Top 150 Sports Moments

April 11, 1885. In the first intercollegiate football game played west of the Mississippi River, Colorado College defeated the University of Denver Ministers, 12-0.  Newspaper accounts early on never listed any stats or even most of the scoring plays, opting to mostly write about who played in the game and who was the most stout. Both institutions had been around for a while, DU since 1864 and CC since 1874, as the first intercollegiate football game taking place in 1869 (Rutgers 6, Princeton 4).  The game methodically spread west.

April 12, 1965.  Bob Martin hosted the first sports talk show in the state (and possibly the nation), when on this April Friday, he hosted “Sports Line” and interviewed Bronco head coach Mac Speedie and took calls from the public.  It aired for one hour (6-7 p.m.) on KTLN-Radio (1280 am).  Speedie was named interim head coach the previous October when Jack Faulkner was fired, with the interim tag removed with an announcement on December 12.

August 26, 1974. The first championship by any Denver professional team (other than minor league baseball) was claimed by the Denver Racquets as they won the inaugural World Team Tennis league title.  The Racquets defeated the top-seeded Philadelphia Freedoms, two games to zero in the best-of-three finals.  Denver had won the Pacific Section with a 30-14 record and defeated the San Francisco Golden Gators and the Minnesota Buckskins to get to the finals.  The teams were comprised of half men and half women; Philadelphia was led by Billie Jean King, the league MVP; Australian Tony Roche was Denver’s player-coach, and the team also had the playoffs MVP in Andrew Pattison.

September 13, 2000.  In high school boys’ tennis, Wheat Ridge defeated Cherry Creek, 5-2, ending the Bruins’ remarkable dual-match winning streak at 316, the longest in the nation.  In 1991, it was Wheat Ridge that ended Cherry Creek’s run of 19 straight national record state championships. The streak, which began in 1972 – Richard Nixon’s first term as president, was and remains the second-longest of any sport in the country, behind only the Brandon, Fla., wrestling team that won 459 consecutive dual meets from 1973 into 2008.

July 14, 1979.  It was only an exhibition, as former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali fought an eight-round match against Denver Bronco defensive lineman Lyle Alzado.  Around 20,000 fans attended the event at Mile High Stadium, which wasn’t officially scored but went all eight rounds; most if not all thought Ali won easily. About 600 miles to the East that same night, Jamie Easterly of the Denver Bears pitched a perfect game in the Bears’ 10-0 win over the Iowa Oaks in Des Moines. That was the last of seven no-hitters in Denver’s minor league history that spanned over 100 years.

June 2, 1987.  The Denver Zephyrs’ Joey Meyer hit what many have documented as the second-longest home run in all of baseball history – 582 feet – in the Zephyrs’ 14-7 win over the Buffalo Bisons.  Meyer’s shot landed in the upper deck in left field of Mile High Stadium’s massive east stands.  Meyer hit three homers that night, driving in seven runs; the longer blast came on a 2-2 pitch from Mike Murphy in the bottom of the seventh inning.  On September 10, 1960 in Detroit, Mickey Mantle hit a homer estimated at 643 feet that coined the phrase, “tape-measure home run” in the Yankee’s 5-1 win over the Tigers, universally considered the longest home run ever hit.

September 4, 2004.  At 12:30 p.m. MDT, the Altitude Sports & Entertainment Network went on the air, property of Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE).  Over $10 million was spent on building a studio, installing production equipment, hiring personnel and marketing the channel.  The first program?  A 30-minute special on the making of the network; there were 850,000 to one million subscribers at its launch.  The first game was supposed to be the Colorado Avalanche’s season opener at home (on Oct. 1), against San Jose, but the NHL lockout on Sept. 16 cancelled the season.

January 5, 1982.  Colorado State senior guard Kathy Lightfoot scored 45 points in a 118-54 win over Southern Colorado in Fort Collins, to date the most points in a single game by a Division I player in the state.  Lightfoot made 21 field goals and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line.  The state’s collegiate best for women encompassing all divisions is a 51-point effort by the late Carroll Lillie of Southern Colorado (now CSU Pueblo), in an 82-80 overtime loss to St. Mary’s of the Plains on December 3, 1979.

August 5, 1967.  The Denver Broncos become the first AFL team to defeat an NFL team, downing the Detroit Lions, 13-10, at DU Stadium in what some called, “The Little Super Bowl.”  The Lions’ Alex Karras stated prior to the game that there was no way Denver would win, and if it did, he’d walk back to Detroit.  Did he?  Of course not.  And two weeks later, the Broncos bested Minnesota, 14-3, also at DU Stadium.   It was the first year the two leagues started playing in the preseason ahead of the 1970 AFL-NFL merger; of the 15 preseason games that first year, the AFL won three – two by the Broncos.

