Before You Go. Check the website of the Denver Post for the weather. Denver weather is unpredictable, as it sits with the Rocky Mountains to the north, south and west, and the open prairie to the east. They can get snow early. In 1984, Monday Night Football broadcast a game in which the Broncos hosted the Green Bay Packers: It was October and there was a blizzard. The Packers and their fans probably thought they were getting away from winter weather by leaving Green Bay!
Anyway, the daytime temperature on Sunday is expected to be in the high 50s -- but the nighttime temperature could drop into the low 30s! And here I am, typing this in Central Jersey on October 10, with the air-conditioner blasting!
Denver is in the Mountain Time Zone, so you'll be 2 hours behind New York time. And there's a reason it's called the Mile High City: The elevation means the air will be thinner. Although the Rocky Mountain region is renowned for outdoor recreation, if you're not used to it, try not to exert yourself too much. Cheering at a sporting event shouldn't bother you too much, but even if the weather is good, don't go rock-climbing or any other such activity unless you've done it before and know what you're doing.
Tickets. Contrary to popular belief, Broncomania did not begin with their run to the AFC Championship in 1977. Indeed, they haven't played to an unsold seat since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 -- 47 straight seasons. They averaged 76,744 fans per game last season, a sellout. Tickets will be hard to come by.
On the Field Level, the 100 sections, tickets are $278 on the sidelines and $117 in the end zones. The Plaza Level, the 300 sections, is bought out by club seats. On the Upper Level, the 500 sections, it's $94 on the sidelines, $117 in the corners and $167 in the north end zone, with the south end zone being open and having no seats at that level.
Getting There. It's 1,779 miles from Times Square in New York to the Denver plaza that contains the State House and the City-County complex, and 1,772 miles from MetLife Stadium to Sports Authority Field. You're probably thinking that you should be flying.
Flying to Denver, considering how far it is, is usually relatively cheap. You can get a nonstop round-trip flight for a Saturday, going in for a Sunday game, and returning on Monday, for a little over $1,100 -- normally, it's about half that.
Stapleton International Airport (named for 1923-47 Mayor Benjamin F. Stapleton) was replaced by the new Denver International Airport in 1995. Like its predecessor, it is a major change-planes-here place for flights between the coasts.
Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited leaves Penn Station at 3:40 PM Friday, arrives at Union Station in Chicago at 9:45 AM Saturday (that's Central Time). The California Zephyr leaves Chicago at 2:00 PM Saturday and arrives at Denver's Union Station at 7:15 AM (Mountain Time) Sunday. The return trip would leave Denver at 7:10 PM Sunday (so this would only work for a Sunday afternoon game, not a Sunday, Monday or Thursday night game), arrive in Chicago at 2:50 PM Monday, leave Chicago at 9:30 PM Monday, and get back to New York at 6:35 PM Tuesday. The round-trip fare is $674.
Conveniently, Union Station is at 1700 Wynkoop Street at 17th Street, just 3 blocks from Coors Field. The front of the building is topped by a clock, framed by an old sign saying UNION STATION on top and TRAVEL by TRAIN on the bottom.
If you actually think it's worth it to drive, get someone to go with you, so you'll have someone to talk to, and one of you can drive while the other sleeps. You'll be taking Interstate 80 most of the way, through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, before taking Interstate 76 from Nebraska to Colorado, and then Interstate 25 into Denver. (An alternate route: Take the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Turnpikes to Interstate 70 and then I-70 through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado into downtown Denver. It won't save you an appreciable amount of time over the I-80 route, though.)
If you do it right, you should spend about an hour and a half in New Jersey, 5 hours and 15 minutes in Pennsylvania, 4 hours in Ohio, 2 hours and 30 minutes in Indiana, 2 hours and 45 minutes in Illinois, 5 hours and 15 minutes in Iowa, 6 hours in Nebraska, and 3 hours and 15 minutes in Colorado. Including rest stops, and accounting for traffic (you'll be bypassing Cleveland and Chicago, unless that's where you want to make rest stops), we're talking about a 40-hour trip.
Even if you're only going for one game, no matter how you got there, get a hotel and spend a night. You'll be exhausted otherwise. Trust me, I know: Trains and buses are not good ways to get sleep.
Once In the City. Founded in 1858 as a gold rush city, and named for James W. Denver, then Governor of the Kansas Territory, from which Colorado was separated, Denver is a State capital and city of 700,000 people, in a metro area of 3.4 million -- roughly the population of Brooklyn and Staten Island combined. It's easily the biggest city in, and thus the unofficial cultural capital of, the Rocky Mountain region.
