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Kiszla: Coach Sean Payton is now on the clock in Broncos Country, where we’re all out of patience for losing

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Kiszla: Coach Sean Payton is now on the clock in Broncos Country, where we’re all out of patience for losing


Sean Payton, we don’t give a hoot if you were the toast of Bourbon Street. In Broncos Country, you’re officially on the clock. Win, or else we’ve got a hot seat waiting with your name on it.

“The main message for Broncos Country that I would have is we’re just as impatient as you are to win here,” franchise owner and CEO Greg Penner said Tuesday. “We understand that we have a lot of work to do.”

While preparations for the Super Bowl tournament began in earnest from Miami to San Francisco, the Broncos management team fitted another season with a toe tag during a meeting with media members. Two days after their season came to an end, they talked mealy out of both sides of their mouths about how the relationship with quarterback Russell Wilson was irrevocably and awkwardly broken over money after the biggest victory of the season.

If the Broncos flushed Wilson and beaucoup bucks after only 30 starts in a Denver uniform and “Huggy Bear” Hackett was tossed into an orange-and-blue dumpster after going 4-11, how long does prickly Payton get to prove that his let-’em-eat-cake approach wins football games?

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What did Payton establish during his first season in Denver?

No. 1: He is indeed a better coach than a man he labeled one of the worst head coaches in NFL history.

And No. 2: He despises the way Wilson plays quarterback so much he would rather have no viable NFL starter than Wilson.

But has Payton really built anything resembling a foundation for winning football with the Broncos, especially on the offensive side of the operation, where his expertise is supposed to shine brighter than the Colorado sun?

“I don’t know if you’d say, ‘Laid the foundation,’” said Payton, who admitted these Broncos were stuck in the muck of parity in the middle of the NFL, citing the fact his team couldn’t win a single game this season if it failed to win the turnover battle.

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“Were we as good as we expected or wanted to be offensively this year? Absolutely not … (It’s a) heavy-duty work in progress. I would say we’re not building on that foundation yet. We’re still putting the friggin’ pilings in, based on what I saw.”

But rather than addressing the attributes Payton needs in his next signal-caller, the Broncos are still playing the silly charade that the volcanic rift between this team and Wilson could heal, claiming the door’s open to his return, even though we can all see the police tape strung across the entrance for a dead QB walking.

Know what’s worse than the game mismanagement in the Christmas Eve loss to the Patriots that left a pit in the stomach of Penner and everyone in Broncos Country?

When Payton should’ve sat down with Wilson after a stirring victory against Kansas City and told him man-to-man that he couldn’t work with him, the coach left it to minion George Paton to unsuccessfully bluff the veteran quarterback’s agent into contract concessions with what was perceived as a threat to bench a Super Bowl champion for financial reasons.

So now there’s a matter of a messy divorce with Wilson before the Broncos can really get down to the serious business of ending an eight-year playoff drought.

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“I felt like we had a chance, and this team had a chance to get into the postseason,” Payton said. “I feel that same way now. I’m disappointed because of that.”

I’m not so certain, however, Payton has fully grasped we’re so sick and tired of losing NFL games around here that the Emperor of Bourbon Street has no clothes in Broncos Country, especially when he now backs off a bodacious preseason vow to be ticked off if this team failed to make the playoffs.

Starting to feel the heat, Payton proved there might be a heart somewhere beneath his prickly exterior by sending a holiday treat to the media wretches who cover the Broncos: Five quarts of Jenni’s ice cream, with gourmet flavors ranging from Brambleberry Crisp to Salty Caramel.

My gift was packed in a big orange box with dry ice and specific instructions to open immediately because there was ice cream inside. Unfortunately, it arrived Saturday, after I had already departed for Las Vegas, where the Broncos barely put up a fight in a 27-14 defeat to the Raiders.

When can ice cream be a metaphor for another football season that was a crying shame in Denver?

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Payton made a brilliant play call.

But his yummy ice cream turned to lukewarm soup, going rotten on the stoop, the result of either poor execution, operational issues, or both.

Me? I blame the quarterback.

Penner said he expects the team to win more games next season.

Hey, we’re all fresh out of patience.

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The Broncos don’t need to pay Payton $18 million per year to miss the playoffs.

Fangio, Hackett or any bum off the street could do the same for a fraction of the cost.

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.



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Denver, CO

Denver weather: More hot weather Sunday

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Denver weather: More hot weather Sunday


​​​​​​DENVER (KDVR) — After officially hitting 90 degrees for the first time this season, the Denver weather forecast features more hot weather Sunday and next week before temperatures begin to moderate.

Dry and breezy conditions will create fire danger concerns for parts of the northeastern plains.

Denver weather tonight: Another mild night

Mild weather overnight Saturday.

Skies will gradually clear overnight Saturday, but it’s still going to be mild with low temperatures falling into the middle and upper 50s around metro Denver. Some locations elsewhere may only cool to about 60 degrees.

Denver weather tomorrow: Temperatures in the 90s again

Mid-summer heat Sunday.

