In The Beginning, There Was Darkness for Spurs • by John Swagerty • The Rocky Mountain News (link) • January 4, 1976 Too many false promises. Bad management and poor planning. The great Colorado outdoors. No dough. The Broncos. The Nuggets. Maybe it was the damned dogs. For whatever reason, the Spurs of the World Hockey Association and the city of Denver have parted ways. Friday the Spurs moved to Ottawa, Ont. There, they will be known as the Civics. Regrettable, said the Mayor, William H. McNichols Jr. "I'm very disappointed," said Gerald Phipps, owner of the Broncos. "I'm upset," said Carl Scheer, general manager of the Nuggets. "Somebody ought to have their tail kicked," said one Spurs fan. For Spurs fans, it was a black Friday, the blackest day in the history of Denver sports. "Now we know Denver is nothing but a damned hick town. People will go out and watch those damned dogs (greyhounds), but they won't watch major league hockey. In a few years we won't have anything to watch but softball," said a caller to the News. In the opinion of at least two city officials and several local sports figures, the Spurs were doomed from the beginning. Their collapse in Denver was inevitable, even before stick was laid to puck. "This is not a good town in which to try anything new," said Cal Kunz, one of the former owners of the Broncos and former vice chairman of the Denver Dynamos, a North American Soccer League franchise that moved to Minneapolis in November. "The people in Denver look with disdain at anything that isn't truly major league, but the city just isn't big enough to be a truly major league city. There just aren't that many entertainment dollars to go around. It took years for the Broncos to catch on. The Nuggets made it because they have a class organization; they're an exception. Major league baseball in Denver would be suicide," Kunz added. Mayor McNichols agreed that the Spurs had little chance of succeeding in their first year in Denver. "It takes time to prepare a city for a new sports franchise, particularly a hockey franchise. I don't understand the game very well, and I'm sure many others don't. It's sad to see the Spurs go. We tried to get a group together to keep the team here, but the timetable was just too short. I would predict without hesitation, however, that there will be another team in Denver very soon," the Mayor said. Primarily guilty for the Spurs' failure was the ownership. Larry Varnell, president of the Chamber of Commerce sports committee, feels. "People close to the situation realized at the outset that the team would fail. We worked hard for a National Hockey League franchise, but when Ivan Mullenix (the Spurs owner) switched to the WHA we knew he would have a tough selling job. "The ownership misread the enthusiasm of the community. He (Mullenix) sat there in St. Louis and read about how well the Broncos and Nuggets were doing. He thought the Spurs would be an instant success, that it wasn't necessary to do any promotional work. His was a 'We have a franchise, an arena, and tickets are available' approach. It didn't work," Varnell said. According to Phipps of the Broncos and Scheer of the Nuggets, the key to operating a successful sports franchise in Denver is local ownership. The turning point in the fortunes of the Broncos, Phipps said, "came when we took control of the team and the people in Denver knew the Broncos were here to stay. Ticket buyers aren't stupid. They know that if a team has an out-of-town owner the team can be moved any time. Ticket buyers think about these things before they buy their tickets. That's the reason the San Diego Chargers are having problems. The owners don't live in San Diego." "There's no such thing as a good hockey town or a good basketball town;" Scheer said. "You have to work at it to make it a good basketball town or a good hockey. town. You need people who care about the town, local people, who are willing to spend whatever time and money it takes to make a town a good basketball or hockey town." Along with the theories on what should have been done and what wasn't done, along with the criticism of the city of Denver and of the Spurs management, regrets were expressed: "I'm sorry it happened. I'm just glad they didn't go bankrupt," said the Mayor. "I'm very disappointed. I was hoping the Spurs would become a part of the local sports scene," said Phipps. "If I wanted to be self serving I could say that this will help basketball," Scheer said. "But I'm genuinely sorry this happened. I'm particularly sorry for the sports fans of Denver." "I'm dumbfounded," said Jim Burris, general manager of the Denver Bears. "I hate to see this happen for several reasons. Denver has an outstanding image in the sports world and I hate to see anything happen that would change that image. But in my mind the loss of the Spurs in no way reflects on the sports fans of Denver. "It hurts," said Kevin McNicholas, who leases the concessions at McNichols Arena. "This substantially affects our operation. Maybe the city will promote a few more rock concerts. I'm just thankful it wasn't the Nuggets who left." Yes, city auditor Johnny Dee agreed, it does hurt. "This is the loss of a potentially great thing for the city and for the arena. It now seems that we may be a little overbuilt with facilities. If the hockey team had been mine I would have played in the Coliseum. The Spurs would have had the choice of the best dates rather than having had to split the best dates with the Nuggets." On the philosophical side: "It is an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody some good," said Murray Armstrong, hockey coach at Denver University. "I'm sure some of our fans switched to the Spurs; now maybe they'll come back. Come on out and see the Pioneers. Really, though, I'm sorry to see the Spurs leave. Mullenix is a nice fellow and he tried hard. But there really wasn't anything anyone could do." In the past year Denver has lost three professional sports franchises. In February of 1975 the Racquets of World Team Tennis moved to Phoenix. The Dynamos went to Minneapolis. The Spurs are now at the mercy of Ottawa hockey fans. The sports boom is over. Scheer, Phipps and others agree, over not only in Denver, but over everywhere. "Fans are sick and tired of being ripped off," Scheer said. "The days of having Gary Davidson (organizer of the World Hockey Association, the World Football League and the American Basketball Association) put together a marble league with 10 teams are over. Fans are the last people that are considered, and they're fed up. They're tired of litigation and judges and high salaries. We're getting back to normal." "Sports has become a three-ring circus watched over by the judiciary," said Mayor McNichols. "This constant embroilment in legal maneuvers has disenchanted everyone. There's going to be a rough road ahead if these things aren't settled." Still, the Mayor predicts that professional hockey will soon return to Denver. Varnell of the Chamber of Commerce sports committee is of the same mind. Furthermore, Varnell believes the next team will be a National Hockey League franchise. "It can be done. The Nuggets are sound. The Broncos have become a religious cult. With the proper promotion over a long period hockey will succeed in Denver. Down the road I believe we will have NHL hockey in Denver," Varnell says. If the NHL does come to Denver, and if the franchise fails, hockey fans can always go to the dogs.

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