Denver is lucky to be one of only eight cities in the country to have all five professional sports leagues in the US. Considering that Denver is one of the smallest markets in all the leagues, it says a lot about Colorado sports fans that Denver can support all 5 teams successfully.
MLS
NFL
MLB
NBA
NHL
Boston
Revolution
Patriots
Red Sox
Celtics
Bruins
Chicago
Fire
Bears
Cubs, White Sox
Bulls
Blackhawks
Denver
Rapids
Broncos
Rockies
Nuggets
Avalanche
Dallas
FC Dallas
Cowboys
Rangers
Mavericks
Stars
D.C.
DC United
Redskins
Nationals
Wizards
Captiols
New York
Red Bulls
Giants, Jets
Yankees, Mets
Knicks, Nets
Rangers,
Devils, Islanders
Philadelphia
Union
Eagles
Phillies
76ers
Flyers
San Francisco
Earthquakes
49ers, Raiders
Giants, Athletics
Warriors
Sharks
This got me thinking about attendance rates and how the Broncos have sold out every home game since I can remember. So I found the attendance statistics for Denver's 5 pro teams to see how well Denver sports are at drawing fans, and I was impressed.
Rapids
Broncos
Rockies
Nuggets
Avalanche
Average Attendance for
most recent complete season
14,838
75,327
35,923
16,901
14,820
Average Percent of
Stadium Filled
82%
99%
71%
88%
82%
I then wondered how Denver's attendance statistics compared to the other 7 cities who have all five pro sports. I found the average attendance for each major sports team in each market, and calculated how full each stadium is on average for each team. I then averaged all the teams in each city together to get the attendance rates listed below.
San Francisco is a bit funky because nearly every team was at 100%, but the San Jose Earthquakes were at 115%. For some reason the average attendance at a SJE game is larger than the total capacity of their stadium...
Also, NY has nine teams. Some are well attended (like the Giants, Yankees, and Red Bulls) and others are not well attended (like the Nets and Islanders). This is why NY is below Colorado because some of these rates really dragged them down. If I only included the best attendance records from each sport, NY would be at the top. Oh, the tyranny of choice...too many teams for New Yorkers to choose from!
City
Attendance rate
Philadelphia
95.3%
San
Francisco
93.8%
Boston
91.9%
Chicago
89.4%
Denver
84.5%
New York
84.1%
D.C.
80.7%
Dallas
79.7%
I was disappointed to see Boston above Denver in this list. I don't think Boston should be better than us at anything.
I then calculated simply average attendance by all five sports (not considering stadium capacity). Dallas skyrocketed to near the top of the list because of the enormity of New Cowboy Stadium. NY also went to the top simply because they have so many teams in the area. I was happy to see Denver above Boston, mostly because of the poor attendance of Revolution games.
City
Attendance
New York
34,614
Dallas
33,986
San Francisco
33,877
Philadelphia
33,462
Denver
31,562
Boston
31,174
D.C.
30,606
Chicago
30,266
Here's the attendance rate for other cities whose sports teams I follow, but don't have all 5 pro teams.
I wasn't surprised to see that the Timbers in Portland had nearly a 100% attendance rate, but I was shocked to see that the Trail Blazers in PDX had the 2nd best attendance in the NBA during the 2010-11 season!
Seattle would have been close to 100%, but the Mariners really hurt the city by having only a 48% attendance rate compared to the Seahawks and Sounders who are close to 100%.
1987 had The Drive led by John Elway. 98 yards to tie the game and beat Cleveland in OT during the AFC Championship Game.
1992 there was The Drive II, also by John Elway. 98 yards again, to beat the Houston Oilers in the final minutes of the AFC Championship Game.
2011 now has "The Drive Jr." or "The Drive Too" with John Elway watching his embattled QB, Tim Tebow, lead the Broncos 95 yards downfield to beat the Jets 17-13.
View from my seats in the South Endzone as the Jets punt for the 1st time.
The stakes might not have been as high in 2011 as they were for the first two Drives. Back then the Superbowl was on the line. This time the stakes were improving the season record to 5-5 and staying in the playoff race for the AFC West. Maybe what was most on the line was Tim Tebow's reputation and future in his first national TV appearance.
