The Broncos’ quest for another Super Bowl title – or at least their first playoff win since the 1998 season – officially begins this morning.
The Broncos’ three-week training camp journey starts bright and early at 8:30 a.m. at the Dove Valley practice field. Fill the Gatorade bottles, apply the sunscreen and wear comfortable shoes. Training camp means long days in the hot sun. And don’t worry if you miss a day. Tomorrow will be exactly the same as today.
NFL training camp is a real-life version of “Groundhog Day.” Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Shanahan stars in the role of Bill Murray.
Don’t fret if you miss a morning stretch or an afternoon onside kick drill. There’s plenty of time to catch the glamour of an NFL practice. There will be 26 practices between today and Aug. 18, when the team cuts down to one practice a day in preparation for the Sept. 11 season opener at Miami.
The team leaves Aug. 9 for five days to finally beat up on people in other uniforms against the Texans in Houston, but the best chance to be a part of training camp will be the next several days. The Broncos will practice twice daily through Aug. 5, with designs of erasing their 25-point loss at Indianapolis that ended their season in the first round of the playoffs.
The best time to go is when they have full two-a-day practices. The Broncos endure the special-teams practices Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week.
A day of training camp practice means a day on your feet. There will be no bleacher seating available this year. Fans can bring small lawn chairs. However, trying to watch 300-pounders run around the field from the vantage point of a lawn chair is often difficult when there are 300-pounders standing on the sideline. Gates open an hour before practice, so arrive early for a good spot.
It’s basically the Rose Parade without floats. But unlike the Rose Parade, this merriment is available more than just one morning a year.
– Bill Williamson
WEAK IN REVIEW
1. Which took longer: Larry Brown leaving the Pistons or Larry Brown joining the Knicks?
2. The National League West. Padres lose eight in a row and stay on top. Rockies are only 14 1/2 back and charging!
3. Training camp holdouts. For the most part, they are a waste of newsprint. The player comes in, the team says all the right things.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
1. George Karl make a quick recovery and stay cancer-free the rest of his life.
2. Eric Byrnes stay with the Rockies, but start hitting. He has a chance to become the team’s most popular player.
3. Tiger Woods return to The International.
AROUND TOWN
The weather this weekend is ripe for a drive in the mountains, and why not head to Fairplay for the 57th annual World Championship Pack Burro Races? Think of it as a marathon while running with your favorite four-legged friend. Llamas run Saturday and burros Sunday. The races are part of the Burro Days festival – which includes arts and crafts booths, parades, dinner theater and dances – and coincides with the Park County Fair.
THE COUCH
OFF: How about getting out and doing something for children you’ve never met? There are a few worthwhile fundraisers this weekend. The Miles 4 Miracles (active.com) in Highlands Ranch on Saturday morning is a 4-mile run/walk, with part of the entry fee going to Children’s Hospital. In Englewood, the Kid’s Cure for Cancer 5K run/walk (kidscure.org) benefits the Brent Eley Foundation. The Angels in Action 5K family run (avon.org) in Avon helps support the Crista Lee Swinford Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is awarded to an Eagle County High School student.
ON: In yet another format change to try to improve the lack of competition in all-star games, the MLS stars take on the “world” Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. The MLS All-Star Game (1:30 p.m., KMGH-7) pits the league’s best – including Rapids forward Jeff Cunningham, who leads the league with 10 goals – against the English Premier League’s Fulham FC, which dates to 1879.
