I returned from a ten day fly fishing expedition to remote Alaska to find the world has greatly changed. Bronco Bear has moved to somewhere near Sandy Eggo, McCain has selected our very own Saralicious to be his running mate, and aftershocks continue to rumble through the roster after the reduction to 53.

As I reflect on this reloading season and the changes to the Denver Broncos two things stand out. The first is character. All of the “Me First” players are no longer with this team. They have been replaced by men of character who value the accomplishments of the team above their own. I had the privilege to see a real life Mean Joe Green commercial moment. Each day at the end of practice during training camp four players and one coach are selected to sign autographs for the fans for about ten minutes. Kenny Peterson was one of the players selected after the afternoon practice on August 11th. Most of the players went back to the Bronco Headquarters building and then to the autograph area adjacent to the temporary team store. Kenny stayed after practice a little later to have some discussion with a coach and as a result he cut directly across the practice field. A young boy of maybe nine years and his Mom were walking toward the exit. He was a thin boy in a tattered orange Bronco jersey. It was obvious he worshiped the Denver Broncos. Kenny cut directly in front of the boy and his mom and the little boy looked up with eyes the size of dinner plates. Kenny was pulling off his gloves about then and he looked down at the boy and said “It looks like I wore these out today, here kid, Why don’t you take them?” I will be a Kenny Peterson fan forever.  I bet the boy will be also.  The next morning I was impressed with the play of Marquand Manual. Hamza was out for some reason and Marquand did an excellent job of filling in. At the end of practice I was surprised to see him walk directly over to me. I was the only person there with note pads and writing furiously during practice and I was relieved to see he wasn’t walking over to me. He walked up to a pretty young lady and a small girl of maybe 24 to 30 months old. He picked up the little girl and said “Well Hi Madison! You sure look good in your new shoes and new shades”. I could not hear all of her reply but she gave him a big hug and said something like “Hi Daddy, are you coming home now?” I certainly don’t know, but I would postulate that Manual does not have nine offspring with nine different women in several different states.

The second thing I noticed was the hard-hitting, tough nature of this team. I was fortunate to watch some truly epic battles between Dewayne Robertson and Chris Kuper. As I watched I had the feeling these men were not only out to prove that they belonged on this team, they were playing hard to make each other better. I observed this attitude of giving 100% on every play throughout the practices and in the preseason games. This was borne out in the Dallas preseason game. Even though DallasDenver on both sides of the ball they never could really push us around. was much larger than

Many thanks to Bronco Bear for posting for me while I was computer challenged. Also, many thanks to Denver Diehard for introducing me to Jerry Sturm at The South. BTW, if you haven’t heard Diehard sing you are missing a real treat.

In the eyes of the old Firstfan this reloading season is a success. I would love to join Zappa and Mike Clark in la-la land but I have serious concerns at linebacker and defensive tackle. I don’t know what our record will be this year, but I am awfully proud to be a fan of the Denver Broncos.

Bring on the raiders! Go Broncos!!

No, this isn't Bronco history; this is a little Alaska history. Our good friend and long time MHR member Jon Tollerud is moving to Cordova, Alaska and I thought he should get a little "Heads Up".

Back in 1923 the President was none other than Warren G. Harding. Harding was a dapper fellow and had quite the reputation as a ladies man. He made Clinton look like a monk. It seems that one of his "friends" turned up pregnant. His advisors thought the best thing was to get him out of Washington until the scandal blew over. Where could they send him? Alaska!! They got him to go to Alaska to drive the Golden Spike which completed the construction of the Alaska Railroad. He was the first President to ever visit the Territory of Alaska. Unfortunately, on the way home Harding died in San Francisco. He died of shell fish poisoning from eating crab in Cordova!!

So Jon, what ever you do, stay away from the crab!

With all of the stress of TC I thought we could use a little diversion.

