When the Browns lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game three times in four years four decades ago, including following the 1986 season, “The Drive Game,” I made a promise to myself.

Perhaps many of you did the same thing.

That is, I was never, ever, ever, ever, ever going to root for not just the Broncos, but any Denver pro sports team, for as long as I lived. In fact, if I could figure out a way to do it after I was gone, I was going to root against them then.

Those losses took the life out of me — out of all of us, really. I can’t even think about that, having the opportunity to get to the Super Bowl, only to have the Broncos stand in the way three times, without getting sick to my stomach.

But there’s an old adage that says, “Never say never, or always,” because you just don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.

And lo and behold, that’s exactly what happened. Granted, it took a long, long, long time for it to happen, but it did indeed happen.

Last weekend, I rooted for the Colorado Rockies. Yes, THOSE Colorado Rockies, the ones who call Denver home. I rooted like crazy for them. I wanted them to win in the worst way. I didn’t think they could win even —  I definitely didn’t think they would win — because they were the worst team in Major League Baseball this season.

But I needed them to win so that the Indians — er, I mean the Guardians — could edge out the White Sox and win the American League Central Division title. The Guardians went into last weekend one game ahead of the Sox, and it needed to stay that way if they wanted to capture the title. If they ended up the regular season tied with the White Sox, then Chicago would would’ve gotten the edge based on having won the season series between the teams. Thus, the Guardians had to win in their series against the Kansas City Royals, and they also could have used some help from the Rockies, who played the White Sox last weekend in Chicago. 

Then on Saturday night, while the Guardians were beating Kansas for the second straight time, the Rockies not just beat the White Sox, but for all intents and purposes, they beat them up. That allowed the Guardians to clinch that title before they even got to the regular-season finale last Sunday.

Division champs. How about that? Grab Your CLE Baseball Shirt Here

Also, how about the fact that I actually rooted for a team from Denver? My old self from the 1980s would be mad at my present self. Perhaps not even the explanation of why I was doing it may have been enough to make my old self accept the fact that rooting for a Denver team was needed.

Who knew, huh?

Steve King

CLE BASEBALL TUMBLER