Happy birthday, Colorado — and Colorado sports.

Leading into the state’s 150th birthday Aug. 1, The Denver Gazette has partnered with the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame to publicize the definitive list of Colorado’s top 150 sports moments.

Colorado Sports Hall of Fame historian Dave Plati and a committee of 10 compiled and will release the list every week until the No. 1 moment on July 31. Plati and Broncos icon Jim Saccomano will unveil the list weekly on a Colorado Sports Hall of Fame podcast at coloradosports.org/podcast/.

No. 144

Sept. 4, 2004 

At 12:30 p.m. Mountain, 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 reportedly were 850,000 to 1,000,000 subscribers at its launch. The first game was supposed to be the Colorado Avalanche’s season opener at home (on Oct. 1), against the San Jose Sharks, but the NHL lockout on Sept. 16 canceled the season.

—Dave Plati, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame historian