I cried out all my tears by halftime. After the miffed snap from Manny Ramirez spiked my nerves, I went through all the cycles of grief. With each overthrow, missed tackle and turnover my optimism grew small and I knew with Percy Harvin’s kick return to begin the second half, that the window had all but closed.
I then allowed myself a few brief minutes of seclusion in an empty room, mourning under the blankets like a child, and then I was done feeling sorry for myself like a pouty toddler.
Ad
Though the game continued to worsen, and my spirits continued to plummet, the only thing worse than watching my team lose the Super Bowl 43-8 was looking at Tweets from their so-called ‘fans.’
Yes the game was awful, yes we had the right to be angry, but a blowout loss isn’t a hall-pass to be a buttwipe on social media. Those people trashing Peyton’s legacy, reaming John Fox for bad calls and cursing the defense for missing tackles are called fair-weather fans.
They are the ‘fans’ who hung up Broncos posters after they broke records and were crowned AFC Champions. They are the same ‘fans’ who will go home tonight, rip those posters to shreds, burn their jerseys and replace them with the purple of the Rockies. Until they fall below .500 of course.
Tomorrow will be blue, with all of us die-hards moping about the Denver streets, but as with all heartbreak, the passing of time eases the pain. Except when you are reminded by the hateful spite plastered on Facebook, ESPN and Twitter. So while I carry no weight with the decisions made in Bristol, I can boycott social media.
But it would be a lot more enjoyable if we all swallowed the negativity and the ridiculous threats to never love the Broncos again (your loss). We were United in Orange, filled with high hopes and big dreams eight hours ago.
And though the dreams of attending the Super Bowl parade and the vision of the Denver Post front page plastered with a photo of Manning and Champ Bailey hoisting the Lombardi may be squashed – but the sun still sets orange. So are you in, or are you out?
Sports Reporter Cali Rastrelli can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @c_rasta5.
