"NO POINTS LEFT BEHIND"

Foreword by styg50

Cue "Hail to the Chief."

Fellow Broncomaniacs.

The quality of our team affects us all as parents, friends, fanatics and citizens of Broncoland.  Yet too many points this year are left on the field, from low expectations, misexecution, and self-doubt.  In a constantly changing league that is demanding increasingly complex play-calling, points are literally being left behind.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Solutions are within our reach.  If MHR fails in its responsibilities to educate every fan, admonish every coach, and account for every missed opportunity, we are likely to fail in many other areas.  But if we succeed in recognizing these lost points, and addressing how they were lost, many other successes will follow throughout our season, and in the life that follows.

This blueprint represents part of my agenda for Scoring Reform.  Though it does not cover every aspect of scoring reform, it will serve as a framework from which we can all work together, dudes, HTs and Independents, to strengthen our field position and scoring drives.  Taken together these reforms express my deep belief in our organization and its mission to bring championships to Denver by capitalizing on every player, every drive, in every game left to us.  

I look forward to working with the MHR community to ensure
           That NO Point is Left Behind!

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

"If a team expects points to be free, it expects what never was, and never will be."
--Thomas "Moose" Jefferson

Transforming Mile High Report's role in scoring, so that No Point is Left Behind

As Denver enters the final third of a 2007 season full of hope and promise, too many of our most needed points are being left behind.

Assigning a value of 4 points to field goals made in the red zone, and 7 points to drives ended inside the opponents 40 yard line on anything other than a field goal, Denver has left 70 combined points behind in two blowouts and 8 games where they left double digit points on the field.  From Game 1 to Game 12 they have left 33, 19, 7, 8, 42, 11, 18, 28, 15, 8, and 15 points on the field respectively.  This is a grand total of 204 offensive points left behind, almost as many as they have actually scored.

Although scoring is primarily a responsibility of the coaches and players, Mile High Report is partly at fault for tolerating these abysmal results.  MHR does not do enough to reward success and sanction failure of our offensive production.

Since its inception, when MHR embarked on the first major post to address the Denver Broncos, its policy has been strongly influenced by Denver's on-field play.  Over the years MHR has produced hundreds of posts intended to address problems on both offense and defense, without ever asking whether or not the posts produced results in the organization or knowing whether they had an impact on actual scoring drives.  This "Post for every problem" has begun to add up--so much so that there are hundreds of diaries spread across hundreds of pages.  Yet after all these diaries and comments, the Broncos have fallen short of our goals for excellence.  The scoring achievement gap between rich and poor, Pats and Broncos, is not only wide, but in some cases growing wider still.

In reaction to these disappointing results, some have decided not to comment, and that MHR should not get involved.  Others suggest we merely add new posts to the old.  Surely, there must be another way.  A way that points to a more effective role for MHR.  The priorities that follow are based on the fundamental notion that an enterprise works best when responsibility is placed closest to the most important activity of the enterprise, when those responsible are given greatest latitude and support, and when those responsible are held accountable for producing results.  

THE POLICY

This Scoring Reform Agenda is comprised  of the following key components:

Closing the Achievement Gap:

1.  Accountability and High standards.  Fans, posters, and commenters must be accountable for ensuring that all points, including "disadvantaged" or difficult points, are achieved.  We must hold higher standards, and develop a system of rewards and sanctions to hold players and coaches accountable for improving scoring achievement.  As a reward I am willing to part with many assorted errata from the surface of my desk and top filing cabinet drawer (treasures I assure you).  These will be mailed as apropos to relevant players and coaches.  And my wife said she can bake cookies.
2.  Weekly Scoring Assessments.  Posters will volunteer to record the possessions and merits of each Broncos scoring drive, during each game through the course of the season.  Further commenting and posting will be done by other fans and individuals in order to further analyze and assess the worth and value of said scoring opportunities.  These will be rigorous, and objective, and will be used to assess consequences.
3.  Consequences For Players and Coaches that Fail to Take Advantage of Scoring Opportunities.  Players and coaches that fail to capitalize will first receive assistance, in the form of hand-written(typed) notes of support, followed by corrective action if they fail to make progress.  I for one intend to make obscene phone calls to them at inopportune times.

1.  Comprehensive Reports for Other Fans.  MHR faithful will make concerted efforts to spread knowledge of the team to other fan bases, in the form of commenting on other blogs and obtaining enemy critique.  Others must know of our yet to be realized devestating offense.
2.  Charter Players.  Posters and commenters will provide assistance in learning of alternate players and opportunities awaiting the Broncos.  They will unearth little known gems, find unheard of background and provide clear understandings of those left behind by the media.
3.  Innovative Team Choice and Research.  This may be difficult to digest for broncomaniacs, but in the interest of holding football in a most cherished place, posters and commentors will alert MHR to other teams and players who may be more worthy of our attention than the Broncos at any given point.  Let us never forget what we are striving for!

1.  All players taught by quality coaches.  Let us continue to learn the names of our coordiantors and their responsibilities.  Fans attending games are encouraged to chant coordinator names.
2.  Funding That Works  If a coach is found to be particularly deserving, he will be compensated appropriately in old stamps and other outdated forms of currency.  This will serve to remind that they may not stand still in their quest for greatness.
3.  Strengthen Fan Education  MHR will continue to provide quantitative analysis of key coaching decisions, and will report on significant advances available through alternate routes.

1.  Promoting Player Safety.  Whether yoga or tae-bo, MHR will demand the highest standards in off-field conditioning.  Denver's medical staff and training coordinators will be assessed regularly, as well as the health of our Broncos.
2.  Supporting Character Education.  MHR will be vocal in its support of the proper future personnell decisions.  I will go so far as to hand deliver our draft requests when the time comes, if backed by reasonable and substantive evidence of their validity, at the risk of arrest and incarceration.

This is our platform, and these are our goals.

Join us in the fight.