What an exciting time to be a Bronco fan. We watched in near despair as the Broncos stumbled and tripped their way to a 1-3-0 start. Then came the almost comeback against San Diego which was followed by a win and a loss. We found our beloved Broncos at 2-5-0 and we were worried that we were looking at another disastrous season. Then something strangely mystical and magical happened. We watched as Tebow inspired the team to rise up and seize six straight wins and improve the team's record to 8-5-0. We found ourselves believing. Then the slow slide during the last three games which brought on sighs of "Here we go again." But the sighs were quickly replaced by shouts of joy when we realized that we still made it into the post season. The shouting grew louder with the overtime win against Pittsburgh.
Likewise, it has been a fun time here at Mile High Report as each week a Reader and a Staffer engaged in good-natured smack-talking and offered up their often humorous, delightful reasoning on why a given team would win or lose on any given weekend. It was a hard-fought contest with the Readers jumping out to an early lead, only to see the Staffers surge back. But when the dust had settled, the Readers had edged past the Staffers by a single game.
Take a jump and look back at the contest.
While preparing this article, I discovered that I made a mistake one week when I posted the "Season to Date" totals. For that reason, I am going to recap the contest week-by-week. The winner of each week and leader in the Season to Date columns are denoted by bold print. Ties are also denoted by bolded type.| Week | Reader | Rec | Tot | Staffer | Rec | Tot |
| 1 | Azbroncomaniac | 10-5 | 10-5 | Chris Doll | 6-9 | 6-9 |
| 2 | Whidbey Bronco | 13-2 | 23-7 | Tim Lynch | 12-3 | 18-12 |
| 3 | Bronco-mojo | 10-5 | 33-12 | Kirk Davis | 10-5 | 28-17 |
| 4 | Broncoboy326 | 11-4 | 44-16 | John Bena | 11-4 | 39-21 |
| 5 | Bronco2661 | 8-4 | 52-20 | Jeremy Bollander | 7-5 | 46-26 |
| 6 | MDeesh | 7-6 | 59-26 | Troy Hufford | 9-4 | 55-30 |
| 7 | Nolie | 4-8 | 63-34 | Jess Place | 7-5 | 62-35 |
| 8 | Desertbroncofan | 8-4 | 71-38 | Colby Mueller | 8-4 | 70-39 |
| 9 | Steadyeddy87 | 9-4 | 80-42 | John Bena | 5-8 | 75-47 |
| 10 | Idaho Nate | 6-9 | 86-51 | Matt Dierking | 7-8 | 82-55 |
| 11 | BroadwayBroncoFan | 9-4 | 95-55 | Matt Worthington | 9-4 | 91-59 |
| 12 | PokID_fan | 12-3 | 107-58 | Troy Hufford | 10-5 | 101-64 |
| 13 | Mikebirty | 8-7 | 115-65 | Sayre Bedinger | 9-6 | 110-70 |
| 14 | Blackhillsbronx | 8-7 | 123-72 | Ian Henson | 13-2 | 123-72 |
| 15 | BroncoPH | 8-7 | 131-79 | Kirk Davis | 7-8 | 130-80 |
| 16 | Turnertwo2003 | 8-7 | 139-86 | Luke Clementson | 7-8 | 137-88 |
| 17 | Nick Cast | 10-5 | 149-91 | Tim Lynch | 11-4 | 148-92 |
A very strong word of congratulations is due to the Readers, who as a group, won the predictions contest by a single game. Well done!!!!!
I'd like to offer a hearty "Well Done!!!" to those Readers who proved to be better prognosticators than their opponents:
Azbroncomaniac (Week 1) -- "Chris, we have a natural disaster here called a haboob (I love that word). You're about to be covered like an Arizona haboob, it will be faster than a John Elway completion into Nate Jones coverage"
Whidby Bronco (Week 2) -- "I'm planning on kicking Zappa's ass in our fantasy league and winning this week's picks would just be icing on the cake! Go Broncos!!!!"
