A review of 2 Broncos Sports Bars in Phoenix

I want to the thank members of the Broncos in the Desert Facebook Group for giving me the locations of the Sport Bars that host Broncos Fans in the Phoenix metro area. Since I’ve only been here since May, I didn’t know where they were.

Yesterday I went to the Whisky Row in Scottsdale and watched the first half of the Chargers/Bills game and was planning to stay for the Broncos game afterwards. I'm from Wyoming so I wanted to see Josh Allen's first start as the Bills QB. When I got there a little after 10 there were no Broncos Fans in the bar. Granted the game didn't start until after 1 pm but I expected to see more fans there.

One of the bartenders at Whiskey Row was a Tampa Bay fan. He had that game on their biggest screen and the volume pumped for his benefit. He was a good kid but he was driving me nuts, he was yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs on every single play. He had way too much testosterone flowing through his veins and in my opinion was a huge distraction to the other people that were there to watch the games. Personally, if I’m the owner or manager of the bar I’d ask the bartenders to dial their enthusiasm down a notch, they’re there to serve not to be obnoxious cheerleaders.

Furthermore, as the owner of the Broncos Sports Bar if they were not playing, I’d have the game of the day on the biggest screen in the bar. In my opinion, since the Broncos are in the AFC West, the best and most important early game was the Chiefs/Steelers game or even the Bills/Chargers game not the Bucs/Eagles game. No serious Broncos Fan gave 2 hoots about the Bucs/Eagles game. I'm speaking for myself here but as a Broncos Fans I prefer to watch the other AFC West games first over the other games.

Frankly the noisy bartender was annoying me so much and since there we little to no Broncos Fans there I decided to leave at half time and try the Ginger Monkey in Chandler. I had a lot of windshield time in my Camaro SS yesterday but hey, any windshield time in the Camaro is fine with me.

The Ginger Monkey was packed with Broncos Fans and as one fan in a Facebook group told me the food was way better. It was, the garlic parmesen wings were awesome. The menu at Whiskey Row was just your average bar food in my opinion. I had a breakfast sandwich at 10 while I was at Whiskey Row, it was okay but at Ginger Monkey when I bought the wings later that afternoon were far better than the sandwich. I could see the other food the waitresses were bringing out to the fans at Ginger Monkey and it all looked delicious.

I talked to one Broncos fan at Ginger Monkey and he said that Whiskey Row puts the Broncos game on every screen once the game is on. Having heard this I kind of wish I’d have stayed because that wasn’t the case at Ginger Monkey.

So… bottom line, after going to both I liked them both, but I wouldn’t go to the Whiskey Row unless it was right before the start of a Broncos game. As for Ginger Monkey I’d go back there also but I’d go early enough to get a good seat since they mix other games throughout the bar.

I have a 55-inch big screen and the NFL Sunday Ticket so the best seat in the house is still at home but occasionally an outing to network with Broncos Fans is always fun too.

As far as a football weekend goes I couldn't of asked for better. The Wyoming Cowboys put a W, the Broncos beat the Raiders, the Patriots lost and my fantasy team is likely to win tonight to secure a 2-0 record in my fantasy league. WINNING!!!

BRING ON FOOTBALL!!!

Since moving to Mesa in May of this year I’ve spent most of my time adapting to the new lifestyle, making friends with my neighbors, driving Whinnie and enjoying the greater Phoenix metro area. My focus has not been as dialed in on College and the NFL Football as in years past because of the protest nonsense last season. Hopefully the NFL gets a handle on it this year. Given that, I'm excited about the upcoming season, if they get it cleaned up. 

I'm also pumped up for the NFL Fantasy Football season. I’m into the 16 consecutive year of the league I host on Yahoo. I haven't won the darn thing since 2009, maybe this is my year.

The Denver Broncos and the Wyoming Cowboys is and will always be my 2 favorite football teams but this season I’ll be keeping my eyes on the Arizona Cardinals and especially the Buffalo Bills and the development of Josh Allen.

Allen was sacked 5 times in the Bengals preseason game.

Allen was sacked 5 times in the Bills 3^rd preseason game against the Bengals. I watched the highlights and it was clear that Allen was not getting rid of the ball fast enough and the speed of game and the Bengals D was overwhelming him. The Bills OL wasn’t doing a great job either. I worry that like many Rookie QB’s Allen will get put through the meatgrinder early, get hurt and lose his confidence. Like no other Wyoming Cowboys Alumni ever, Allen has the potential to be a superstar if he’s brought along slowly. Once he develops the game between his ears he’ll be unstoppable with his physical skill set. If… he can survive the beatings he’s likely to face early in his career.

