I live in Denver, and I enjoy the insightful and introspective commentary of Cris Collinsworth.

So, yeah, I’m the one.

The vitriol has gone viral. After back-to-back Broncos games on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” many Denver fans have become not just irritated but irate with Collinsworth.

“Comments and tweets complaining about Collinsworth have been rampant at Mile High Report the past two weeks,” said Kyle Montgomery, who helps run the Broncos fan site. “Fans are definitely noting a sense of bias, and it is hard to ignore.”

Before we get into this, I will say — it’s hard to believe that the highly paid, highly scrutinized professional broadcaster enters a game thinking: “I’m going to make sure that a dislike for Denver comes through in my analysis.” But the Broncos fans seem to believe just this, expressing it as such on fan sites, Twitter, Reddit and even in The Denver Post e-mail inboxes and in-game chats. (And to think, all along I’ve been brainwashed by the intoxicating serenade of Carrie Underwood: “Al and Cris are the best on TV!”)

I asked Montgomery for an explanation for what Collinsworth does to irk fans so.

“Take an example in the Chiefs game,” he said. “Kansas City was down three scores in the fourth quarter, trying to drive to bring the game close, but they were ultimately forced to punt. Collinsworth called it a ‘win’ for the Chiefs offense because they kept Peyton Manning off the field; Collinsworth gave little or no credit to the Broncos defense for making a critical stop — or Broncos fans don’t remember it. It is that type of positive commentary toward Broncos’ opponents, even when the outcome is negative, that fans are getting tired of, especially when the same positive commentary doesn’t seem to be returned in kind toward the Broncos.”

It’s amusing, to a degree, that Broncomaniacs take this stuff so personally — you have one of the best teams in football (!), but I guess that’s precisely the point. When the team is that good, fans feel they deserve constant praise. Yet, why is Collinsworth the lone target? Why is there a split-screen meme with the “Dumb and Dumber” actors, which quotes the movie — “Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?” — and then the other side shows a pic of poor Cris? That’s what has amazed me. Phil Simms can be annoying, Dan Dierdorf can pontificate, yet the universal hate is for the man featured in the Reddit thread (spelling notwithstanding): “Wish Chris Collinsworth would just STFO.”

It’s reminiscent of Denverites’ disdain for Howard Cosell — they famously threw bricks into old TVs at a bar when Cosell’s face appeared.

I took to Twitter to ask about Collinsworth. I got responses from 60 tweeters — nine were complimentary of Collinsworth, 51 hated the guy. Here are some:

@Bronco_LG: Collinsworth was truly unbearable last night, and I hate people who complain about the announcers…”

@jdbrothers7: all he’s done for 2 weeks is praise the other teams. Compliments both teams while we were up big, no credit given to the @Broncos

@youreyeondenver: seriously, I’m not one to complain about anncers but I was beginning to wonder at what pt in his career he played for the Chiefs.

@JeffWolf5280: Celebrating Gronk causing contact and bending the rules while calling for Broncos pick play to be flagged? That’s just from Sunday.

@Bennhoff: He was working awfully hard to soften the loss for Chiefs fans a couple of weeks ago and it stood out

@joehowarddesign: 140 char? It’s framing. Not DEN Off succeeding, it’s NE/KC D failing to execute. could be he’s pro underdog. Annoying nonetheless.

@JBegger: According to CC, the @Broncos don’t make plays, the other team had a let down. Never gives credit to DB’s for a good play.

@KraigKennicutt: Against KC he constantly talked up KC even tho Den was obviously in control the whole game and the game wasn’t close

Benjamin Hochman: bhochman@denverpost.com or twitter.com/hochman



Visit denverpost.com each weekday near quittin’ time for a heavy pour of sports commentary from Denver Post columnist Benjamin Hochman. Care for another round? Find previous Happy Hour installments at denverpost.com/hochman.