Rawr Rawr Orton Sucks Rawr!; The ugly state of Bronco Nation

I was something of an odd child.  Painfully bashful, reserved, and what some older folks may have referred to as “obnoxious and completely unrelateable”.  You can’t fault them though; many of these assertions were (and are) dead on.  As socially inept personalities well know, making connections with others can be difficult, due to a universal lack of charisma and/or self-esteem.  Instead of living desolate, unhappy lives, we build associations with other dysfunctional beings through modes of culture.  Some of us bond with others through French cinema, or Spiderman, or even the occasional tough-to-define sexual fetish.

My own attempts to ingratiate myself into society led to a love of the Denver Broncos. Not just a love, but an endlessly abiding devotion that would consume my little ADD-riddled existence.  No doubt, they were as much of an underdog as I.  We mirrored one-another in our constant shortcomings and longwinded, bumbling efforts for marginal success.  I found myself reveling in every victory, and felt inexplicable mirth with every loss.

Beyond the surface, there was something far greater about the culture, something that felt unique and pure.  Fans were loyal, fervent, and shared a love for their fellow fan like no other fan in America.  We packed the stands to capacity every single week, and cheered harder and louder than what could be considered healthy or sensible.  Even through the worst, from Wade Phillips to Dale Carter, we were steadfast fans, and backed our Broncos through the worst.  An awe-inspiring vibe which now feels abstracted and distant.

With age, I’ve learned to handle loss with some maturity, as opposed to the earth-shattering melancholia I once did.  But not everyone grew up.  Bronco Nation now seethes with mean-spirited disconsolation, which often gives way to childish indignation.  So it’s not the loss of the game itself, it’s the loss of the class and dignity of this franchise I’ve held so dear. 

A couple nights ago, we witnessed the nadir of fan decorum.  In what was an inexplicably ugly game, factions of irritated fans began booing our quarterback somewhere around 45 minutes into the season.  The entire soiree was boo-worthy, as was the entire squad was beat soundly in every aspect of the game. And while Denver was never really in it, they were never really out of it either.  Didn’t matter.  Swaths of easily exasperated fans started booing and chanting “WEE WAH TEE-BOW” as our offense scored a touchdown and narrowed the lead to three.

Recap: First game of season, 4^th quarter, down by single digits, acrimonious bleating from truculent jerkfaces.

Being a loyal fan, of any given franchise or individual comes with some inevitable caveats.  Tim Tebow came equipped with a few of his own. One of them being that he is a “developmental project”, which everyone initially very understood of.  Fans knew that he was not pro-ready coming out of a shotgun-heavy option offense.  He was (and still is) in dire need of correcting almost everything from his sloppy footwork to his supine throwing motion.  And his fans said “yeah, yeah, development needed, sure sure”, a notion abandoned about 2 weeks into last season.

More recently, Tebow was caste with yet another hurtful monition that he actually kind of sucked as a quarterback.  Nothing against the guy, but the skills just aren’t their yet.  Irregardless of his burgeoning desire to lead and win, Tebow was, and is, simply not at the capacity to do so just yet.  We have to pinch ourselves and remember that while we drafted an All-American kid, we didn’t draft an All-Star quarterback.

But you people.  You reckless and ruthless kooks, loons, maniacs… You’ve collectively put him on such an ascendant pedestal.  You’ve excised his flaws and relished over his endowments that your judgment is clouded, if not thrust out entirely.  You’ve prioritized his stardom and notability over the development over the team you expect him to schlep around.  And now I hear a handful of you are doling out thousands of dollars (ten of them, to be precise) to muddle my gorgeous Colorado skyline with a billboard disparaging Kyle Orton.  To what end?  To change my mind? Coach Fox’s mind? John Elway’s mind?  Effectively, all they’ve done is forfeit their money and credibility as a fan to be the loudest person in the argument.  This is where your movement is headed, friends.

I remember vaguely when this was a classy institution.  We had the best fans and the best atmosphere, even if our squad was lousy.  We didn’t boo our quarterback when our defensive backs were slipping on nearly every coverage or our front seven was getting trampled.  We took our losses hard, but were always pleased as punch to wait for the next week, or the next season if we had to.  The difference was that our devotion, the common strain that connected us all, remained unyielding through the most difficult of stretches.  So relax, spastic children.  Your boy will have his day; just don’t boo his ass off when the grass seems greener on the other side.