United In Orange

United

“What’s so great about football?”

Okay, female who knows absolutely nothing about sports that somehow crashed our Sunday viewing party. What is so great about football? Why do I love it? I’ve never played it before. I mean, I was always interested in it, I’m just not built for it. I’m 5’6” 130 pounds. That’s me right now. Imagine how small I was growing up. If I played football, there would need to be a medical staff with a defibrillator with constant watch on me. I can’t take a hit, even now. But that’s beside the point.

            I’ve been asked this question many times throughout the years, and I’ve never ever really come up with a great answer for it, either. But to be fair, I’ve never really thought about it until now. It’s just a tradition. Growing up, every Sunday was spent with my dad and my brothers. It was my favorite part of the week. For just a few hours, it would bring together my family. It was the sense of togetherness. No matter what had happened in a week-no matter how good or how bad-it always came to a pause on Sunday.

            This sense of togetherness is what drives football and football fans, and on a grander scale, sports fans. Every Sunday, a city will come together. All the terrible things that happen in the world-shootings, crime, war, poverty, whatever it may be-all the fighting stops. On Sundays, it’s all about your team versus my team. That’s it. The end.

            Let’s back up a bit. I’m from Denver. So naturally I’m a Broncos fan. I was five years old and had just moved to Denver when John Elway won his second Super Bowl for the Broncos. The only thing I remember is having a Super Bowl party with a bunch of strangers our family didn’t know. The only other time I’ve seen my team win something was in 2001 when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. Again, I was very young and don’t remember too much from that series. What I’m trying to say is that I never have seen a team that I’m emotionally attached to win something.

            To be quite honest, Denver sports fans are spoiled. Whether or not we all know it-we are. The Nuggets have made the playoffs every year in the past decade. The Rockies can be atrocious, but not that long ago they made the World Series (2007). The Avs were one of the best teams in hockey from the mid 90s to the lockout in 2004. And lastly, the Broncos have also made a good amount of playoffs, even after Elway’s retirement in 1999. Not only that, but one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the league fell right into our laps, just when the Broncos started to fall into a mediocre abyss.

            That’s pretty spoiled if you ask me. The chances your team wins the championship more than a handful of times in your lifetime (exclude Yankees fans and ‘90s Chicago Bulls fans) are extremely slim. So the fact that I’ve been apart of multiple playoff runs in my lifetime, it’s spoiled me. It got me thinking. I feel so terrible for fans who never get to see their teams win. I feel so sorry for hardcore Chicago Cubs fans. There are fans that live and die without ever seeing their team win. There are fans out there like pre-2004 Red Sox fans, who not only suffer while watching the cross state rival Yankees win a World Series every few years, but suffer losing every year to the team they hate the most.

            Being a hardcore sports fan and losing is a worse feeling than a bad breakup. Everyone always says the same stupid line for both situations. When your team loses it’s: “It’s alright, we’ll be back. We’ll get ‘em next year”. When you go through a break up it’s: “It’s alright, she’ll be back”. The truth is-neither of those statements hold any sort of truth to them. It’s false hope, most times. There’s no guaranteeing your team will be back. Hoping for something you want more than anything else is what supplies a great downfall in disappointment.

            But it’s so hard to be romantically and emotionally involved and infatuated with a team for so long, and not be hopeful. For once, it actually is true. The Broncos are back after one of the most disappointing and heartbreaking seasons I have ever put myself through. Next week, my Broncos are playing in the Super Bowl for the first time since I was five years old. Either way I’ll be crying. I’m not afraid to admit it. I’ve never seen my team win before, and just the thought of winning a Super Bowl makes me teary eyed. I’ve never seen a team that I have strong rooting interests be involved in a championship before.

            A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing the Chargers play the Broncos in the Divisional Round, live in person. The whole city of Denver was that bright orange we’re known for. It was more than just a game to a lot of people. People are crying poor, people are miserable, stressed and pissed off more than we’ve ever been. But for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon, it all came to a stop. 70,000 fans were twirling bright orange towels screaming their brains out. That’s when it hit me: people don’t enjoy moments like these enough anymore. Just look around you. It’s a beautiful world we live in.

            So I’ll leave you with this, female who knows nothing about sports that’s sitting in my house on a Sunday for no reason-I love football because it unites people who seemingly can’t be united. Because, for once, just once, it makes people all across the nation appreciate a moment. We’re not living through our phone. We’re not texting everyone what is going on. It’s a bunch of people watching football with cold beers in our hand, and nothing more. That’s what I love about football.