Top 10 sports stars who pissed us off by leaving Colorado

By Michael Roberts Fri., Aug. 5 2011 at 12:10 PM

Ubaldo Jimenez.

This weekend, Ubaldo Jimenez, the greatest pitcher in Colorado Rockies history, is expected to make his first start for the Cleveland Indians. Which got us to thinking: What pro athletes who left Colorado teams either by choice or force have been most painful for local fans to watch play for someone else? Look below and page down to see our top ten -- and let us know if we missed anyone.

10. Brandon Marshall

Brandon Marshall.

Yeah, yeah, I know: His personal life is beyond messy, and it doesn't seem to be getting any tidier in Miami, where he's currently playing when not being stabbed by his wife. But he remains a supremely talented athlete who did consistently great things on the field while a member of the Denver Broncos. Seeing him now can't help but conjure up thoughts about what might have been.

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Top 10 sports stars who pissed us off by leaving Colorado

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Lane

Dikemebe Mutombo certainly belongs on this list. I figured he would be #1. He took us to the play-offs where we shocked the Sonics, he cried on the court. Pretty much everyone that "might" leave Colorado is compared to him because we got NOTHING in return.

Pistol51

didn't he leave because of the salary cap?

lukeness

I'm probably older than most of the folks commenting here, but for me, number one is the Denver Rockets losing Spencer Haywood. Our pro basketball history here in Denver may have been significantly different if that hadn't happened.

Joe

Fuck him. Nigger

WTF?

Losing Dikembe Mutumbo for nothing made me the maddest. Makes me wonder what a list of the top 10 most destructive team coaches/managers/execs would look like. I'd have Bernie Bikerstaff at the top of that list.

I also hated losing Mike Ricci, but not nearly as much as Dikembe.

Michael Roberts

You make a very strong argument for Mutombo's inclusion, WTF -- so strong, in face, that we're going to make your take an upcoming Comment of the Day. Congrats.

Sultan Turkish-Restaurant

I hate when that happens

Sultan Cafe & Bakery

Brandon Young

Claude Lemieux and Chauncey are the two worst loses in my book

Michael Roberts

Forgot all about Claude Lemieux. Thanks for the reminder, Brandon.

CORiverRat

Congrats to all of them for leaving. Denver as a sports town really is pretty lame unless your name happens to be Elway. Personally I was sad to see Chauncey go only because he was home grown and seemed like a nice guy and it would have been nice to see him end his career at home but for the others, I think they all faired much better in their new locals.

CORiverRat

Should have been new locales...