Fans Heavily Blue Over Blue, Orange Broncos

Fans who saw their Super Bowl dreams dashed a fourth time took the loss hard, although a few attempted to keep their perspective.

At the Mammoth Events Center in Denver, a radio station’s Broncos celebration ended up being a wake Sunday evening as San Francisco’s rout of Denver unfolded.

“It’s awful,” said Milton Dicker, 36, of Denver.

“It stinks,” said Viveca Natulund, 19, of Golden.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Angel Portee, 16, of Denver.

Joe Deltoro, 39, of Denver, was more conciliatory. “There’s nothing wrong with being No. 2,” he said.

Among the orange-and-blue faithful were sprinkled a few 49ers fans, and they showed compassion for the Broncos.

“During the regular season, I root for the Broncos, but when it comes to Super Bowl, the 49ers are my team,” said Doug Spainhower. The Lakewood contractor’s red-and-gold 49ers jogging outfit and cap stood out in the sea of blue-and-orange-clad Broncos fans at Jackson’s Hole, a large sports bar owned by former Bronco Ron Egloff.

“I think the Broncos will be in the Super Bowl next year and they’ll probably win,” Spainhower said. “I don’t feel sorry for the Broncos, but I feel sorry for the fans.”

“Obviously I’m very disappointed,” said Egloff, as the crowd began to dwindle at the end of the fourth quarter. “They had a slight chance, but the 49ers played a great game. How do you stop a team like that?”

Jackson’s Hole, in suburban Lakewood, was the scene of one of dozens of Super Bowl parties. The standing-room-only crowd gathered around the pub’s 33 television sets included out-of-town visitors.

“I was a New England Patriots fan, but I was converted,” said Donald O’Connor, 27, of County Kerry, Ireland.

Hope began to fade for most Broncos fans by halftime, when Denver trailed 27-3, but a few were confident of a second-half comeback. “The Broncos are a second-half team,” said Debbie DeThomas, 33, a Denver travel agent. They proved not to be Sunday, however, as the 49ers out-scored them 28-7 in the second half.

At the Denver County Jail, two fights erupted during the first quarter among male inmates watching the game. The women prisoners traded gibes instead of punches.

Harvey Milkman, a psychologist in private practice and a professor of psychology at Metropolitan State College, said Denver has experience in seeing its expectations dashed.

“The odyssey of the Broncos mirrors the plight of the Denver or Colorado resident--all dressed up and no place to go,” said Milkman.

“It really parallels the expectations of a state that was built up and expected to be on top of economic growth and development and has really fallen short in that endeavor,” he said. “We feel a sense of underdog, struggle, not being able to actualize our dreams. That is really symbolized in what the Broncos have been doing.”

Broncos fans won’t be able to welcome home their fallen heroes today.

Team officials asked that a planned rally at Stapleton International Airport be canceled, said Brian Muir, a spokesman for the Denver Super Celebration ’90. “It was a team decision,” Muir said.