Shananomics 101.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS - Mike Shanahan

When Mike Shanahan got fired, the virtual water cooler got fired up.

Mine certainly did. Yours too, I suspect. Here's the blow-by-blow of what happened in a 15-minute period on Wednesday, Dec. 31:

* A colleague shouted out the news from a nearby office, using the sort of astonished, you-won't-believe-this voice she normally reserves for venting frustration over a work issue. My recollection is that the exact words launched from her office were "Holy" (and something other than "Shanahan,") followed by, "They actually fired the guy."

* Seconds later, an e-mail chimed its way into my Outlook folder from a buddy, reporting radio station KOA had just gone live with a report saying Broncos owner Pat Bowlen had decided to can his longtime coach and friend.

* Before I could close the e-mail, my mobile phone beeped, signaling the receipt of a text message from my daughter with the breathless exclamation, "Shanahan got fired!"

* Lastly, the boss called an all-staff meeting, prompting more than one of us to fantasize that holiday bonus checks were forthcoming. In fact, the gathering was all about the big news from Bronco-land. We shared impressions, reactions and guesses about succession in a 10-minute gabfest that was emblematic of hundreds of others going on that afternoon in Denver.

It was the middle of the week, a Wednesday, three days after the Broncos had tendered the final offering of a moribund, 8-8 season, a colorless, never-really-in-it loss to the Chargers. Not only had the Broncos lost out on a seemingly sure playoff berth, they had lost the ability to captivate.

Contrast that sentiment with the beehive buzz that zapped through the populace on that Wednesday and you can start to understand that the biggest reason for Shanahan's firing wasn't disappointment over the team's recent record, but concern over the team's marketability.

Bowlen recognized his football team, revered throughout the league for its stability and its seemingly immutable appeal to a passionate fan base, was losing its luster. NFL owners want to win, to be sure, but more than that, they want to be relevant. They want fans to taste the bitter sting of a last-second playoff loss deep into February, when the season ticket renewal packages come in the mail and the blood-thirst for revenge over the hated (insert...