If London’s Calling, No Broncos are Answering

It’s no secret hereabouts that I’m a big Colorado sports fan. Through good times and bad, I root for my Rockies, Avalanche, Nuggets, and, of course, my Broncos. I can’t really help it. Born in the Rockies, it’s in my blood. Just like lovin’ me some John Denver singing “Rocky Mountain High.”

At the same time, I consider myself a fairly rational fan. In my classes I preach critical thinking every chance I get, and I like to practice what I preach. Sure, I get a little riled up now and again in the heat of the moment — it’s for this reason that my wife bought me a designated “Broncos Pillow” that I can put into a headlock and beat into submission or pick up and throw at the offending referee on the TV — but on the whole I just enjoy being a fan. It’s fun.

I also like to think that I’m a pretty well informed fan. I try to know as much as I can about everything in life, and football is no different at all. In that respect, I like to look at the big picture in the development of my teams. It’s not just the game-of-the-moment that matters to me, it’s what is being built on a larger scale.

It thus pains me to say that today I was having a hard time seeing a light at the end of the particular tunnel that the Broncos have entered. It’s a dark, dark place when you lose by 456 points at home to the Raiders (oh, wasn’t that many? sure felt like it) and then follow it up by heading to the international stage in London and losing to the 1-win 49ers behind their 3rd-string QB. That’s not cool, Broncos.

Never one to get too down on my team, I decided to respond in proper American fashion (especially appropriate to election season!) by ditching reality. This evening I loaded Madden up on the Wii and dialed up a 5-minute-quarters game between the digital Broncos and the digital Colts. I confess I’m not very good at all the joystick jockeying and button bashing required to control the players, so I just ran the game in a “coach” mode, where I called the plays and left it up to the game to run them.

Final score: Broncos 105, Colts 3.

I know it isn’t reality, but I do feel a little better now.