flutie2phelan
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Broncos try to bring back Rocky Mountain Thunder
DENVER (AP) -- The last time the Denver Broncos hosted a playoff game, the stadium shook. Literally.
Time, progress and the inevitable financial realities of the NFL forced the Broncos to bulldoze their creaky, lovable old home, Mile High Stadium, along with the significant home-field advantage that went with it.
In its place is the new Invesco Field, which until this season has not given the Broncos the same kind of edge they enjoyed when Mile High was standing.
.... although with the Broncos going 8-0 at Invesco for the first time this season and getting ready to host their first playoff game at the new stadium, Saturday night against New England, there's reason to believe things are changing.
....
Of course, cushy surroundings don't always translate into loud, raucous crowds -- a reality that a miffed John Elway pointed out last season, while the Broncos were on their way to their fourth straight season of two or more losses at their new home.
"That place ain't loud anymore," Elway told the Denver Post. "It might be too comfortable."
....
It's hard to reproduce what was essentially a design flaw, but in an attempt to assuage fans who were angry and upset about razing Mile High, the Broncos tried. They built the stands on metal risers to reproduce some of the noise. But because they were set in concrete, not on the hydraulics, there was no way the stadium could shake the same way.
"The reverb noise is nowhere near as loud as it was at Mile High, but the fans are catching on," Bowlen said.
Defensive lineman Gerard Warren agrees. He's in his first year with the Broncos, so he has nothing to compare it to. But when asked if the so-called wine-and-cheese crowds at Invesco have sounded too quiet to him this season, he laughs.
"It hurts us, man," he said. "I mean, it helps us, because the offense can't make as many checks on the line. But on the reverse side of it, sometimes I can't hear my linebackers when they're making their checks. That's how loud it is. But we want it to be as loud as possible."
As does Bowlen.
....
And if Invesco Field is noisy and the Broncos win their first playoff game there on Saturday, Bowlen figures people won't miss Mile High quite so much.
"This is obviously a big game for us, as far as going on in the playoffs," he said. "But it's also the first playoff game at Invesco Field. It's kind of historic. We want to win that one."
- edited extracts from
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/specials/playoffs/2005/01/10/bc.fbn.theinvescoadvant.ap/index.html
DENVER (AP) -- The last time the Denver Broncos hosted a playoff game, the stadium shook. Literally.
Time, progress and the inevitable financial realities of the NFL forced the Broncos to bulldoze their creaky, lovable old home, Mile High Stadium, along with the significant home-field advantage that went with it.
In its place is the new Invesco Field, which until this season has not given the Broncos the same kind of edge they enjoyed when Mile High was standing.
.... although with the Broncos going 8-0 at Invesco for the first time this season and getting ready to host their first playoff game at the new stadium, Saturday night against New England, there's reason to believe things are changing.
....
Of course, cushy surroundings don't always translate into loud, raucous crowds -- a reality that a miffed John Elway pointed out last season, while the Broncos were on their way to their fourth straight season of two or more losses at their new home.
"That place ain't loud anymore," Elway told the Denver Post. "It might be too comfortable."
....
It's hard to reproduce what was essentially a design flaw, but in an attempt to assuage fans who were angry and upset about razing Mile High, the Broncos tried. They built the stands on metal risers to reproduce some of the noise. But because they were set in concrete, not on the hydraulics, there was no way the stadium could shake the same way.
"The reverb noise is nowhere near as loud as it was at Mile High, but the fans are catching on," Bowlen said.
Defensive lineman Gerard Warren agrees. He's in his first year with the Broncos, so he has nothing to compare it to. But when asked if the so-called wine-and-cheese crowds at Invesco have sounded too quiet to him this season, he laughs.
"It hurts us, man," he said. "I mean, it helps us, because the offense can't make as many checks on the line. But on the reverse side of it, sometimes I can't hear my linebackers when they're making their checks. That's how loud it is. But we want it to be as loud as possible."
As does Bowlen.
....
And if Invesco Field is noisy and the Broncos win their first playoff game there on Saturday, Bowlen figures people won't miss Mile High quite so much.
"This is obviously a big game for us, as far as going on in the playoffs," he said. "But it's also the first playoff game at Invesco Field. It's kind of historic. We want to win that one."
- edited extracts from
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/specials/playoffs/2005/01/10/bc.fbn.theinvescoadvant.ap/index.html
