An elixir for the Orange blues
It’s natural for Denver fans to feel a little blue this morning. I was an emotional season. But there’s still plenty to smile about in Broncos Country.
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It’s January the 15th. The dead of winter. Yet, look outside. It’s gorgeous. The sun is shining, it’s over 50 degrees and the air smells clean and Colorado fresh. It almost feels like springtime even though the trees won’t bud for months. We could not have been luckier than to have wound up here, where the mountains are just an hour away, in the Mile High City.
We’re Broncos fans. For better or for worse. Regardless of what happened last night.
They weren’t ready. There’s no debating that now. The contrast between a Superbowl caliber team and our team was displayed vividly on our flat screen. We saw it. The world saw it. The Patriots are gearing up for competition many times stronger than the best the Broncos could possibly offer.
We got that Wild Card win over the Steelers at home and we’re thankful for that. It was so much fun. Pittsburgh had that long flight home while we celebrated one of the biggest wins in the proud history of our fine city. We got to see that brilliant overtime 80 yard pass to play to Demaryius Thomas – the dawning of the age of Demaryius.
We’ll never forget the improbable six game winning streak that propelled our Broncos to the post-season. The rise of Tebow. The forging of our football team into a family. John Fox smiling and slapping fans high-five. Our home-town legend, John Elway, old number 7, laughing, smiling, embracing his quarterback, nearly in tears.
Denver was the center of the NFL universe. There was the Saturday Night Live skit, Jimmy Fallon, a 60-minute Tebow Center on ESPN and national reporters dispatched. The world came here to cover our team, our fans and our faith.
We have so many memories and so many reasons to be thankful. And we have a wonderful future to look forward to.
Broncomania got a much needed shot in the arm in 2011. It’s the healthiest it’s been in a very long time. Some folks say that this run felt like the Orange Crush era of the 1970’s.
This coming season the team is switching back to Orange uniforms like the ones the Broncos wore back then, back when we loved them despite it all, not because of two trophies. It will be just like starting over. They might even bring back the “D” on the helmets.
The orange-clad Broncs will compete inside of an AFC West that will be winnable, season after hope-filled season. After all, the Raiders fired their coach, the Chiefs fired theirs, too, and the Chargers didn’t. All positives for us. Oakland is stuck with Carson Palmer and they leveraged their future to get him. The Chiefs will have to choose between Matt Cassell and Kyle Orton and Phil River’s best days appear to be behind him. Denver can win the west again, just like they did this year, without having to be all that good. And, as long as they win the West, they will make the playoffs and as long as they make the playoffs there will always be hope that they could go all the way.
The Nuggets look fantastic. They’re playing a unique and identifiable brand of George Karl basketball. They’re the second-highest scoring team in the NBA and they just toppled the only team on the list that’s above them. They lead the NBA in assists, even though no individual player is among the NBA’s top ten passers. They’re going to be fun to watch and they will give us a playoff run.
Opening day at beautiful Coors field is less than three months away. Less than three months! Halloween is farther behind us than baseball is in front of us. And, as they do every season, the Rockies will give us reasons to be hopeful. They will play onto September and possibly beyond.
And then the Broncos will be back.
It’s a gloomy Sunday, but only in our hearts. All around is the beauty of Colorado and the thrill of being a fan.
