SPORTS-(BRONCOS)
From the Frozen Tundra of Canton...
About two months ago, the big news around these parts was the induction of
John Elway into the Hall of Fame. The Denver Broncos finally had a
player in the Hall. Most of the losers in orange wigs, barrels and
big poofy styrofoam hands went to the actual ceremony and/or shitty
preseaosn exhibition game. I, of course, went the following week.
Which may be even more pathetic than going to the induction.
On a Sunday afternoon in August, I spent roughly 4 hours at the Hall.
Unlike most relic museums, the Hall has no problem with allowing
flash photography. Thus, I snapped up roughly 60 pictures of relevant crap.
Everything from ACTUAL DIRT that Jim Thorpe played on to the jersey of
my "cousin", Michael Strahan.
The only thing I passed on was Pat Tillman's Army Ranger uniform. It would've
seemed kind of weird or morbid...plus, I recalled how Tillman wanted to be
an annonymous grunt.
It'd be a waste of bandwidth to show EVERY picture I snapped.
But hey...do YOU like the Donkies and don't feel like
travelling to Canton?! Then sit back, chester, cuz' here's
all the Donkey-specific stuff from the Hall, delivered right to
your desktop!
Donkey Thingie #1- From the Hall's main rotunda and the decade-by-decade
exhibits. Elway's jersey and a chart detailing his "Drive" against Cleveland in the 1986
AFC Championship game. Marty Schottenheimer's favorite exhibit.
Click to see
Donkey Thingie #2- Elway's bust from the main enshrinement gallery.
Click to see
Donkey Thingie #3- The fabled vertically striped socks from the Bronco's
inaugural season. From the
"Other leagues" wing of the Hall, which also included crap from the USFL,
3 AFL's, WFL and other start-up leagues.
Click to see
Donkey Thingie #4- Mike Anderson's jersey when he set the
single-game rookie rushing record against the
New Orleans Saints in
2000
Click to see
Donkey Thingie #5- Terrell Davis's jersey from his 1998 2,000 yard
season.
Click to see
Donkey Thingie #6- From the back room of the Hall, where
team-by-team enshrinement displays are located. This is all the
Broncos have in their section. Compared to the
sections for the Steelers, Packers and Bears, which were
overflowing with crap.
Click to see
Donkey Thingie #7- From the LAME "NFL Today" section of the Hall.
Quick displays of each current franchise.
Click to see
That's EVERYTHING. Although, I do recall reading that Glyn Milburn's
jersey is in the Hall. Taken from his record-setting "total yards from
scrimmage" game in 1995. Also, Jason Elam's shoes from
his record-tying field goal in 1998 are rumored to be there, too.
I suspect the Hall rotates their exhibits periodically, so maybe
those two thingies were just packed away. I suspect that some of the
modern day miletsones (like the Anderson and Davis jerseys)
were rotated to feature Lions' and Broncos'
achivements. Just a way to add to the buzz surrounding the recent enshrinements
of Elway and Barry Sanders.
The final section of the Hall has a goofy surround sound wannabe-IMAX theatre.
It runs through training camp clips of the Broncos, Jaguars, Jets and
Steelers. Then, the entire seating section rotates to show highlights
of the last Super Bowl. I wasn't too impressed with this, or the
"interactive displays" that were located outside the theatre: two
trivia games similar to those NTN bar game trivia boxes.
The Hall if worth visiting if you're a football fan. My favorite section was
the "Other Leagues" wing. I enjoyed reading about the Miami Seahawks (!) and
other departed teams. A funny display on the 70's WFL showed a gameday picture of
Jim Kiick and Larry Csonka. Despite being big names on the same team, their
jerseys did NOT match-- The colors and patterns used for their names and numbers were
completely different.
If you go to the Hall, make sure to check out the William McKinley
Memorial, across the street. Based off of Hadrian's Tomb, McKinley, his
main squeeze, and two sons are buried in it. Neat little park, and it's
free.
Comment about this article: email me or visit the NEW ES Board!
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