Rowdy Denver Fans Revel in Win

This city howled under a full moon Sunday, reveling as its beloved Broncos repeated as world champions, defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19, in Super Bowl XXXIII at Miami.

There was also a repeat of the raucous celebrations that trashed the downtown area after last year’s win. Even though authorities here had warned for a week that police would immediately move to quash unruliness, fans poured into the LoDo area of Denver’s revitalized downtown and broke storefront windows and set fires.

After the game, several hundred rowdy fans spilled out of restaurants and bars and converged on historic Larimer Square, overrunning police lines. Police pulled back and contained the mob on one block, and watched as fans turned a fashionable shopping street into a mosh pit.

Fans climbed light poles, rode on each other’s shoulders and grabbed the early editions of local papers being sold on street corners. They used them to build bonfires.

Police watched for about 30 minutes before moving in with riot gear. Forming two lines, they advanced on the crowd, striding forward, shoulder to shoulder. Wearing gas masks and helmets and carrying riot shields, police fired canisters of tear gas, forcing the crowd into retreat through the acrid cloud.

Crowds also gathered at the state Capitol and were rebuffed several times by police using tear gas.

But even with the scattered disturbances, police did not characterize the celebrations as riots, and no arrests were reported. Last year, about 30,000 revelers poured into the downtown area, and, before the night was through, stores were vandalized, cars were burned and 60 people were injured.

Given the passion the Broncos engender here, such exuberance was to be expected. During the week, “Locally Owned” signs sprouted in store windows--merchants’ code for “Please don’t break our windows.”

But not all celebrations got out of hand. Michelle Cornel and Chris Matos drove from Boulder to watch the game at a downtown bar. The two were hurrying after the game to skirt the crowds, even as they joined in the cheering cries of “Go Broncos!”

“It was awesome, totally awesome,” said Cornel, who wore an orange-and-blue “Cat in the Hat” style Broncos hat. “Of course, I never doubted we wouldn’t win. But it sure felt good. Two-peat!”

Matos was distracted by revelers wearing plastic horse heads, standard Bronco regalia. “Man, it was almost a boring game,” he said. “But, weeeeee wooonnn!”

Even as Super Bowl parties were in full roar in usually quiet neighborhoods, many businesses closed early Sunday, or never opened.

Larimer Square, epicenter of last year’s riot, girded itself this time. Trash cans and benches were lashed to light poles. The restaurants that remained open served beverages in plastic cups. And suspended guide wires strung across the street were taken down. Last year, the thick wire served as a trapeze for rambunctious fans.

The Broncos will be feted today during a parade and rally. To accommodate the team’s youngest fans, Denver public schools will allow children attending the festivities to miss school and count it as an excused absence.

Super Bowl Sunday in Atlanta started bad and got worse.

First, Falcon fans woke to the news that one of their star players, Eugene Robinson, was arrested the night before on a sex solicitation charge. Then the weather turned ugly, with icy rain that cast a pall on Super Bowl parties.

Finally, cable TV went out all over Atlanta, so countless fans couldn’t even watch the debacle.

Police closed off streets in the ritzy Buckhead section, expecting either wild celebrations or raucous grieving, particularly when fans began lining up early in the morning outside sports bars and restaurants. But the dreary weather and the Falcons’ performance made for a quiet, early night.

“I’m going to go home and cry in my pillow,” said Tami Howard, a data processor, standing under an umbrella on Peachtree Road just minutes after the last dispiriting play. “I’m very proud of them, but I can’t help but be depressed.”

Penn Wells, a banker and native Atlantan, flew in from his home in Dallas to watch the game. He wanted to be in Atlanta for the inevitable victory parties. After sitting for eight hours at John Harvard’s Brew House, wearing his Dirty Bird T-shirt, even watching through all the pre-game shows, he was in a post-game gloom.

“We’re encouraged,” he said, not sounding at all encouraged. “After 33 years of fruitless play, we’re in the Super Bowl. So, maybe next year. . . . You never know.”

Sally Tabb, a peanut farmer from southern Georgia, also sounded a hopeful note.

“This was just a warmup for 2000,” she said, referring to next year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta, “when we’ll be the home team.”

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Cart reported from Denver and Moehringer from Atlanta.

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A Super Section

The Times today publishes a special 12-page Super Bowl wraparound section where you can find complete coverage of the Bronco’s victory, including facts and figures and a review of the TV coverage. R1