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View Full Version : Kiszla: A blame game fit for booing



Lonestar
08-27-2009, 06:13 PM
By Mark Kiszla
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/27/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 08/27/2009 08:58:12 AM MDT


Post Poll - Cutler's Return

Wil you be inclined to boo or cheer when Jay Cutler returns to Denver for Sunday night's Bears-Broncos game?

Total Votes = 5715
Boo
49.22 %
Cheer
21.27 %
Neither
20.78 %
Won't be watching
8.713 %

Josh McDaniels doesn't want his NFL coaching career defined by a feud. Quarterback Jay Cutler claims when he departed for Chicago, he dumped any ill will at the Denver city limits.

So why can't the rest of us get over it?

"It happened, it's over with and we're both moving in a different direction," Cutler said Wednesday, talking about a messy divorce with the Broncos as if it was as small and insignificant as a dark speck in his rearview mirror.

So why do so many Broncomaniacs insist on wallowing in bad blood?

Bitterness festers in the hearts of betrayed fans, whether they blame this mess on the pouting of Jay-C or condemn the arrogance of Kid McD.

Either way, this feud isn't over until we say it is.

I'm afraid the otherwise good people of Denver will have plenty to say when Cutler returns to town this weekend to play football against the young coach who traded him, and all of it will sound like:

Booooo.

"There are not two people playing out there on Sunday night," said McDaniels, trying to downplay the idea this is some kind of steel- cage match between him and Cutler.

The fans of Colorado might never forgive a cowardly act by hockey villain Todd Bertuzzi and we've long been a city united in healthy hate for the Raiders, but the sporting heart of Denver has now been torn apart by a petty little civil war, in which everybody seems to be required to choose sides between Cutler and McDaniels.

So let the booing begin.

Has any athletic contest in Denver history ever promised to be less about the cheers?

While the points scored won't count when Cutler takes the field for the Bears against McDaniels and the Broncos, the passion in the blame game will be real, and could get ugly, if the early returns from a survey being conducted on denverpost.com are any indication.

What happens when Cutler trots on the field to the Bears' huddle? Or how will the crowd in the stadium react should he throw a touchdown against Denver?

If our poll tells the truth, half the people in the joint will boo, a quarter of the fans will cheer, while the rest will bite their tongues or close their eyes in the hope the whole regrettable scene goes away.

But the only thing worse than being Cutler on Sunday night might be serving as the quarterback that angry Broncomaniacs feel like they're stuck with, thanks to McDaniels.

"I hope we can put on a good show and get them rocking pretty good," Kyle Orton said.

This isn't Orton's argument. But he has been slimed by the angry spittle of it.

The soap opera starring Cutler and McDaniels certainly wasn't his fault, but every time Orton throws an interception he hears it from disgruntled fans whose real beef is with the new Broncos coach.

Asked about Orton's very public struggle to master the Denver offense at a time when many Broncomaniacs are in an unforgiving mood, Cutler offered sympathy: "I feel sorry for Kyle."

It's funny and sad at the same time. Because McDaniels and Cutler could not live together, their NFL careers are doomed to be forever linked.

Saying he has a football game to worry about, Cutler suggested he won't seek out McDaniels before kickoff.

That will leave it to McDaniels to be the bigger man.

The Denver coach and Chicago quarterback divided the loyalties in one of America's great sports towns. In 50 years of the Broncos' existence, there have never been more fans hoping for the home team to fail.

How can McDaniels and Cutler purge the bitterness gnawing in the guts of fans unwilling to forgive or forget?

It could start before kickoff, at the 50-yard line, with something as simple as a handshake.

http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_13212155?source=commented-