Denver is a sports crazy town. No, wait, that’s not quite right. Denver is a certifiably insane, kiss ’em goodbye ’cause they’re going away for a long visit with a padded room, sports crazy town. I’ve never seen anything like it. I thought Chicago was nutso, but Denver is even worse.
The sports craziness became crystal clear when, right after we moved here, all life stopped when the Broncos won the Super Bowl in 1998. And again the next year. On big sports days, Tom and I take bets whether it’ll be a sports story or national news as the leadoff story on the 10 o’clock news. It’s usually sports. The best time to grocery shop? Sunday afternoons when the Broncos are playing. You can shoot a cannon down the deserted aisles. The worst time to grocery shop? The couple of hours before the Broncos play on Sunday afternoons. Ten kinds of insanity; you couldn’t pay me enough to do my shopping then.
Notice how I’ve only mentioned the Broncos? Our football team? Denver is one of few cities to have major league teams in all sports (don’t ask me to name them, I don’t know that much, I just know we have the familiar ones plus soccer, arena football, and lacrosse…there’s probably badminton in there, too), but really, only the Broncos get massive recognition, even in down years. This is a down year, a very down year, for the Broncos. Listening to the news, you wouldn’t even know we have a football team this year. But that’s not because they suck donkey bits this year.
I’m really tired today. Coffee can’t touch it kind of tired. Hmmmm…why might that be?
Oh, yeah, I was up until 12:30 last night WATCHING THE ROCKIES WIN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT! What the absolute @#&#%$???? How did the Rockies do this? They’ve been the bastard child of the Denver sports scene for years. You could buy tickets at the grocery store for $4 all summer. Decent tickets, not the nosebleed seats. They closed off the nosebleed section earlier in the season because tickets weren’t selling. How in hell did they do this? They’ve won 20 of the last 21 games, the longest run in MLB history. Huh? The Rockies????? Where did this come from? A post-season sweep. I doubt you could find a broom in Denver right now, they were all at the game last night. Tom and I have watched more baseball in the last two weeks than we have in the last two years. The team has been so strong, so consistent. They have been a joy to watch, and we get to keep watching.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Jen, you’re a rabid Cubs fan. Are you switching teams?” And my response is, “Are you kidding?” The Cubs are my team. End of story. I cheer for the Rockies because they are the home team, but my true love is the Cubs. My heart isn’t really with the Rockies, I’m watching more out of “how is this happening?” than true love for the Rockies. I will say, though, that getting Rockies vs. Cubs tix next season is going to be next to impossible. Getting any Rockies tix next season is going to be next to impossible. The Cubs’ year is next year; 2008 will be 100 years since their last World Series win. The damned goat curse will be broken then. I hope.
Go Rockies! You’ve been fun to watch, and you’re going all the way!
My God, I love baseball. : )