Rubbing elbows with Geno and Vance...

If you're ever in the neighborhood, say a stretch of Interstate 70 in Colorado between Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs, take the one exit at a small burg called Parachute, hang a left and pull into a place called VJ's Outlaw Ribbs.

 If you're a sports nut, or better yet a Denver Bronco or a University of Arizona football fan, you'll be glad you did. And if you love juicy ribs, well you'll be getting a double whammy. Why? Because VJ's is owned by former Wildcats' football star Vance Johnson.

 I recently returned from a week-long vacation on the Western Slope, visited with family and found myself hanging out at Vance's place. VJ's is the place to be in Parachute on a Friday or Saturday night. There is plenty of memorabilia on the wall, complete with pictures of the "The Three Amigos", a group of wide receivers that got their name in 1987.

 The Three Amigos included Mark Jackson, Ricky Nattiel and Johnson. And, of course, it was quarterback John Elway who served up the TD passes to the trio. The Three Amigos are still the most popular name of receivers in the history of the Denver Broncos.

As for Johnson,who played football at Tucson Cholla High School, it is hard to believe he is now 47 years old. He still looks like he could run a post pattern with the best of them. If you are lucky enough, you just might catch Vance and his father, Geno, at the Outlaw Bar and get into a conversation with both of them.

 Vance credits his father for getting him into football in the first place. "Pop, kinda pushed me into football." It certainly was the right path to take for the Johnson family. Both men are smiling now, and boy do they have a lot of stories to tell. Geno is more my age and after a beverage or two, well let's say the hours just fly by. It is easy to see that dad is very proud of his son's accomplishments on the gridiron.

And now they have another member of the family to keep an eye on. Canyon del Oro junior running back Ka'Deem Carey committed to the Arizona Wildcats last Friday. Carey just happens to be the nephew of Vance Johnson. And as Vance puts it, "He's blood." Carey, of course, is the best running back in the state of Arizona. He rushed for 2,738 yards and 45 touchdowns last year at CDO. He's a four-star recruit and is listed as the nation's 16th best high school running back.