A SNOWBALL’S CHANCE : Bronco Fans Get Into Act : Raiders Are the Real Target for Strong Arms in Denver

Denver, the jewel of the Rockies and home of the Broncos, eagerly awaits the arrival of the Raiders for the settling of one division race and many old scores.

The Raiders have a lot of legitimate things to worry about: John Elway, Steve Watson, Karl Mecklenburg, Rulon Jones.

But every other question they’re getting is about . . . snowballs?

The Broncos don’t throw snowballs. Their fans have fired one or two, though.

“When you were in the locker room, the people used to try to nail you coming in,” Coach Tom Flores said last week. “That’s why they put that big fence there. When I was still playing, you never took your helmet off.

Howie Long said: “I’ve been hit by water, soda; I’ve been spit at. I like being on the field. It’s a lot less dangerous.”

The snowballs, at least, were considered harmless fun until one fell to earth near the San Francisco 49ers’ Matt Cavanaugh during the Nov. 11 Monday night telecast and seemed to have something to do with his fumbling a snap from center. That cost his team a 19-yard field goal in a game it lost, 17-16.

In Denver, which is hypersensitive about its image, the affair was received variously:

--Civic embarrassment. Denver talk shows considered nothing else for a week.

The Tank McNamara comic strip did snowball jokes for a week.

Said President Rex Jennings of the Denver Chamber of Commerce: “It was unfortunate it happened. We have a high class of Bronco fan. We have a high class of season ticket-holder. We don’t want the image of Bronco fans as thugs and rednecks. It was a result of someone’s enthusiasm. Sometimes a practical joke backfires.”

49er guard Randy Cross: “I hope Peter Ueberroth was watching the game. It’s a good indication of why a high-class joint like this doesn’t deserve a baseball team.”

A San Francisco newspaper offered $500 for information leading to the identification of the launcher, and later said it found him. The paper said it was withholding his identity at his request, since he was properly contrite, and afraid that he was going to cost his parents their season tickets.

--What snowball?

Bronco Coach Dan Reeves: “I don’t think it affected (Cavanaugh). I was looking right at it and never saw the snowball. I don’t think (referee) Jim Tunney saw the snowball. I don’t think that Cavanaugh thought it affected him, because if he did, he’d still be standing there arguing with the official right now. . . . It hit kind of behind him and about nine feet from him. It splattered. It looks a lot worse when you’re shooting it from up high and look at it against that grass.

“I think if you shot me with a 30.06 when I was a holder--you’ve still got to catch that football.”

--A new motif. The old Orange Crush label was getting a little tired, even if the soft-drink company just signed a formal deal with the Broncos. Now, there is a booming market in T-shirts bearing a picture of a snowball and one of two legends: “I threw the snowball,” or “I didn’t throw the snowball.”

“I threw the snowball” is said to be the leading seller.

--A joke. The San Diego Chargers who were due into Denver next, enlivened their practices by tossing rolled-up socks at kicker Bob Thomas while he was practicing field goals. Thomas subsequently had two successive tries blocked in overtime, although the culprit was Bronco safety Dennis Smith, not some fan with a good arm.

This is a lot of reaction for one little snowball, but in Denver, the Broncos are more than a team. They are the symbol of the city’s claim to being big league, something it worries about.

Bronco players worry about it, too. When only one of them from a 13-3 team was named to play in last season’s Pro Bowl, along with eight members of the Raiders (11-5) and five members of the Seahawks (12-4), a deep funk set in. Recently, Rulon Jones noted that the media covering the Broncos lack clout.

Among the first concerns about any Bronco home game: “Is it going to be on national TV?”

And right after that: “Why not?”

Monday night games from Denver are the civic equivalent of going to watch your kids in the school play. There was great embarrassment last season when a blizzard inundated the Monday night telecast of the Packers at Denver. Now, they’ll think we’re another Green Bay!

And so, before the 49er game, an attempt was made to get everything right this time. Downtown buildings were kept lighted, in order to give ABC a vibrant, exciting skyline for its opening shot. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to look like anything.

Then there was the snowball incident. Some nights, a city can’t buy a break.

“Naturally, on Monday night games, there’s always some concern,” said Jennings, the Chamber of Commerce president. “You hope it doesn’t snow. You’re going to be on display. That’s just basic civic pride.

“It’s only in the last 10-15-20 years that Denver has emerged as a truly world-class city. We’re always anxious, by golly, to have everyone acknowledge that. Not that there is an inferiority complex here, just the contrary. We know we have one of the great cities in the world, doggone it, and we want to do everything we can to make sure everyone knows it.

“I don’t want to overstate the importance of the Broncos. We have a number of things that distinguish Denver from other cities. We’re one mile high. We’re within view of the majestic Rocky Mountains. And I suppose, another is that we’re the home of the Denver Broncos.

“They’re an institution. They’ve had something like 110 straight sellouts (116, counting this week’s). They’re genuinely--I hate to use the term--loved by everybody. The mood of the whole metropolitan community swings on the wins and losses of the Broncos. If you want to make a deal, you do it the Monday after a Bronco victory.”

Well, into every civic aspiration, a snowball or two must fall.

And now for the Raiders, who are hated in Denver about as much as the Broncos are loved.

The Raiders are some temptation for snowball throwers, but Denver has just been through all that, so they’re probably safe.