July 3, 1982.  Denver entered the national record books again, as the Bears’ annual Fireworks Night drew a minor-league record 65,666 fans – as announced at the time.  The Denver fire marshal told team officials the crowd had to be capped at that number, but in actuality, the true attendance was 73,155 as confirmed years later by business manager Bobby Burris (not to mention by looking at an aerial photo of the Mile High Stadium from that night – in no way were there 10,000 empty seats).  Omaha spoiled things with a 7-4 win in a strange game, outhitting the Bears 17-5, with the contest scoreless through five and then each team scoring in their remaining four frames.  In fact, Omaha’s Bill Kelly had a no-hitter entering the sixth and had it broken up with a triple by Denver native and Abraham Lincoln High School grad Nick Capra.

On November 1, 1946. Arapahoe Basin is the first ski area after World War II to begin operations in the state; it bordered the Continental Divide with a summit elevation of 13,050 feet, one of highest ski resorts in the world. The original cost was estimated at $150,000, which included two lifts, a rope tow and trails; lift tickets for the ’46-47 ski season were just $1.25. A year later, it added its first chair lift and attendance soared to over 12,000 (70,000 by the ’61-62 season).

May 10, 1967. In perhaps the greatest single game in state collegiate baseball history, Air Force senior outfielder John McBroom had a career in the Falcons’ 38-7 win over Colorado College. He set what still stand as NCAA records as he batted 1.000 – going 9-for-9, the most hits in a single game and highest 1.000 average that a player did not make an out. He scored six runs and had 12 runs batted in and 19 total bases (the latter two still AFA marks). He almost hit for the cycle twice – he hit two home runs, with one triple, three doubles and four singles. He would go on to become a flight instructor among several accomplishments in retiring as a Major General.

February 14-15, 1912. The Winter Sports Club of Hot Sulphur Springs hosted the state’s first Winter Sports Carnival that drew 8,000 spectators, with competitors included. The competitions included sledding, skating, cross country skiing and jumping. Norwegian transplant Carl Howelsen, who moved to the state a year earlier, was the star, winning the jumping event with a 79-foot leap. Hot Sulphur Springs is halfway between Kremmling and Granby; so it does beg the question: in 1912, how did 8,000 people get there and where did they stay?

February 8, 1994. Though Denver lost the game to Utah, Nuggets’ forward Rodney Rogers accomplished a feat unmatched prior … or since. He scored nine points in as many seconds on three 3-point field goals. He made the first from the top of the key with 29.4 seconds to play; Robert Pack stole the ball and fed it to him, and Rogers drilled the second from the same spot with 24.9 seconds on the clock. He then stole the in-bounds pass himself and strutted to the three-point line on the right baseline and sank his third three-pointer with 20.9 seconds to go – the crowd at McNichols Sports Arena went bananas. But Jeff Malone made the game-winner for the Jazz with 12 seconds left for a 96-95 win. Rogers suffered a paralyzing accident in 2008 and passed away this past November at the age of 54.

June 16, 1996 (Father’s Day). Steve Jones is the second Colorado high school alum (Yuma) and second Colorado Buffalo to win the U.S. Open, as he turned in a 2-under par performance (74-66-69-69—278) at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, defeating Tom Lehman and Davis Love III by one stroke. The three battled it out over the back nine, and all were tied at 2-under down the stretch, Love on the 18 green and Jones and Lehman on the 18th tee. Love three-putted, Lehman hit a bad drive and would bogey. Jones hit his approach to 12-feet and two-putted for the win. The win wasn’t a fluke—only 51 subpar rounds were recorded over the four days, and Jones was the only player with three. In the process, he became the first sectional qualifier to win the U.S. Open in 20 years and just the second Coloradan who attended high school and college in the state to win a U.S. Open, the other of course being Hale Irwin.

On July 13, 1984.  The second “Denver Dream” old-timers baseball game took place before 38,899 at Mile High Stadium with the highlight being vice president George H.W. Bush not only in attendance, but playing in the game.  Donning a Denver Bear uniform, he went 1-for-2 from the plate; he first faced Warren Spahn, popping up to second baseman Milt Pappas (who intentionally dropped the ball) before singling to center of Pappas his next time up.  He also playing a couple of innings at first base where he robbed Tony Oliva of a single – guarded by members of the Secret Service.  The 60-year-old Bush was in town for the state’s GOP convention that weekend.  On hand to sign autographs among many Hall-of-Famers included Joe DiMaggio and Billy Martin.