With just over five minutes remaining in the game The Broncos had not accomplished much. There were 9 straight drives of three and out, a lost fumble by Willis McGahee and many botched opportunities to start drives in the Jets half of the field. The game seemed to be proving all of Tebow's critiques right in that he can't pass, but somehow Tebow found another way to win. As his supporters say, 'he just wins,' and he sure does.
Goodman is pursued by Sanchez into the endzone after intercepting the QB.
Andre Goodman, who Sanchez and the Jets had picked on all night with Plaxico Burress receiving many passes over Goodman, came up big with Denver's first TD of the night. Goodman intercepted Sanchez and returned the ball untouched into the endzone for his first pick-6 of his career.
Von Miller continued his impressive rookie season recording 1.5 sacks on Sanchez and multiple other hits to shake up the Jet's QB. Miller finished the night leading the team with 9 tackles and a forced fumble.
"If you pressure any quarterback and get to him, he will make some bad decisions," Miller said. "That is our game plan every week, just get to the quarterback and get some hits on him."
The Denver defense finally has something opposing teams fear. A pass rush that creates chaos for the opposing QB.
If this photo went just 2 rows higher you could see me and my dad in the top left.
Special teams also had a big night, forcing and recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff after Goodman's pick-6. Cassius Vaughn returned a Jet's kickoff deep into Jet's territory. And most impressive of all was Punter, Britton Colquit's performance, down many punts inside the Jet's own 10 yard line including one at the one yard line with help of a great special teams performance by Mathew Willis.
Thankfully, big plays by the defense and special teams kept Denver and Tebow in the game for the fourth quarter, trailing 13-10. Eddie Royal mistakenly called for a fair catch at his own 5 yard line with 5:54 remaining to set up Denver's 95 yard come-from -behind drive.
The drive nearly ended on the first play when Tebow threw a screen pass to Royal in Denver's own endzone. Royal was nearly wrapped up for a safety, but managed to escape and gain 9 yards. Tebow would hit 3 of 5 pass attempts on the drive, including a great sliding 18 yard catch by tight end Dante Rosario.
Previously Tebow had only carried the ball twice for 11 yards, but on the final drive Tebow rushed seven times for 58 yards and the game winning TD. He finished 9 for 20 in passing with 104 passing yards and was only sacked once.
Tebow celebrates his game winning score.
On Third Down and 4 from the 20, the Jets showed an all out blitz for the first time all night. The Jets rushed at Tebow, Tebow scrambled left and took off for the first down, broke a tackle and went straight into the endzone as he was mobbed by teammates for the go-ahead score.
"I think it was just a bunch of guys that kept fighting, and that had been knocked down a bunch of times and got back up," Tebow said. "I'm proud of these guys for their resiliency and determination."
"After the touchdown, it was fun, but during that drive, it was a lot of focus," wide receiver Eddie Royal said. "Everybody in the huddle was tired at that point, but we all knew we had to suck it up and focus in, and make these plays that we needed."
Denver is now half a game out of first place in the AFC West, with a 5-5 record. An improbable situation given that the team started 1-4 under Kyle Orton and has since gone 4-1 with Tim Tebow at QB. If the Raiders lose on Sunday to Minnesota, Denver will be tied for first place.
The Jets fall to also have a 5-5 record, essentially dashing their playoff hopes in a difficult AFC East division with competition from Buffalo and New England. Denver now owns the tie break over the Jets for an AFC wildcard position.
Tebow Time? Try Miller Time Instead:
With the entire nation setting their clocks to Tebow-Time, The Broncos are setting their clocks to Miller Time. Von Miller's amazing rookie season is being overshadowed by the media circus that is Tim Tebow. Miller leads the Broncos in tackles and sacks, with 9.5 on the season. He is on pace to set a new rookie record for sacks. With the return of a healthy Elvis Dumervil, Miller is even more of a threat as the Broncos seem to be returning to the days of the Orange Crush.
Von Miller gets to Jet's QB Mark Sanchez.
Under a new defensive minded head coach in John Fox, new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and John Elway's emphasis on defense in his first draft as an executive the Broncos seem to be building a defense that can win championships.
