This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Super Bowl Sunday is coming up, and I have a dilemma. Whom should I cheer for now that my team (Kansas City) is a no-show?

OK. I understand that it's technically possible to watch a game without having a dog in the fight. But seriously. Where's the fun in that? It's way more entertaining to cheer a) for and b) against a team. In fact, sporting events provide human beings with an excellent opportunity to go all tribal without actually killing each other in the process.

Except, of course, when Argentina and Brazil play soccer, in which case you should just stay home and watch the game on TV.

Anyway, I'm trying to decide which colors to wear when Sunday rolls around. Orange and navy for the Broncos? Or blue and black for the Panthers? Whom do I cheer for?

If you're from New York, you may be wondering why it's so hard for me to make a decision. The answer should be obvious! Denver! Because aren't Salt Lake and Denver practically the same place? Or at least that's what some New Yorkers thought when our family lived there in the early 1990s.

Thanks to the 2002 Winter Olympics, things have probably changed since then. But back in the day people used to ask me what Salt Lake City looks like. And I would say, "Visualize what you THINK Denver looks like. And that's actually what Salt Lake looks like."

This was surprising information to our East Coast friends, because they automatically assumed that everybody in Denver has mountains growing in their backyards and also their front yards. Not true, I would tell them. Salt Lake residents are the ones with the mountains everywhere. Denver, on the other hand, has a whole lotta prairie going on.

Incidentally, the mountain issue wasn't the only thing New Yorkers got wrong. After checking out our Utah license plates, people sometimes asked us if we were a singing group whenever they saw our five boys tumble out of the car. But that's another story.

Anyway, TV and radio executives seem to be guilty of making the same assumption. (The "Denver = Salt Lake City" part.) (Not the "my family is a singing group from Utah" part.) That's why those media executives fill our airwaves with Rockies baseball game broadcasts all summer long.

But guess what! Assuming that citizens of Salt Lake will automatically embrace a Denver sports franchise is like assuming that hockey fans who live on Long Island will cheer for the Rangers just because the team is based in New York City. Or, closer to home, that people who live in Salt Lake will cheer for BYU teams just because Provo is only 40 miles away.

Salt Lake City and Denver are two entirely different cities. And while there are plenty of Denver fans in the Salt Lake metropolitan area (I'm looking at YOU, Scotty and Marjorie), there are some of us who have a history of saying "no thank you."

Which brings me back to my original question — whom should I cheer for this Sunday?

Fortunately, I have a backup plan. When all else fails, I always ask myself this question: Which team has a legendary quarterback who's appeared on "SNL" and stars in commercials involving pizza when he's not on the field?

OK. Fine.

Go Broncos!