The first key I see to the success of the Broncos in 2008 is the performance of # 63, Dewayne Robertson. I know that is a lot of pressure to put on the shoulders of one player, but I doubt if the big guy from Tennessee spends a lot of time worrying about what some old codger in Alaska thinks anyway. There is some method to my thinking. The first is the defensive coordinator adage "One great DT is worth two". (I conveniently borrowed this adage from HT). This was further explained by HT in his now epic post Defensive Line Gaps and Techniques published in early March of this year. See here for the entire post and comments. In short HT explains

 “While it is nice to have two great DTs, one domineering DT can create enough tension on the line to make an average "other" DT look great.  In short, we really need just one DT to really work out to solve our defensive line woes (and to help out our LBs). “

If Robertson is the dominant player envisioned by the Jets when they selected him as the fourth player chosen in the draft, he can make Marcus Thomas great while Thomas continues to mature as a DT. I have a feeling Carlton Powell will make the 53 man roster and that leaves the winner of the McKinley/Harris/Mustard battle as the fourth DT. They will probably all play a great deal to save wear and tear on Robertson’s knee. If our DTs are this dominant we will be stopping the run up the middle. This plays directly into the speed of our LBs. It allows K2 to escape many blocks by OL and to make the number of tackles made by DJ last year, except at the line of scrimmage instead of five yards in our backfield. Boss can deal more effectively with  TEs, blocking as well as covering pass-catching TEs. Now all of a sudden we are putting seven men up front more and more and eight less and less. This allows our Corners to take some chances knowing there are two Safetys behind them. This equates to more picks and more coverage sacks. In addition, the dominance at DT makes Offensive Coordinators focus more on them and then the strength of our DEs really comes out. DOOM gets his 15+ sacks and Moss and Crowder continue to improve.

This gets better. With the dominance provided by our DTs thanks to Robertson, we average three more three and outs by the defense per game. This translates into roughly six more offensive plays per game and six fewer defensive plays. I like our chances when Cutler and Co. have six additional snaps per game.

So what happens if Robertson is merely “very good” rather than dominant? Much of the same as above. The difference is that Thomas will have to take bigger strides sooner to become “very good” also.

Lastly, what happens if Robertson is a complete bust? It just means that two of the McKinley/Harris/Mustard battle make the squad instead of one. That is not all bad either. This scenario even leaves room for two season-ending injuries.

The second key is the performance of Anchorages’ own, Chris Kuper. If Kuper remains the powerful Offensive Lineman that he was in the Minnesota game last year, it doesn’t make any difference what position he plays. He can play Guard or Tackle, right or left. Hell, he can probably snap the ball as well. (I think he is the back-up to Leach in some situations). My point is that  in short yardage situations we get three yards insterad of one. On first and ten we get six instead of three. In the red zone we get seven instead of three. We go back to the days of Bronco grind it out, own the TOP, keep the other offense on the bench football. In my humble opinion, even if Clady is a total bust, Kuper has the size, speed, strength, and IPS to make the same kind of impact. In pass protection, it will give Cutler the extra few milliseconds to make the life of any DB miserable, regardless of receiver.

I conclude by saying that if both of my keys pan out, Mike Clark and Zappa’s la la land is not unrealistic at all. 13-3 is THERE. If one pans out ant the other is a bust, the 10-6 goal is realistic. If they both fall on their kiester, well we just made those boobs at ESPN look smart.

I don’t like that outcome.

Camp starts soon.

The folks at the RMN report that Brandon Marshall has been cleared medically to participate fully in future team activities. See HERE. As some of you might know, I have not been the greatest Marshall supporter. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, but I have had doubts as to his maturity and ability to make important decisions. I very much want to believe what he says in the artcle. If he is ready to be as dedicated as Rod Smith I will be the first to eat my words.

So for now...GO BRANDON!!!!

Greetings Panther Fans.

I do not know if you are aware, but Carolina has recently added a staff witer to the Panthers.comwebsite. His name is Andrew Mason and he comes from the Broncos. You really have a good guy there and he is a real friend of the fan. Denver's loss is Carolina's gain. He will keep you informed and entertained. He is a good Xs and Os guy and has excellent rapport with the players. He treats the SB Nation well.