It was disappointing to see the Wyoming Cowboys D just totally collapsed in the 2^nd half of their home opener against Washington State last Saturday. The Corners and Safeties for the Cowboys have been the worst part of their team for years. They can’t cover and are very poor tacklers. There was plenty of blame to go around for the loss but until the Cowboys can play D for 4 quarters they could be in for long year in Laramie.

Red-shirt freshman QB Tyler Vander Waal couldn’t elevate his game either. He had less than 100 yards passing. Again, the Cowboys O in the second half was a total train wreck but I hope he picks up his game soon. He’s a tall kid at 6-4 and a light 210 pounds but he's no Carson Wentz or Josh Allen just yet, that’s clear.

 

Cardinals uni I bought David for Xmas in 1980.

As for the Cardinals, which has been my favorite NFC since their days in St. Louis in the early 70’s, I hope their team makes advances too. My kid Brother David, also a Cardinals fan, called me the day the NFL schedule was released in April and told me he wanted to come to Phoenix to watch the Broncos/Cardinals game on Oct. 18^th. So, I look forward to seeing that game with him, but I’ll have to root for my Broncos even though I’m an official Arizonian now.

Since I’m only a 6 ½ hours from Albuquerque my other football adventure this season will be to travel to watch the Cowboys/Lobos game on Nov. 24^th.

So… bring on football and end the protests! GO BRONCOS! GO WYOMING COWBOYS! GO CARDINALS!

The 42 year old teenage fantasy is finally a reality...

You get to this age and you start believing that some dreams are just fantasies that will never come true. Some are nothing but impossible pipe dreams, others are far to impractical or expensive. Early in life I believed that owning a muscle car was all the above.

Since I was 16 I fantasized about owning a 1967 Camaro or 1969 Camaro SS. I liked a lot of the 70’s muscle cars but the Camaro in my opinion was always the coolest of the bunch.

I remember reading back in 2007 that Chevy was planning to redesign and introduce the Camaro in 2010. I loved how awesome the concept car looked when they incorporated part of the body design from the old Camaro’s. At that time, I thought maybe, just maybe it might be possible to get one of the new ones with a 6 cylinder at a reasonable price since I couldn't afford a fully restored 67 or 69. 

In 2010 I went to the Chevy dealer in Astoria Oregon as soon as they got their first Camaro. In the photo below, I took a picture standing in front of this new red 2010 Camaro SS knowing at the time I wasn’t going to be able to afford it or even one with a 6 cylinder. 

2010 in Astoria, OR with the 2010 Camaro SS

2018 in Mesa, AZ with my 2010 Camaro SS

I had to sell my truck and camper but today I’m happy to report that boyhood dream finally came true 42 years later, I’m the proud owner of this Inferno Orange 2010 Chevy Camaro SS (2) and I can’t get the smile off my face. 

It ranks right up there as one happiest days of my life and I fine myself staring out my living room window repeatedly, still not believing what I’m seeing in my driveway.

 

I’ve known for some time I’d never be able to get the 67 or 69 because into today’s market one that is of excellent quality starts at $50K and up. I paid less for this 5^th generation Camaro and I believe, for the price I paid for it, I’m far better off with this car and its modern technology than one of the old ones. My SS sold for $34,000 in 2010,. This new 2018 fully loaded SS pictured below sells for about $44.000.
 
The one I bought might as well be new it only had 14,129 original miles on it, yes you read that right this is no typo, 14,129 original miles and the car is perfect in every detail. When I say perfect I mean perfect, it doesn’t have a scratch on it and the interior is just as beautiful. It looks like it came right off the showroom floor.

Sure the 6.2L power plant and the 6-speed automatic transmission immediately throw you back in the seat with some serious G’s when you stomp on it. But the car’s sound alone, with its seriously throaty V8 rumble and growl right at start up and idle are awesome music to the ears, it really bellows once the motor gets a load on it.

I know the new Camaro's have some imperfections and some car racing purists wouldn’t want it because it’s all muscle and not the greatest handling car, but I love it. Seeing over the front of the car is a little difficult and it has a bad blind spot, the drivers seat sets low and it’s a little hard to get in and out of. But… once strapped in you forget everything and just dig the awesome old school profile it projects on the road and the raw giddy up speed that’s at the ready when you want to use it.

I spend a great deal of time on the internet evaluating, researching and comparing the Camaro to the Challenger RT and the Mustang GT. I’ll be honest the Dodge Challenger RT was a very close second, but I knew there wasn’t really any doubt about what I’d buy. I love this car and I’m glad that I waited another 8 years, so I could afford to buy the SS.

 

It took me a while to come up with a female name for her, but I finally decided on "Whinnie". Whinnie is an awesome redheaded Babe and I can’t get enough of her. My Whinnie is sexy front to rear.