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Luke Graham

Luke Graham's column appears Mondays in the Steamboat Today. Contact him at 970-871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@SteamboatToday.com.

It amazes me the lack of respect Western Slope football gets from the big papers on the Front Range.

The Western Slope is treated like Mel Gibson at a bar mitzvah.

First and foremost, though, I'm guilty of a lack of respect.

Coming from the Front Range, I always treated Western Slope football as that creepy uncle nobody liked.

Yeah, they were there, and every once in a while, you'd pay attention to them, but I thought the best teams and athletes always came from the Denver Metro area.

I wasn't the only one to have this train of thought. Last year, in a newsroom in Boulder, we predicted Niwot would win the Class 3A championship. We thought Florence and Niwot would have a semi-final showdown that would be the 'real championship game.'

Niwot turned into France in the first round and two WSL teams advanced to the semi-finals, with Rifle representing the league in the championship game.

Covering the WSL, I've seen some of the best high school football I've covered. I like to compare Front Range football to the Pac-10 conference and the WSL to the SEC.

Plain and simple, it's just a tougher brand of football.

This year alone, I've seen three teams that could make some noise in the 3A playoffs - most notably the Steamboat Springs Sailors.

The Sailors have "it." Call it part swagger and part substance, but the Sailors have done it all this year. They've won ugly. They've won pretty. But most importantly, they've won. After hearing repeatedly how tough the WSL was before the season started, I let the comment go in one ear and out the other.

Now, count me in as a believer.

Come playoff time in November, maybe my cohorts on the Front Range will have to become believers, too.