The Year in Pictures 2017: Defeat

This story originally appeared in Mile High Sports Magazine. Read the full digital edition.

For every champion that is crowned, there is someone who comes up just short. For every winner that walks off the field of play, there is another who will use defeat as motivation.

The Colorado sports scene had many moments of triumph in 2017, but it was also met with its fair share of disappointment. These photos capture the losses that will linger and inspire improvement for the future.

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In an admirable early season effort against SEC powerhouse Alabama, the CSU Rams ultimately fell to the Tide 41-23 in Tuscaloosa.

The bar is always set high for the Denver Outlaws, a team that has advanced to the MLL Championship seven times in its 12-year existence. This August, the Outlaws once again advanced to final. Unfortunately, Denver fell to the Ohio Machine 17-12 in the championship game, coming up just short of their third Steinfeld Cup.

The 2016-17 Colorado Avalanche were bad – colossally bad. In fact, they mustered only 48 points and became the worst team in the NHL’s shootout era.

Giants defensive tackle Damian Harrison added a little injury to insult as Trevor Siemian unloaded one of his 21 incompletions in their Week 6 matchup. Until facing the Broncos, the Giants had yet to win a game. That defeat in Denver spurred a Broncos losing streak unmatched since 1967.

Arizona backup quarterback Khalil Tate spoiled a fine evening at Folsom Field by pasting 327 rushing yards and three touchdowns on a weary Buffs defense.

Things were looking up for Tim Howard and the USMNT in June, as the good guys beat Trinidad and Tobago in front of a sellout crowd at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The outcome was not as favorable when the team visited T&T in October. A loss there knocked the United States out of World Cup qualification, an omission that hasn’t happened since 1986.

For as good as Rockies ace Jon Gray was in his injury-shortened season, he was wildly ineffective in the NL Wild Card Game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Gray went just 1.1 innings, giving up seven hits, one home run and four earned runs in the start. The Rockies battled back, but eventually lost 11-8.

Entering their third Final Four in four seasons, the DU men’s lacrosse team had high hopes of winning a second national championship. Maryland had other ideas, though, as the Terps narrowly won a 9-8 thriller that sent the fifth-seeded Pios packing.

It’s tough to say when exactly the frustrations of a historically bad season finally boil over, but when a top-line center finally drops his gloves to throw down, that might very well be the moment. Such was the case when Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog decided to knock around Ottawa’s Ryan Dzingel. The fisticuffs didn’t ultimately work, as the Avs fell 4-2 anyway.

Unable to discover an effective co-existence for their two big men, the Nuggets opted to trade once-ballyhooed Jusuf Nurkic, who went to the playoffs with Portland while Denver did not.

Just one season removed from advancing to the MLS semifinals, the Colorado Rapids removed head coach Pablo Mastroeni amidst a season that saw the club finish second-to-last in the Western Conference and go winless from July 4 through Sept. 2.

Chargers wide receiver Travis Benjamin certainly did his part to spoil the Broncos’ trip to Los Angeles in late October. Benjamin first scored on a 65-yard punt return, and then capped his performance with a 42-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Amazingly, his first score would have done the trick, as Denver was shut out for the first time since 1992.

Fan favorite Carlos Gonzalez struggled mightily throughout the summer, but played his best late in the season; it wasn’t enough to advance in the playoffs, however.

Trevor Siemian went from starter to backup to inactive in a span of just three weeks, a ride indicative of the mess the Broncos had at Denver’s most-scrutinized job.