Photo Finishes and Rings and Things - Avs and Nuggets

Today would have been my Pop’s 84th birthday, and though we watched a lot of sports together, we had a few we each liked we would tease each other about. He loved NASCAR. I called it driving around in circles. But now that he’s gone, I have made the occasional habit of doing his things, like drinking half-decent blended whiskey, listening to Waylon and Willie, and damnit, watching cars drive around in circles. There was a NASCAR race in Atlanta last month in which driver Daniel Suarez beat a couple of former Cup Series champions after a finish in which the photo in photo finish was insanely necessary. Suarez beat Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney by three.

Three what?

Three one-thousandths of a second. Impossible to see with the naked eye. It was thrilling enough, I might have hollered a little about a sport I theoretically care nothing about. Thanks for that, Pop. There is little in sports more thrilling than a close finish. Ask the Avs after this one…

There looks to be a couple of near-photo-finishes around Ball Arena these next few weeks as the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets wrap up their regular seasons and hit the playoffs in the next month. The standings for both KSE-owned teams don’t look so different from that NASCAR photo finish a month ago.

For the Avalanche, a 9-1 streak in their last 10 games has vaulted them into a three-way tie for the Central Division lead, with game in hand over the Stars, and with the same record as the Jets. The lead for the entire Western Division is only a point away, and the President’s Trophy still isn’t wholly out of reach with 13 games still left to play, and the Avs only 4 points out. With the infusion of players Colorado brought in this last month at the deadline, there’s high hopes for Colorado’s Stanley Cup chances, locally and nationally. With their transcendent talent streaking at the right time, the moment is ripe for the Avalanche to have both an MVP and a title.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets are following a wildly similar pattern, coming out of the All-Star break winning 13 of their last 15 to trade places at the top of the conference back and forth with the Thunder and Timberwolves in the Conference (and Division… How fucking tough is the Northwest this year?). Amazingly, the Nuggets are only a couple lucky shots away from 15-0 over this timeframe. While Denver is currently tied for first with Oklahoma City and a couple games ahead of Minny after a tough win against them on Tuesday, Denver could very well win their Conference this season, but it looks like a seesaw battle over these last dozen games. With their transcendent talent streaking at the right time, the moment is ripe for the Nuggets to have both an MVP and a title.

Similar last sentences there are inspiring some pretty dreamy stuff amongst Colorado sports faithful, with cities who could claim a pair of MVPs in the same year a rarity in the sports multiverse, similar to the rarity of a pair of championships visiting a town as well. While our collective eyes roll back in our heads at the sheer audacity of such a needle being threaded, Denver’s 82-game sports teams have a real chance to make something special of these regular seasons. While they’re doing it, they’re in the midst of some insanely entertaining races. Keep an eye on what looks like some photo finishes.