April 15, 1970. Spencer Haywood scored an ABA record 59 points in the regular season finale, leading the Denver Rockets to a 152-116 win over the Los Angeles Stars in Denver.  He also grabbed 25 rebounds (and had three assists); the record would stand for two years.  The 152 points matched Denver’s most in an ABA game at that point, first done just a week before (April 8) against the Dallas Chaparrals in a 152-113 home win.  Denver would top the 152 points three times in future ABA play, 156 and 153 in overtime games and in a 155-128 regulation win over Virginia in the league’s last season when all 10 players scored in double figures.

March 15, 1999.  Playing in her final home (a second round NCAA tournament game), Colorado State senior Becky Hammon scored 30 points to lead the Rams to an 86-70 win over Southwest Missouri State to advance to the Sweet 16.  Hammon was 6-of-12 from the field and 16-of-17 from the line and had eight assists.  CSU finished 33-3 on the season after dropping the next game to UCLA.  She scored 21 points in the 77-68 loss to the Bruins, finishing as the state’s all-time leading scorer by a woman’s collegian (2,740 points).

August 10-12, 1916.  The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is run for the first time.  Originally intended to stimulate tourism in the Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak region, it drew tremendous crowds from the start. Initially called the Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb, Rea Lentz in a Romano Special won the inaugural race that covered the 12.42 miles in 20 minutes and 55.6 seconds, with Floyd Clymer winning the motorcycle class in a time of 21:58.41.   Through the years, the legendary Unser family (Louis, Bobby, Al, Robby and Al Jr.) won a combined 25 titles racing the course, which covers a 4,725-foot increase in elevation – starting at 9,390 feet to a summit of 14,115 – with 156 turns in-between.

January 8, 2012.  The heavily favored Pittsburgh Steelers battled back from a 20-6 deficit to force overtime with the Denver Broncos after tying the game at 23-all in this AFC wild card contest.  Denver got the ball first at its own 20 to start the extra session, which would last all of 11 seconds.  Tim Tebow threw play-action pass to Demaryius Thomas who caught the ball at the Denver 38 and then outdistanced Steeler defenders to the end zone for an 80-yard score, a 29-23 Bronco win that culminated in the quickest ending to an overtime in NFL history.  The previous quickest involved a former Colorado Buffalo: on Thanksgiving Day 1980, David Williams returned the overtime kickoff 95 yards to give Chicago a 23-17 win at Detroit – 16 seconds into the extra session.

January 29, 1906.  The National Western Stock Show was born out of a few various stock fairs and exhibits, originally called the Western Live Stock Show, and was held in the stock yards in North Denver.  Three local businessmen were credited for organizing the initial gathering of no less than six associations: Elias Ammons and George Ballantine of the Denver Union Stock Yard Company, and Fred P. Johnson (publisher of the Record-Stockman).  When all was said and done, 351 cattle, sheep and hogs were shown over the six-day event.  One of the actual early precursors to the National Western was on June 30, 1874 — The Denver Blood Stock Association’s Blood Stock Fair opened, five days of showing thoroughbred cattle divided into five groupings of purebred cattle: Shorthorns, Herefords, Devons, Jerseys & Ayrshires and Galloways (a purse offered $15,000 in prizes).

August 1, 1934. The 19th Annual Denver Post Baseball Tournament, in what became known as the “Little World Series of the West,” was integrated for the first time. Post sports editor Poss Parsons wanted the tournament to feature the most competitive teams, thus he invited Negro League players to participate for the first time, starting with the Kansas City Monarchs (the Negro League champions) and the Denver White Elephants. The White Elephants featured the only Colorado-born player in the Negro League, Theodore “Bubbles” Anderson, a 2025 CSHOF inductee. The tournament started in 1915 and attracted the top semi-pro teams in the sport until it was discontinued in the mid-1940s

May 22, 1914, University of Colorado freshman pitcher Bob McGraw – a future major leaguer – struck out what remains a state collegiate record 20 batters in the Silver & Gold’s 7-1 win versus Colorado College in Boulder. In throwing a 2-hitter, McGraw also went 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run. It was the second-most strikeouts at the time in all of college baseball and the win also clinched the RMAC title for CU. In 1917, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and became the state’s first player to reach the major leagues. (By the way, CU batters struck out 13 times, for 33 total whiffs in the game.)

