Game Day in Denver

You may have noticed the absence of the Wednesday Hodgepodge yesterday. Our gracious hostess, Joyce, lives in New Jersey, where they are still feeling the effects of Super Storm Sandy. Thankfully, her power has been restored, but fuel is still an issue, as is the snowstorm they received on the heels of Sandy. Please pray for all who have been touched by the storm.

And now, to finish up our trip to Denver.
Sunday morning. Game day.
We started off with church. We watched our friend, Pastor Dave, on the live feed from St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis.

We read the paper.

Took a walk.

Enjoyed the excitement.

And made a stop at the Tattered Cover Book Store. We could have spent hours there.

We met our friends Sue Ann and Rick for brunch, and they directed us to the train for our trip to the stadium. Much easier than finding a parking place!

There it is! Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

We passed this guy selling t-shirts on the way in. You may have heard of their quarterback? They think he is the bomb-diggity, which is what I think he meant to say on this shirt. Since this is a family friendly blog, I smudged the shirt a bit, so you will have to use your imagination to figure out what it says.

Because I might be a little bit obsessive about my football team, I insist suggest that we arrive when the stadium doors open. No need to fight the crowd on the way in. That's Rick and Jim walking ahead of us. Jim was rockin' his Loudmouth pants again. He gets many comments compliments whenever he wears them. Mostly from the ladies. :)

Here we are posing in front of 'The Broncos' sculpture. Notice we are holding Coach on a Stick.

The sculpture is made up of 5 broncos, a mare, and a colt. They are 1 1/2 times life size, and appear to be running up a mountain.

As he did in New Orleans, Jim met a new friend due to their pants. Who Dat!

Sue Ann and I posed for a dueling jersey photo.

My first glimpse of the field on our way down to our seats. Pink pom poms were on each seat in honor of breast cancer awareness in the month of October.

Saints owners Mr. and Mrs. Benson entering the stadium.

It's always fun to see the signs in the stadium

I'm siding with the wife on this one.

We took a sign of our own. Packed in our suitcase and toted all the way to the game. Thankfully, we did get an opportunity to hold it up. And you bet we did! 50 games in a row with a touchdown pass!

You might recognize Bob Costas getting ready for the camera.

It's football night in America you know.

Annnnnddd, there's our quarterback!

If you don't enjoy photos of football players, feel free to stop reading now, because what follows is a ridiculous number of pictures of a variety of players my favorite player.

Drew Brees, rockin' the pink shoes.

Oh yeah, there were some other players on the field. That's Marques Colston.

"In 1975, Roy Rogers granted permission for Bucky Bronco to be cast from the same model used to make a statue of his own horse, Trigger, so long as the new statue was not also named Trigger. The naming of the horse was then put out to the fans and "Bucky Bronco" was chosen." (source)
He now stands atop the scoreboard at the new 'Mile High Stadium.'

That's Chris Collinsworth joining the on-field broadcasters prior to the game.

Jim's checking some important business during warm-ups.

All suited up and back on the field.

Devery Henderson, one of the receivers.

Drew greets the Bensons.

Signs an autograph.

And poses for a picture.

Broncos Coach John Fox has a word with Drew before the game.

We were happy to see Jimmy Graham back in the lineup after missing a game due to injury.

Annnnd there's #18. You might remember him? Peyton Manning? Used to play for the Colts?

It's still hard to get used to seeing him in orange.

It's actually 'back in orange' for him, since he played for the Vols in Tennessee. From Rocky Top to Rocky Mountains. Full circle, I guess.

Mr. and Mrs. Benson posing with some important dudes. No idea who they are.

Saints huddle up for the pre-game chant.

Continuing the warm-up.

Since Coach Payton couldn't be there in person, we brought him along. And we weren't the only ones. We saw a few of him here and there.

Warm-up finished, and ready to do this!

The Broncos have an actual horse on the field during the pre-game festivities.

And he gallops the length of the field after every touchdown. It got a little annoying, actually. :) And I like horses.

Parachutes,

and fireworks,

and Faith.

"All right, Sunday night, where are you?
...'Cause I been waitin' all day for Sunday night!"

Here come the Broncos!

The coin toss.

Breast cancer survivors.

Drew and Chase are ready.

Miles the mascot entertaining the fans.

Unfortunately for the Saints, this guy is pretty good. Yeah, we knew that.

And my guy had a rough night.

As you can tell by the scoreboard.

So I just started snapping some pictures of the action.

And the huddle. I've mentioned it before, but I always love this picture. It reminds me of Drew's days at Purdue.

Ready for the snap.

See number 36?

That is not nice. Not nice at all. Whatchu doin' to my quarterback?

Not a happy night for the visitors.

Post-game handshakes.

And let's get outta town.

Which is what we did on Monday morning. Another beautiful bright blue sky day in Denver.

The Frontier planes all have different animals on the tail.

We were flying with Jake.

A Rocky Mountain goodbye.

And back home again in Indiana.