Sometimes Monday is a bleak, unforgiving and cruel day. Today is not one of those days. Yesterday, the Denver Broncos pulled off one of the most amazing victories in the illustrious history of sports in Colorado. I've followed sports ardently since I can remember, my earliest memories being of my uncles playing baseball in Brighton and following the New York Yankees and the Denver Bears. I learned to dissect a baseball box score in the daily newspaper by the time I was in the second grade. The Broncos were not on the scene yet, Major League Baseball was in the newspaper or on Saturday's Game of The Week, with Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese. Later, Curt Gowdy's voice, along with Mel Allen and his trademark, "How about that?"
I remember being in the basement kitchen and classroom area of the Brighton Buddhist Temple with members of the community, on December 28th, 1958, during the yearly tradition of pounding steamed rice into mochi. Mochi is a product with just a single ingredient, steamed rice. The rice is cooked and dumped into a large, carved and polished solid marble basin about 20" wide and 20" deep (like a huge mortar, used to grind spices). Two or three men stand by with large wooden mallets (like long handled pestles) and rhythmically begin pounding the rice into a condensed, glutenous gob while my grandmother kneeled next to the basin alternately wetting her hand in a bowl of water and reaching into the granite basin to unstick the rice mass from the sides of the stone bowl, and at the same time, reposition the clump so the next mallet blow could properly smash the rice evenly. When the loaf of smushed and pounded rice reached the right consistency, it was removed to the tables in the meeting room, already lined with wax paper and cornstarch. The women would begin portioning the loaf, still warm, into 3 to 5-inch 'cookies' about a third-of-an-inch thick. The process was repeated until all the rice was cooked, pounded and portioned and all the families had their share of mochi divvied up. The semi-hard and dried cake-cookies were bagged and taken home, some to eat right away, some to prepare traditional New Year's dishes, and some into the freezer to enjoy the rest of the year. Maybe I'll post a future blog about my favorite Japanese foods and traditions, as I'm getting off-track here, and hungry.
Anyway, on Sunday, December 28, 1958, there was a black-and-white television plugged-in in that church basement, with a grainy picture and maybe a 15" screen, brought in by one of my uncles to watch the NFL Championship Game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts, at Yankee Stadium, on NBC TV. The Giants featured multi-talented receiver-runner Frank Gifford, linebacker Sam Huff, and two coordinators you might have heard about: Vince Lombardi (offense) and Tom Landry (defense). The Colts were led by QB Johnny Unitas and his favorite target Raymond Berry, RB Lenny Moore and defensive stalwarts Gino Marchetti, Art Donovan (famous for his funny appearances on Johnny Carson shows) and Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb (who died of a heroin overdose just 5 years later). The game, eventually won by Baltimore, in sudden-death overtime, 23-17 (a one-yard run by Colts RB Alan Ameche) was watched by virtually everyone who owned a television back then, and has been called "The Greatest Game Ever Played"...... It probably is one of the top three or four football games ever televised. I will always remember the game because of the excitement and reverence it generated amongst all who watched.
The first really big Colorado moment, for me, was at the end of the 1977 season of our beloved Denver Broncos, the original Orange Crush. The team had just been turned over to head coach Robert "Red" Miller following the 1976 season, when, even with a 9-5 record, the team missed the playoffs and key players issued a "no-confidence" statement concerning then head coach John Ralston, who resigned. The Broncos went on to a scintillating 12-2 regular season record, winning the AFC West Division and reaching the playoffs for the first time in team history. The team went on to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers at Mile High Stadium 34-21 on Christmas Eve 1977. That same day, in Baltimore, the Wild-Card Oakland Raiders beat the AFC East Champs Colts 37-31 in a raucous double-overtime game to set up the third meeting of the year between the hated Raiders (head coach John Madden) and the Broncos. Denver beat up on the Raiders 30-7 on October 16 in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, but Oakland outlasted the Broncos 24-14 two weeks later in the rematch at Mile High Stadium. The Raiders were the defending World Champions, having dispatched the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI the previous January.
On New Years Day, 1978, my wife Joanne was 8-months preggers with my daughter Sara, as the Broncos and Raiders squared off at Mile High for the AFC Championship and a ticket to Super Bowl XII to be played in the Louisiana Superdome on January 15th. The game is still burned into my memory. Oakland led 3-0 when they scored on their opening drive. On Denver's second play from scrimmage, limping and hobbling Denver QB Craig Morton fired a 74-yard strike for a touchdown to Haven Moses. Hysteria at a mile high! The score was still 7-3 in the third period, Denver had the ball first and goal at the two, handoff to Rob Lytle (a Michigan Wolverine), who dove up and almost over the line and was met head-on by Jack "The Assassin" Tatum. The ball squirted loose, picked up by Oakland nose tackle Mike McCoy who was rumblin' and stumblin', uncontested toward the Bronco endzone. WHISTLE!! The line judge did not see the fumble and blew the play dead and the ball was rewarded back to the Broncos. John Madden was livid, red-faced and cussing out the refs, was penalized, half-the-distance to the goal, first down at the one. Jon Keyworth ("Make Those Miracles Happen") scored on the next play to make it 14-3, Denver. The officiating crew made up for the gaffe later when they ruled a touchdown pass to Denver WR Jack Dolbin incomplete. This game was a big impetus for the league to later institute instant replay to review marginal or incorrect decisions, and they still fuck up. The game ended, Denver 20, Oakland 17, as Tom Jackson ran in front of the Raider sideline taunting John Madden, telling the "Fat Man" to shut up and get out of town. The Raiders needed police escorts to depart Mile High Stadium, and the Broncos were on their way to the franchise's first Super Bowl. (Lost to Dallas, 27-10, not included in my highlights).
