This quote had me dying.

Stupid? Probably. Dedicated? You bet your ass.

At least like me you found MHR before it was too late. It’s hard being a Bronco fan in Portland if all you hear is what the MSM feeds you, what with all the rain and grey skies and all. It was down right depressing at the end of last year.

Just be glad that your not that guy CIP on 95.5’s morning show spending every chance he had slamming our boys. He’s gotta be feeling pretty stupid at this point.

bq.That’s what being faithful is – giving a damn.

Nice to have you. Just as there cannot be bravery without fear, perhaps there cannot be faithfulness without doubt.

Your sincerity comes through. A list of memories, and a chain of attachment.

I meant:

That’s what being faithful is – giving a damn.

Nice use of the term “wanker”……can tell you have been to Australia.
Conrad’s Casino in Brissy brings back great memories for me as well. Had some great nights there. Every year, me and the boys would travel to Brisbane for a Bledisloe Cip match or a one day international cricket match. Huge weekend…we stay in a pub next to the casino, got to the races and live like kings…take us about a month to recover!
Great post man!

As someone who’s been on the bandwagon for a similar length of time, I also have my fair share of remembrances like that.

And yeah, this year has definitely added a few more. I’ve been standing up in front of my TV for more games already this year than I can even remember from the last few years.

Great coach, great staff, great owner (always remember that), great players (of course).

Here’s to what’s looking like a great season in the making. Cheers!

I’m older than you and so have been through more, but you write better.
Go Broncs

OK, back on your heads.

I’m glad I wasnt the only one who scared my kids shitless on the stokley play. I still have holes in my ceiling and scabs on my head. Now lets go kick them chargers ass.

We come from a similar point of view.

I was fine with firing Shanny. His never ending coordinator roulette was something I could no longer defend. Bob Slowick and Scott O’Brien… Come on. Those were his homeboys, not NFL coaches.

I was thrilled when we hired McDaniels, as he was the one coach I wanted. My second choice would have been Rex Ryan, but I really wanted McDaniels because I felt he would be great for Cutler and our young offense that clearly had a ton of potential. Then McDaniels hired a great staff. He and Cutler went public that both of them were excited to get out there and practice. So was I. McDaniels cut loose all the defenders I hated (Manuel..ohhh I hate that guy… Webster, Robertson, Bly, Winborn, Engelburger, McCree, Paymuh, I think Lowry was gone). Good freaking riddance. All these were obvious cuts, easy cuts, but they were done nonetheless. I was really thrilled.

Then things went totally askew around March 1st. When McDaniels admittedly contemplated a trade involving getting rid of Cutler and bringing in Matt Cassel, my head nearly exploded. That still makes my head hurt because I’m: a huge fan of Cutler and a huge critic of Cassel. IMO, one is very good and one is very bad. I still believe this today and think my opinion will be proved out by the end of the 2009 season and beyond. Thank goodness Cassel is getting paid franchise dollars in KC and not Denver.

It was hard to fathom why McDaniels would want this. The salary disparity, the talent gap, lack of experience for Cassel? I still don’t get it and never will. And calling Cutler “the player” was annoying and childish. But Cutler did act like a big wuss as well and he, like McDaniels, admitted to wishing he’d done things differently. It was a very messy and very public fiasco with the Broncos and Cutler making multiple mistakes. Those were dark days as a Bronco fan. By the end, I wanted to smack both of them in the face. But more so McDaniels because I believe he got this ball rolling.

But then we traded Cutler to Chicago. I didn’t like that we did this, but it was easy to see we got a decent haul in return. I would have pushed for more, but Chicago gave up quite a bit. And if Orton continues to play like he did Sunday, they really gave up a fortune.

I would have liked our draft a lot more if we hadn’t traded away our 1st round pick in 2010 for the 37th pick in 2009, but even that move makes me more comfortable seeing how we are playing this season. I’m still far from sold on Quinn or Ayers, but Moreno has a very high ceiling and Smith was amazing in the Bengals game. I can also picture productive futures for McBath, Burton, McKinnley, Olsen and Brandstater. Time will tell, but at least I can see potential with a lot of our picks. That is what the draft is all about anyway. Developing guys that have the talent to stick. I think it’s possible with most of our 2009 picks.

It’s hard to be patient, but I do believe what my eyes see and I liked what I saw in the Seattle preseason game and several other points in preseason where you could see we were not nearly as bad as the MSM said we were. I didn’t think we’d go 13-3, but we were not a 3-13 team either. Too much talent on Denver’s roster vs a real 3-13 candidate like talent starved KC, Tampa or St Louis.

I guess I finally came back around to feeling better about McDaniels with his handling of BM. He did exactly what I thought made the most business sense for Denver. Josh didn’t act quickly or based off emotions. Everyone (several at MHR included) wanted his cut or traded (when no trade market existed). But Josh knew Denver held all the cards and McDaniels played that hand like a pro. Even at that time (when I was otherwise bashing McDaniels), I heaped praise on him for his handling of BM.

By week one, I had settled in on 7-9 and hoped the easy early season schedule would provide momentum to see us to a few more wins. It sure did. And we are better than 7-9 anyway. We are well coached in all phases (except the return teams) and we have very few holes in the roster. Good depth at most positions and our key guys are playing like Pro Bowlers (Clady, Elvis, DJ, BM, Harris, Champ, Dawkins and Orton).

This is the best Bronco team since 2005 and 1999 before that. And we may be better than the 13-3 team from 2005. It makes me happy.

You may have done something quite profound here – perhaps a sort of symbolic healing of the wounds and a bridging of the Denver fanbase divide.
Clearly, you have helped some people exorcise some of their off-season demons.

…by all ya’lls kindness and replies. Here’s to stompin’ on some Bolts next week.

Hail the Broncos!

Why all the anger? I know all of you are on board now, but I’m wondering, was spending the offseason in a fit of rage good for you? I’m asking because I encountered people here and at the post who were in a fit of rage during the offseason. They were horrible, and it seemed as though they were actively trying to bring the rest of us to that point as well.
We, as fans, are all along for the ride, but we don’t have our hands on the reigns. The ride will be bumpy at times, yet every day, we choose to feel those bumps riding on the predominantly orange horse. Knowing that, I don’t get the “outrage is a sign of faith” mentality. It’s as though Pat Bowlen would hear it if it was just screamed loud enough; his eyes would find it if the words were expressed with enough vitriol. Most of time, the person getting all bent out of shape about Pat’s and Josh’s decisions would judge themselves to be a terrible person to hire as vice president in charge of football operations.
Dubious is fine, but a fit of rage is not only unnecessary, it is destructive. I want everyone who shared your feelings to understand that that rage was often directed at fans who were willing to ride the horse, ’till it bucks us off, so to speak.

Most noticeable to me was the make-up.

And then letting the dust settle, and cooling down, and saying, ‘I still love ya’,