After moving to the Denver area four months ago, I have become intrigued with the commitment this area has for their NFL team.
After spending the last four weeks of the NFL regular season watching the Broncos throw away their shot at the playoffs, one thought kept entering my head: I’m glad I’m not a die-hard Broncs fan.
The agony of watching your team suffer like that is almost unbearable and is something true sports fans remember forever.
It was a different sort of agony Thursday night watching the Longhorns take on the Crimson Tide in the BCS Championship.
At first it was all excitement as I took in the pre-game and the electricity around the stadium. It seemed that this was going to be a special game.
Alabama gambled with a fake punt on their opening drive of the game which resulted in an interception and the momentum was immediately on Texas’ side.
Just four snaps later, Texas QB Colt McCoy was coming off the field with an injury to his throwing shoulder and the entire feeling of the game changed.
Texas could not get in the end zone and settled for a field goal and the Longhorns offense suddenly looked like a prizefighter caught right on the chin with an uppercut from nowhere.
The offensive coordinators didn’t know what to do. Over a month of gameplanning, analyzing and preparing McCoy for the No. 2 defense in the nation suddenly went out the window. The confusion was evident as the offense could not muster a first down until the third quarter.
The Texas defense and special teams did everything they could to help carry the suddenly stagnate offense, but the loss of McCoy and the inexperience of his replacement, freshman Garrett Gilbert, was too much too overcome.
There’s a lot to be said for the way Texas hung in there and continued to make a game of it, and Alabama came surprisingly close to blowing what should have been an easy win.
Fortunately for the Tide, they had a spectacular defense and Heisman winner Mark Ingram, who turned in a solid performance.
I’m not a die-hard Longhorns fan, but there was a certain amount of pain watching what should have been college football at its highest level instantly be replaced by something subpar on the biggest stage possible.
But that’s sports, for better or worse, and what’s sick is we always come back for more.
