A Nice Ring To It

The year before my wife and I were married, we took our first trip to Las Vegas. As we wandered through the lobby of our casino, we strolled past the Sports Book. I stood in amazement at one of the races on the board that day, where the horse at the bottom of the list stood at 100-1 odds. My wife is a massive fan of the underdog, and aside from that fact playing into her marital decisions, it also affected her sports allegiances. Once she further understood that a 20 dollar bet could bring us back a couple grand, she was ready to lay down the cash. I explained to her what a “sucker’s bet” was, and we wandered off to the rest of our day. It really was a beautiful day. Until that damned horse won that damned race. We just celebrated our 18^th anniversary and we still talk about that “2k that got away”.

That’s nothing compared to the crazy tilt that British oddsmakers gave Leicester City to win it all in the Premier League in 2016. The bookies were so certain that the Foxes couldn’t win the title that they laid 5,000-1 odds it wouldn’t happen. Couldn’t happen. When Leicester City took it all that year, those same bookies lost about 14.6 million dollars. How much is that at 5,000-1? A lowly $2,920 bet would have spun back that 14.6, and my lousy 20 would have brought back 100k. Holy guacamole. So much for my two grand that never existed. Betting a few oddsmakers went looking for new gigs on that one.

That 2k is also why I’ve placed a bet on the Denver Nuggets to win the Championship every year since. Whether they are dogs or darlings, I donate a sawbill of faith to the donation plate of Nuggets Nation every year. I’ve now lost 360 of those 2,000 dollars I never won, and I’d argue it was still worth every penny. Every year brings that spark of hope, cash, and prizes. And maybe a major award.

This year, the odds of a Nuggets title were pretty paltry, and they’ve only gotten stingier as the season has progressed. If you placed that same 20 dollar bet on the Nuggets to win it all today, you’d get a whopping 400 bucks if everything worked out.

But we Colorado faithful love to crow about our championships from a mile high, when we can. With that, it’s been five years since the Denver Broncos brought a title home, and of the rest of the big four, only the Colorado Avalanche have ever ascended to the top of their respective league. So why drop that 20 bucks a year on a team that has never won a title? Because I love to keep hoping that one of these days they just might. With the tumult that has followed each of the Mile High City’s major franchises this last decade, who currently has the best odds to win a title?

Denver Nuggets

Current Odds of winning the 2020 NBA Championship: 20-1

As of this writing, the Denver Nuggets have the seventh-best odds of any NBA team to bring home a ring. While the six favored ahead of them are each pretty mighty in their own right, these Nuggets are built to stay this course for several more seasons, should they choose. The possibilities of a ring this season? Decent-to-slightly-below-middling. The odds of them landing one in the next five seasons? Better than you might think.

Denver Broncos

Current Odds of winning the 2021 Super Bowl: approx. 90-1

The crown jewel of Denver’s sports crown has been a little tarnished these last few years, but there was certainly a little sparkle by season’s end. That said, there’s a lot of things that would have to turn up just right for the fun-but-faulted Broncos to bring a title home next season. Most of the boys in Vegas have not laid odds just yet on the next NFL season, and the pigskin prognosticators may say their chances going into next year are actually far better than this guess. Coming into this season after a 6-10 campaign in 2018, their given odds were 100-1 from Vegas to start the year. So 7-9 with a hot sophomore quarterback made 90-1 seem about right.

Colorado Avalanche

Current odds of winning the 2020 Stanley Cup: 12-1

The real darling of the pack may be across the hall at the Pepsi Center, keeping their next title on ice. The Avs have the fourth-best odds in the NHL to win the Stanley Cup, though they are one of five teams currently estimated at 12-1. Colorado certainly has all the right pieces in place for a run at the title, as they simply need to get hot over the right timeframe, having beaten many of the league’s elite this season. Like their hoops cousins, they’re built for the long haul, and may see even better odds over the next few seasons. Maybe the Avs and Nuggets could even schedule back-to-back parades one of these years soon.

Colorado Rockies

Current odds of winning the 2020 World Series: 80-1

After heading into last season at 30-1 odds for the title, the Rockies have fallen precipitously in the eyes of the guys in the know. That said, the Sports Books had similarly low expectations the year Colorado did make it to the World Series. A weak offering, I know. But if the Rockies can find more of their 2018 selves than their 2019 selves, who knows? Maybe another Rocktober is in play.

Does adding a sixth Championship to Denver’s trophy case give them more credibility? Not likely, with cities like New York (50+ Championships across all four sports and multiple teams in each), Boston (30+ Championships across all four sports), Chicago, Los Angeles, and more crowding that top tier. But the bling of a ring could certainly bring a little joy and swagger to a couple of long-suffering fan bases. Will Denver see a Championship in 2020-2021? It’s truly tough to say. But in the next five years? I’d sure take that bet.