Gunnar Anderson planned to camp out Sunday at the bar at Steamworks Brewing Co. “unless the Broncos start playing really badly.”
It took a while for Anderson to realize the Albuquerque FOX affiliate would not be carrying the Broncos vs. Packers game. He noted the FOX website labeled it simply as “NFL game” but didn’t state the particular game it would carry.
“I called my wife when the game started to see if they were carrying the Broncos, but they were showing the Cowboys,” he said. “They choose the Cowboys and the Dolphins. Give me a break.”
According to the FOX New Mexico website: “Both the Green Bay/Denver game and the Miami/Dallas game are being televised by the FOX network at 11:00 AM today. Since Fox carries the NFC games, we are obligated to broadcast the Dallas Cowboys game. Unfortunately, we are not allowed by the NFL to broadcast the Denver Broncos game on one of our other channels. When a conflict between Denver and Dallas happens on CBS, we will carry the Broncos on KRQE. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
But for Anderson, who like many Southwest Coloradans bleeds blue and orange, the problem extends beyond the NFL.
“It annoys me we can’t get state news out of Denver. We can’t see Colorado political ads and get political information, but I have to admit it gets me out of the house, and there’s an arts fair in the street I can visit when the game’s done,” Anderson said.
Anderson has lived in Durango for 25 years, but he said it still seems weird to him that he lives in a corner of the state that can’t get Denver television.
“To live in a part of the state where you can’t get state news or political information seems strange, like that should be foremost, you would think,” he said.
Mike Jordan, who also was watching the game at Steamworks, concurred with Anderson. “It would be nice to get Colorado news. I don’t know what’s going on in state politics, but I know about Albuquerque crime, but I don’t care.”
From past experience, Matthew Gallegos knew he’d be at Cuckoo’s for the Broncos game. “I figured they’d be carrying it,” he said. “It’s silly to have the Cowboys on because we don’t live in Texas.”
Cody Kusy, who moved to Durango from California, said he is a lifelong Broncos fan stemming from his dad, who is a native Coloradan.
“It really stinks you can’t see the Broncos in Colorado,” he said. “I thought Colorado was down for the Broncos, but coming here, it’s like a third-world country. At least they’re not showing the Raiders.”
parmijo@ durangoherald.com
