Craig Daily Press

Craig — Do you bleed orange and blue?

Is your house a shrine to the Denver Broncos?

Do you dream of John Elway throwing touchdowns in your sleep?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, today is the day to show it.

The city of Craig was chosen by the Denver Broncos to compete for the rights to be called the Broncos’ biggest fans.

If chosen, the Broncos Cheerleaders and alumni would visit Craig for a celebration, complete with a Super Bowl trophy and championship rings.

A city of Craig flag also would be flown at Invesco Field at Mile High during a Broncos home game.

“The city got a letter from Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Broncos, and what’s going on is the Denver Broncos are looking for eight cities in the state of Colorado that bleed orange and blue,” event organizer Tony Maneotis said. “So, we are looking for the wildest Bronco-maniac person. I don’t care if you color your hair or paint your face orange and blue.”

The event, labeled the “preseason orange and blue Broncos-mania party,” kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Craig, where more than 80 youths will participate.

“We are making orange and blue tye-dye shirts for the kids to wear,” Dana Duran, Boys & Girls Club of Craig executive director, said, “and we are going to have orange and blue streamers that the kids made and orange and blue pom-poms. All the kids that come are going to participate.”

Activities move to Trapper Mine at 11:30 a.m., followed by an appearance with the senior citizens of Sunset Meadows at 2 p.m.

“We are getting people of all ages involved,” Maneotis said. “Some of the seniors in this town are big Broncos fans who know how to have a good time. We want to show that we have a wide array of ages that support our home team.”

The football field at Craig Middle School will be the second-to-last stop for Maneotis and his party crew. From 5 to 7 p.m., a longest field goal contest and a flag football game will be the highlights, as well as Maneotis giving away Broncos game tickets for the upcoming season.

“That’s when we are trying to get the families involved,” Maneotis said. “KRAI is going to have music playing, we are going to see who can kick the longest field goal, and we are going to give away a lot of prizes and tickets.

Bronco mania concludes at the OP Bar & Grill, as fans will be treated to drink and burger specials between 8 and 10 p.m.

Maneotis will take pictures and create a videotape of the day’s events to submit to Broncos officials.

“When we get all this sent in to them and the city of Craig is picked, then they will bring the cheerleaders, they’ll bring Miles the mascot, alumni football players, Super Bowl trophies and Super Bowl rings,” Maneotis said. “Then they will bring us a signed Broncos flag for the town to fly, and a flag that is signed by our community will go back with them and be flown at a designated home game in honor of Craig at Invesco Field that day.”

Interested participants are strongly encouraged to don the Bronco blue and orange today.

“We want everybody to come out in their Broncos gear,” Maneotis said. “Young or old, come out and get wild with us. We want to show the Denver Broncos we are the team’s biggest fans.

“We are going to show them we bleed orange and blue.”