After spending much of the last two-plus weeks in Denver attending to my wife who has been hospitalized for various health problems, including an emergency surgery, I was able to take in my fair share of sports talk radio.
Early on I listened to Jim Rome, but then I realized I wasn't cool enough to understand what the hell he was talking about. I then concentrated on local sports talk radio. As a former sports talk radio guy myself, I listened to the three different sports talk radio outlets with interest.
As it turned out, it was a pretty good time to listen to Denver sports radio, with John Elway joining the Broncos front office, the hiring of John Fox as the team's new head coach and the never-ending Carmelo Anthony trade talks.
Early on in my stay, the talk was all about the candidates for the job. Of course, there were plenty of possibilities mentioned. Jim Harbaugh was one of the flavors of the day, then not a right fit. Of couse, there were the early calls that the Broncos should go after Bill Cowher or John Gruden. That idea in particular still makes me laugh.
Elway joined the Broncos front office just as I began my daily trek from the motel to the hospital, back to the motel, back to the hospital and then back to the motel, hence hearing to the same thing from different hosts from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., 1-5 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.
The talk began with Elway being the Broncos savior, then a buffoon for not being able to get Harbaugh, to being brilliant again for hiring Fox.
Many of the same callers who scoffed at the idea of Fox becoming the head coach were suddenly praising him like he was their choice all along. My favorite caller is the guy who waits a half hour to get on the show and then repeats exactly what the host had just said, almost word for word
Thanks for the call.
It proved to be an interesting listen for a couple of reasons. It briefly got my mind off of problems with my wife's health, albeit briefly during the 10-minute drive. Walking back into the ICU, seeing your wife on a ventilator in critical condition quickly forces you to refocus.
Also, I'm not a Broncos' fan, so I really didn't have any stake in this issue, which is often like watching the Super Bowl when you really don't care who wins or loses because your team is not playing.
And before I forget, it's the Super Bowl, not the Superbowl. Sorry, I'm scratching a pet-peeve itch.
My wife is doing better, thank God, but she still is in the hospital in Denver and will likely be in one facility or another there for a long time, so I might as well keep those stations saved on my radio dial.
With that said, I'm likely to recognize some of the same callers who didn't want John Fox hired, then agreed that he was a great hire and now will criticize his every move and wonder why the Broncos didn't hire Cowher or Gruden.
And that's just Bill from Aurora's opinion ... today.
Oh yeah, and nobody really cares about Carmelo Anthony.
