How Losing a Super Bowl Is Creating Super Kids

Anyone, and I mean ANYONE who knows me knows that I have loved the Denver Broncos since I was a young girl living in Colorado.  My mom's friend Darlene loved them and I thought that was so cool.  A GIRL could like football.  A girl could KNOW football.  A girl could be passionate and love a game just as much as a boy.  My favorite memory is when the Broncos lost the AFC Wildcard game in 1983.  She gave me a small stuffed orange horse with a bright blue mane of hair.  She had glued a few drop of Super Glue below the eyes to show he had been crying.  She told me that they lost, they were sad but we should still love them.

This past week was a super-fan's worst nightmare.  After fifteen years of mostly mediocre football, countless quarterbacks, coaching and general manager changes, the Broncos were back!  I spent most of the season trying to convince any of my three children to root for and start watching the Broncos with me.  My son was a no-go.  He was born in San Diego, and chose his birthplace for a football team over loyalty to the woman who birthed him.

My two girls were sorta into it!  My 10 year old was actually asking questions and trying to understand what was happening.  The 7 year old would run in and out of the room to check who was winning and give a cheer if it was the Broncos.  I spent weeks pumping them up for the playoffs, encouraging them to really get behind the team and enjoy the best season the team had ever had.

Super Bowl Day came, we went to Church.  I prayed for the team, but apparently God wasn't taking requests that day.  We came home, the girls made banners and asked if they could wear the precious jerseys that I hanging in the back of my closet.  I denied them access to my vintage Elway #7, but let them wear my two other favorite players, Terrell Davis and Ed McCaffrey.  (darn me for not getting a Rod Smith jersey when I had the chance!).  Can I just say they looked adorable in blue & orange??  It was great and it felt awesome.  The girls were on-board and ready to win...

Three and half hours later, the cheering had stopped and the girls were much less enthusiastic.  Even the 12 year old kid who lives next door and loves the Broncos as much as any kid I've met, came over with a blank expression of "What happened????" on his face.

What about my girls?  They knew what was coming at school the next day.  The kids who would claim to be sudden Seahawks fans were going to come at them and talk a lot of smack about the Broncos.  I took my girls aside, and I asked them to tell me what is the worst thing they can say?
"They could say they are terrible and they sucked."
"Yes they could say that.  And do you know what I would say?" I asked.  "I would say, you are absolutely right.  That was one terrible game and my team did not play good and Seattle played great, but I still love the Broncos."

In every Championship, there is a loser and a winner. Don't be a sore loser.

• Be classy.  
• Congratulate the winner. 
• Congratulating the winner does not mean you are ashamed of your team.

"Just remember," I said, "It's easy to be a fan when you are winning.  Real fans, true fans, stay loyal no matter what."

Does that ring a bell people?  Does it sound like anything else in life?
What about the phrase,  "In good times and in bad"?
What about the term, "Fair weather friend"?

It's easy to stick with people when things are easy, loyalty isn't shown until things get hard.  

If you can't stick with a football team when times are tough, what does that say about your commitment to anyone or anything else?  My daughters are learning that when the going gets tough, the tough stands by you.

I wore my Denver Broncos jacket the next morning to work.  I have worn it everyday since.  Almost every day I run into someone trying to make a sly comment about it, testing to see if I am a "real" fan.
"How about that Super Bowl?" or "Wow, you are still wearing that after Sunday?".  

Yes World, I am.  And I wear it proudly.