The Year in Pictures 2017: Moments & Milestones

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

It’s the phrase every athlete want’s associated with his or her name: “That’s one for the record books.”

Part of what makes sports such an enduring part of our collective psyche are those accomplishments remembered in our minds and recorded in the annals of the games.

History was made many times over in 2017. These photos capture the moments and milestones in Colorado sports that will live on well past this calendar year.

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Rockies Pat Valaika and Nolan Arenado gave a special tip of the cap to parents everywhere on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Both hit home runs on both holidays.

Becoming just the fifth Broncos player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, two-time Super Bowl champion, 1998 NFL MVP and MVP of Super Bowl XXXII Terrell Davis joined teammates Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman and John Elway in Canton’s hallowed halls.

In front of a Nuggets home crowd, OKC’s Russell Westbrook dropped 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, giving him 42 triple-doubles on the season to break Oscar Robertson’s record.

Rockies slugger Charlie Blackmon belted 14 first-round homers in the 2017 Home Run Derby, but was eliminated after getting robbed of the 30-second bonus round.

Boasting a conference-leading 21.2 points per game and adding 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the Rams, CSU’s Gian Clavell was named Mountain West Player of the Year.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado became the second player in history, and the first in the National League, to earn a Rawlings Gold Glove Award in each of his first five seasons in the majors. In 2017, Arenado posted a .979 fielding percentage, the highest of his career, and committed only nine errors on 311 attempts.

Matt Register of the Colorado Eagles was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 Kelly Cup Playoffs – the first defenseman to earn the honor in the ECHL’s 29-year history. The Eagles hoisted their first Kelly Cup championship after a 4-0 sweep of the South Carolina Stingrays in the finals.

Following nearly nine months of treatment, Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis returned to the mound after his battle with testicular cancer. And what a return it was. After surviving a near-inside the park home run from Atlanta leadoff man Ender Inciarte, Bettis tossed seven innings of shutout baseball and gave the Rockies a 3-0 win.

After posting a game-high 36 points and 11 assists in a Rising Stars Challenge victory for Team World, the Nuggets’ Jamal Murray was named the game’s MVP.

Twenty-five outs into what began as a ho-hum July 9 game at Coors Field, Rockies fans stood in unison, cheering nervously for a no hitter. A rarity in the rare air of Colorado, the near-no-no belonged to Rox rookie Kyle Freeland. Unfortunately, Melky Cabrera slapped the game’s only hit in the top of the ninth with just two outs remaining. Freeland didn’t quite get the no-hitter, but the Rockies notched a 10-0 win against the White Sox.

Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. did a little driving, then a little drinking. The champagne was well deserved, for it was the beverage of choice following Truex’s eighth win on the season. The victory sealed Colorado’s very first NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Playing in his third consecutive All-Star Game and making his first start, Nolan Arenado made Colorado Rockies history in Miami. With a pair of singles – one in the second inning and one in the fourth – Arenado became the first Rockie ever to record multiple hits in an All-Star Game.

On a night where Nuggets (and Rockets) legends were celebrated at Pepsi Center, it might have been Supermascot Rocky who stole the show. Not having been honored alongside Doug Moe, Dan Issel, David Thompson, Alex English, Dikembe Mutombo and Byron Beck, Rocky reminded the Nuggets faithful of a few of his own milestones.

Broncos linebacker Von Miller recorded two sacks against the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 22 to pass Karl Mecklenburg for second all-time on the Broncos career sacks list.

Against the Padres in late September, Rockies closer Greg Holland recorded a 1-2-3 ninth inning and his 41^st save of the season, tying the club’s record for most saves in a season. Holland began the season red hot, making 26 appearances and earning 23 saves before recording his first blown save on June 15.

The struggles of the Colorado Avalanche in 2016-17 – particularly its defense – was well documented. But goaltender Semyon Varlamov didn’t necessarily need great defense on the night of Nov. 2 of the following season. He was unbelievable against the Hurricanes that night, stopping a career-high 57 shots and leading the Avs to a 5-3 win.

Nolan Arenado’s walk-off home run on Father’s Day was both a moment we’ll never forget and a milestone for the young slugger. Arenado, who also homered on Mother’s Day, became the eighth player in Rockies history to hit for the cycle, joining teammate Carlos Gonzalez as the only two to complete the feat with a walk-off home run.