"I think guys are beginning to feel more comfortable in the system and what they're being asked to do, and I think some of the play has shown that," said Allen.
In the last two wins the Denver Defense has only allowed 23 points, and Von Miller has nearly knocked the opposing teams QB out of the game or the entire season in both wins.
So as everyone else sets their clocks for Tebow Time, true Broncos fans are living on Miller-Time. We're not yet sure if Tebow is the future of this organization, but Von Miller is for real and he is the Broncos' future on Defense.
Decker Distracted?
Jessie James performs the halftime show wearing Decker's jersey.
Receiver Eric Decker was off his game on Thursday night. He missed all 5 passes thrown to him (though you can't blame him for all of those), and his one pass attempt of the night when out of bound in the endzone.
Decker may have been distracted by the presence of his super star country singer girlfriend, Jessie James, who was preforming the half time show.
Decker is second in the league in receiving touchdowns, with 7 and has 34 catches for 462 yards.
Let's hope Decker just had an off night and returns to form next week against San Diego!
Beer of the Week:
The Twisted Pine just released their double IPA, The Misty Mountain Hop. According to the Pine this is "a single hopped unfiltered India Pale Ale with Simcoe hops." Very hoppy, very good. Get it while it lasts!
"So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains where the spirits go now" -Led Zeppelin
Drew Litton Comic of the Week:
Tebow's drive, in comic form:
MLS & Rapids Thoughts of the Week:
Colorado Rapid's Supporters groups will be throwing head coach Gary Smith a farewell party during the MLS Cup on Sunday at The Celtic Tavern in downtown Denver.
Many Rapid's fans are still upset about Smith's departure and feel the executives forced him out and that they should have tried to fix the club's relationship with him after Smith brought Colorado their first MLS Cup in 2010.
Kronke Sports Entertainment, who owns The Rapids, Avalanche, Nuggets, St. Louis Rams and Arsenal FC, has not put in the financial backing to the Rapids as they should to keep the team successful and profitable. Rapid's supporters joked on Facebook that there should be an "Occupy Stan's Front Yard" protest where Rapid's fans camp out on Kronke's front lawn to demand the club be given more attention.
The Rapids have a strong and passionate fan base and a lot of talent on the team. With more money put into the team, and marketing the Rapids have the potential to become a very profitable and successful team in MLS.
****************
The MLS Cup kicks off on Sunday, November 20th at 7pm Mountain Time on ESPN. The LA Galaxy will take on the Houston Dynamo at the Home Depot Center in LA.
The Galaxy are heavy favorites to win the cup this year, but many experts involved with MLS are predicting a Dynamo upset. It will be tough for the Dynamo though because they are missing league MVP candidate Brad Davis to injury.
As Colorado fans, lets hope that Houston can pull off the upset over the hated Galaxy!
Rockies Thoughts of the Week:
Nolan Arenado, the fantastic 3rd base prospect of the Colorado Rockies, was named the MVP of the 2011 Arizona Fall League. Arenado played in 29 games and had an average of .388 with 6 home runs and 33 RBI's. The Rockies are excited about his prospect in the major's next year and are inviting him to spring training camp. Arenado may be the answer to the Rockies recent problems at thirdbase.
In other Rockies news, the team has begun hitting the free-agent market and trade market. The Rockies are interested in picking up a 2nd baseman, a right fielder to complement or replace Seth Smith, and starting pitching.
The Rockies have expressed interest in Roy Oswalt, whose agent has said the Rockies have a shot at him. Oswalt is aging and would probably demand a 2 year $30 million contract. This shows that the Rockies have money to spend on big name players. But with big name pitchers failing in Colorado previously, it might be worth looking into players who would not be as expensive.
The Rockies are also trying to trade for Atlanta Braves 2nd baseman Martin Prado, after losing Mark Ellis to LA in free agency. Prado is a career .293 batter, but in 2011 had an off year batting only .260 after three years with an average over .300. The Rockies hope that Prado will thrive in Colorado and return to his form of a few years ago.
Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:
Last night the Avalanche won for the first time since November 10th, beating the Dallas Stars 3-0 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The Avs had previously lost three straight to Calgary, Minnesota and Pittsburgh.
