bronco militia
06-25-2008, 09:09 AM
Orange Crush" namer dies
Iacino, 95, contributed to the 1977 Broncos' fame in a Super season.
By The Denver Post
Article Launched: 06/25/2008 12:30:00 AM MDT
Joe Iacino distributed the soft drink that shared its name with the Broncos' defense. (Courtesy of the Iacino family)Joe Iacino, a soda distributor who helped coin the nickname "Orange Crush" to describe the Broncos' defenses of the late 1970s, died Monday in Denver, his grandson John Iacino said. He was 95.
Iacino, the Denver-area distributor of the soft drink, along with former Broncos public relations directors Bob Peck and Dave Frei, came up with the phrase in 1976-77. By the time the team played in its first Super Bowl, after the 1977 season, the name had caught on.
"It just exploded. It made the Denver Broncos," Iacino told The Denver Post in 2002.
The Broncos' profile broke onto the national scene, in part because of the nickname, and the team became famous.
"The Broncos put the whole city on the map with the Orange Crush," Iacino said. "I mean, look at what John Elway is doing with the Arenaball team. All these years later, he's calling it the Colorado Crush."
The drink, too, became renowned. Iacino sold about 200,000 cases of the drink in 1977. By 1987, when he sold his business, sales had reached 2 million cases a year.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_9686872
Iacino, 95, contributed to the 1977 Broncos' fame in a Super season.
By The Denver Post
Article Launched: 06/25/2008 12:30:00 AM MDT
Joe Iacino distributed the soft drink that shared its name with the Broncos' defense. (Courtesy of the Iacino family)Joe Iacino, a soda distributor who helped coin the nickname "Orange Crush" to describe the Broncos' defenses of the late 1970s, died Monday in Denver, his grandson John Iacino said. He was 95.
Iacino, the Denver-area distributor of the soft drink, along with former Broncos public relations directors Bob Peck and Dave Frei, came up with the phrase in 1976-77. By the time the team played in its first Super Bowl, after the 1977 season, the name had caught on.
"It just exploded. It made the Denver Broncos," Iacino told The Denver Post in 2002.
The Broncos' profile broke onto the national scene, in part because of the nickname, and the team became famous.
"The Broncos put the whole city on the map with the Orange Crush," Iacino said. "I mean, look at what John Elway is doing with the Arenaball team. All these years later, he's calling it the Colorado Crush."
The drink, too, became renowned. Iacino sold about 200,000 cases of the drink in 1977. By 1987, when he sold his business, sales had reached 2 million cases a year.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_9686872