The New Republic asked 5280 associate editor Patrick Doyle to explain Denver to its elitist, egg-headed, tree-hugging, chablis-sipping, far-left readers. Says Doyle:

For too long, Denver has been stuck with the reputation as a cow town in a flyover state good only for skiing. We don't want to lie: It's given us a little performance anxiety. Sure, we threw the G8 Summit in 1997, and the NBA All-Star Game a couple years ago, but generally, we prefer to stay low-key in Colorado. We actually turned down the option of hosting the 1976 Winter Olympics. That's right--we told the International Olympic Committee to take their multi-colored rings and shove them. And we liked the guy who ran that anti-Olympics campaign so much that we made him governor.

Check out the rest of the story, which also includes a photo by 5280 webmaster Jeff Panis. Way to go, guys!