Sunday will be another hot day with widespread temperatures again in the 90s. Denver’s record high is 98 degrees, but we’ll stay well short of that. We’ll begin the day sunny, but clouds will steadily increase in the afternoon.

Mostly dry conditions are forecast but a stray pop-up storm may develop. Winds will turn to the northwest with gusts up to 20 miles per hour.

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Looking ahead: Hot, breezy, and mostly dry

We start next week with partly sunny conditions and temperatures “cooling” to the upper 80s in the afternoon, still above normal. Gusty winds will persist from the east-southeast. There will be a slightly better chance for isolated storm development in the afternoon.

Hot weather continues through Wednesday.

We’ll jump back to the 90s on Tuesday with wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour or higher possible.

Temperatures start to moderate Wednesday onward, starting with low 90s on Wednesday, then middle 80s Thursday into the weekend, closer to normal.

Overall, the forecast for most of next week looks predominantly dry, but rain chances do return for next weekend.



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My Morning Jacket, Death Cab For Cutie, Tash Sultana Elevate Denver’s Outside Days Festival

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My Morning Jacket, Death Cab For Cutie, Tash Sultana Elevate Denver’s Outside Days Festival


Sometimes, music can be an awesome addendum to other activities without being the whole raison d’etre for a festival.

In 2019, Amazon put together a spectacular lineup for Intersect—with Foo Fighters, Beck, and Kacey Musgraves among the biggest names—which was essentially an extension of the e-commerce giant’s company conference in Las Vegas. In Arizona, Innings Festival and Extra Innings Festival have emerged as tentpole events in the desert by using live music to draw in baseball fans visiting the area for spring training. In Las Vegas, SEMA Fest has treated motorsports lovers to large-scale rock concerts, in between thrilling scenes of car and bike stunts.

Over the last three years, Outside Days has begun to make its mark in the category of not-just-a-music-festival festivals. In this case, the three-day event is built on top of Outside Magazine’s professional conference, which brings together brands and companies from the outdoors industry with active-lifestyle enthusiasts and those either working therein or looking to break into the field.

This year, all of those same brands—from REI and The North Face to Capital One, Jeep and many more—got additional exposure via marketing activations and booths spread across Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, while the previous location (Civic Center Park) underwent renovations.

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Though film screenings and panel discussions were also part of the proceedings, the vast majority of the 30,000 attendees seemed rightly focused on the acts performing on the stage that dominated the Tivoli Quad at Metropolitan State University of Denver. From one day to the next, there were no misses; only superb sets played (nearly) perfectly for a citizenry that’s turned Denver into one of America’s great hubs for live music.

Friday’s lineup brought more of an indie bent to the air, thanks in no small part to Death Cab For Cutie. Ben Gibbard and company leaned into their new album, I Built You A Tower, with an opener of “Riptide” and the live debut of “Trap Door.” Those songs, as well as “Punching The Flowers,” “Stone Over Water,” and the title track from their latest release, fit seamlessly alongside tried-and-true Death Cab classics like “The New Year,” “I Will Follow You Into The Dark,” “Crooked Teeth” and “Soul Meets Body.”

Japanese Breakfast and Goth Babe both did their part to warm up the crowd for DCFC. The former peppered the populace with indie pop favorites like “Paprika,” “Picture Window,” “Everybody Wants To Love You” and “Be Sweet.” The latter followed that up with feel-good songs like “Mexico,” “Encinitas” and “Weekend Friend,” as well as a cover of Weezer’s “Undone – The Sweater Song.” That is, when they weren’t busy encouraging fans to crowd surf on camping mattresses or doling out household appliances as prizes for cheering.

Saturday took a decisive turn toward jams—a prime pivot, given the Mile High City’s proclivities for musical improv. My Morning Jacket certainly seemed to understand that assignment. The outfit’s sprawling, two-hour set incorporated seemingly every highlight from their discography, starting with “Wordless Chorus” and ending with “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2.” In between, the Louisville-based group broke into “Off The Record,” “Anytime,” “Gideon,” “One Big Holiday,” “Circuital”, “Victory Dance,” and a version of “Spring (Among The Living)” that included a sprinkling of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” Even with a setlist so jam-packed, lead singer and guitarist Jim James managed to squeeze in not one, but two callouts of the full moon that was on brilliant display in the Denver sky.

That all came as a thrilling finale to a day that saw Karina Rykman take her bass out for much more than a walk in the park, Eggy egg on the jams with “Laurel,” “Waiting Game” and “Through The Mist;” and Dawes put an L.A.-style spin on jam rock with “Time Spent in Los Angeles,” “When My Time Comes,” “Most People” and “All Your Favorite Bands.”

The only fly in the ointment on Saturday showed up at the start of The Flaming Lips’ allotted time. Lead singer Wayne Coyne announced that a piece of the band’s equipment had blown out, prompting a 15-minute delay. That didn’t stop them from pulling out most of their usual theatrical stops, from the towering inflatable robots for both parts of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” and giant eyes and lips for “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)” to an American flag cape for a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” a blowup rainbow during “Do You Realize??”, a bubble for Wayne on “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton,” and various other stage toys along the way.

