Story by Jon Stalnaker, AKA The Studebaker Dude
As I sit down to write this, we are almost finished with the second week of the season. Heading into this season, things were looking good for our Broncos, and we went into the first game feeling pretty good about our team.
We were even feeling fairly confident about playing the Kansas City Chiefs since they had some issues last year. Even though we share the AFC West Division with the Chiefs, Chargers and (stinkin’) Raiders, I have grown to appreciate the Chiefs over the past few years when they were dominating—mostly because our Broncos were struggling during their glory years.
It wasn’t enough to make us leave our team of choice. We have a long history with Denver, and to be honest, I don’t respect fans who don’t stick it out with their team for better or worse.
We do have a friend named Richard who changed teams after something happened that he found unforgivable. I find his loathing acceptable under the circumstances.
He was a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan and had a house full of Cowboys paraphernalia. He was a legitimate Cowboys fan, and I remember how furious he was with Terrell Owens when, as a player for the San Francisco 49ers, he disrespected the Cowboys’ star during a game.
Not long after that incident, the Cowboys picked up T.O. to be a Cowboy. Richard was so angry that he boxed up all his Cowboys treasures and sent them to Dallas along with a scathing letter. He has been a Chargers fan ever since.
I have a place in my heart for the Chargers, too, because I used to deliver mail to Alex Spanos, his family and his longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Matthews. Growing up in Stockton, California, I knew of the Spanos family before they were rich and famous. My brother dated his daughter, and my cousin Alan was great friends with him.
So, as a football fan of the AFC West Division, the Las Vegas Raiders are the only team in our division that I can hate* on.
*I use the word “hate” in the most loving way, as a true man-fan of the sport.
Anyway, we played the Chiefs during the first week of the season and got spanked. It started out pretty well but became harder to watch as we began to accept the fact that we weren’t gonna win.
Because we had become pseudo-fans of the Chiefs, we could still be happy for them as they looked like they had their mojo back. And although we are far from being Swifties, we do like the married couple, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
We didn’t get to watch this week’s Broncos game because they aren’t appreciated around these parts, but we did see that they won. It’s early in the season, so we look forward to seeing a real shootout between Kansas City and Denver. Heck, the Chargers could be up there, too.
Don’t get me started on the stinkin’ Raiders.
Football season is so much fun, and smack-talking your friends’ favorite teams is fun, too. Anyone who takes it too seriously and gets mad at the banter needs to chill out.
It’s all in fun, and I don’t really hate the Raiders. Nor do I hate Raiders fans. I have friends and family who are Raiders fans, and we still love each other.
Football is many things to many people, but just remember that, at its core, it is only a game. If you can’t handle the smack talk but still like to watch it, get yourself a large bottle of chill pills.
You can find them on Facebook. If you buy the large bottle this week, you can get three more large bottles for free. That should be enough to make it to the Super Bowl.