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So long, 2010.

It was nice knowing you … sort of.

Let’s be honest, Colorado’s past sports year was seriously weird. It was the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde thrill ride.

There were stunning individual achievements: CarGo, Tulo and Ubaldo.

And numbing flops: Broncos, Buffs and Rams.

There were heroes: George Karl.

And villains: Josh McDaniels.

Saints: Tim Tebow.

And sinners: Broncos video guy Steve Scarnecchia.

There were Rocky Mountain highs: The Rapids beating FC Dallas for the MLS cup title.

And the lowest of lows: The Raiders humiliating the Broncos 59-14 at Invesco Field.

All in all, 2010 was one wacky, wild, thoroughly frustrating and immensely interesting sports year.

Following are my five favorite snapshots of the year gone by:

1 minute, 44.19 seconds

Vail’s Lindsey Vonn won Olympic gold in the downhill at Whistler, British Columbia. Skiing on a painful, badly bruised shin, she rose to the occasion and blazed to red-white-and-blue glory. Vonn took our breath away with her talent, bravery, athleticism and golden-girl smile.

Stand up and cheer

In July, Floyd Little, the first truly great Bronco, finally took his place in Canton’s hallowed halls.

“I want to encourage you, every student, every athlete, every person who will hear my voice: Don’t listen to the naysayers,” Little said in his moving speech.

September to remember

In one of the great performances in baseball history, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki hit 15 homers in the month and became only the second major-leaguer since 1900 to hit 14 home runs in 15 games. He also drove in 40 runs and had an .800 slugging percentage. Too bad the Rockies collapsed down the stretch.

Ultimate comeback

In his first game back after beating neck and throat cancer, Karl’s Nuggets blew out the Jazz at the Pepsi Center.

“I told the team before that their friendship and their togetherness over the summer helped me want to get back,” Karl said. “I told them they’re a special team and it’s an honor and privilege to try to be a special team, and it’s my privilege to coach them.”

Ubaldo’s no-no

On April 17, Ubaldo Jimenez did something no Rockies pitcher ever did before. Heck, he did something most pitchers wearing a Rockies uniform ever dream about. He threw a no-hitter, beating the Braves in Atlanta, 4-0.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling, an honor to have teammates hugging you and admiring what we did,” Jimenez said. “Every single guy was pulling for me. You could see it in their faces.”

Although Jimenez lost steam as the season went on, he still finished third in the Cy Young voting with a 19-8 record and a 2.88 ERA. At the all-star break, he stood 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA.

Trivia time

This question is for seamheads only. How many baserunners did Jimenez allow during his no-hit game? (Answer below)

Polling

A current Denver Post poll asks readers which Denver sports team will have the best 2011. Not surprisingly, the Rockies lead the way, with 44.5 percent of the more than 4,900 votes cast. Placing second are the Avalanche (26.2), followed by the Broncos (25.2) and the Nuggets (4.1).

Quotable

“I felt I was entitled. I was wrong. I was foolish. I don’t get to play by different rules.” — Tiger Woods, during his public apology on Feb. 21, 2010 for his marital infidelity and his reckless behavior.

Time will tell if Tiger was sincere or not. I hope he is, and I hope he becomes a force on the PGA tour again.

Reader’s rant

“I don’t think they’ve soured on (Kyle) Orton, so much as they’ve embraced (Tim) Tebow. Orton is a good, not great QB who has done a much better job than was expected. My take is that most Bronco fans really appreciate Orton — but where does he fit in the coming rebuild?”

— Mike B, posting on the The Denver Post’s story about Orton’s future with the Broncos.

In case you missed it

Here are five of the weirder sports stories from 2010: