The bye week is difficult for me every year, but the weight of wait is most pressing during a solid run.  A consummate Kool-Aid drinker until reality spikes it, I look forward to the next 10 games and beyond with eager anticipation – and until then I can rely on my information Shangri-La here at MHR.  This is my first actual FanPost and while I have waxed poetic about the life of a born and bred Bronco boy removed from Colorado too early in life, I have finally found a forum where people may truly empathize instead of nod politely (or laugh, and inquire about when I will get a life which is more often the case).

I am not a writer, but the memories are from the heart so I’ll shoot from the hip.  Memorable moments, dated where applicable or remembered after the jump.

January 15, 1978 – I am one of the rare individuals who has an exact date for the first television show I remember watching.  We watched the Super Bowl on one of those big cabinet televisions from the comfort of the grandparent’s farmhouse outside of Strasburg, Colorado – burly, football playing uncles in attendance.  As a very young kid, this was a day that started with excitement, and ended with my uncles and grandpa expanding my vocabulary in a way it took mom a couple of months to diminish again… 

1984 – My other grandpa lived in Parker, near where Elway hung hit hat in the early days.  I don’t remember where (I believe it was a grocery store), but we ran into him and my grandpa introduced my brother and me to him.  It seems weird to say now, but there were still people who weren’t sold on the man and harkened to the days of Steve DeBerg.  I still laugh a bit at the current love fest because the man could not catch a break for several years.  My most significant memory of that moment?  His hands were freakin’ huge - they swallowed mine!  I was duly impressed and little did I know I would continue be impressed for about 15 more years.

1989 – Proud owner of a "Three Amigos" poster that hung in my room.  (Flash forward to a phone conversation with my mom a couple of years ago; "Hey, I found an old poster of yours that had some Bronco guys wearing Mexican hats – I meant to ask you if you wanted it, but just threw it away.") *sigh*

1989 – My family wrenched us from our Colorado home to move to… North Dakota – small town of 30 people (not a typo).  Gone were the days of actually getting to watch Bronco’s games except for when they played Monday nights or the rare occasion where they played the Vikings.  No cable television, and no way of knowing how the team did unless they mentioned it on one of the news stations we could pick up with the antennae on the roof.  In high school (at a bigger town 10 miles away) I used to linger outside of the teacher’s lounge because one of the science teachers was a subscriber to the Bismarck Tribune… when he was done with it, I could read a box score, but usually I had to wait until Tuesdays.   This was the dark ages of a misplaced Bronco fan, and any mention of missing them would receive a local retort of; "Doncha know yer supposed to like da Vikings."  Seriously folks – the closest McDonalds was 90 miles away.  It took me years before I could tell which direction I was driving (those living in Eastern Colorado understand – keep the mountains on your left and you are heading north).

1992 – Began my college days at a decent sized town and my personal introduction to two amazing discoveries:  Beer – and the sports bars that sold it.  I was finally able to get my Bronco’s fix once again.

1996 – Married my Nordic Queen… unfortunately, she is a Vikings fan but we found a priest to conduct the ceremony anyway despite the obvious religious differences.  (Flash forward: Our subsequent spawning has resulted in another die hard Broncos fan in my son, and a reluctant Vikings fan in my daughter… I am still working on the latter – I figure I’ll pounce during some teenage, angst-ridden moment where mom is not in favor).

1995-2000 – Due to work, my young family found a place to sleep in numerous states; ND, SD, NE, OK, WV, but in 2000 found a permanent home deep in enemy territory; Kansas City, MO.  How did I manage during that time you ask?  Well, I signed up for satellite service and convinced the company that I was too far from local service.  When they asked what local affiliates I needed, I told them Denver of course.  This put a crimp in actual, local news and weather but it was worth that miniscule sacrifice to catch local coverage and every game.  This only lasted for a couple of years unfortunately until they caught on, so now I’m back to regular cable, *sigh*.  The one advantage to living here though is I am guaranteed of seeing one live Broncos game every year – and I haven’t missed one yet.  For all the rivalry – Arrowhead is an awesome place, but I unfortunately have only seen Denver win here twice since I’ve been in attendance.

Some games…

September 20, 1981 – Somehow, some way one of those earlier mentioned uncles got a hold of a couple of tickets to the Bronco’s versus the Baltimore Colts.  This was my first and last time watching an actual Bronco’s game at Mile High (although I did attend several Zephyrs games and a rock concert or two there afterwards) , and my heart still beats with sound of thunder.  I still compare current concert ear-ringing with what I heard leaving the stadium then… nothing compares.

January 4, 1998 – Bittersweet moment in Denver’s defeat of Kansas City.  Some of you may recall that the Vikings had their divisional game the night before… and lost.  So while I was giddy with excitement and wanted to shout from the rooftops – I had to bite my tongue as my very disappointed wife sat in misery at a blown Minnesota opportunity.  Bitter-sweet.

January 11, 1998 – We were living in West Virginia at the time and one of my co-workers won two tickets to the AFC Championship game at Three Rivers Stadium.  We made a mad drive to Pittsburg, all the while my friend (a Steelers fan) emphatically reminding me in my bright orange regalia that if I got "out of hand" he didn’t know me.  The game was amazing, the stadium was energetic and I was well into my cups before I started to get "out of hand" at the end of the game.  I imagine that my colorful idioms directed at our fellow black and gold fans weren’t taken as well as they were intended, and awash in a shower of stale beer, I was eventually escorted by the kindly security teams back to the general location of my truck.  I say kindly because they were kind enough to afford people an opportunity to express their ire via several poorly veiled punches to my head and midsection during the walk out of the stadium - they are all about customer service there at Three Rivers.  I was deposited at my truck with a parting gift of some questionable statements about my parentage, to find my friend waiting for me.  Neither of use enjoyed the drive back for various reasons – mine mostly medical.  Wow I loved that game!

As I mentioned, I am living in enemy territory, and there is another FanPost worth of material of the Arrowhead/Kansas City experiences of the past 10 years… but I will save that for another post if anyone cares to hear it.

The nice thing about MHR, is I think I have finally found a place where people can truly know what it means to be part of Bronco Country – with the mountains in the memories…