Giguere makes a save in goal against Dallas.
Back-up goalie Sebastian Giguere got the shutout win, and is possibly beginning to create a goalie controversy for the Avs.
"Giggy is playing very well, giving us what we expected," head coach Joe Sacco said. "Varly has played very well for us, especially at the start of the year. You know, he's going through a tough stretch right now, but I'm confident he'll be back to top form too."
The Avalanche made the game easy for Giguere, outshooting Dallas 45-24 as they constantly put pressure on the Dallas defense the entire game.
The Avalanche will now start an 8 game, 17 day homestand which is the longest of the season so far.
"That was a good start to the homestand. We didn't sit back in this one. We just played the same way the whole game," said Stansty who scored on a power-play goal against Dallas.
Cheerleader of the Week:
It only took about 20 seasons of Broncos games to finally catch one of the little foam footballs the cheerleaders throw into the corners of the South Stands. I had planned that if I caught one I would give it to the little boys sitting in front of me, because when I was that age I always hoped someone would do that for me. The two boys though had both caught the foam footballs earlier in the game so when Katie, this week's cheerleader of the week, threw one my direction I was able to catch it and actually keep it! Thanks Katie for making a childhood dream of getting one of those little footballs reality!
There are many yearly traditions that Coloradans look forward to every year. We look forward to powder days on the slopes. We look forward to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. We look forward to shows at Red Rocks and bluegrass in Telluride.
And we look forward to The Denver Broncos beating the hated Oakland Raiders.
But until this weekend, Coloradans hadn't seen a victory over the Raiders since 2009. The Raiders had beaten the Broncos four straight times. Two of those four losses came in Denver, in 2009 it was on a last second field goal to give the Raiders a 20-19 win, and an embarrassing 59-14 route of Denver's defense in 2010.
But all that changed this week as Denver, led by Tim Tebow, Willis McGahee, and Champ Bailey, came from behind to give the Broncos an impressive 38-24 win over the Raiders in the black hole that is Oakland. It was a team-effort, with offense, defense, special teams and coaching all contributing to the victory.
Denver implemented a read option offense - similar to the kind Tebow led in college - and ran over the Raiders tough defense for 299 yards on the ground. Despite a broken hand, McGahee ran for 163 yards and two long touchdowns. The last TD run put the game out of reach for the Raiders in the final minutes. Tebow also ran for 119 yards, one of which was a great third down conversion to keep the possession for the Broncos in the final minutes. He even remembered to slide down in bounds to keep the clock running.
The Broncos saw improvements on every side of the ball this week. The offensive line dominated the Raiders. The defense had three interceptions and stopped the Raiders at crucial times. Special teams and Eddie Royal had a punt returned for a TD. And Tim Tebow managed to stay on his feet, throw for two touchdowns and was only sacked twice.
The Raiders sure did come after Tebow though. He took many hits on his runs, after his passes and even out of bounds. He took a hit to the chin that cut up his lip and showed his resiliency the entire game.
Tebow still has a long way to go to become a great NFL QB. He only completed 10 of 21 passes and showed he is still inaccurate throwing the ball. His passes did look better against the Raiders though. He got the ball off quicker, wasn't scrambling around in the pocket as much and made good reads on the throws he did complete.
"There's no question we're looking for balance in the run and the pass," coach John Fox said Monday. "We're probably leaning a little bit more on the run right now, and we have to improve in the pass game because in this league you've got to be two-dimensional, not one-dimensional, and it's something I'm sure he'll grow, we'll grow, in time."
It's still to be seen if a read-option offense can be sustainable in the NFL. But this year it has been working well for Cam Newton and Carolina (though it's not used exclusively) and the Falcons had success with it and Michael Vick a few years ago. If Denver can give Tebow a system he is comfortable with where he can grow as an NFL QB his accuracy will start to improve and he will start to become a better pocket passer.
What's Next?
Next week the Broncos travel to Kansas City to take on a Chief's team that no one knows what to expect. The Chiefs lost their first three games by huge point differentials. Then they won their next four games. And last week they were held to only 3 points by a win-less Miami Dolphins team in their own stadium to give Miami their first victory. The Chiefs offense has shown it struggles to score points and the defense struggles to stop other teams. But they have also shown great things this season.
