I was lucky enough to be in attendance at last year's Conference Semi-final game two against the Dallas Mavericks. I had really good seats and could see and hear more than I was used to from TV or from the "cheap seats." About midway through the 4th quarter, a Nugget player was shooting free throws and our crowd started chanting "You can't beat us! You can't beat us!" Because of the timing (our player at the line) or the fact that it was difficult to hear what was being chanted at first, the Dallas players were trying to figure out what was being said and Dirk Nowitski actually asked Jason Kidd who mouthed slowly the very exaggerated words: "YOU--CAN'T--BEAT--US..."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=Nuggets-090506

Here's what's great: when Dirk "got it" (after Kidd told him what was being chanted,) he gave up. Seriously. Gave up! And so did several of his teammates. Somehow the crowd got far enough into Dirk's head that his multi-million dollar salary and world-class athletic drive weren't enough to keep him focused. He turned into a fragile kid that couldn't possibly overcome what the bully was screaming at him. It was awesome and the first time I had ever been a part of the absolutely undeniable influence that the crowd and the fans can have on a game and on a team.

And here comes my point: be a good fan! Be loud. Be smart. Be tough but be a good fan! If you are lucky enough to have tickets to Nuggets games - GO! Take someone that's a big fan too! If the wife/husband or girlfriend/boyfriend aren't big fans that truly want to be there from start to finish loudly supporting our Nuggets, LEAVE THEM AT HOME and bring a kid (or your loud buddy that drinks too much.) Go cheer for your team and assert whatever influence you might have! You might be surprised how much influence you actually do have.

Tonight we play a team that has no business even suiting up. For that reason (and a dozen others that no one has time to uncover,) our fans either won't show up or will show up late, barely cheer and leave early. That sucks. If you have tickets but you're thinking about not going, give your tickets to someone that will cheer hard (a kid) and that may not get that many chances to attend an NBA game! If you are going but you think that you'll probably get there late and spend most of your time at the Tuaca Bar instead of in your seats, forget it. Donate your tickets to the local Boys and Girls Club or drop the tickets on a neighbor kid and tell him to scream his ass off! Sure, I like the idea of getting underprivileged fans to games. Who doesn't? The real point, though, is that we need to fill The Pepsi Center for every game and we need to make it as difficult to play there during the regular season as it is in the post-season. Look at Utah. Look at San Antonio. When they are at home it's generally a blow out or a high energy win and it has everything to do with the crowd they collect night in and night out...

I'm not saying that a crowd (or lack of a crowd) can win or lose a game for the home team but I'm not NOT saying that either. When you see tonight that most of our wealthier ticket holders decided to dress up for the game as empty seats and then, low and behold, we have low energy and lackluster attitudes on the court, remember game two of the Western Conference Semi-finals last year and how a few rabid fans got inside one superstar's head...