Bronco2661 -- "I am a displaced Bronco fan stuck halfway between Denver - where I grew up - and Seattle. Since I consider Denver my hometown, I have been a Bronco faithful since the beginning." (Week 5)
Steadyeddy87 -- "I'd argue that I'm the biggest Bronco's fan in eastern PA" (Week 9)
PokyID_fan -- "While in college one of my best friends was a Raiders fan and another was a Steelers fan. They both hated Denver, so it seemed like a team I should support, and it was also fun giving them hard time when I could." (Week 12)
BroncoPH -- "I am especially excited to take part in this pick 'em contest as I suffer from a rare condition known as bulimia that allows me to both see the future and read people's minds... sometimes though I think it might just be indigestion." (Week 15)
Turnertwo2003 -- "I have been a Bronco fan since the first day of their existence. Will never change. I gazed into my glass ball and this is what i see." (Week 16)
A word of congratulations is also due to the Staffers who proved to have a better crystal ball in their weeks:
Troy Hufford -- "This guy knows football. He watches more film than Jamarcus Russel, runs a faster 40 time than Rich Eisen, and once played an entire game of two-hand touch with a hangnail... something that Jay Cutler would never do."(Week 6)
Jess Place -- "Last year his season ticket dream became a reality and now has carte blanche to use that status as some sort of bizarre validation for his eccentric views on how the Broncos should run the team." (Week 7)
Matt Dierking -- "This corn-fed small town kid played on the offensive line in his younger days and loves seeing some linemen blasting open lanes for backs to chew up loads of yardage and keeping the quarterback clean" (Week 10)
Sayre Bedinger -- "I'm here to give you picks for this week, and if you give me a quarter, I will also read your palm." (Week 13)
Ian Henson -- "For the conscious part of 28 years he has been a fan" (Week 14)
Tim Lynch -- "If you happen to be the unfortunate soul that must face the Lynch Mob, you had better bring your B+ game, cause lets face it...Tim Lynch does things halfassed." (Week 17)
It is also appropriate that we applaud the Readers and Staffers who tied during their week:
Bronco-mojo -- "I'm such a big fan that I remember phone numbers based on Bronco Players."
& Kirk Davis -- "upon discovering this haven [Bronco fandom] during the Shanahan crisis, has dropped anchor and refuses to leave" (Week 3)
Broncoboy326 -- "When I moved into my first house, me and my roommates instantly created a Broncos wall that we quickly covered it with Broncos paraphernalia."
& John Bena -- "A quiet man of few words -- unless you listen to MHR Radio -- John prefers to let his picks do the talking." (Week 4)
Desertbroncofan -- "When I played youth football I was #11 in honor of Bobby Anderson (we share our last names)."
& Colby Mueller -- I live in Calgary, Canada so what do I really know about football. (Week 8)
Broadwaybroncofan -- "Born in Fort Collins I was fed a steady dose of Pro-Bronco/Anti-Raider propaganda by my family until I was old enough to understand how right they were."
& Matt Worthington -- "Now a law student, I am provided ample free time to compile advanced statistics and break down highlight videos on youtube.* Last year, my patented system allowed me to predict regular season victories with 98% accuracy.* And if you don't let me win, I'll just sue you and your little dog too!"(Week 11)
Finally, we need to give a shout out to those Readers who, while they did not out-predict their opponents on their given week, contributed to the overall Reader victory:
MDeesh -- "My roommates have come to expect a certain amount of yelling on Sundays, and they can always tell how the Broncos did based on my mood the next day." (Week 6)
Nolie -- " I really became hooked in 1969 but couldn't afford tickets --not because of the cost but because I was stumbling around trying to find myself.
I never did find myself but I became a season ticket holder in the early 70s and sat in the South stands. Those were the days." (Week 7)
Idaho Nate -- "I currently watch the games with my two awesome kids......(Bronco Fans) and my Raider loving Devil Wife....(not having a good week)!" (Week 10)
Mikebirty -- "So how does a guy from Manchester, England become a Broncos fan? To put it quite simply it dates back to "The Drive". At the time I had a passing interest in the sport but didn't have any reason to follow any of the teams. However, after you watch 96 yards of magic how can you not be a Bronco fan?" (Week 13)
Blackhillsbronx -- "Being a Broncos fan is all I've ever known and I love every minute of it!" (Week 14)
Nick Cast -- "I have the build of Tim Tebow, the speed of Usain Bolt, and the intelligence of Albert Einstein. My strength, speed and intelligence allow me to do anything I want....except figure out women." (Week 17)
In light of such a great contest, in recognition of the Readers edging out the Staffers in total predictions and in celebration of not only the Broncos' first trip to the playoffs since 2005 but also their first post season victory in six years, I have decided that it is only fitting that those valiant Readers who tied a Staff should also be awarded a hat.
I have further decided that those Readers who did not out-predict their Staffer made a significant contribution to the Readers' victory and for that reason, they too should be awarded a hat.
Finally, I have also discovered that circumstances have left me in possession of one extra hat. I have decided that since only seventeen out of the forty-one MHR members who threw their name into the hat (pun intended) were able to be picked to participate, the extra hat should be awarded to one of the twenty-four members who were not chosen. So . . . I wrote all of those names on a piece of paper. Put them into a bowl and asked my wife to draw one. The lucky winner of that final hat is . . . <drum roll, please> . . . that Mile High Report member known as . . . Sean in PA.
Once again, congratulations to everyone who participated in the contest and a word of thanks for making it a great event.
Go Broncos!!!!!