Tailgating Party (via evilmightyacorn)

This Saturday morning my wife and I will be hopping on a jet plane and heading to Denver to watch some throwback Broncos. (Trading in sunny Californian 70 F days for 35 F highs -  the things we do for love of football!) Big thanks to my sister for scoring me tickets as a birthday present. Extra big ups to my wife for not just letting me go but wanting to come along! We have plans for Saturday night (our hotel is in LoDo), but Sunday morning remains unscheduled - which is where you all come in...

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So I live in San Francisco, or more importantly on Sunday, within 75 miles of the Oakland Coliseum. That means that game is blacked out for me, the local bar, my buddy with the Sunday Ticket package... and my gameday plan of sitting on the couch with my wife, chatting with you all and watching the Broncs own the Coliseum is foiled.

This is not a question of whether the blackout is good or bad, just how to deal with it. If you wanna discuss the merits of the blackout, our friend BChiper just put up a post here on just that issue.

As I see it I have a number of options, and I want the MHR faithful's opinion.

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The attempt to salvage my week after a canceled vacation, namely 50 yard line seats to last night's preseason opener, proved to be just what the doctor ordered. From our seats we had a good view of the field and the Broncos bench, and easy access to bathrooms and beer. Not quite the beach time I had planned for this week, but a great chance to see some NFL action and check out the new look Broncs' offense, defense and players.

I tweeted a few times, but my phone was not liking the MHR comments setup... I will have to fix that before I go to Denver for the NE game in October. I tried to watch for the stuff you all asked for in comments on my initial post about going to the game. I haven't yet seen the broadcast of the game, so all my conclusions are from watching realtime both with and without binoculars, and by the end of the game a thick set of beer goggles as well. Read on for a few observations and takeaways from my visit to "the Stick."

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So when the preseason schedule came out, I was saddened to see that the Broncos were coming to my town for tomorrow's game, while I was scheduled to be on the beach in Cape Cod on vacation. For reasons I won't go into, vacation was canceled and through the magic of Craigslist, I am now the proud owner of a ticket to tomorrow's game (and one for my buddy, too). 50 yard line, 23 rows back from the Broncos bench. Man am I excited.

So is anyone else tailgating tomorrow such that I can show up straight from work, big bottle of hoppy west coast ale in hand, and talk Broncs before heading into the stadium? I swill be leaving from work in downtown SF on the first bus out, and should be there before the gates open. I will be wearing the MHR shirt I won for my draft predictions. If the stars align I will even get Hillis to sign it!

During the game I will be watching the line play, especially the D-line/NT's. I am excited to see the rookies in the secondary as well. Of course Moreno will be paid attention to, but I imagine he will be hard to miss. Anyone else people want me to pay attention to? I will write up my thoughts Saturday after the game and post them here so tell me if there is someplace I should train my binocs.

Go Broncos!

So last weekend I was in Denver with my groom's men celebrating my upcoming nuptials, seeing the Rockies look bad and being present for one of the greatest NFL finishes of all time.

Amazingly enough, this week I am headed back. No dudes, beer and nosebleed seats this week. Just me and my sister in the FedEx luxury box.

I will be coming in from Denver proper while my sister trains it from Littleton. I intend to be early (and less hungover) than last week. Anyone tailgating and want one more to join in the fun?

In the meantime, this is what I am looking forward to this weekend:

1) My second ever NFL game, second in two weeks and second luxury box experience (the other was in Oakland for the A's). Will I drink white wine?

2) Seeing my wonderful older sister, who may just be as big a Broncos fan as I am. Even though he is staying at home with a friend so we can focus on cheering, my infant nephew will be wearing his Broncos sweats. Awesome.

3) Watching for signs of life on the defensive side of the ball. Seeing Moss, JMFW, Woodyard, et al. come in and be difference makers. We have a real chance with a banged up Saints O.

4) Eddie and Brandon. Brandon and Eddie. Touchdowns and first downs. Catches and runs.  (Maybe a little Cliff and Darrell would be alright, too)

5) Trying again to put some faces to the names from this great website. And maybe sharing a bloody mary or three.

Everyone enjoy the game. Go Broncos!

I posted a while ago about my bachelor weekend which is happening in Denver and includes the upcoming tussle between our Broncos and the dreaded Clunkers... now it has arrived and I sure am excited.

These are the top things I am fired up about:

1) Seeing my first game at  "Invesco," and my first NFL game and my first Broncos game - all at once! Sounds like the nosebleed section will be playing a role in the events, so that is extra cool. I intend to be hoarse by the end of the first half...

1a) Seeing my first game at Coors Field Saturday. Guaranteed better than the first two Rockies games I saw - at Mile High!

2) Watching the Chargers dreams of a Super Bowl start to fade as our D shuts them down, plants Phyllis on his ass and as their D gives up yards in chunks. I feel great about a lot of the matchups, and the injuries so far are going our way. Boss will be back, and I am hopeful that the run D to be at least as good as last week.

3) Jack M!@#& F@#!*^% Williams! I hope he plays, and makes some plays. Woodyard too. I love those guys. Football players to the core.

4) Drinking Colorado beers. And lots of them. With my best friends in the world. Falling Rock, here we come. (I am skipping  the strippers - do you know how many beers a lap dance costs? And last time I went to a strip club in Denver, I paid good money to hear the weepy life story of one of the young women who was working. I am waaay too nice.)

5) Meeting some MHR folks in the flesh. UnarmingMermaid said he'd be at the game, and Denver_Native sounded like a maybe for tailgating. You two - shoot me an email at the address on my profile page and we can trade cell numbers. Anyone else interested in trying to meet up? No guarantees on how early I get up on Sunday, but I will be there as soon as my hangover lets me.

Go Bachelors! Go Beer! Go Broncos!

So it has just been confirmed that my bachelor party is going to be in Denver the weekend of September 14th. Besides general carousing, we will be attending the Chargers/Broncos game - we managed to get enough nose bleed seats for the whole group (6 right now). This will be my first ever regular season NFL game, first ever Broncos regular season game and I am really pumped!

I know we are going to spend significant time at Falling Rock Tap House, and probably will go out to The Ethiopian Restaurant (one of my faves) on Colfax Saturday night. The Rockies play the Dodgers that Saturday, so that might be an option. I am planning to eschew the strip club thing -- I'd rather spend the dollars on Laughing Lab and TommyKnocker MapleNut. I think we are staying at the La Quinta over by the freeway, but that isn't confirmed. 

So my question to MHR is -- anyone else attending this game? Wanna meet up to tailgate or grab a drink before or after? Do you have some good seats I can come visit you at? I am hoping we will have homebrew to share before the game, but no guarantees.

Anything else we must do as a crew of bachelors in Denver?