(Perhaps, though, the technical difficulties were a bad omen for The Flaming Lips’ hometown team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, whose NBA title defense came to an end that night, while most of the band wore the team’s jerseys onstage.)

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Sunday at Outside Days was tailor-made for those seeking an edgier approach to rock music. Girl Tones gave the audience an early taste of Bowling Green, Kentucky’s punk spirit, courtesy of sisters Kenzie and Laila Crowe. GROUPLOVE infused the day with a bit of pop sensibility by way of a well-tested combination of “Tongue Tied” into a Beatles-esque cover of The Top Notes’ “Twist and Shout.”

Tash Sultana stepped up as, arguably, the single most talented musician to take the stage at Outside Days. The Australian multi-instrumentalist emerged with a full band for a cover of The Wailers’ “I Shot The Sheriff” before eventually shifting toward their usual solo show, with loops of drums, keys, bass and synths laid behind vocals, guitar riffs, bits of trumpet and saxophone to form songs like “Milk & Honey,” “Notion,” and “Jungle.” At one point, Tash took a moment to acknowledge a rainbow in the distance, speaking about it as a sign of her recently departed dog looking out from the heavens.

As much as Outside Days knocked it out of the proverbial park with marquee acts, the festival and its organizers also did well to create time and space for local artists and bands. On Friday, that slot fell to Wildermiss, a Phantogram-esque indie rock band led by Emma Cole on vocals and synth bass, Joshua Hester on guitar, and Caleb Thoemke on drums. Saturday saw The Brothers of Brass—who bill themselves as Denver’s only New Orleans-style brass band—add to the ambiance with brassy covers of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You,” Bill Withers’ “Just The Two of Us,” Aaliyah’s “Try Again” and Destiny Child’s “Survivor,” both onstage during their main set and during some interstitial busking on the festival grounds. Come Sunday, the lineup included spots for both the indie rock of The Mañanas and the edgy pop provisioned by N3ptune.

Those acts, in particular, lent additional heart and soul to an event that, while very much corporate in nature, didn’t leave attendees drowning in a sea of brand marketing. If anything, the music of it all made it more than held its own as the strongest gravitational force on the grounds. (Save for, perhaps, the Cotopaxi booth and the Capital One lounge, both of which had perpetual lines that seemingly extended into infinity.)

Still, in the grand scheme, it was impressive to see Outside Days not only put together a top-flight event in just its third year, but also draw such a substantial crowd given the competition in town—between Morgan Wallen at Empower Field and FAN EXPO Denver at the Colorado Convention Center.

With any luck, Outside Days will continue to grow in both scope and lineup strength in the years to come. And even if it doesn’t, it’s always worthy of being a staple on anyone’s live music calendar, especially for those who call the Rocky Mountains home.

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Below, check out a selection of photos from the 2026 edition of Outside Days via Josh Martin.





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Denver weather: Near-record heat Saturday

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Denver weather: Near-record heat Saturday


​​​​​​DENVER (KDVR) — The first weekend of June features high summer heat with record warm temperatures possible Saturday in the Denver weather forecast.

Other regions in northeast Colorado will come close to hitting record high temperatures Saturday, with some towns in Weld County potentially nearing 100 degrees. That said, any clouds may provide just enough shade to keep temperatures in check.

Record high temperatures are possible for some Eastern Colorado communities Saturday.

Denver weather tonight: Very mild

Very mild temperatures are expected overnight Friday.

Skies will be mostly clear to partly cloudy overnight Friday.

Temperatures will also be quite mild in metro Denver with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Winds will be a bit breezy from the south with gusts up to 20 miles per hour possible.

Denver weather tomorrow: Record high watch

The hottest day of 2026 is expected Saturday with some communities reaching nearly 100 degrees.

Denver’s average high Saturday is 80 degrees, but middle 90s are forecast. It’ll be close to tying that record in the afternoon.

Mostly dry weather is in the forecast, but a couple isolated storms may form east of metro Denver in the late afternoon. It’ll remain breezy with southerly winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour.

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Looking ahead: Staying hot

The record high temperature in Denver is 98 degrees in 2006, but it’s unlikely it will be that warm with another day in the middle 90s expected.

It will remain breezy with wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour again. Rain is unlikely.

Temperatures briefly dip to the upper 80s Monday with a slightly better chance for some pop-up showers and storms.

Very hot temperatures are expected for most of the next week.

It will stay hot most of next week. Temperatures will be in the mid-90s Tuesday and Wednesday and possibly Thursday. Winds will help mix up the air, but gusts of 30-35 miles per hour will persist.

It’s early, but there are some early indications that it’ll cool back to seasonal heat Friday into next weekend.

Denver, Colorado weather resources

Stay prepared for storms and forecast changes, a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day and other important weather information:

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The Pinpoint Weather team will continue to update the forecast multiple times each day.



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