Tradition Tuesday: Tickets and Camp

The rough focus of this blog is the rivalry between the Kansas City Chiefs (heralded by Bankmeister) and the Denver Broncos (championed by Cecil and Old No. 7). It may seem unfair that it's two versus one, but once KC gets that second Super Bowl win we'll even out the delegation.

Eight years ago we started The Tradition, in which Bronco fans travel out to the Truman Sports Complex with their team, and Chief lovers return to the Rocky Mountains with theirs. We tailgate, we talk massive amounts of shit, our wives are occasionally assaulted by rival fans, and we almost always watch the visiting team lose. It's a grand old time.

Here at the HoG, we're going to keep The Tradition going with Tradition Tuesday--a weekly state-of-the-rivalry address.

Now it gets exciting. We have one-half of our Tradition-related tickets, and training camp is a stone's throw away. There's been a boatload of speculation of late as to how bad these two teams are going to be. To that, I sing a few bars of my favorite show tune:

"Baby, blow me...

...a kiss...as you're leavin'. Blow me..."

Okay. Sing as I may, they likely could suck a flat of salmonella-infested jalapenos. Or just one of the disease-ridden fuckers from the Lone Star State. But I don't care. This, until further notice, is our two-part annual Bowl of Superness.

Here's how things are shaping up for the Rocky Mountain side:

Denver no longer has any Bells for the Chiefs to ring in the backfield.

Honestly, I find that a shame, too. Oft-touted as one of the best-running scheme clubs in the league, the Broncos ground attack has been less than desirable I'd imagine the orange and blue-clad might say, yet somewhat closer to desirable for us Chiefs fans that see this rushing offense twice a year. I'm not going to cite any stats here, so consider myself admitting that I may be wrong. It would appear, though, that the Chiefs have had the better ground game of the two teams since the duo of Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson joined the AFC West. Now, (at least to me) obviously, the Chiefs were the worst in the league carrying the ball, but injuries, youth, etc. were at play. Denver on the other hand, looked strong out of the gates with Travis Henry, fell flat, then generated some good yardage with Selvin Young, but nothing all that bragworthy.

What I'd like to see would be lots of Mike Bell, very little Selvin Young, but oh well. Johnson will simply have to regain his pre-injury form.

For a look at other key positions for Denver this year, Mile High Report is breaking down the quarterback position of the Denver Broncos 2008 roster, and I'll break down that breakdown. (Editor's Note: Okay. I'll actually just be a sinister prick.)

"When you think about the Denver Broncos, you think about the Quarterback."

No. I don't. I think more globally, like about the Dan Reeves tenior, the Mike Shanahan regime, and those that have played under them and the other coaches since circa 1980.

"Such is life when the words "Legend" or "Greatest of All Time" precede someone who played the position on your team for over 15 years."

Nobody puts the words "greatest of all time" before or after Elway's name except for Donkey fans.

"The shadow of John Elway has been a long one, towering over Broncos' signal callers for nearly a decade."

I thought that shadow had been eclipsed with the dawning of Vanderbilt's A-1 diabetic.

Then something happened. As the losing coach in the 2005 AFC Championship Game, Shanny's runner-up prize was the honor of coaching the AFC team in the Pro Bowl. His starting QB was Peyton Manning of the Colts. Being up close and personal with Manning, a QB that showed alot of the same qualities as Shanny's own Hall of Fame quarterback Elway, showed the coach what he was missing in Plummer. Something that in today's NFL is as crucial to winning as physical talent.

Wait. What? An afternoon with Chesnning was Shanny's inspiration for trading up for Cutler? Wow. Jayton Canning it is.

In other Denver roster news, they, as Cecil mentioned, originally offered Kansas City a fourth-round pick for veteran safety Greg Wesley, but the Chiefs declined because they allegedly didn't want to send him to a division rival. The result? They cut him, and he...yep, signed with a division rival.

Regarding the Chiefs roster, stories keep breaking when they sign draft picks, but I'd rather them hush until their top three have put John Hancocks on paper.

Kansas City Star knucklehead Jeffrey Flanagan tells the story of how Alan Cass' inexplicably gay famous "in-com-plete" chant got started. What? You made a mockery out of Steve Bono? Tough task, broseph.

But seriously, all rosters and stories aside, training camp is like two flippin' days away, which means that the first pre-season game is only about three weeks out. I'm pumped. Sure, we still have a lot of baseball left, but nothing's more exciting than that first real taste of football, which is now. The House of Georges made its September 28 Broncos at Arrowhead purchase this morning, and the contest falls on the fourth week of the season. Week four is good. If you don't have an idea of what your team will likely look like come week 16 by week four, you probably don't want to know.

Here's how I see the week four matchup panning out:

Denver opens the season with a loss at Oakland. That's right. I said it. Just a hunch. Not a blowout, but a bitterly close one, perhaps even a Janikowski time-out-teased field goal from 52 yards out to seal the deal. Week two doesn't get much better; the home opener is a loss to the Chargers, and this one's not as close. Week three, however, yields the sweet taste of victory as the Broncos toss around Reggie Bush, Drew Brees and the Saints. They come to Arrowhead 1-2.

Kansas City likewise loses in week one, a road contest in Foxboro. They host Oakland the following week at home, though. A cocky Oakland that thinks it's going to run the AFC West table. Surprise. They're not. Chiefs win, and do so again in Atlanta in week three, ready to host Denver with a one-game advantage in the standings? Ridonculous? I don't think so. Very possible, in fact. That would make for a great week four, another stupendous installment of The Tradition, and a flashy precursor for sending the Broncos back to Denver 1-3.

Git. 'Er. Done. Beeatches.