“Oh no, no, no, no!” screamed Audra Johnson, bartender at Will’s Sports Pub, as Jayson Werth’s triple banged off the wall and the Colorado Rockies’ chances of victory on Wednesday went thud.Only a handful of fans were watching the game with her, as Rocktober got off to a rocky start. The midday crowd at Colorado Springs sports bars on Wednesday displayed that there’s still plenty of room left on the postseason baseball bandwagon, or that the work ethic here is so ironclad that people don’t skip work for baseball.“It’s catching on. The whole Rocktober thing, it’s still young, but it’s definitely getting there,” said John Busick, as he donned his Rockies jersey at the Buffalo Wild Wings on North Academy.Busick’s a Denver native who joined the Air Force and ended up in Colorado Springs. He thinks the military population here dampens the enthusiasm for the hometown teams.“People here aren’t as deeply rooted,” he said. “Everybody brings their own team with them.”As if to prove his point, the next table over held two Phillies fans and military members, Jeff Tobin and Bruce Schank.It was the same story at the downtown Old Chicago. Alicia Scott and Marc Pino proudly wore their purple and Rocktober beads, but as the game slipped away they endured the taunts of Phillies native and military man Drew Wilsey, who said people here “can’t match back-East enthusiasm, to put it nicely.”“I can save you some pain if you want to leave,” he told them when the Phillies went up 5-0. “I already know who is going to win, if you want to know.”“Even if we lose this first game, I’m not worried yet. We’re a come-from-behind team,” Scott said. “The Rockies are always underestimated and undervalued, because they didn’t start until 1993 and the Broncos are celebrating their 50th anniversary.“It’s kind of a bandwagon effect (with the Rockies), so if they do well people support them, and if not…”Dan Artamenko of Dick’s Sporting Goods at Chapel Hills Mall said anything with “Rocktober” on it has been selling like hotcakes, and the Rockies gear is now situated front and center, as eight TVs blare the ballgame.But a few doors down, at Sport Fanatic, an employee had a more cynical assessment.“When it comes to Colorado, in my opinion, there are too many fair-weather fans,” said the man, who asked not to be named for fear it would jeopardize his job.He said during the team’s miraculous 2007 run they couldn’t keep Rockies stuff in stock, so they ordered accordingly for 2008 and had extra memorabilia on their hands as people lost interest. He’s wary of the 2009 version of the fan bandwagon.Back at Will’s Sports Pub, as the game wound down, bartender Johnson was already pining for Sunday as she looked around her mostly empty bar.“This place is wild on Sundays,” she said, “people screaming and hollering and carrying on.”

Alicia Scott of Colorado Springs reacts to another Phillies hit while watching with her boyfriend Marc Pino the first game of the playoffs between the Phillies and the Rockies at Old Chicago on Tejon Street Wednesday. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

Christian murdock