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Published on 10/09/2007 at Tue Oct 09 13:07.
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Last Thoughts on the Fans

Posted Tue Oct 9th by

The discussions between our readers and authors have been great. I’ve been swayed a bit to their side – protesting a lack of effort on the field is a fan’s right. Absolutely. I didn’t see the end of that game because CBS dropped coverage, but from what I’ve heard there were players laughing on the sideline, not giving their effort on the field. That is a post all it’s own (trust me, I’ll be working on it with the long bye ahead).

Just check out this article from a Chargers beat writer from the San Diego Union Tribune. The article addressed Norv Turner, of course (what else is there to talk about in San Diego?), but used our home field advantage as Exhibit A:

Denver is not just the toughest place to play in the NFL, but in football, period. It’s 5,280 feet in the air, always sold out, and loud. The Broncos have an incredible home-field advantage. And yet Norv and his kids basically had the Invesco joint deserted by the end of the third quarter.

ESPN’s Tom Jackson, who played for the Broncos, Sunday night took one look at that empty stadium and said he’d never seen anything like it in Denver.

What he said about our home field advantage used to be true. As recently as two years ago. Do the Broncos have to be good for the home field to rock?

I hope not. I hope these fans would scream their heads off at the opponents in the depths of a 20-game losing streak. Being a fan goes beyond the wins and losses.

No one KNOWS if the players quit out there. You can’t tell me with absolutely certainty that they weren’t trying. But I can tell you with absolutely certainty that Tom Nalen was, torn bicep and all.

As fans, we’re being tested. Are we devoted enough to take the good and the bad, and still rock the house come game day? So far we have failed that test. Plain and simple. Go down 14-0, it’s time to get LOUDER, not start booing the home crowd. Down big in the third? Rally around the team, don’t turn your backs on them.

I’m begging you, season ticket holders, BRING THE EDGE BACK TO INVESCO! The Magic/Mystique back to Mile High. This used to be one of the best home fields in the league, and it wasn’t that long ago. Physically, emotionally, this team is beaten and broken. Will we recover this season? – no one knows.

But we’ll have a lot better chance of turning this thing around with a thriving crowd than empty stands.

  • ChampSB3233

    Unfortunately, the crowd/fan base is shifting toward front-runner status. Regaining the magic at home isn’t going to happen until the team starts playing a lot better. Going 2-6 in the last eight at home is just ridiculous.

  • Crosshare

    I just saw this posted in the Klis mailbag. I couldn’t agree more with the guy that wrote in. It backs up my arguement from Sunday, they were the 1st ones out of the stadium in the 2nd qtr. I hate the club level with a passion.

    Sorry, Mike. I have to take you to task on crowd noise. I come down for every game, and I have tickets on the lower and upper level. The Invesco Field noise problem is club seating. The club level has cut the faithful in half. The upper crowd (above club) is younger, more energetic and definitely loud. The lower is a little older, still faithful, but not so lively. The club crowd is quiet. When you cut off the head of a snake, the body still moves around, and the head can still bite, but the snake is basically dead.
    — James H. Perry, Aspen

    James – Continuing on with your analogy, if your snake is in the Garden of Eden, does Eve goad Adam into biting the apple? Never mind. (Covering a 41-3 whipping has made me a tad punchy.)

    Anyway, you are referring to my contention the reason the crowd noise is down at Invesco Field is because the newer arena is twice as large, in square feet, as Mile High Stadium. I do agree, James, club-level fans are considerably more – shall we say – civilized than those whooping it up in the South Stands. There’s no doubt an increase in fan comfort creates diminishing returns in applause. And you probably don’t have to take a survey to learn fans who can afford a $9 beer make less noise than those who have to count quarters to buy a $6 beer. I get it.

    I just think space is a bigger factor. I’ve been in almost all the ballparks and stadiums, and my theory, which I believe can be supported by science, is that the smaller the territory, the more crowd noise reverberates off those ancient walls and rebounds to higher decibels.

  • http://birty.blogspot.com MB

    Been here – done this.

    This has been a major issue in the English Premier League (Soccer) for about the last 5-10 years. But it all comes down to the rising cost of watching sport. It creates a completely different demographic of fan. The people who attend the games do so like most people attend the cinema, they go to sit and be entertained in bland corporate branded stadiums that are created to part you with your money and not to create an atmosphere. I’ve only been to Ford Field in the US (and not to watch football) but you couldn’t turn a corner without being faced with a bar or grill trying to get you to pay $20 for a burger and chips.

    And the true $6 beer fan, as Crosshare put it, can only afford to attend a game once or twice a year so in an 8 game season it’s very rare to get all those people who want to stand and be vocal in the stadium at the same time. But this won’t change because people have realised they can make a buck off your loyalty, because you’re not all of a sudden going to go off and support the Cardinals are you?

  • TustinBronco

    MB,

    Who do you support in the EPL? I am a Chelsea man myself (from the Ken Bates days BTW)…

  • http://birty.blogspot.com MB

    I’ve been a Manchester United fan since I was a kid and was a season ticket holder for 20 years until they were taken over by Tampa Bay owner, Malcolm Glazer. In fact I can look out of the window of my flat and see Old Trafford. Now I go and watch FC United of Manchester

    Interesting fact – United lost 3-1 to Chelsea at home about 5 years ago. The second goal came after 70 minutes and the stadium emptied. About half of the 60,000 people weren’t there to see the third goal after 85. Now where did we see something like that happen recently?

  • TustinBronco

    Well, it certainly appears as though ownership issues are having, what some would say is, an adverse affect on the Premiership. I know ManU has loads of debt where there wasn’t any before and Abramovich has me quaking in my boots after the Mourinho fiasco.

    Cheers.