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FATHERS AND SPORTS
Father Really Does Know Best
My love of sports and a few extra lessons come from him
My dad really did know best…on just about everything.
When I was 6, watching football right beside him, he told me that I could root as loudly as I wanted, but not be disappointed if the Denver Broncos lost because, “It’s unlikely they’ll win. Prepare yourself.”
How did he know that they would lose, and that I would need to “prepare myself” as I morphed into a diehard Denver fan?
Maybe the history of our team and its talent deficit suggested the outcome.
Maybe our tough AFC West division with two talented teams — the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs in the thick of competition — spelled the likely outcome.
Maybe it was our coach. Lou Saban spoke in monosyllables with no voice inflection. If he had a strategy, no one knew what it was. To this day, he remains the most charisma-impaired person I’ve ever witnessed.
Or maybe it was because our best player, №44 Floyd Little, was a talented running back, but lacked blocking support. Little still racked up some amazing yardage, but not many touchdowns. Teams knew how to play the Broncos in the red zone.