The questions for the Broncos will be if they can keep being successful with their read-option offense. If the running game keeps looking good and Tebow finally completes 50%+ of his passes the Broncos will come out of KC with a win that Coloradans look forward to nearly as much as a win against Oakland.
New York Life Protection Index Update:
Despite having one of their better games protecting Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos still only scored an 11.5 on the NYLPI against the Raiders and were ranked last in the NFL this week. Tebow was only sacked twice in the game, compared to 14 times in his previous two starts.
I know Tebow was hit after the play quite a bit. Maybe the hits he took each time he ran the ball counted against the Broncos in this statistic. But I felt that Tebow was protected better than in the previous games, even though he took more dirty hits against the Raiders.
I still can't find the formula used to calculate the NYLPI and think I may need a new statistic that shows how well the offensive line protects the QB.
Miscellaneous Broncos Items:
The New York Times published a piece summarizing why the Tim Tebow QB controversy has become so heated. It claims religion is at the center of the debate.
These Broncos fans went to the game in Oakland, decked out in Orange, and managed to survive the experience. Great read starting with being heckled by Raiders fans from the highway to the game, seeing Raiders fan sneak into the Coliseum, and spending the entire game with rude comments being thrown their way. The video they took from a cell phone of the black mile walk is worth watching just for the sound of the experience.
Other NFL Thoughts:
This video shows how creative Buffalo Bills fans are with their tailgating. Having spent so many years in the basement of the AFC East, it's great to see that Bills fans are still so passionate and show up in such huge numbers. With a surprise season and a record of 5-3 this year, I'm rooting for the Bills to take the AFC East by storm! Though this weekend they lost big to the NY Jets.
I haven't seen anything like this in Denver where much of the pre-game experience has been taken over by the big tent behind the south stands.
Beer of the Week:
Odell's winter seasonal, the Mountain Standard Double Black IPA, really hits the spot. In winter I love drinking dark beers with chocolate malts but I always miss the IPA's of summer. This beer takes the best of both worlds making a black IPA with chocolate malts and lots of hops from Colorado to give you a great combination of chocolaty malts and piney hops in the same sip. You can pick it up from most liquor stores in a four pack!
Drew Litton Comic of the Week:
Because we here in Colorado love it so much when our Broncos run over the Raiders, here is this weeks comic in tribute to the Bronco's victory.
Rapids Thoughts of the Week:
The Colorado Rapids had a disappointing end to their season this week. Plagued by injury to nearly a quarter of their starting line up the Rapids lost the away portion of their playoff series against Sporting Kansas City 2-0. Days after the loss, the Rapids parted ways with their head-coach Gary Smith, as the two sides could not agree on a contract renewal. Smith led the Rapids to their only MLS Cup in 2010 and brought a great deal of successful starters to the team in his tenure in Colorado.
“After meeting with Gary, we decided it would be in the best interest of both parties to move in a different direction,” said Colorado Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush. “We’d like to thank Gary for his many contributions to the Colorado Rapids organization. He was instrumental in the Rapids winning our first-ever MLS Cup last year, and we wish him nothing but the best as he explores new opportunities.”
Smith has told ESPN that problems with the Front Office led to his departure from the Rapids.
"Paul, Jeff, Tim, they were involved in the player decisions, and they were the source of a lot of conflict," Smith said to ESPN. "Ninety percent of the decisions were made after heavy arguments. These guys feel they are in a position of power to do that. When I took the job, I was told I would have the final say. But over time that required more confrontation, more energy, and I was sick and tired of the backbiting."
This revelation of the conflict with the front office is disappointing to many Rapid's supporters, as Smith was instrumental in developing many fan-favorites in the starting eleven.
"We have a great team here and it's a huge loss of a coach that coached us for three years and he took us to the finals. It happens, he's got his own life and it just didn't work out with the organization...it'll be hard to get under a new coach and get going again but I just wish the best of luck to Gary and I wish him luck where ever he goes. And we just appreciate what he's done for us the last three years." said Kosuke Kimura, one of the Rapid's star players who Smith helped to develop into a critical part of Colorado's team.