The State House
Broadway is the main north-south drag, separating East addresses from West. But the northwestern quadrant of the street grid is at roughly a 45-degree angle from the rest of the city, and this area includes the central business district, Union Station and the ballpark.
The sales tax in the State of Colorado is 2.9 percent, however, the City of Denver adds a 3.62 percent sales tax, for a total of 6.52 percent. ZIP Codes in Colorado start with the digits 80 and 81, with the Denver area running from 800 to 810. The Area Code for Denver is 303, with 720 overlaid. Xcel Energy runs the electricity for the Denver area. The city is about 52 percent white, 32 percent Hispanic, 10 percent black, and 3 percent Asian.
The Denver Post is a good paper, but don't bother looking for the Rocky Mountain News: It went out of business in 2009. State Route 470 serves as Denver's "beltway." Bus and light rail service in Denver is run by the Regional Transportation District (RTD), and goes for $2.25 for a single ride, and $6.75 for a DayPass. Denver switched from tokens to farecards in 2013.
Don't worry, the weather isn't forecast to look like this during your visit.
Sports Authority has now gone out of business, and the Broncos have announced that they will have the name taken off the stadium before the 2018 season. A new name has not been selected, but, despite Colorado being at the forefront of the marijuana legalization movement, the Broncos have refused to sell naming rights to a pot-connected company -- a grower, a seller, or even a pharmacy that sells "medical marijuana" -- and the NFL, a notoriously conservative league, has backed them up on this. Which does, I suppose, give the "Mile High" name more irony than it ever had before.
Most people usually just call it "Mile High Stadium," which the old one was named from 1966 until it closed in 2000. Before that, it was Bears Stadium, named for the old minor-league baseball team that played there from its opening in 1948 until 1992.
Like its predecessor, Mile High Stadium, Sports Authority Field is a horseshoe with the south end as the open end, and the field is laid out north-to-south. It is natural grass: The Broncos have never played a home game on artificial turf.
McNichols It hosted the NCAA Final Four in 1990, with UNLV (the University of Nevada at Las Vegas) clobbering Duke. (The University of Colorado made the Final Four in 1942 and 1955, although it wasn't yet called the Final Four. No other Colorado-based school has made it, and none has won a National Championship -- not in basketball, anyway.)
The old stadium also hosted the Denver Gold of the United States Football League, the 1983 USFL Championship Game, the Colorado Caribous of the original North American Soccer League, and the Rapids from their 1996 inception until 2001 -- in fact, they played the stadium's last event, before playing at the new stadium from 2002 to 2006. The U.S. national soccer team played a pair of games at Mile High Stadium in the 1990s, and beat Mexico at the new stadium in 2002 (the only game they've played there so far).
While the 2008 Democratic Convention was held at the Pepsi Center, Senator Barack Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech outdoors in front of 80,000 people at New Mile High Stadium.
The Red Lion Hotel Denver and the Skybox Grill & Sports Bar are now on the site of the old stadium.
At McNichols, the Nuggets reached the ABA Finals in 1976, and the Avalanche won the 1996 Stanley Cup (albeit clinching in Miami). The Denver Dynamite won the 1st ArenaBowl in 1987, and again in 1989, 1990 and 1991, before finances forced them to fold anyway.
The complex that included Mile High Stadium and the McNichols Arena was supposed to be the centerpiece of the 1976 Winter Olympics. But in a 1972 referendum, Colorado voters rejected funding that would have built more facilities, and, in what remains the only example of this ever happening, Winter or Summer, a city withdrew as host for an Olympic Games. They were awarded, instead, to Innsbruck, Austria, which already had the facilities in place from hosting them in 1964.
However, the fact that the arena only lasted 24 years, making it not that hard for the act that played the first concert there to also play the last, says something about America's disposable culture.
2755 W. 17th Avenue was the mailing address of Mile High Stadium. It was built in 1948 as Bears Stadium, an 18,000-seat ballpark. When the American Football League was founded in 1960, it was expanded to 34,000 seats with the addition of outfield seating. The name was changed to Mile High Stadium in 1966, and by 1968 much of the stadium was triple-decked and seated 51,706.
In 1977 – just in time for the Broncos to make their first Super Bowl run and start "Broncomania" – the former baseball park was transformed into a 76,273-seat horseshoe, whose east stands could be moved in to conform to the shape of a football field, or out to allow enough room for a regulation baseball field. The old-time ballpark had become, by the standards of the time, a modern football stadium.
