The Invasion By Red Sox Nation

Saturday turned out to be one of the most fascinating sports experiences of our lives, as thousands of proud citizens of Red Sox Nation descended upon Denver for Game Three of the 2007 World Series. As we did Thursday night, we elected to watch the game at the Pour House Pub, which is undoubtedly the best Red Sox bar in Colorado. We drove to LoDo at 2:30 pm, thinking that would give us some time to relax and explore the neighborhood before getting a good seat at the bar, but by the time we took a peak inside the bar at about 3:00 pm, the place was already packed with dozens upon dozens of people in Red Sox gear!

The Pour House Pub is about seven blocks from Coors Field, so we took a walk to the ballpark to take in some of the sights. We can't recall the last time LoDo was so crowded on a Saturday afternoon, and nearly everyone we saw was wearing either Rockies or Red Sox merchandise. Just several months ago, we made the observation that we saw more people in Denver wearing Red Sox gear than Rockies gear, but now that Rockies fans have come out of hibernation in the past few weeks, that's no longer the case. Still, the number of Red Sox people we saw was quite impressive, and nearly everyone we passed by smiled at us in recognition of another member of the Nation.

Even though it was several hours before the first pitch, the area immediately outside Coors Field was packed! There was a huge line outside of the Sports Column (our former favorite sports bar), and the SportsFan sporting goods store was doing incredibly brisk business. We actually stopped inside SportsFan intending to buy one of the Red Sox sweatshirts that we saw several days earlier, but they were all sold out. The gates to Coors Field were scheduled to open at 4:00 pm, so thousands of fans were already waiting at the gates, wanting to soak up as much of the World Series atmosphere as they could before the first pitch. A Red Sox couple outside the gates approached us to ask if we could take a photo of them with their camera, and they were nice enough to reciprocate with our camera.

We walked two more blocks to the Blake Street Tavern, but it also had a line of people waiting to get in. Somehow, we doubt if some of them ever got in! On the way back to the Pour House, we started chatting with another Red Sox couple that had flow in from Boston that morning to go to the game. In an incredibly coincidence, they had planned a vacation to Colorado several month ago, only to have their beloved Red Sox follow them to Denver for the World Series. They were lucky enough to get tickets to Game Three, which is remarkable considering how infrequently they are able to get tickets to regular season games at Fenway Park because the demand in so strong. We told them about the Pour House and they decided to follow us there for a couple of drinks before the game. They are actually going to join us at the Blake Street Tavern on Sunday to watch the New England Patriots play the Washington Redskins.

Back at the Pour House, we joined a couple that we knew from the "Go Red Sox" Yahoo! group. They had a table on the rooftop patio, and that was the only reason we were able to get seats! The crowd was full of energy when Carrie Underwood sang the Star-Spangled Banner, and the place went absolutely nuts when the Red Sox scored six runs in the third inning to lead a lead in the game that they would never relinquish. Although Colorado rallied late to make it a 6-5 game at one point, the Red Sox responded to earn a satisfying 10-5 victory, giving Boston a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

Sunday will end up being one of our longest-ever sports days. The Patriots/Redskins game doesn't begin until 2:15 pm, but the last time the Patriots had a late start, we arrived at the Blake Street Tavern about 45 minutes before kickoff and we couldn't find a seat. Thus, we plan on being there Sunday in time to watch one of the 11:00 am games before prior to the Patriots game. Once the Patriots are done, we will walk over the Pour House to catch Game Four in which the Red Sox will try to complete a sweep and win their second World Series in four seasons.