Colorado had hoped to talk to John Spencer, a former Rapid's star and current head coach of the Portland Timbers, about the possibility of becoming the new head coach for the Rapids.
“Colorado, it’s a place that he holds very dear to his heart,” Wilkinson, Portland's GM, said. “His quote to me was, ‘Colorado is home, but Portland is the home of soccer.’ “You can see what value he brings to the [Timbers]. He’s done a great job. We love him here in Portland, and we want John to be successful here in Portland.”
Gary Smith will certainly be missed by the Rapid's supporters as well. The Burgundy Wave, a Rapid's Blog run by supporters put it best:
Smith will forever be remembered for pulling together a group of low-paid pseudo-stars in 2010 and delivering us our first ever trophy. His downfalls aside, Gary was the best manager in the short history of the Colorado Rapids and we'll never forget him no matter how many successes may or may not be in our club's future.
So, here's to you Gary Smith. You'll always be welcomed by us Rapid's Supporters here in Colorado! Good luck!
MLS Cup Thoughts of the Week:
The LA Galaxy and the Huston Dynamo will both be looking for their third MLS Cup Championship in club history on Sunday November 20th at the Home Depot Center.
LA beat Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference Finals 3-1 with a goal from designated player Robbie Keane and some great play by David Beckam.
Huston beat Sporting KC 2-0 at Livestrong Park in the Eastern Conference to move on to the finals. But they lost potential league MVP, Brad Davis, to injury in the game. But the Dynamo still come into the finals feel confident, with their playoff experience.
"It hurts losing [Brad Davis],"says goalkeeper Tally Hall. "But at the same time, I feel like we have a deep team. We have a team of dangerous players, and I think we've proven that even without Brad.”
Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:
The Avalanche have plummeted back to Earth in the last week. The Avs have not won a game in ten days and have lost four straight, including 2 at home and 2 on the road. The Avs record is now 7-7-1 with 15 points. They are ranked 11th in the Western Conference.
Their losses this week included a 4-1 loss at home against Phoenix, an overtime loss in Dallas 7-6, a 2-1 loss to Calgary, and a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The Colorado offense has been struggling, except in the loss to Dallas, and the defense needs to start improving the penalty kill if Colorado wants to start winning.
"It's (PK) struggling right now," winger Daniel Winnik said. "It's hard to win games when you're giving up one or two power-play goals a game."
To find their winning ways again, the Avalanche are going to need their young stars to step up and become better leaders. Players like Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog will have to start inspiring their teammates. Coach Joe Sacco should also give Duchene more chances to prove himself on the first line, as he was pulled from it against the Red Wings.
With 8 of the next 10 games played at home, the longest home stretch of the season this far, the Avalanche will have the opportunity to start turning their season around at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Rockies Thoughts of the Week:
There is talk that the Rockies may keep Ian Stewart in the big leagues as a utility/starting infielder. After his terribly disappointing season last year, I see no way this helps the Rockies at all. Sure, it may be another year until all-star prospect 3B Nolan Arenado is ready for the major leagues. In the mean time Jordan Pacheco showed he can play with the big boys and deserves a chance over Ian Stewart in the Rockies' starting line-up.
Nolan Arenado is continuing his assault on the Arizona Fall League leading nearly every batting category. His defense at 3B has also been impressive, which is beginning to question whether the Rockies would try to develop Arenado in a 1st baseman to replace an aging Todd Helton.
"He has played tremendous defense down here, one of the best defensive third basemen I've seen in a long time," said Rafters manager Stu Cole, also the Rockies' Triple-A manager.
Baseball in America published a good read on Arenado's play in the fall league.
Finally, the Rox need to start looking at free agency and the trade market. For next season they are in desperate need of at least one or two quality starting pitchers, and a 3rd baseman. Another outfielder with a big bat to compliment Seth Smith would help the Rockies compete too.
With the NBA lockout in full swing you have to feel bad for all the seasonal workers who are out of a job right now, like the beer and food vendors, the maintenance people and the Denver Nugget's Dancers. So that's why I'll feature them as this week's cheerleaders:
