, it’s hard not to like the chances of the Avalanche better. They have the veteran experience, guys who know what it takes, and the head coach who’s proven he can push all the right buttons.

For as great as Nikola Jokic is, he hasn’t reached the mountaintop like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Jared Bednar just got rewarded with a huge contract extension, while Michael Malone’s got to be hearing all of the noise. In fact, Malone probably feels like Bednar did last year. He better get the job done, or else…

I’ll watch both upcoming playoff runs with equal amounts of enthusiasm, but for different reasons. The Avs are playing with house money — so fresh off a championship that another one this soon would be a luxury. And the Nuggets have all the pressure in the world, desperate to breakthrough or a coaching change could be coming. Perhaps personnel changes as well, with no one safe except for Jokic.

When one exits the postseason, it’ll be painful. If they both dip out without throwing us a party, it’ll be a major disappointment. It’s a rare and amazing time to be a Denver sports fan, with each team so good at the same moment.

Both achieving the ultimate goal would be special. The Nuggets for the first time, solidifying Jokic as one of the best centers to ever play the game. The Avalanche twice in two years, potentially starting a dynasty.

I hope there are a couple of parades this summer, I really do. But that’s probably not based in reality. So let’s have one, call it good and chase the same goals next year.

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