The Strange Case of Loving Two Football Teams — Even When They’re in the Same Division

Image
Every old school Denver Bronco fan remembers 'The Drive'. It was the 1986 AFC Championship Game, Denver Broncos vs. Cleveland Browns. The Browns were ahead, the crowd was deafening, and victory seemed theirs for the taking. But then, with 5:32 left on the clock, John Elway and the Broncos took the ball on their own two-yard line and marched 98 yards down the field — cool, steady, and impossible to stop. When Elway threw that touchdown to Mark Jackson, the football world went silent for a second… then erupted. The Broncos had done the unthinkable. Cleveland’s playoff dreams vanished right there on their home turf, and helped Elway earn the moniker “The Comeback Kid.” And that wasn’t the only time Denver ended Cleveland’s hopes. Over the years, it became almost a cruel football tradition. Another season, another heartbreak for the Browns courtesy of the Broncos. The two teams might not be bitter rivals on paper anymore, but their history sure feels like it sometimes. ...
Post a Comment

Old Shakey's Pizza Colorado locations as they look today

It's happened to most of us. You drive past one of your old hangouts, restaurants, or stores that has since closed for business, and you are suddenly bombarded with old memories. Maybe they have to do with good times had with friends or family, or simply an incredible value of services or entertainment experienced. 

This my friends, is how I feel every time I drive by former Shakey's Pizza Parlor locations once frequented during my youth. Sadly, there are no longer any Shakey's restaurants located in the state of Colorado. When I visit Colorado however, I regularly pass by two of the old locations, and thought I'd share some pictures of what they look like today, as well as a few lingering memories.

 
The old Shakey's location in Fort Collins Colorado
1500. E Mulberry Street.
 
The Shakey's location shown above has been a gas station for many years now. Other than the rectangular shape and size of the structure, there are no other features still present that even faintly resemble a Shakey's Pizza Parlor. 

This is the Shakey's I visited the most during my youth. It was only about a mile away from my home, and I would often ride my bicycle there to get some lunch and play video games. Very seldom do I drive by this location without reminiscing about my many visits there throughout the late 70s and early 80s.  

I remember playing classic arcade games like Battlezone, Tempest, Ms. Pac Man, and one of my favorites which was a less popular game at the time called "Cheyenne". Cheyenne was a stand up console that had a rifle mounted to the play board. The point of the game is to protect lawman "Buster Badshot" from gangs of outlaws, wild animals, and various other hazards. The gangs of outlaws included cowboys, Indians, hillbillies, Mexican Bandidos, and from what I remember, some women outlaws as well.
  
There were several levels such as saloons, mines, deserts, forests, ghost towns, graveyards and canyons. I used to get a kick out of the fact that the game allowed you to shoot at random objects, like bottles, lanterns, and even a piano player in the saloon level. My folks had to literally drag me away from this game when the pizza hit the table (and that's saying something if you know how much I love pizza).


The old Shakey's location in Evans Colorado
2831 11th Ave 

As you can see, apart from the old stained glass windows that were a fixture at the old Shakey's Pizza Parlors, this building still very much resembles an old Shakey's. I can probably only count on one hand, how many times I dined at this location. It was usually when we went to this town for concerts, or other events, and were in search of sustenance before our 30 mile trek back home to Fort Collins where we lived. I know of numerous other Shakey's locations that were located in other parts of the state, so maybe I'll do some research as to where they were, and post some pictures soon of what they now look like.

October, 2025
I really do miss the Shakey's of old. Check out my newest article that involves a couple more Shakey's memories I've dug up from my past. Link is below.



 

Comments

Post a Comment

What do you think? I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

RIP Hostess Raspberry Filled Powdered Donuts

Image
I wrote an article close to a decade ago, to share my dismay with Hostess for discontinuing their Raspberry Filled Donuts. That article was still getting an unreal amount of traffic and interaction to this very day. In fact, no other article I have written has brought the amount of traffic to 'The Retro Dad' that this one has. It's still a subject that lots of folks are interested in, so I have dusted off the article and updated it for the snack cake loving masses in 2023. Enjoy.. Hostess Raspberry Filled Donuts were originally called 'Hostess O's'. I rememeber when we called them O's, and I believe the name was changed in the late 70s. I don't eat a lot of donuts now, but.. Over the last year and a half, I've developed a much healthier relationship with food. The other day while shopping with my wife, I did something that puzzled her. She couldn't believe I was perusing the snack cake aisle intently. A few years ago she wouldn't have even bl...
Read more

Retro Review - IRISH SPRING vs. ZEST. Battle of the Old School Bar Soaps

Image
I've been on the hunt for new bar soaps to use in the shower lately, and the road traveled has led me to several old school soaps. I decided to give the two oldest soaps that I remember from my childhood, a side by side comparison to see how they hold up against one another. IRISH SPRING $0.97 for two 3.2 ounce bars This soap has had many slogans over the years, but the most famous one very well may be..  leaves you as fresh and clean as a whistle . It may sound a bit corny, but this is the experience I had with Irish Spring. The soap was incredibly efficient at removing dirt and grime, without an excess of suds. Perhaps the the lack of suds equates into the soap not breaking down as fast. The reason I lean towards that reasoning, is because my bar of Irish Spring stood up to daily showering (sometimes twice a day) for 10 days. Dirt seemed to just slide right off of my skin when I used this soap, and I'm impressed with how good it cleans. I used the bar for hand washing as well...
Read more

🍫 My Top 5 Favorite Candies from the ‘70s and ‘80s: Sweet Memories That Still Melt in My Mouth

Image
There was nothing quite like being a kid in the ‘70s and ‘80s and walking into a corner convenience store with a pocketful of change. The smell of bubble gum, the faint hum of a soda cooler, and the sound of the door chime — it was pure magic. You could spend 50 cents and walk out feeling like a king with a treasure trove of sugar. Here are my top five favorite candies from back in the day — the ones that made every trip to the store worth it. 🍫 1. Ice Cubes Every trip to the store wasn’t complete without grabbing a handful of Ice Cubes — those little foil-wrapped squares of creamy chocolate bliss. They came in those shiny silver or gold wrappers, and once you unwrapped one, it was game over. The texture was unbelievably smooth, almost buttery, and they melted the instant they hit your tongue. You didn’t chew Ice Cubes. You savored them. Recently, I stumbled across them again at a German market — the same brand, the same foil, the same melt-in-your-mouth magic. It was like time trave...
Read more