The biggest complaint when the baseball version of the Colorado Rockies debuted in 1993 wasn't the thin air, or the condition of the stadium (despite its age, it was not falling apart), but the positioning of the lights: Great for football fans, but terrible for outfielders tracking fly balls. But it was only meant to be a temporary ballpark for the Rockies, as a condition for Denver getting a team was a baseball-only stadium. What really led to the replacement of Mile High Stadium, and its demolition in 2002, was greed: The Broncos' desire for luxury-box revenue.
At Bears/Mile High Stadium, the Broncos won AFC Championships in 1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997 and 1998, winning the Super Bowl in the last 2 years after losing the first 4 in blowouts. (They've now won an AFC title at the new stadium, but not a Super Bowl.) The Denver Bears won Pennants while playing there in 1957 (as a Yankee farm team), 1971, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983 and 1991 (winning the last one under the Denver Zephyrs name).
MLS' Colorado Rapids played home games at the old stadium from 1996 to 2001, and actually played the last event there. They played at the new stadium from 2002 to 2006, when their new soccer-specific stadium opened in the suburbs.
The U.S. national soccer team played a pair of games at Mile High Stadium in the 1990s, and beat Mexico at the new stadium in 2002 (the only game they've played there so far). It's hosted 2 games of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013, and again this year. While the 2008 Democratic Convention was held at the Pepsi Center, Senator Barack Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech outdoors in front of 80,000 people at New Mile High Stadium.
(UPDATE: It hosted 2 games of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, has been selected by the U.S. Soccer Federation as a finalist to be one of the host venues for the 2026 World Cup.)
The Red Lion Hotel Denver and the Skybox Grill & Sports Bar are now on the site of the old stadium.
Last month, Thrillist had an article ranking all 31 NFL stadiums. The Broncos' stadium came in 18th, just into the bottom half:
The original Mile High stadium was gritty and ramshackle, but it had a lot of character. The current iteration has all the trappings you could hope for -- suites, craft beers and, well, a good football team -- but its corporate slickness lacks in defining aesthetics. What you can’t ever change in Denver is a rabid, every-seat-has-a-butt-in-it fanbase, and the sight of visiting players huffing oxygen on the sidelines when they breathe our sweet, thin air.
Food. Being a "Wild West" city, you might expect Denver to have Western-themed stands with "real American food" at its arena. Being in a State with a Spanish name, in a land that used to belong to Mexico, you might also expect to have Mexican food. And you would be right on both counts. Here are some of the options available:
Bud-N-Brats: Locally sourced from Denver's own Rome's and Continental sausage companies, these half-pound sausages will be available at new portable locations throughout general hospitality areas. Options include: Southwestern Buffalo, Elk and Cheddar, Jalapeno Beer Brats and the fan favorite Bronco Brat. All sausages will be grilled to order and served with a choice of toppings, including Budweiser Sauerkraut and Amber Bock onions and peppers.
Bud-N-Burgers: Locally sourced beef from Aspen Ridge Meats, these 1/3-pound all-natural burgers will be available at new portable locations.
Italian Nacho Supreme: Lightly fried pasta topped with sliced pepperonis, green onions, Alfredo and marinara sauce, black olives, banana peppers and shredded mozzarella cheese.
Fried Chicken Cones: Breaded boneless chicken served with sweet chili hot sauce, green onions and fried rice sticks or classic fried chicken, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy and green onions. Both options are served in a savory bread cone.
Fried Chicken Cones: Breaded boneless chicken served with sweet chili hot sauce, green onions and fried rice sticks or classic fried chicken, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy and green onions. Both options are served in a savory bread cone.
Jalapeno Cheddar Brat Burger: Another new twist on a stadium classic takes the Bratwurst that everyone knows and loves and morphs it into a jaw-dropping burger. It features a locally-made sausage patty from Rome's Sausage Company of Denver, stacks them two high on a soft artisan pretzel bun and tops with Budweiser Sauerkraut and mustard aioli.
Hot Ham & Cheese Pretzel Bun: Thin slices of hot Smithfield Ham piled high on a soft artisan pretzel bun and topped with savory Swiss cheese sauce, this item will be served exclusively at the Cover 2 Carvery, which will now be expanding to the fifth stadium level.
Spicy Chicken Sandwich: For those who like things a little spicy, Centerplate is introducing a perfectly breaded spicy chicken breast with sliced cheddar cheese and spicy Sriracha Aioli for an extra kick.
