Competing for wins, attention, and dollars

“Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money, and I’ll tell you what they are.”

– James W. Frick

Mr. Frick knew a lot about how people spent their money. After serving honorably in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he enrolled at Notre Dame as a 23-year old freshman. To make ends meet, he took a part-time gig at the “Notre Dame Foundation”, which basically amounted to the Alumni donation department. After graduating, he accepted a full-time post there, eventually becoming the department VP, and one of the most effective college fundraisers in the nation. As most any non-profit or Alumni fundraiser knows, it is hard to get people to open their wallets for such matters, and knowing where someone’s heart lays, and inspiring their magnanimity is a huge factor in whether you get a “yes” or a “no”.

When it comes to sports fans in Colorado, their wallets are somewhat similarly attuned, though some leashes are longer than others.

As the hometown favorites, the Denver Broncos usually see the greatest stability in income when they find themselves with a less-than-exciting product for the Colorado faithful. Their ticket wait list is longer, their list of accomplishments greater, and their core base more rabid and broad than any of the other major teams in town. But even the hallowed Broncos are not perfectly immune, and several season out of the playoffs seems to be trying the faith of the faithful. The Broncos are currently 3-4, with another below-500 season starting to look more and more probable. A Colorado sports fan looking for entertainment has to spend his dollars where things are a little more competitive, no?

That’s where things get challenging.

The Colorado Rockies aren’t playing at the moment anyway, but they weren’t exactly lighting the world on fire this last season (74-87), or for several seasons prior. Four seasons ago, they were swept out of their first round playoff series, and the season prior, they lost the Wild Card game. It was seven seasons before that they last saw the playoffs, and another two since they saw their only World Series. In fact, the 2007 Rocktober Rockies are the only Colorado baseball squad to even make it past the divisional round. The folks currently opening their wallets to the Monforts are either baseball diehards or just looking for a nice summer day at one of the prettiest parks in the majors.

The season is still young for the Colorado Avalanche, but their 3-4 start to the year has definitely left their fans scratching their heads out of the gates. Even more disconcerting is that the reasons for their spotty play had been inconsistent. While a few of the stalwarts are consistently playing lights out, too many of the supporting cast are hit-and-miss in game-over-game play, giving coach Jared Bednar a slippery slope to climb every time they take the ice. Will the team find a rhythm in the early going this year? The Avs front office and fans both have to hope so, as the perennial Stanley Cup faves keep falling short in the postseason. If the team can’t start showing themselves as another contender, will GM Joe Sakic make moves early to keep the interest of a fanbase that is getting ever more circumspect? Time and play will tell.

If the Denver Nuggets lose their Friday night game this weekend, all four major Denver teams will find themselves below .500 for the first time in recent memory. After a 2-0 start to their year against Phoenix and San Antonio, they dropped contests against Cleveland and Utah, losing MVP Nikola Jokic for the better part of the second half in the last contest. While the Nuggets season is even younger than the Avalanche, they need to find their way quickly to get themselves far enough into the season to see the return of spark plug Jamal Murray. With a bench squad that is struggling to score and defend, and current second banana Michael Porter, Jr. struggling out of the gates, Denver needs to find a stable spot besides their sweet Serbian center, or they’ll find themselves amongst the flotsam and jetsam of an ever-competitive Western Conference.

Where to spend those sports dollars, Denver denizens? Each of the big four Colorado sports teams has certainly sputtered of late. If you need to check them all out to better make your choices, you could always drop by the DNVR bar to grab some grub, a beer, and talk with other Denver sports fans about who is getting them excited these days. Most everyone’s money is tight, and we’ll see which Denver squad catches the city’s fancy as we go.