I debated whether to put this in Games or Cafe, but decided here.
There was Simpsons episode back in the mid 90’s, (One of my favourites incidentally), where Homer works for a bondesque villain (Hank Scorpio). Homer admits to Scorpio that his lifelong dream was to own the Dallas Cowboys. At the end of the episode after Scorpio has taken over the Eastern Seaboard, he gifts Homer with the Denver Bronco’s. With a note to say something to the effect of “It’s not the Dallas Cowboys, but it’s a start” And Homer comes out with "Awh The Denver Bronco’s " in a very dismissive and disappointed tone.
In short Why?
I know that the Cowboys where very successful through the early to mid 90’s, so any team would be a step down from them I suppose, but were the Bronco’s known as a particularly inept team at that time or something?
(BTW I’m Australian and watch the NFL occasional but not closely enough to get a good feel for the teams reputations)
No, the Broncos were a very successful team, consistently making the playoffs year after year, and actually reaching the Super Bowl (the big championship game for the NFL) four times by the end of the 80s. They also lost in the Super Bowl four times. John Elway was the quarterback in three of those losses, so he also had a reputation as a capable quarterback, but one who just couldn’t win the big one. If you were a Broncos fan, one thing you could always count on was that they would break your heart. There were a couple of seasons of euphoria in Denver in 1998 and 1999 when they finally won the big game, but rooting for the Broncos is almost always an exercise in frustration. Despite that, they have a fiercely loyal fan following.
The Broncos had something of a slump in the mid-nineties. Their overall record from 1992 to 1995 was 32 wins and 32 losses - more mediocre than terrible. The big things was the Broncos had a 0-4 Superbowl record at the time
But things picked up under Homer’s ownership. They had 13-3 season in 1996 and then won back-to-back Superbowls in 1997 and 1998.
The Dallas Cowboys are arguably the most famous team in the NFL. People who don’t follow football know who they are, so owning that team comes with some extra prestige and fame. The Broncos don’t have that. And just to balance out the slam on the Broncos, there was an earlier episode where the family was going into the FBI’s witness protection program. Homer asked if he could be John Elway, the Broncos quarterback.
And most of those losses were really ugly: the Giants beat them 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI, the Redskins beat them 42-10 the next year, and two years after that, San Francisco crushed them 55-10. That’s the worst loss in any Super Bowl. This explains why, right after Homer asks if he can be John Elway, he dreams about scoring a touchdown in the final seconds of the Super Bowl… making the final score Denver 7, San Francisco 56.
Yeah I loved that, especially when a ball bounces off the back of the receiver’s helmet.
I think it’s probably the best episode of the Simpsons. The entire episode is great, but I think the best was the following exchange:
Homer asks Scorpio for sugar for his coffee.
Scorpio mutters “Hmm, sugar, sugar,” while looking around as if he’s searching for some. He then reaches into his pockets and pulls out two hand fulls of loose sugar that he hands to Homer. “Sorry it’s not in packages.” (Beat) “Want some cream?”
Right- it often seems as if excellent teams/players that lose regularly in the finals are disrespected far more than mediocre teams that never even MAKE it to the finals.
If you NEVER reach the World Series, like Ernie Banks, people will feel sorry for you. If you make it to the World Series and come up short, people will mock you as a choker who “can’t win the big one.”
Making it to the Super Bowl four straight times, as the Buffalo Bills did, is a hell of an accomplishment. But the Bills lost all four times, so they were mocked more than admired.
The Broncos had to be very good to make it to the Super Bowl so often, but they were ridiculed for losing those Super Bowls more than admired for reaching them.