Team History Displays. The Broncos have won the AFC Western Division 15 times: 1977, '78, '84, '86, 87, '89, '91, '96, '98, 2005, '11, '12, '13, '14 and '15. They have won the AFC Championship 8 times: 1977, '86, '87, '89, '97, '98, 2013 and '15. And they won Super Bowls XXXII, XXXIII and 50 (the Roman numeral was not used that time), in the 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2015-16 seasons. Displays for these titles are in the south end zone.The Broncos have retired 3 uniform numbers: 7 for John Elway, 18 for Frank Tripucka and Peyton Manning, and 44 for Floyd Little. The Broncos' display for these numbers is at the sound end of the stadium, to the east of the Jumbotron.
* From the 1960s: Owner Gerald Phipps, quarterback Frank Tripucka, running back and kicker Gene Mingo, receiver Lionel Taylor, defensive end Rich "Tombstone" Jackson and safety Goose Gonsoulin.
* From the 1970s, but before the Broncomania season: Quarterback Charley Johnson and running back Floyd Little.
* From the 1977 AFC Championship season that began Broncomania and the Orange Crush nickname: Phipps, quarterback Craig Morton, receivers Haven Moses and Rick Upchurch, defensive end Paul Smith, linebackers Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson, safety Billy Thompson, kicker Jim Turner, and coach Robert "Red" Miller, the newest inductee, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary - and just in time, because he died within weeks.
* From the 1986, 1987 and 1989 AFC Championships: Tom Jackson, Wright (both holdovers into 1986 only), owner Pat Bowlen, head coach Dan Reeves, quarterback John Elway, defensive end Jason Fletcher, linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, and safeties Dennis Smith and Steve Atwater (who arrived in 1989).
* From the 1997 and 1998 World Champions: Bowlen, Elway, Atwater, running back Terrell Davis, receiver Rod Smith, tight end Shannon Sharpe, center Tom Nalen, offensive tackle Gary Zimmerman (left after 1997), safety John Lynch and kicker Jason Elam. As yet, they have not had the guts to induct dirty linebacker Bill Romanowski.
Bowlen is still the owner, and Elway is now the general manager, having built the Super Bowl 50 Champions. In 2014, a statue of Bowlen was dedicated outside the stadium.
The stadium also includes the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, which has inducted the following Broncos: The aforementioned Atwater, Bowlen, Davis, Elam, Elway Gonsoulin, Gradishar, Rich and Tom Jackson (no relation), Little, Mecklenburg, Miller, Morton, Moses, Phipps, Reeves, Sharpe, Dennis and Rod Smith (no relation), Taylor, Thompson, Upchurch and Wright; plus the following individuals not yet in the Ring of Fame: Team founder Bob Howsam, original quarterback Frank Tripucka, early 1970s running back Bobby Anderson (mainly in for what he did at the University of Colorado), 1977 running back Otis Armstrong, 1997-98 head coach Mike Shanahan, 1997-98 linebacker Alfred Williams, and longtime assistant coach Joe Collier.
Gonsoulin, Brown, Rich Jackson (not the much-later Tom Jackson) and Bob Scarpitto were named to the AFL's All-Time Team. Brown and Elway were named to The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999. They and Peyton Manning were named to the NFL Network's 100 Greatest Players in 2010.
The Broncos have had 3 Heisman Trophy winners, not including Gavin Grey, the fictional player played by Dennis Quaid in the film Everybody's All-American. Tony Dorsett, 1976 University of Pittsburgh running back, played his last season in Denver in 1988. Ron Dayne, 1999 Wisconsin running back, played for the Broncos in 2005. And Tim Tebow, 2007 Florida quarterback, played for the Broncos in 2010 and 2011.
The Broncos have deep rivalries with former AFL Western Division, now AFC West, opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. The Broncos trail the Chiefs 59-55, and trail the Raiders 62-52-2. (UPDATE: Through November 2018, they trail the Chiefs 61-55 and the Raiders 63-53-2.)
Stuff. The Denver Bronco Stadium Store is on the ground floor at the stadium's open south end. They may sell cowboy hats with team logos on them, to tie in with the State's Western heritage.
Denver Post columnist Terry Frei wrote '77: Denver, The Broncos, and a Coming of Age. Although it's about a city and its football team, as opposed to a city and its baseball team, it parallels, and may even have been inspired by, Jonathan Mahler's book about 1977 New York, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning.