Other uniquely Colorado sports memories, for me:
January 29, 1984. NBA All-Star Game at McNichols Arena. Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson, with Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe from the Nuggets, Julius Erving, George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and All-Star MVP, Isiah Thomas. The East won, 154-145 in overtime (not a defensive showcase). I went with my wife #2, Kathy and a bunch of friends that I worked with at Sebastian's. Awesome to see great basketball in an era that was relatively free of knuckleheads and idiots masquerading as Tattooed Millionaires. Even Isiah Thomas was kinda likeable back then. And, those stylish shorty shorts, very classy!
Super Bowl XXXII at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on January 25, 1998. Who can ever forget that magical season, and final crowning game? Denver Broncos 31, Green Bay Packers 24. Terrell Davis returning home to his hometown and earning the MVP trophy. The favored and over-confident Green Bay Packers, led by Brett Favre and the defending World Champions. The John Elway's helicopter crash-landing to pick up a crucial third-quarter first down on third-and-seven to the Green Bay 4-yard-line. The score was 17-17 at the time, and Denver took the lead two plays later as TD scored from the one. Who can forget, as we found out later, that Terrell Davis couldn't see due to a severe migraine, but he was asked to just be a decoy so Elway's quarterback sneak could be successful to give the Broncos their 14-7 lead in the first half? I can remember the voice of long-time Bronco radio announcer, Dave Logan, saying, as the last-gasp 4th down pass from Favre was batted away by John Mobley, "Denver's gonna win this thing!" The next year, of course, the Broncos won it all again, against an inferior and overmatched Atlanta Falcon team, coached by former Bronco coach, Dan Reeves. Not as special as the first one, and sad, because it was The Duke's, John Elway's, last game.
Colorado Buffaloes-62, Nebraska Cornhuskers/BugEaters-36 on September 23, 2001. I shall always remember watching the game on a Carnival cruise ship with all 19 members of the entire Mabel Miyasaki Family on our way back to port in Miami at the end of a fantastic week-long Carribean cruise. Some of us were in a little bar on the ship watching on TV and my Mom took over the entertainment responsibilities as she single-handedly converted everybody in that ship's tavern into a Buffs fan, shoulder-to-shoulder. Colorado's RB Chris Brown, 24 rushes, 198 yards and SIX rushing touchdowns! My favorite college football game of all time. My two favorite college teams: the Colorado Buffaloes, and whoever is playing Nebraska.
Both Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Championships. The 1996 Stanley Cup was won in an almost anticlimactic fashion, as the Avalanche swept the over-matched Florida Panthers 4 games to none, finishing on the Florida ice at Miami Arena on Uwe Krupp's overtime goal. Joe Sakic won the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP). Patrick Roy, Peter Forsberg, Adam Deadmarsh, Mike Ricci, Claude Lemieux, Adam Foote, the "Chief" Chris Simon. Fun team, followed by a very memorable parade in downtown Denver to celebrate the city's first-ever Major Championship. The second Stanley Cup was more memorable to me, the one that was won on home-ice in the new Pepsi Center, in a seven game series against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, New Jersey Devils (who were the Colorado Rockies until 1982). Joe Saki(c) handing Lord Stanley's Cup to Ray Bourque, who had spent 19 years as a Boston Bruin without ever winning the big prize. He joined the Avalanche a year-and-a-half (on March 6, 2000, my Mom's 75th birthday) before he hoisted the Cup, in his last game as a player. (I still don't think he merits a retired number in the rafters at the Pepsi Center). I watched Game 7 in a motel room on West Colfax. Do not jump to conclusions, I was staying in the city overnight since the Colorado State Open Steel Tip Darts Championship was being held that weekend at the Elks Club on West Colfax, near the motel. I remember seeing the smoke from downtown Denver that night as rowdy "fans" (looters) set fires and caused mayhem to "celebrate" (loot jewelry and liquor stores) the Avalanche victory.
October 1, 2007. Game 163 of the Major League regular season. Scene: Coors Field, 20th and Blake in lower downtown Denver. One game to determine the final playoff spot, against the San Diego Padres. The Play-In Game. A thrilling, 13-inning affair with heroics galore, home runs, five lead changes. Two-run home run off the bat of Padre OF Scott Hairston in the 13th inning. Doubles by Kaz Matsui and Troy Tulowitzki and a triple by Matt Holiday, off the best closer ever, in the National League, Trevor Hoffman, to tie the score. A shallow, soft liner to right off the bat of Jamey Carroll. The catch by Brian Giles, the tag at third by Holliday, the throw to catcher Michael Barrett blocking the plate. On target. The slide, chin-first. SAFE!! (probably). On to the playoffs, sweep Philadelphia and Arizona, on to the World Series, Rain, waiting, ticket fiasco, swept by the Red Sux.
Of all those aforementioned memories, yesterday's Wild WildCard game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers ranks right up there as a top-five. So much so, I think it deserves its own blog entry. Besides, this exercise ran long, and I'm running out of steam. It's fun reminiscing, for me, since small bites of my memory are eroding away, bit by bit. And maybe, just maybe, byte by byte I can save and savor some of these memories for me, my kids and grandkids. That game yesterday by the Broncos, led by Tim Tebow, was the most fun I've had with my pants on in a very long time. And those arrogant Pittsburgh Steelers will just have to wait for their 7th Championship Ring. Plus, they had to go back to ArmPittsBurgh after the game. Don't forget those terrible hankies, thanks for comin', have a right-nice trip home.
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