The Color Scheme Of Things

What are the chances that I would end up living in the heart of the "Black Hole?" Born and raised a Denver Broncos fan, I am surrounded throughout the year by silver and black reminders of what I learned from infancy was, plain and simple, evil. The Oakland Raiders were the bad guys, and there were simply no two ways about it. And yet, here I am, sitting in a house that I bought just scant miles from the center of all this vileness. The chances of all of that occurring are currently standing at one hundred percent.
Maybe it has something to do with the way that the colors blue and orange find themselves on the opposite sides of a color wheel, creating harmony. Those are the colors of my team, while the combination of silver and black seems to be just asking for trouble. But my experience suggests that's the way a Raider fan would want it. They are the ones who mined this image with the tag line: "Just Win, Baby." Take no prisoners. That one takes precedence over the more pompous "Commitment To Excellence." It doesn't scan as well on a bumper sticker.
My most excellent and revered Bronco Bud won himself a Tivo way back when they were just starting up by writing an essay that suggested that the best use for a digital video recorder was that it would allow him to slow down or freeze broadcasts of Raiders games to keep track of how much they were cheating. Considering that corporate headquarters for Tivo are located just a little over thirty minutes down highway 880 from where the Raiders play their home games, there must be something to that. And most inhabitants of the Raider Nation probably won't put up much of an argument about that.
Now here's the weird thing: It never occurred to me, back in the day, that I was moving into enemy territory. I fell in love and moved out to California. It was only when football season began that I became excruciatingly aware of just how this choice was going to affect my life. Love is blind, after all, or perhaps only color blind. And so my wife and son will huddle together one more time this afternoon to watch yet another chapter of the AFC West rivalry unfold. Neither team seems to be particularly dominant this year, so it should provide some mild entertainment, giving us one more shot at bragging rights for the season. One more chance to be complementary.