Elway and former Bronco executive Jim Saccomano -- not to be confused with the never-seen but oft-mentioned Seinfeld character Bob Saccomano -- collaborated on Denver Broncos: The Complete Illustrated History, published in 2013, before Peyton Manning took them to Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands. Mike Klis published Mile High Magic - The 25 Greatest Moments in Denver Broncos History this past fall. And the NFL produced the DVD Denver Broncos: The Complete History in 2006. (Obviously, it is no longer complete.)
During the Game. A recent Thrillist article on "The Most Obnoxious Fans In the NFL" ranked Broncos fans 17th, right in the middle:
It was pretty impressive that this John Elway-constructed team was able to win a Super Bowl with a knock-off version of Peyton Manning assembled from fused vertebrae and a spaghetti noodle for an arm. And while it was annoying enough to watch Peyton and the Papa hug it out in a synergistic branded orgy, the fanbase is actually pretty solid. The only people who really believe we're letting Broncos fans off easy at 17 root for the Raiders and Chiefs.
Coloradans love their sports, but they're not known as antagonistic. Although the Jets came within a half of derailing a Bronco Super Bowl in 1999 (1998 season), and the Devils came within a game of short-circuiting their Stanley Cup run in 2001, the people of the Centennial State don't have an ingrained hatred of New Yorkers. As long as you don't wear Kansas City Chiefs or Oakland Raiders gear, you'll probably be completely safe. (But, as always, watch out for obnoxious drunks, who know no State Lines.)
From
September 1 to 7, 2017, during the NFL National Anthem protest controversy,
FiveThirtyEight.com polled fans of the 32 NFL
teams, to see where they leaned politically. With the State's Western libertarianism now leaning more toward civil rights and pot activism than gun nuttery and "Get off my land" action, Bronco fans were rated 2.9 percent more liberal than conservative.
The Broncos sometimes bring back their blue helmets and orange jerseys that they wore from 1968 to 1996. They wore an even less attractive blue and orange combination from 1962 to 1967. But their original 1960-61 uniforms may have been the worst uniforms in major league sports history. You think brown and yellow looked bad on the late 1970s San Diego Padres? At least they didn't wear socks with vertical stripes.
I tried to find a color photo of the original Bronco uniforms.
I couldn't. You'll have to settle for this recent "throwback."
The Broncos hold auditions for singing the National Anthem, instead of having a regular singer. They still use their original 1960 fight song, "The Mighty Broncos March," which calls them "The Pride of the West" -- perhaps a bit premature, but no Colorado, Utah or Arizona team will ever replace the Broncos as the most popular team in the Mountain Time Zone.
Sometimes, the Broncos will wear purple jerseys at home, as they usually have since the 1997 season. Sometimes, they'll wear orange, as they did before that. Rarely will they wear white, as the Giants and Jets sometimes do, and other teams sometimes choose (including Philadelphia, Washington and Dallas).
A home game tradition is the "Incomplete Chant." When the opposing team throws an incomplete pass, the stadium announcer will state, "Pass thrown by (the opposing quarterback), intended for (the intended receiver) is..." at which time the fans complete the chant by saying "IN-COM-PLETE!!" This is followed by the "sad trombone" sound effect.
Another tradition carried over from Mile High Stadium is during halftime or towards the end of the game, the stadium's public-address announcer will announce the actual attendance for the game as well as how many people didn't show up for the game, and if that number is generally over a thousand, Broncos fans chant a loud "boo" towards those empty seats.
Especially in the upper two decks, the usually cold fans create their own "Mile High Thunder" (and warm themselves up) by stamping their feet on the stadium's floors. The old Mile High Stadium was built with bare metal, and the "Thunder" reverberated readily. The new stadium also took steps via the addition of steel floors to preserve this unique acoustic.
The Broncos' man-in-a-costume mascot is Miles, a white horse wearing a Bronco jersey, Number 00. Obviously, he was named for the Mile High City. They also have a live mascot, Thunder, ridden onto the field before every game by Ann Judge-Wegener, leading the team on behind them.
Ann and Thunder, with Miles behind them
The most famous Bronco fan of them all was Tim McKernan, a United Airlines mechanic who attended every Bronco game, home and away, regular season and Playoff (including the Super Bowls) from 1967 to 2007. At home games, he would wear a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and a barrel painted in Bronco colors, held up by suspenders, like a rodeo clown. You'll notice I didn't say that he wore anything under the barrel -- because he didn't.
"Barrel Man" became one of the most famous NFL fans of all, until health issues forced him to give it up. He died in 2009, at age 69. No new Barrel Man has taken his place, although his son Todd honored him by "suiting up" at the Broncos' 1st home game after his death, and the nearby University of Colorado now has a Barrel Man as well.