KDKA-Radio in Pittsburgh was the first to broadcast sporting events on radio in 1921, beginning with a prize fight and then expanding into team sports. The “first” sports broadcast in Colorado was on an experimental station owned by H.H. Buckwalter and located at 713 Lincoln Street. While not a true complete broadcast in the sense, on February 10, 1922, constant live updates were provided for CU’s 32-20 win in basketball at DU. On April 15, 1926, the first full game involving a team from the state is broadcast, as 5,000-watt KOA-Radio, which began broadcasting in 1924, then located at 830 am on the dial, picked up the Denver Bears’ season opener at St. Joseph (Denver lost, 6-2.) The first full game originated locally was on November 25, 1926, once again on KOA, which selected the annual CU-DU Thanksgiving Day clash at DU Stadium. The station remained off-the-air from the previous night until the 2 p.m. kickoff – Denver won the game, 20-9.

November 28, 1889. The first game in one of the longest rivalries in college football was played in Colorado Springs, with Colorado Mines defeating Colorado College in a Thanksgiving Day battle, 14-6. The two would meet 89 times through 1990, with Mines winning the last 11 to lead the series 46-38-5 before it was discontinued.

August 25, 1920.  The state’s first Olympian, Denver native and Longmont High School graduate Eddie Eagan, won the gold medal in the light-heavyweight competition in the ’20 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.  Twelve years later, he made Olympic history that still hasn’t been matched: he became the first and only athlete to win gold medals in the Summer and Winter Olympics – on February 15, 1932, he was on the U.S. team won the gold in the four-man bobsled at Lake Placid,

June 11, 1955.  In its third appearance in the College World Series, the University of Northern Colorado recorded the first win by a state college in the event, upsetting top-ranked Southern California, 2-1.  Wayne Coates doubled home George Sage in the fourth inning giving the Bears a 2-0 lead; Sage pitched a complete game and allowed only six hits, striking out three.  UNC would then be eliminated by Wake Forest and Arizona.  Northern Colorado has the most appearances of any state school in the College World Series, as the Bears have won 10 District VII and/or Regional titles to advance into the Series, the last time in 1974; the Bears are 3-20 in CWS games.

May 3, 1972.  The Denver Spurs, regular season champions of the Western Hockey League, went on to win the Lester Patrick Cup by defeating the Portland Buckaroos, 6-0, and win the championship series in five games.  Denver had swept the San Diego Gulls, four games to none in the semifinals.  Frank Huck, the league MVP, scored nine goals with four assists in the playoffs; rookie defensemen Glen Patrick was the first presented with the Patrick Cup postgame, as it was named after his famous grandfather.  It was the city’s first professional hockey title, some 24 years before the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.

November 30, 1985.  In what many consider to be one of the greatest upsets ever in Colorado high school football, Lakewood, with all of 27 players on its roster, manhandled heavily favored Cherry Creek, 47-8, in the 4A championship game. It wasn’t a fluke; Lakewood finished 13-1 with the Tigers’ average margin of victory being 22 points.  On a frigid day at CU’s Folsom Field, Lakewood zoomed to a 31-0 halftime lead and never looked back; the Tigers outgained the Bruins, 401-194 in total offense in what is still one of – if not the – most-lopsided title games in state prep history.

December 8, 1996.  The Colorado Xplosion’s Debbie Black became the first woman and only the fifth professional ever to record a quadruple-double, with 10 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists and 10 steals in a 91-75 home win over the Atlanta Glory. It has occurred only four times officially in the NBA, all before Black’s – by Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson.  Though quite likely Wilt Chamberlain did it before blocked shots were tracked.  Black’s is the last quadruple-double in pro ball; collegiately, Grambling’s Shakyla Hill had two, one each in 2018 and 2019.

February 17, 2001.  In what many called the biggest prep wrestling upset in state history, Wasson’s Brett Roller defeated Pomona’s Tom Clum, 13-12 in the Colorado 5A 125-pound state wrestling championship before over 17,000 in attendance at Pepsi Center.  At the time, Clum was an undefeated, three-time state champion with a 148-0 career record and was seeking to become the first-ever four-time state champion in Colorado history.  Roller earned five points in the final seconds (two for a take down, three for back points) to win the match; he finished the season with a 39-1 mark.

The 1911 Denver Grizzlies of the class-A Western League were voted one of the top 100 minor league teams of all-time in 2001 (No. 22 on the list); the team finished with a 111-54-3 record.  Games were much quicker (no radio or television, or lights); Denver won a game 6-0 at Topeka that was played in 1 hour and 15 minutes; it had a 13-inning game played in 2:10.  Games were called because of darkness or if one or both of the teams needed to catch a train to their next location.  A pitcher on that team was named Ed Kinsella – no idea if his name was utilized in 1989’s Field of Dreams (Kevin Costner played Ray Kinsella, who had a dysfunctional relationship with his major league father, John).

