Has there ever been a team in the NFL playoffs consistently favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers, but so roundly dismissed by the rest of the country? The Broncos were favored by 3 1/2 points over the Patriots in their AFC divisional playoff game and won 27-13 despite an overwhelming general opinion east of the Colorado-Kansas border that predicted New England winning in a rout.
Now, the Broncos are favored by three points over Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game and again, the Steelers seem a popular pick. See ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski, who wrote “I have a better chance of slipping the Lombardi Trophy some post-Super Bowl tongue than the Denver Broncos do this year. That’s because neither of us are going to be playing in The XL at Ford Field come Feb. 5.”
East Coast bias? Perhaps. But Broncos fans have more important things to worry about, such as what salsa to buy for their home-viewing of the game Sunday, or how much money to bring to Mile High for beer.
Did you know that among the regular concession stands at Invesco Field there are no kegs of beer? Instead, the stadium employs an intricate plumbing system for beer, with pipes running from four large refrigerated rooms that pump brew throughout the stadium. A great idea, really. But for Broncos fans on the verge of rooting for a Super Bowl-bound team, what would be the team’s first since 1999, anything less than the best just won’t do.
But beware of too much beer, the state-of-the-art stadium has other amenities, such as a holding cell for unruly fans. So break out your Tyrone Braxton and Bubby Brister jerseys and go nuts. But not too nuts.
The couch
ON: Remember when the Avalanche and Red Wings would play all their games in front of a national television audience? And for good reason: Nearly every game between the teams was the most exciting played on the NHL’s schedule that day. That promise may now be returning. When the Red Wings visit the Pepsi Center on Saturday for a matchup against the Avs, the game will pit a division leader against one 8-1 in its past nine. And the game will be televised nationally on NBC, which last week aired, finally, its first hockey game since 1975. The Avs and Red Wings show at noon on KUSA-9.
OFF: You know the Winter Wild Adventure Race in Snowmass Village on Saturday is serious when the organizers require you to bring your own shovel and probe. The race includes touring, skiing or snowboarding, fixed-rope rappel, beacon search and navigation. And the course is designed to take three to six hours to complete, as it covers 15 miles and more than 5,000 vertical feet of elevation. It’s a self-contained race, so no aid stations will be offered. Attack the 7 a.m. race by yourself or as a team of two. Find more information at utemountaineer.com. And don’t forget your helmet. And beacon. And altimeter. And some food and water.
What we’d like to see
Cleveland’s LeBron James pick up his game to heighten his rivalry with the Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony. Since the two were drafted in 2003, Anthony and the Nuggets hold a 4-2 lead in the series with James and the Cavaliers. James, who missed a free throw against the Nuggets that would have tied the game with less than a second remaining Wednesday, has not made a game-winning shot in the NBA, according to The Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal’s Brian Windhorst.
Weak in review
When a vandal threw a rock through a window of NFL referee Pete Morelli’s Stockton, Calif., home Monday, suspicion immediately focused on some mysterious, disgruntled Steelers fan. It was Morelli who overuled Troy Polamalu’s interception of a Peyton Manning pass in the Steelers-Colts divisional playoff, which the NFL later determined to be a mistake. But seeing as Morelli is a high school principal by day, one must wonder: are sports fans to blame, or some detention-prone rug rat?
Around twon
The Colorado Eagles minor-league hockey team plays its home games at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland. But an entirely different event will use the ice tonight. The 30th Anniversary World Championship ICE Racing Series, a professional
slick-track motorcycle, ATV and kart tour, hits the Events Center ice with races such as the “Flat Track Mad Dogs Motorcycle,” the “Unlimited Outlaw Ice Speedway Quad” and the “X-Treme Speedway Kart Racing.” The race names are kind of dumb, but the motorcycles, which look like big mountain bikes with motors, have tires covered with razor-sharp steel studs, making it possible for the bikes to hit 60 mph in three seconds. Oh, and there’s a “no breaks allowed” rule to add to the excitement or stupidity, whichever way you decide. See for yourself today at 7:30 p.m. in Loveland.