Okay, he also wore a stadium pass given to him by the organization,
and sometimes also sunglasses.
After the Game. Denver has had crime issues, and just 3 blocks from Coors Field is Larimer Street, immortalized as a dingy, bohemian-tinged, hobo-strewn street in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. But that scene was written in 1947. The new Mile High Stadium is, essentially, an island in a sea of parking. So you'll probably be safe.
To the west of the stadium, between Mile High Stadium Circle and Federal Blvd., there's a Burger King, a Kentucky Fried Chicken, a Pizza Hut, a Denny's, and Atmosphere Ultra Lounge.
LoDo (Lower Downtown) is loaded with bars that will be open after the game, including Scruffy Murphy's at Larimer & 20th, and an outlet of the Fado Irish Pub chain at Wynkoop & 19th. But the only baseball-named place I can find anywhere near Coors is Sandlot Brewery, at 22nd & Blake, outside the park's right-field corner. Behind home plate, at 1930 Blake Street, is The Sports Column, hailed by a recent Thrillist article as the best sports bar in the State of Colorado.
Perhaps the most famous sports-themed restaurant near Denver is Elway's Cherry Creek, a steakhouse at 2500 E. 1st Avenue in the southern suburb of Cherry Creek. Bus 83L. It's owned by the same guy who owns John Elway Chevrolet in another southern suburb, Englewood.
About a mile southeast of Coors Field, at 538 E. 17th Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood (not sure why a southern, rather than northern, neighborhood is called "Uptown"), is The Tavern, home of the local New York Giants fan club. Jet fans gather at Chopper's Sports Grill, possibly named for Chopper Travaglini, at 80 S. Madison Street at Bayaud Avenue, 3 miles southeast of downtown, in the Pulaski Park neighborhood. Bus 83, then a mile's walk.
If your visit to Denver is during the European soccer season (which is now in progress), your best bet for watching your favorite club is at The Three Lions (named for the crest on the jerseys of the England national team), 2239 E. Colfax Avenue, about 2 miles east of downtown. Number 15 bus.
Ah, Denver! Breathe in that fresh mountain air with just a hint of cannabis and green chile. Drink in the hoppy splendor of a craft beer scene that was bustling back when everyone still called them "microbreweries." Tolerate the alarmingly in-shape bro who stuck around after four years at Boulder to work as a part-time ski instructor and won't stop talking to you about fourteeners. Denver often gets championed for all the fantastic stuff to do right outside the city, what with the skiing and the hiking and the Red Rocks, but that does a disservice to all the good times to be had in Denver proper. The fact that said times can be had with herbal enhancement with nary a legal concern is just a bonus.
UPDATE: On November 30, 2018, Thrillist published a list of "America's 25 Most Fun Cities," and Denver came in 13th. On February 12, 2019, they published an article calling Denver "America's Must-Visit City for 2019."
The Pepsi Center -- the arena has always had that name since it opened -- is across Cherry Creek from downtown, about 2 miles northwest of City Hall. The intersection is 11th Street & Auraria Parkway, but the mailing address is 1000 Chopper Circle, in honor of Robert "Chopper" Travaglini, the beloved former trainer (and amateur sports psychologist) of the NBA's Nuggets, who share the arena. Chopper Circle is an extension of Wewatta Street.
In 2008, the Pepsi Center hosted both the NCAA hockey "Frozen Four" and the Democratic National Convention. Pepsi Center/Elitch Gardens station on the RTD light rail.
2001 Blake Street (hence the team's nickname, the Blake Street Bombers) at 20th Street, 3 blocks from Union Station, accessible by light rail.
The Nuggets, known as the Denver Rockets until 1974, played at the Denver Auditorium Arena, at 13th & Champa Streets, from their 1967 inception until McNichols opened in 1975. It was also the home of the original Nuggets, who played in various leagues from 1935 to 1948, and then in the NBA until 1950.
It opened in 1908, and its seating capacity of 12,500 made it the 2nd-largest in the country at the time, behind the version of Madison Square Garden then standing. It almost immediately hosted the Democratic National Convention that nominated William Jennings Bryan for President for the 3rd time – although it's probably just a coincidence that the Democrats waited exactly 100 years (give or take a few weeks) to go back (it's not like Obama didn't want to get it right the 1st time, as opposed 0-for-3 Bryan).
The Auditorium Arena hosted Led Zeppelin's 1st American concert on December 26, 1968. It was demolished in 1990 to make way for the Denver Performing Arts Complex, a.k.a. the Denver Center. Theatre District/Convention Center Station on the light rail's D-Line, F-Line and H-Line.
