On The Road Denver Edition: How About Some Football?

Dateline Denver, Colorado:  August 8, 2011



So last week this olelongrooffan was chatting it up with the land surveyor for the project in which I am engaged here in the Mile High City and the subject of the Denver Broncos arose. Seems his daughter is some big muckity muck within the Broncos organization and had obtained he and his wife VIP tickets to a Broncos practice session down at their practice field about 45 minutes south of here.

An idea popped in my head that this would not be a bad gig to attend so I pulled up the Broncos website and realized that on this past Saturday, the Broncos were holding a scrimmage at their game field, Invesco Field at the Mile High Stadium.

Well Counters, you know what this olelongrooffan did, don't ya? Yep, I finished up working round the "Port Royal" about 1, showered and headed the six blocks to Invesco Field to catch me some National Football League action.  Did I mention it was free admission to boot?



It was a pretty cool gig and, although I was seated facing the western sun, I enjoyed myself along with around 10,000 other folks that afternoon.



I had pretty decent seats and lots of room to spread out.  The opposite side of the field was mostly shady and packed.



After a series of field goal practice kicks, the blue and white teams sided up and commenced to getting at it.



It seems the Broncos are pretty strong on the passing plays but their running plays left something to be desired.



And let me tell you folks, pro football cheerleaders look alot older on the boob tube than they appear live and in the flesh.



And I have this to say about that. I was not at all impressed with young Tim Tebow. 24 plays, 3 interceptions, 4 sacks and ZERO first downs.  I imagine that kid's learning curve is pretty steep these days.



After watching those plays, this olelongrooffan decided to call it a Broncos day and headed on out. Just outside gate 4 the powers that be have installed a series of horseshoe pits open, free of charge, to the general public. Broncos...Horseshoes...Get it? Pretty clever this olelongrooffan thinks.



See that parking lot at the end of the walkway to Invesco Field.  As I arrived, the cops had the entrance to this not yet full parking lot blocked off and were directing us fans to a lot several blocks away.  I decided to head back to the main drag and try and find something a little closer. As I was turning onto Federal Road, I spotted a gap in the cable surrounding that parking lot and followed an Audi A4 through it into that just across the street parking lot. Yeah, this olelongrooffan is not known as "Create A Parking Spot John" for no reason. FTW.



So anyway, out in that walkway portion the Broncos have some pretty cool sculptures, all football related. Here is a mouthpiece that was about 15 feet long.



Here is a neckbrace...



A chinstrap...



Knee pads...



A section of a cleat...



And a tee used for place kicks...



And although there was not an oversized jockstrap in sight, this olelongrooffan did receive a Broncos keepsake on my way out that, even today, allows me to

Celebrate Life.