Flip the 8th - The Game

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway announces Campaign for Congress

The politics of America are broken. Every day, we slide closer to civil war, as one party seeks to put a dictator in the White House, and the other party seeks to establish what is essentially American Socialism, a policy too extreme for voters here in Colorado. Compromise has been deemed impossible by both parties.

This atmosphere reminds me of the lead up to shortly before the Civil War. I'm running for Congress, to prevent a situation where the United States falls apart and we devolve into civil war and anarchy.

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway-Fundraisers

John Elway is holding two fundraisers this turn.

The first, is an online auction of Denver Broncos merchandise from Elway's playing days, with proceeds to benefit Elway's campaign. The cost of acquiring the merchandise was around $10,000, and Elway expects to at least triple the money invested in the auction for the campaign.

The second, to be held at the Windsor Community Recreation Center on December 13, in Windsor, Colorado, is a Quarterback skills drill done in the style of a prospective NFL scout for donors. The fundraiser will cost $3,000 to set up, donors will pay $5,000 to attend, and there are 50 slots available.

Before calculating receipts from donors, Elway now has $417,000 remaining.

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway is seeking to run a bipartisan, campaign, with support from national and in-district moderates.

As such, he is courting the endorsements of former Ohio Governor John Kasich, Former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, former Colorado Governor Bill Owens, former Representative Patricia Schroeder (CO-1) and retired Admiral William McRaven.

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway interview with Scott Van Pelt

So, John, what inspired you to run for Congress?

Honestly, seeing Tommy Tuberville win in Alabama was my inspiration. If Tuberville, who in my opinion is a significantly worse coach than say...Gus Malzahn and someone I never would hire to coach the Broncos could win a Senate seat in Alabama, than I'm quite confident that I could win a House seat in Colorado.

But Alabama is a very Republican state, and Tuberville had President Trump's endorsement. You don't have either of things going for you. You aren't even running with one of the two major parties in American Politics!

I think a lot of voters are going to see that our system of politics is broken and needs fixing. If that doesn't happen, we could be in a civil war within the next decade, if not worse.


Well let's hope that doesn't happen. Now let's say you, against all odds, get elected to Congress. What's the first piece of legislation that you will introduce to the House of Representatives?

I'm going to introduce legislation to require the NCAA and it's member institutions to pay it's student-athletes a living wage. It's appalling that Division I schools make hundreds of millions of dollars from basketball and football, and yet not a dime goes to the student-athletes who make the success happen. I know that if I was a paid a wage for my services as an athlete equal to the cost of living at Stanford, and so were my fellow players, we might actually have been able to make a dent in tuition. Not all of us were on scholarship out there, and the cost of living on the West Coast isn't cheap.

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway gives his opinions on the Major League Baseball Lockout

The fact of the matter is that the situation in baseball, like in most sports, is that owners and players are fighting each other without any regard to what the fans think or want, and that's bad for the sport, and for the sport's bottom line. This lockout is the kind of situation the Taft-Hartley act was designed for, when the situation between a union, and the ownership gets so bad, that work stops for whatever reason. I, as a former baseball player at Stanford, and draft pick of the New York Yankees, encourage President Biden to use the Taft-Hartley Act, to force the Union and the owners of Major League Baseball back to the negotiating table.

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway-Endorsement Chase

John Elway traveled far and wide seeking endorsements. He headed to Rhode Island to court former Governor of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee, to Ohio to court former Governor John Kasich, to Illinois to court Representative Adam Kinzinger, and to Wyoming to court Representative Liz Cheney.

With each stop, Elway presented himself as someone who would be neither a hard core Democrat nor a Trumpist, and someone who would put the country over his political affiliations.

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway-Fundraisers

Elway held just one fundraiser this week, a online raffle in which the winner would get one year's worth of luxury box tickets to Stanford Unversity's Football team, Elway's alma matter.

The tickets cost $20,000 to procure, entry is $100 for one raffle ticket, $1,000 for five raffle tickets, $10,000 for 100 raffle tickets, and Elway's campaign is expecting roughly 10,000-20,000 total raffle tickets to be sold.

[NewYorkExpress]

Elway-Endorsement pursuit

Following the Securing of Lincoln Chafee's endorsement, John Elway will be attempting court, largely by phone, the endorsements of Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), former Governor John Kasich (R-OH), Representative Jared Golden (D-ME), Senator Angus King (I-ME), former Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and former Governor Brian Sandoval (R-NV).

Elway pitched his political independence, and promised reciprocal endorsements to Cheney and Golden in 2022, and to King in 2024, if they endorsed him.

[NewYorkExpress]

John Elway-Fundraisers

John Elway again had a single fundraiser this week.

This fundraiser was a No-Limit Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament held at Ameristar Black Hawk Casino, in Gilpin on January 12. This tournament cost $3,000 to enter, the prizepool is $5,000, with only the winner being paid regardless of the number of entrants, and there are $250 bounties on Elway, Lincoln Chafee, and three retired members of the Denver Broncos, Terrell Davis, Jason Elam and Al Wilson. In all, around 200-250 total entrants are expected.

The campaign contributed $7,500 towards renting the casino floor, $5,000 towards first prize, and $1,250 towards the bounties in the tournament.