January 1999. George W. Bush was the governor of Texas, gas cost 99 cents a gallon and LeBron James was the tallest kid in his eighth-grade class.
And Denver was hosting another AFC championship game, with many more seemingly bound to follow.
Yeah, well, stuff happens in the NFL. Little did we know that seven years would pass before local pro football fans would be able to scratch the championship-game itch again.
Given the anticlimactic nature of the Super Bowl, today’s Broncos-Steelers game could make for better viewing than anything The XL has to offer.
Herein, henceforth and just for the heck of it, The Post presents 20 reasons why the AFC championship game is must-see TV. Unless, of course, you’re one of those lucky dogs in the stands:
1. It’s little old Pittsburgh vs. dusty old cowtown Denver. Why is the NFL better than Major League Baseball? Let’s put it this way: Don’t hold your breath waiting for a Pirates-Rockies playoff matchup.
2. Bill Cowher, the big-game coach who couldn’t. Come on, admit it, Steelers fans. Deep down, part of you is wondering how Coach Bill is going to screw it all up.
3. The flag-flying follies. Sure, you’re there for the game, but the real entertainment is watching the officials try to get the occasional call right. Don’t you wish they had a replay system in real life? You could have passed on that Enron stock and bought Google.
4. Jake the Snake. You think Kobe Bryant’s image changed overnight? With a win today, Jake Plummer would lose the Jake the Flake label forever.
5. The magic Bus. Um, Jerome? Don’t imagine you’ve got, like, one more critical fumble in you, do you? Nah, didn’t think so.
6. Big Ben. Update to the “personal” section of Jerome Bettis’ bio: “Among his hobbies are bowling and washing Ben Roethlisberger’s car for the rest of his life after Big Ben bailed him out with that tackle at Indy.”
7. See Champ run. You could have an opportunity to see Champ Bailey intercept another pass and run 100 yards. And trust us, if it happens again, he’ll sprint every inch.
8. The Sharp (and we don’t mean Shannon) Factor. You’ve got to tune in to see if one of the players lost a knife fight to his significant other the night before the game. How does that get listed on the injury report, anyway? Oh, we know: Johnny Jones, questionable (stabbed).
9. Come on, feel the noise. Do the math, Broncos fans. The Patriots returned 225 tickets for last Saturday’s game. This time, thousands of Steelers fans have been begging, borrowing and stealing to get tickets. In other words, the only way it will be as loud is for the Broncos faithful to turn up the volume.
10. The Battle of the Beards. You know all about Grizzly Plummer’s beard, but how about that weak excuse for a whisker collection that Roethlisberger is sporting? And to think, ESPN.com’s Gene Wojciechowski called Jake’s peach fuzz the worst-looking beard this side of an Amish barn raising.
11. The hair apparents. What, you think Troy Polamalu has some wild-looking hair? Rumor has it Tom Nalen hasn’t combed his hair since the Broncos’ last Super Bowl appearance.
12. The D lines. At the risk of telling you something you already knew, if Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen gives Plummer a dose of Kimotherapy, as he did to Carson Palmer, the Broncos would be in serious trouble.
13. Third down. Go figure. For all their offensive credentials, neither team is very good at moving the chains. The Broncos converted 36.2 percent of their third downs, 10th in the AFC, and the Steelers were one notch worse at 35.4 percent.
14. The Colorado connection. Just wondering: How did the Broncos let Aaron Smith, Joey Porter and Clark Haggans, all mid-round draft picks who played for Colorado schools, get out of the state?
15. Kube’s swan song. The game will mark the last go-around in Our Town for Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak, who will become captain of the Titanic – er, coach of the Texans – the minute the season ends.
16. The running games. Talk about having the same MO. The Steelers during the regular season ran the ball 549 times and scored 389 points. The Broncos ran it 542 times and scored 395 points.
17. The killer D’s. While we’re on the subject, let’s talk some more about having the same MO. Both teams allowed 258 points. Only the Bears (202) and Colts (247) allowed fewer.
18. The wideouts. Don’t just watch those guys catch the ball. The teams have arguably the best-blocking wideouts in the business. Why? Simple. You don’t block in the running game, you don’t play for Cowher or Mike Shanahan.
19. Shanny’s evil eye. Shanahan doesn’t say much, if anything, when a player screws up. He doesn’t have to. His look says a thousand four-letter words.
20. The drives. The Broncos, as usual, will try to play keep-away with the ball. They led the league in average time of possession at 32 minutes, 37 seconds. Nothing noteworthy there. They ranked second in 2004 and first in 2003.