On November 30, 1899, the first meeting in the series that would eventually be named the “Border War,” as Colorado Agricultural College (Colorado State) and the University of Wyoming met for the first time.  It was the first game CSU ever played outside of the state, and it won 12-0 by forfeit after a controversial ending with the officials, which were provided by both schools.  They have played 117 times, with CSU leading 60-52 with five ties.  The two will be in different conferences for the first time in over a century beginning this fall, but the schools have agreed to keep the series alive – it’s the opener for both on September 5 in Fort Collins.

Until Gerald H. and Allan R. Phipps purchased undisputed control of the Denver Broncos for $1.5 million on February 14, 1965 — to increase their ownership of the team to 94 percent by gaining 52 percent with the immediate cash payment — the voting trust headed by spokesman and team president Calvin Kunz were seriously flirting with selling the team to the Atlanta-based Cox Broadcasting Company.  Kunz and the trust had an offer of slightly $4 million from them to purchase all of the stock until the Phipps brothers and their firm, Empire Sports Inc., took full control of the franchise and saving pro football in Denver (they purchased the Denver Bears the same day).

October 6, 1990. Not exactly the greatest moment, but certainly a memorable one since it has occurred three times in history: CU’s 33-31 win at Missouri made major headlines.  Trailing 31-27, the Buffs had a first-and-goal at the Mizzou 3; quarterback Charles Johnson spiked the ball, and then Eric Bieniemy rushed up the middle to the 1; he was stopped short on his next try, and Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock with two seconds left.  Johnson then scored on a dive up the middle—on what turned out to be fifth down.  What happened is that the chain crew never moved the down marker from second to third.  Mizzou’s Omni-Turf was also in terrible condition, and the correct shoe was needed to avoid slipping; the Tigers never informed CU of that fact, and coaches documented 92 slips and falls by Buff players – 16 of which were documented and shown on ESPN’s Game Day the next Saturday.

April 15, 2019.  One of the great debuts in local hockey history and a rare time it happened in the playoffs.  Three days after Cale Makar was named winner of the Hobey Baker Award as the top collegian and two days after his UMass Minutemen lost to Minnesota in a Frozen Four semifinal, Makar made his professional debut in game three of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  The first (and to date only) defenseman in NHL history to make his debut in the playoffs and score a goal in his very first game – and on his very first shot-on-goal – in Colorado’s 6-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

March 18, 1961. In Hutchinson, Kan., Pueblo Junior College won the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) basketball title, completing a four-game tourney sweep by defeating Tyler (Texas), 79-66.  Bob Warlick, named the tournament’s MVP, led the Indians in the tournament, scoring 86 points; he had 26 in the title game.  The team was coached by the late Harry Simmons, a 1982 inductee into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.

July 29, 1984.  Boulder’s Connie Carpenter-Phinney became the first American woman to win the gold medal in Olympic road cycling, winning the 79-kilometer race at the Los Angeles Summer games.  Neck-and-neck with fellow American Rebecca Twigg, the two accelerated into a frantic sprint over the last 50 meters, with Carpenter winning by all of two inches to claim the gold.  It would be 40 years until the next American woman would win the gold.  Her husband, Davis Phinney, won a bronze medal in cycling in the same L.A. games.

April 5, 1924.  Tiny Windsor High School, the two-time state champ from the town with the same name northeast of Loveland and a population of 1,290, won the National Interscholastic Basketball Championship in Chicago, defeating Yankton, S.D., 25-6.  The event started with 40 teams, and in the end, the Bulldogs beat four other state champions and won five games in all, the only undefeated team left standing.  Arthur Law led the way in the title game with 12 points.  The school changed its nickname to Wizards following the win after being referred to as such in media accounts.

December 13, 1983.  The wildest – and highest scoring – game in NBA history took place at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver: 370 total points were scored in a three-overtime thriller.  The visiting Detroit Pistons left town with a 186-184 victory.  It was tied at 74 at halftime and 145-all at the end of regulation.  In a different time, while the Nuggets and Pistons combined to take 251 shots, each team was just 1-of-2 from 3-point range; thus 140 of the 142 field goals were traditional two-point baskets.  Six players scored 28 or more points – four over 40, with Denver’s Kiki Vandeweghe leading all scorers with 51 with Alex English adding 47 and Dan Issel 28; Detroit was led by Isaiah Thomas 47 and John Long with 41.