BAR:
OAK TAVERN
Oak Tavern is club-titan Francois Safieddine’s latest entry into LoDo nightlife. He took the old Monarck nightclub, 1416 Market St., and transformed it into the swankest sports bar in town. Oak Tavern is what Old Chicago would look like if Ralph Lauren owned it. Two deer heads greet you on the left wall as you enter. Two bars boast 10 stools each, seven booths line the right side of the room under a vintage Western photo. A back room is painted as the American flag with lounge-y couches facing two of the bar’s seven flat screens. It’s one of the best-looking bars in town, even during a ballgame.
GRILLED:
JEREMY BLOOM
Jeremy Bloom, 27, is Colorado’s homegrown hero. Born and raised in Loveland, he was a high school football and track star before he went on to become a CU-Boulder football star, three-time World Cup Champion freestyle skier, two-time Olympian, a black-belt in tae kwon do and an NFL player (although injuries kept him benched). His boyish Colorado looks made him an Abercrombie & Fitch model. He lives in downtown Denver but travels to promote his foundation, Wish of a Lifetime, a charity that grants wishes to seniors. He’s also involved in a booming website, , that gives out free medical advice from health pros. He orders a Coors Light.
BH: That’s your drink?
Bloom: I don’t drink much, but if I have a beer I’ll have a Coors Light. Mostly I drink water.
BH: Food?
Bloom: I eat extremely healthy. Dinner is usually broiled chicken and raw vegetables.
BH: So what’s similar about skiing and football?
Bloom: Mentally they are very similar, the way you prepare for competition. But physically you could not pick two more different sports.
BH: Do you prefer a team sport to a solo sport?
Bloom: I enjoy a team sport much better when you win. But there is more room for politics. In a solo sport, if I got it done, it’s done. It’s reflected in my score. I like having all the pressure on me.
BH: Did you get distracted by the cheerleaders when you played for the Philadelphia Eagles?
Bloom: I was in a serious relationship then, but I’m not going to tell you I wasn’t looking.
BH: Are you dating someone?
Bloom: I just got out of a four-year relationship, so no.
BH: Would you ever go on “The Bachelor.”
Bloom: I’ve been asked, but no.
BH: Why wouldn’t you?
Bloom: I’m on “The Bachelor” already. And asking a girl to marry me on national television just isn’t what I’m about.
BH: Do women throw themselves at you?
Bloom: How am I supposed to answer a question like that? Let’s just say I like a challenge.
BH: Who’s your perfect girl?
Bloom: I grew up with a nurturing mother, an insanely good mother, so nurturing is important to me.
BH: You’re an Abercrombie & Fitch model, a skiing champion, a football player, a black belt, with a foundation. You’re Batman. What’s wrong with you?
Bloom: Oh, there is plenty wrong with me. Sometimes I get overly passionate about what I’m doing and push people away.
BH: How do you keep in shape?
Bloom: A lot of cross-training. Living in Colorado, I can hike, bike, water ski, swim, run. The more I’m outside the better. And then some heavy lifting.
BH: You were a punt returner. Isn’t that the scariest position on the field?
Bloom: Waiting for the ball, you feel like everyone is coming down on you. I just loved it. I loved the fear.
BH: What’s your idea of happiness?
Bloom: To always be chasing a goal, having great friends and eventually having a family.
BH: What’s with the Wish of a Lifetime Foundation? Why do you want to be so involved with seniors?
Bloom: Both of my grandparents have been very influential in my life. My grandfather taught me how to ski by throwing miniature candy bars down the hill when I was 3 years old. And I went to Asia with the U.S. Ski Team and saw how they treated their elders. And I wanted to one day start a foundation that had the same ideals.
BH: What are some of the wishes you’ve granted?
Bloom: We have a sky-diving trip coming up with a 73-year-old grandmother.
BH: Seniors’ wishes are different from what kids wish for.
Bloom: Sure. It’s so normal to go through life with changing wishes and dreams. And most of the seniors we’ve come in contact with, low-income seniors who have, say, sent their kids to college, when you want to grant them a wish they are totally out of their element. They say “No. I’m here to help, I’m here to give.”
BH: It’s a foundation with a lot of joy.
Bloom: The reason for that is my whole life in athletics has been selfishly spent. All I ever cared about was winning medals or football games. I pushed things aside, friends, family, to accomplish things, to go to the Olympics and play for the NFL. Those were the dreams I have had since I was 15 years old, and in order to do that, I lived a selfish life. So now I have to take my blessings and create something, somewhere, to help others.
BH: Your heroes?
Bloom: That’s easy. Pat Tillman is my hero. I wish I was more like him.
BH: What do you value in your friends?
Bloom: The biggest blessing in my life are my friends. Their generosity, their unwavering support, their loyalty.
BH: Where would you like to live?
Bloom: I will always live in Colorado.
BH: Where would you like to visit?
Bloom: The South Pacific.
BH: Restaurants?
Bloom: I went to Tag last night and it was really good. Earl’s is always fun.
BH: What do you dislike?
Bloom: Celebrities who live on a fantasy planet.
BH: Music?
Bloom: I like The Fray. But I am a huge country fan. Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait.
BH: Do you listen to music while you ski?
Bloom: Oh yes. And while I’m working out.
BH: Do you have a personal style?
Bloom: T-shirt, jeans, flip-flops.
BH: Do you always wear your hat backward?
Bloom: Sometimes I wear it forward. I usually wear hats.
BH: Books?
Bloom: Not so much.
BH: Motto?
Bloom: “It’s not the critic who counts.”
BH: You never won an Olympic medal. Does that eat at you?
Bloom: Of course.
BH: What happened?
Bloom: I compete in a sport where the smallest mistake is the difference between first and 10th. I felt good at both Olympics. I wasn’t nervous. It just didn’t happen.
BH: Are you going to the 2010 Olympics?
Bloom: I don’t know. There has been a shift in priorities for me. I have a different landscape of challenges. I’m trying to find where it all fits right now.
Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Bill Husted: 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com.
