Behind the bar at the Lariat Saloon, “Nine-toed” Bob puts down the bottle and picks up his pen. As his Grand Lake regulars slam their Broncos-named shots – “the helicopter” and “the orange crush” – Bob Nicholls pours his football affections into a notebook. He’s writing a torch song.
The bartender’s words splash out in a lyrical replay, “It goes from Elway and how we switched fields,” he says, “to our poor start this year and how we turned it around.”
He wants the tune, like his team, to end on a high note. His band, Nine-Toed Bob and the Stragglers, will belt it out at a Denver pep rally tonight, 24 hours before the Broncos meet New England at Invesco Field at Mile High.
His working title: “A Season for the Fans.”
That’s perfect, really, because Broncomania is nothing more than a 30-year love song, first fizzing with sips of orange soda – and the invitation to a big dance, Super Bowl XII.
Then the California blond arrived, tempting you with gaudy rings that always seemed out of reach. You were hurt. Finally, he delivered not one, but two honeymoons on the beach. You danced in the street. Then the California blond left. You lost your old house. You waited seven years for the playoffs to come back to town. But you stayed true. Talk about an orange crush.
Nothing bigger in Denver
Drenched in all that melodrama, there’s nothing bigger in Denver than an NFL playoff game, say Broncos fans, players and a few of the people who run things around here. The replica jerseys emerge, the horse flags fly, the ticket prices soar, the parties rage, the shopping carts overflow, the TV ratings surge, the hearts flutter. With kickoff for the Denver-New England AFC divisional playoff game set for 6:15 p.m. Saturday, resurgent fan fervor stretches from “Nine- toed” Bob’s bar near the shore of Grand Lake to plush rooms inside the Governor’s Mansion.
“Obviously,” says Gov. Bill Owens, “it’s huge.”
His job may carry more responsibility than yours, but the governor’s Broncos addiction runs as deep as in any guy in orange chaps and a blue wig. Could it be any other way in Colorado? Owens had been in office just three weeks in January 1999 when he flew to Miami to watch John Elway’s final game, Super Bowl XXXIII.
“I think it would be cool to win the Super Bowl in my first year as governor and in my last. Like bookends,” Owens says. “Maybe they would even give me a ring. I’m not asking for much.”
Orange-tinged frenzy
Inside the Broncos locker room, some players say they feel that old, orange-tinged frenzy rising again.
You just have to listen hard, says special-team player Keith Burns, in his third stint with the Broncos since 1994.
“Everybody is kind of talking with a whisper so they can save their voice for Saturday night. That’s the word on the street,” Burns says. “We’re going out, preparing to play. The fans are going through their routines, getting ready to cheer.”
Indeed, the noise at Invesco Field is beginning to rival the din at old Mile High Stadium, some fans and players say. After the 2001 move, it apparently took ticket-holders time to get cozy enough with their new neighbors to lose their inhibitions and rant like before.
“It has turned the corner this year,” says “Nine-toed” Bob, who lost one digit after knee-surgery complications. His band also performs tonight at America’s Bar & Grill, 7545 E. Iliff Ave. in Denver.
“Ever since the (Sept. 18) San Diego game when we booed them off the field, everybody’s all happy, like we took part in this,” he said.
And if they’re not screaming, they’re spending. Just watch those Broncos bucks fly.
It’s the jerseys: The Broncos Store at Invesco Field has racked up a record year, said Tim Kellond, retail operations manager. Saturday will only pad those stats. Kellond won’t reveal exact figures.
“I haven’t seen people this excited,” he says, “since Invesco Field has been open.”
It’s the seats: Ticket brokers are selling Broncos-Patriots seats near the rim of the stadium for $110 (about twice face value) and at the 50-yard line for up to $575 (about five times face value).
It’s the rush for cold cuts, cold beer and fake cheese in a jar.
“It’s the parties,” says Rich Grant, spokesman for the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Fans are aching, Grant says, to revive the tingling bliss and sidewalk camaraderie they felt during the team’s Super Bowl runs of January 1998 and January 1999.
That was an era of noon pep rallies in Larimer Square, of banner newspaper headlines that blared “Broncomania,” of orange-painted houses and ticker- tape parades. Before retiring, Elway delivered two antidotes to 20 years of blowout jokes.
“I’ve been in this job for 26 years, and I’ve seen everything from the opening of a mall (Cherry Creek) to the opening of an airport. But the biggest events ever in that time were the Broncos victory parades,” Grant says. “Sheer joy.”
“If you lived in Denver, you were a brother to every other person. We shared an incredible common experience. That alone is enough to get people excited now, to be that close to having that magic again.”
Is that old buzz really back? At Invesco Field tonight, the Broncos and two sponsors are hosting a “24 Hours to Kickoff” rally at 6 p.m. On Internet message boards, Broncos fans are vowing to fill the stadium with orange-clad people on Saturday night.
A field of hope
And, a final piece of proof: Bill Shaefer has his tractor fully fueled and his onion field ready for plowing.
In 1998, the LaSalle farmer awoke to 3 inches of fresh snow and abruptly decided to hop aboard his John Deere 4450 and carve a 60-foot message of hope in his field: “GO BRONCOS. GOOD LUCK.” He hasn’t done any tractor writing since then. No home playoff games, no real shot at Super Bowl glory. That changes Saturday, he believes.
“I’ll do it again,” Shaefer says, “if we get some snow.”
The governor is hardly immune. He admits his rooting interest contains a selfish streak. When pollsters survey residents about the state’s overall direction – whether Colorado is on the right track or the wrong track – Owens is convinced those numbers are anchored to the rise and fall of coach Mike Shanahan’s team.
“When the Broncos are doing well, people feel good about Colorado. And,” he says, “they like their governor.”
The governor may embrace Broncomania, but at least one Denver player purposely avoids the rising fan fury.
Denver placekicker Jason Elam says he won’t watch, read or listen to any football coverage this week. To keep his mind clear, he’ll instead tune in to Fox News. In other words, days before a field goal may decide the season, Elam would rather be thinking about Supreme Court nominees, Iranian nuclear ambitions or the war in Iraq – anything but the big game-day buildup.
“I separate myself from it,” Elam says. “It just kind of helps you stay calm, relaxed and focused. You don’t want to get all jacked up and excited. That doesn’t help me at all.”
Staff writer Bill Briggs can be reached at 303-820-1720 or bbriggs@denverpost.com.
