WARE, U.K. — Mind the gap means watch your step.
Or in the case of the Broncos, it means don’t lose to the (bleeping) Jets. All signs point toward a favorable crowd for the Broncos at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday. The NFL remains a niche sport in London, with no strong allegiances, save for a pocket of Jacksonville Jaguars fans.
The Broncos’ upset of Philadelphia should crowd Denver’s bandwagon. Folks here watch the Super Bowl and know the Eagles are the defending champions. And the fact is, the Broncos are playing the Jets. Nobody believes in the Jets. Not even the Jets.
“The tickets should be affordable on the secondary market. The Broncos have a Super Bowl-winning coach, really good young quarterback and a great defense,” said Brian T. Smith, a senior U.S. reporter in London for talkSport. c“I can’t imagine it won’t be sold out with a lot of Broncos fans. I don’t know how you walk into Tottenham Stadium and root for the Jets unless you are Fireman Ed.”
Under the leadership of commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL remains determined to increase its international footprint. The idea of every team playing a game in a foreign country each season seems a foregone conclusion when an 18th regular-season game is added.
The Giants and Dolphins played the first International Series contest in London in 2007, an ugly mudfest. The Jaguars provide a yearly presence at Wembley Stadium. But growing the game, carving out 1 % of the Premier League pie, requires more.
“The games are really big. The Tube will be packed. It will be a full-day event with the crowd into it. The problem is that the games in London have not been very good,” said Smith, a longtime journalist in the States, including as a columnist at The Houston Chronicle. “It’s the greatest city in the world. You have a knowledgeable fan base. We are long past explaining what a first down is and how the game is played. What they need is to become a conversation point. You need to have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce play here.”
Sunday, they will have to settle for the Broncos. And maybe the league can replace the Jets with Taylor Swift.
Rockie word play: Weird what words former Rockies turn into synonyms. Former general manager Bill Schmidt and assistant GM Zack Rosenthal resigned over the past two weeks, if you believe the press release. They were fired. If it makes them feel better that the term wasn’t used, so be it. Both were terrible, and Rosenthal had a history of running off qualified baseball people during his 21-year run with the team. Let the two ex-employees take comfort in their exit semantics. And please, Walker Monfort, bring in experts to run the baseball side of the franchise. There is a tremendous opportunity to hit the reset button. Don’t waste it.
Mr. Bill: The skepticism of NFL folks proved warranted. Bill Belichick has been an awful fit at North Carolina, his laughable loss to Clemson increasing the likelihood he is one-and-done for the Tar Heels. I feel bad for the players. They did not sign up for a coach who is disconnected and disinterested. Maybe having a Friends and Family plan coaching staff wasn’t such a great idea after all. Things are so bad and dysfunctional, per reports, Hulu scrapped plans for a UNC documentary. The good news is that the Tar Heels’ games have been moved to The Cartoon Network.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.