Jock Itch A nugget of hope

Turn out the lights. The party’s over. I knew the Nuggets were on their way out of the championship running by halftime of their game six against the Los Angeles Lakers last Friday night. I texted a friend with the simple message, “This is already over” as the teams headed for the locker room between the second and third quarters. And indeed it was: The Lakers went on to win 119-92 in a fairly lopsided affair while I went on to a somewhat calm acceptance that the Nuggets season had officially come to an end.

My first draft of this week’s Jock Itch was a celebratory victory lap in honor of the Denver Nuggets improbable trip to the NBA Finals (which starts this Thursday in L.A.). I was all set to showcase the incredible run that lead the Nuggets to its first appearance on basketball’s greatest stage. But, as the gloomy pall cast over the city since Friday night would indicate, that was not to be. The Nuggets finally bowed out to the L.A. Lakers in a hard-fought series that was predictable as it was controversial.

I called it two weeks ago: The Nuggets would never beat the Lakers due to the critical need for the NBA to have Kobe Bryant and his Lakers face LeBron James and his Cavaliers in the finals. Hilariously enough, the seemingly sure lock the Cavs had on the finals was upended by a feisty Orlando team that put a huge dent in NBA Commissioner David Stern’s plans by beating the Cavaliers in six games. What to do with all those Kobe-LeBron puppet commercials now?

Critics accuse Stern, who saw his ultimate finals match-up dissipating in front of him, of making damn sure there was at least one bankable superstar in the finals by burying the Nuggets under a mountain of baffling fouls and non-calls. Sure, the Nuggets didn’t do themselves any favors: Inconsistent shooting and a terrible percentage from the free-throw line were conveniently lost in the ensuing outcry over the officiating. But it certainly didn’t help when monumentally bad calls were being made in favor of the Lakers.

But the Nuggets should be commended for their deep run into the playoffs. Getting out of the first round was the goal this year, and the team exceeded that expectation by 5,280 feet. And let’s not forget the good will this Nuggets run fostered. When everything else seemed bleak on the Colorado sports front (Avs suck, Rockies suck worse, and the Broncos in turmoil), the Nuggets provided excitement and wild hope long after the team was expected to have hung it up for the year. Did you know Clint Hurdle was fired from his position as manager of the Colorado Rockies? Because of the Nuggets, the bitter pill known as the Rockies 2009 season just went down with a little less aftertaste. If we can carry that over into the Broncos season, we’ll all sleep easier.

Thanks, then, to the Nuggets for making things go a little smoother in this sports crazed town for the past month and a half. The party may be over, and our collective hangover brutal, but it was a hell of a party.