The Denver area's Major League Soccer team, the Colorado Rapids, plays at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, about 8 miles northeast of downtown. They'e won the MLS Cup since moving there, in 2010.
The U.S. national team has played there 3 times: A 2-0 win over Guatemala in a World Cup Qualifier on November 19, 2008; a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in a World Cup Qualifier on March 22, 2013 (the famous Snow Classico); and a 2-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago in a World Cup Qualifier on June 8, 2017. The women's team has played there twice: A 2008 win over Brazil, and a 2012 win over Australia. It's also hosted football, rugby, lacrosse and concerts.
The U.S. national team has played there 3 times: A 2-0 win over Guatemala in a World Cup Qualifier on November 19, 2008; a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in a World Cup Qualifier on March 22, 2013 (the famous Snow Classico); and a 2-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago in a World Cup Qualifier on June 8, 2017. The women's team has played there twice: A 2008 win over Brazil, and a 2012 win over Australia. It's also hosted football, rugby, lacrosse and concerts.
6000 Victory Way. If you're going in by public transportation from downtown Denver, Number 48 bus to 60th Avenue & Dahlia Street, then Number 88 bus to 60th & Monaco. Then they make you walk 10 blocks on 60th to get to the stadium.
The Beatles played Red Rocks Amphitheatre in suburban Morrison on August 26, 1964. It is still in business, and a Colorado Music Hall of Fame is a short walk away. 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, 10 miles west of downtown. Sorry, no public transportation.
Elvis played 2 shows at the Denver Coliseum on April 8, 1956, and 1 each on November 17, 1970 and April 30, 1973. Built in 1951, it still stands, seating 10,500, and is best known for concerts and the National Western Stock Rodeo. 4600 Humbolt Street at E. 46th Avenue, off Interstate 70, 3 miles northeast of downtown. Apparently, no public transportation to there, either.
On June 5, 1897, the Heavyweight Championship of the World
was contested in Colorado. The British-born Champion, Bob Fitzsimmons –
supposedly, in response to being told he was too small to fight heavyweights,
the originator of the saying, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall" –
knocked Lew Joslin out in the 2nd round. The fight happened in
Leadville, 100 miles southwest of Denver.
Theoretically, it is possible to get there via public
transportation. You'd have to take Greyhound from Denver to Vail, and then a
local bus for over an hour to Leadville. And I can't find a source that lists
the name of the fight's venue, or its address. So, unless you're a fanatic
about boxing history and have to see the sites of every heavyweight title
fight, I'd say skip this one.
Denver has some renowned museums, including the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (their version of the Museum of Natural History) at 2001 Colorado Blvd. at Montview Blvd. (in City Park, Number 20 bus), and the Denver Art Museum (their version of the Metropolitan Museum of Natural History), at 100 W. 14th Avenue Parkway at Colfax Avenue (across I-25 from Mile High Stadium, Auraria West station on the C-Line and E-Line).
Denver's history only goes back to a gold rush in 1859 – not to be confused with the 1849 one that turned San Francisco from a Spanish Catholic mission into the first modern city in the American West. The city isn't exactly loaded with history.
There's no Presidential Library – although Mamie Doud, the eventual Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower, grew up there, and her house is now a historic site. Mamie and "Ike" were married there, their son John (a future General, Ambassador and military historian) was born there, and the Eisenhowers were staying there when Ike had his heart attack in 1955. The house is still in private ownership, and is not open to the public. However, if you're a history buff, or if you just like Ike, and want to see it, it's at 750 Lafayette Street, at 8th Avenue. The Number 6 bus will get you to 6th & Lafayette.
After his heart attack, Ike was treated at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in nearby Aurora, 12 years after Senator John Kerry, nearly elected President in 2004 and now Secretary of State, was born there. It's not a Presidential Birthplace, because Kerry narrowly lost. It is now the University of Colorado Hospital. The Fitzsimmons Golf Course is across Montview Boulevard – it figures that Ike would be hospitalized next to a golf course! 16th Avenue & Quentin Street. Number 20 bus from downtown.
The University of Denver's Newman Center for the Performing Arts hosted a 2012 Presidential Debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. 2344 East Iliff Avenue, about 5 miles south of downtown. The University's Magness Arena hosted the Frozen Four in 1961, 1964 and 1976. 2250 E. Jewell Avenue. Both can be reached via H Line light rail to University of Denver Station.
