A Steeper Step

Online A/B testing is a Sisyphean task, by definition. No matter how big the win that comes your way, you start the next day back at your new Ground Zero. “What have you done for me lately?” applies every single morning, and all you can do to keep the gig is go find another win before people get tired of you losing. On the upside, the hill you climb stays pretty consistent.

Now, if you’re in the Playoffs, the hill looks a little different…

The Colorado Avalanche hit that sharp curve pretty solidly two weekends ago, quickly falling behind 0-2 to the Dallas Stars. The ease with which the Avs had dispatched the Arizona Coyotes in Round 1 gave Colorado a confidence that things might be coming more easily this postseason. The Stars leapt on that opportunity, flustering the Avalanche through their first two games, and nearly knocking them from Stanley Cup contention.

While Colorado has righted that ship enough to be playing in a win-or-go-home Game 7 tonight, they’ve had to scrap with all they’ve got to get out the 0-2 and 1-3 holes they placed themselves in in this series.

Fortunately, the Avs stiffened up on defense, and started finding the back of the net in games 3, 5, and 6. But getting here was a massive effort. Should the Avalanche prevail in tonight’s contest, they’ll have had to burn up a ton of energy to move on to the Conference Finals. At least they’ll have the good fortune of facing a team coming off their own seven-game series, and somehwhat equally tired. But the level of competition will only be steeper and more precarious, if and when that climb should continue. Eventually you end up on top, or you hit a wall.

Speaking of hitting a wall…

The scrappy Denver Nuggets ran into the new-model woodchipper that is the Los Angeles Clippers, a very similar result to their last regular season meeting.

When the Nuggets last saw the Clippers, the battle for the two seed was as stake, with the Nuggets a half-game ahead of the Clippers. The 132-103 dismantling the Clips provided in L.A. was even more dramatic than the outcome of Thursday night’s Game One whupping. The Clippers kept that seed through the remainder of the season and bubble. The narrow margin of error the Nuggets were able to navigate in seven games against the Utah Jazz was gone against Los Angeles. After a tied first quarter, Denver was simply a speck in L.A.’s rearview mirror.

It’s hard to believe that Denver will face quite the same comedy of errors in Game 2, with poor shooting coming from nearly every corner of the team in Game 1, and exhaustion plain to see for many of their key guys. While they may not be any better rested by Saturday’s Game 2, there’s good reason to believe they can make these much closer contests upcoming, with a few adjustments, and a return to their scoring norms.

Sadly, they’ll need to make up a huge gap to simply attain that level of possibility, as the Clippers have outscored them by 56 in the last two games combined. Whether the Nuggets are simply outmanned, or just didn’t like the physicality that the Clippers brought to the meetings is still up for debate. Like the Avalanche, the Nuggets will have to come back out swinging to turn this thing around.

The mountain only gets steeper from here, Colorado sports fans. This is the part of the climb that proves where you are in that pecking order. What’s exposed along the way is the stuff of nightmares for fans, and sleepless nights for front offices. But even when it’s as ugly as running face first into that wall, it’s the only way to see your faults, and try to take at least one more steep step on the next trip through. Sisyphus…pass me that rock.