Best wishes for the Panthers, at least until Dec. 14. Good luck in '08.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

Hoosierteacher stood before the crowded lecture hall at MHR University. Styg, Guru, Zappa, mdierk( the A students) were all in the front row, eager to learn. Firstfan was in the back with his dunce cap on. All of the students were there. Super7 and Jon Tollerud were hoping for an in-depth discussion of the now famous 3-3-5 defense. But instead Hoosierteacher had some unusual items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large, empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. Hoosierteacher then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full . They agreed it was.

Hoosierteacher next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes”. Hoosierteacher then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. All the students laughed except for Trinidad Jack who cried.

“Now,” said Hoosierteacher as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---the Broncos, your family, your children, your health, and your friends---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.The sand is everything else---the small stuff, things like the guy who cut you off in traffic or oakland or Phyllis and his Merry men.

Guru jumped up and shouted “I get it! If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important like the Broncos and MHR.” All of the other students were awed by Guru’s wisdom.

“Exactly right!” said Hoosierteacher “'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Teach them to love the Broncos. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Learn of your Bronco roots. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner and explain the advantages of the 3-4 over the 4-3 given our current personnel. Spend more time on the computer with MHR. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

Then from the middle of the room Broncofanstuckinsd raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. Hoosierteacher smiled and said, “I'm glad you asked. The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend to talk about the Broncos.”

This adaptation of an old Bronco folk tale, passed down from father to son, was submitted by the guy in the back row with the dunce cap and was based on an email from Danver.

For over twenty years the Denver Broncos enjoyed a significant advantage playing at home. This was due to 1) Altitude and 2) Noise. Much has been written about why this has been deteriorating since the move to the new stadium. I offer the following thoughts. Warning: This article is full of opinions. They are my opinions. And you know what opinions are like.

As schemes and tactics evolve on both sides of the ball we see many more substitutions. Specialty players are used in specific situations. This means players are coming off the field and getting oxygen. A Belicheck approach here might be to switch opposing teams’ oxygen bottles with laughing gas, but we probably shouldn’t do that. I will leave the Xs and Os up to ht, but it appears to this casual observer that by running more no huddle we can force defenses to keep the same players on the field longer and therefore wear them out faster. It goes without saying that we should be the best conditioned team in the NFL. Yes, even our “Big Uglies” should be in top shape.

As for the noise factor, a few days ago Guru correctly stated

“The “footprint” of the new stadium is twice the size of the old. So the same amount of people have to make double to noise to make it seem so loud. The fans were right on top of the field in “old Mile High”, everything is so spread out in the new stadium it simply is that much harder to get that loud…”  TSG 5/5/08

What can we do about it? We are not likely to make twice as much noise but we can increase the noise level from what it currently is. Noise is not entirely unlike vision. When you go into a dark room it takes a few seconds for your eyes to adjust. The same thing happens with our ears to a much smaller extent. We get used to a certain ambient level of noise. This is why a large bang in a quiet room startles but the same noise at a rock concert is overpowered. As fans we need to be knowledgeable about when to be loud and when to be quiet, and then execute!

It has been stated that there is a difference in the kind of fan we have today. I think this is true. The fans at Mile High tended to be more football savy. They were beer and hot dog guys and gals. One writer characterized todays Bronco fan as more wine and cheese. I subit the wine and cheese crowd can be educated. We need to recreate the culture of the twelfth man. We expect a great deal from our team and I feel they have the right to expect the best from us as fans.

We need to get Klis and Kisla and Paige and the other Denver writers to start educating the fans about behavioral expectations. I will never forget the time at Mile High when I actually HEARD John Elway’s famous hard count. The fans of that era were smart, savy, and understood their impact as the twelfth man. When Cutler steps up under center you should be able to hear a mouse fart at the twenty yard line. At the snap of the ball, mayham. Conversely, when Phyllis and his merry men line up the center should not even be able to hear the cadence. And keep it up the entire game. We need to be in game shape too!!

We need to start getting in fan shape now with twelfth man education. I urge all true Bronco fans to attend training camp. The pre season games should be for getting the wrinkles out of our vocal support. A year or two ago I actually saw some fans trying to start the wave when WE had the ball!! Elimninate those errors in pre season and be ready for Sandy Eggo on Sept. 14th.

Go Broncos!!!