Byron "Whizzer" White was a star football and basketball player at the University of Colorado in the late 1930s, a Rhodes scholar, a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions, a Bronze Star-winning Navy officer in World War II, one of Colorado's finest lawyers, the chairman of John F. Kennedy's Presidential campaign in the State, and one of the longest-serving Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. He is buried at the Cathedral of St. John in the Wilderness, 1350 N. Washington Street at 14th Avenue. Bus 6.
Denver doesn't have as many tall buildings as the nation's bigger cities, nor are they as interesting, architecturally. The tallest building in the State of Colorado is Republic Plaza, 714 feet high, at 17th Street & Tremont Place downtown. A 1,000-foot, 90-story residential/hotel tower, currently named Six Fifty 17 for its address (650 17th Street), has been proposed by Uruguay-born, New York-based architect Carlos Ott and local real estate firm Greenwich Realty Capital. They hope to break ground on it in Summer of 2018.Byron "Whizzer" White was a star football and basketball player at the University of Colorado in the late 1930s, a Rhodes scholar, a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions, a Bronze Star-winning Navy officer in World War II, one of Colorado's finest lawyers, the chairman of John F. Kennedy's Presidential campaign in the State, and one of the longest-serving Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. He is buried at the Cathedral of St. John in the Wilderness, 1350 N. Washington Street at 14th Avenue. Bus 6.
The University of Colorado is in Boulder, 30 miles to the northwest. At Market Street Station, 16th & Market, take the BV Bus to the Boulder Transit Center, which is on campus. The ride should take about an hour and 20 minutes. Colorado State University is in Fort Collins, 65 miles up Interstate 25 north, and forget about reaching it by public transportation.
The U.S. Air Force Academy is outside Colorado Springs, 60 miles down I-25. As with Fort Collins, you'd need Greyhound. Unlike CSU, you might not be able to just go there: Some of the area is restricted. It is, after all, a military base.
Colorado Springs was also home to the Broadmoor Ice Palace, which hosted what's now called the Frozen Four every year from its inception in 1948 until 1957, and again in 1969. The 3,000-seat arena at The Broadmoor Resort & Spa was home ice to Colorado College from 1938 to 1994. 1 Lake Avenue, across Cheyenne Lake from the main hotel. Its 7,750-seat 1998 replacement, the Broadmoor World Arena, is 4 miles to the east, at 3185 Venetucci Blvd.
A few TV shows have been set in Denver, but you won't find their filming locations there. The old-time Western Whispering Smith and the more recent one Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman were set in old Colorado (Colorado Springs), but filmed in Southern California. And Greendale, the setting of Community, is fictional.
Probably the most famous show set in Colorado is South Park, and that's a cartoon, so forget seeing anything from that. Not quite as cartoonish was Mork & Mindy, set in Boulder. The McConnell house actually is in Boulder, at 1619 Pine Street. But don't try to copy the opening-sequence scene with Robin Williams and Pam Dawber on the goalposts at the University of Colorado's Folsom Field. You could fall, and end up saying, "Shazbot!"
The most famous show ever set in Colorado was Dynasty, ABC's Excessive Eighties counterpart to CBS' Dallas, starring John Forsythe as Blake Carrington, an oilman and a thinly-veiled version of Marvin Davis, who nearly bought the Oakland Athletics from Charlie Finley in 1978 with the idea of moving them to Mile High Stadium, but the deal fell through. Right, you don't care about Blake, all you care about is the catfights between the 2nd and 1st Mrs. Carrington's: Krystle (Linda Evans) and Alexis (Joan Collins). The Carrington mansion seen in the opening credits is in Beverly Hills, but the building that stood in for the headquarters of Denver Carrington is at 621 17th Street, while the one that stood in for Colbyco is at 1801 California Street.
Movies set in Denver or its suburbs include The Unsinkable Molly Brown, the original Red Dawn, and, of course, Things to Do In Denver When You're Dead.
Films involving skiing often take place in Colorado towns such as Aspen or Vail. City Slickers, a film with loads of baseball references, has a cattle drive that ends in Colorado, but there's no indication of how close it is to Denver. Flashback takes place on the Pacific Coast, but Denver's Union Station stands in for a train station in San Francisco.
Denver sports has been defined by the Broncos, their 1st major league sports team, for over half a century. The Broncos have been an iconic sports franchise in America from the Autumn of '77 onward. They're usually at least good, sometimes great.
A Bronco game can be a very loud, very exciting experience. This NFL season features both the Giants and the Jets going to Denver. Who knows, maybe the Jets will play a Playoff game out there This season. This guide should have you ready for any of these events.
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