Given the tremendous popularity of the National Football League and the Denver Broncos, the anticipation of the regular season is overwhelming among fans and press.
Even though this is the preseason, there is definitely a greater buzz right now for the game Saturday night against the Cleveland Browns than existed for the first two games, both on the road.
Playing at home is always special for everyone.
Fans are excited about seeing the new players, whether in person or as part of the vast television audience created by KCNC-TV, channel 4.
It’s week three, so we are done with the preseason training schedule, which means players get to leave at the end of the day, instead of in the middle of the night.
Kickoff time is at the much more familiar 7:00 (actually, 7:07), so the anticipation of the game is maxed for all onlookers.
It is still tough for the press corps, as they are writing on deadline almost from the start of the game, and columnists will latch onto the first idea that grabs them and write fast, getting a head start on deadline–not that that will satisfy the insatiable editors eager to print every inch of copy, and then some!
But no season gets going without a start, and this week is that start.
I think fans are going to be very excited about new players this year, and of course everyone will watch every move that Jay Cutler makes in his first full season as the Broncos starting quarterback.
The first mandatory cuts of the 2007 are due after this Saturday’s game, so it is a nerve-wracking period for a number of young players or others whose positions are heavily laden with talent.
It is not only the first game for the fans and players, but also for the staff putting on the game at INVESCO Field at Mile High–that includes stadium operations, security, grounds crew, public relations, entertainment personnel, concessions people, police, paramedics, traffic oficers, RTD, the television network, and even Thunder the horse.
It’s the first game for everyone, it marks the Broncos’ 48th year of play and the team’s 38th straight year of complete sellouts.
Just about every aspect of study, preparation, and office routine can develop a monotonous quality over time, but game day stands alone for everyone in the game, including the fans. No fans, no game.
It all starts with game one, and there is nothing like game day in the NFL.
It is still preseason, but it is still a game. And the scoreboard works, so both teams will be trying to put up crooked numbers, and the TV ratings will top virtually anything else televised in Denver except for the future regular season games.
But ratings, and the fact that football is both king and queen, are the topics for future ruminations.
Thanks for reading.
Tags: CBS4, Jay Cutler, Preseason games, Sellouts
Ahhh Finally, Broncos at home. for the true test for our broncos. Game three of the preseason means starters for both teams should go to the third quarter. Need to see something out of our defence to look forward to. We have not seen the sucess that we have been waiting for when we got Jim Bates and the rest of the coaches on defence. The wide recivers looked good last week. Need to continue that. Just two more games before going to Buffalo. Good Luck Broncos and welcome Brady to mile high the right way. with a broncos win.
Hey Jim,
I went to the game Saturday night. Obviously we’re still working out some of the kinks. But I had a question about the pregame program on the scoreboard. Not sure who to send this to – but I thought I would try you since you have a really active Blog.
I thought the piece about sportsmanship, controlling your drinking, respecting the game and your fellow fans with John Lynch was really good. I was glad to see that.
What I really missed was the “History tells a legend …” clip that they ran before every game last year and for a couple of years before that. It had the Bronco charging through the thunderstorm, highlights of SuperBowl 32 and other great Bronco moments since then. I thought that always set the stage perfectly for the game, got the fans in the right mood, etc. Do you know why that was dropped and if there’s any way we can get it back ? The new piece “Gentlemen, what is your profession? ” just doesn’t seem as good – to me at least.
Jim,
I asked Andrew Mason if he had insight into this issue as well. Why didn’t the team look at Corey Simon, who was signed by the Titans today. His skills really seem like they could have helped the team out in the new defense.