Tailgating at 5,250'
By Randy Locke

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Let's play a little word association. I say "Folks Tailgating in the snow in Denver, Colorado" and you say "Bronco fans at Mile High," right? Close, but no cigars. Yes, Mile High (Invesco Field) could be the second most admired tailgate spot in the NFL. But, guess what? There's a new kid in town.

Once the Super Bowl hype is over and many football fans think it's time to hibernate, truly fan-friendly football is just getting started. That's when Tailgate Central comes alive.

Welcome to Arena Football, folks! And give out a Mile High Salute to one of the most celebrated booster clubs in the AFL - Colorado’s own Club Crush. Although the game is played indoors, tailgating still means pulling up in the parking lot, firing up the grills, "emptying" the coolers, and celebrating football. Arena Football is played from March through July. Yours truly is originally from Texas (so, yes, I know tailgating!) What I didn't know is that over a third of Denver's snow comes in March and April.

So what is Arena Football?

While watching an indoor soccer game at Madison Square Garden in February 1981, Jim Foster conceived and sketched out the idea for an indoor football game. In 1986, he founded the Arena Football League, with four teams. A year later, the Denver (Colorado) Dynamite was the inaugural Arena Bowl Champion. However, for economic reasons, the next year, the team folded. It returned in 1989, but shut down in 1991. The Arena Football League continued in various cities throughout the United States, although television coverage was often limited to 3 a.m. tape-delayed broadcasts.

By 2000, the league consisted of close to 20 teams, and networks such as NBC and ESPN had begun to show interest, even broadcasting games in prime-time. It is now rolling through its 22nd season, with 17 teams playing.

And who are the Colorado Crush?

In 2002, Colorado Avalanche & Denver Nugget owner Stan Kroenke, Denver Bronco Owner Pat Bowlen and Denver Bronco legend John Elway joined forces to bring Arena Football back to Colorado. On February 02, 2003, the Colorado Crush took the field, inside the Pepsi Center ("the Can"), for the first time.

Unfortunately, Stan, Pat, John, and Coach Beers had little experience, and understanding, of the nuances of indoor football. The Crush went 2-14 that year, going 0-8 at home.

The next year, the Crush brought in Coach Mike Dailey, one of the elite AFL coaches. The Crush won their first home game on Feb 7, 2004, by scoring two touchdowns in the final twelve seconds. The end result was an 11-5 regular season record. They came within eighteen seconds of making it to Arena Bowl XVIII, losing the American Conference Championship. Also, that year, before the season started, a few fans got together, including Lew Halboth, a Denver native, who became an AFL fan in the days of the Dynamite, and stayed on long enough to see Arena Football come home. These fans banded together and created "Club Crush", which was designated the Official Booster Club of the Colorado Crush.

Starting with the first home game of 2004, this handful of folks would get together in the Pepsi Center parking lot, with one small grill and a couple of coolers. Each home game, the size of the crowd would continue to grow, bringing in more grills, and even local bands.

2005 turned out to be a banner year for the Crush, and for Club Crush. Club Crush was invited, by the Crush, to move out of the parking lot, and into the actual fire lane immediately in front of the Pepsi Center. In April, the Crush hosted the Philly Soul in what was dubbed the "Blizzard Bowl". With Denver receiving over a foot of snow, and for a nationally televised game, just over 3000 fans were able to make it to the game - but Club Crush was at Tailgate Central grilling burgers and drinking COLD BEER over two hours before the game.

While the Crush were growing in popularity and strength on the field, Club Crush was growing in stature to one of the most active, most well-known booster clubs in the AFL. With more than 500 members, Tailgate Central was feeding as many as a thousand folks at every home game. The Crush went 10-6 during the season, and won the Central Division.

This time the Crush were not to be denied their due, and won the American Conference Championship. In 2005, the AFL went from a home-field advantage Arena Bowl to a neutral site - Las Vegas! The Colorado Crush would be taking on the Georgia Force - ironically the team that had inherited the rights to the original Denver Dynamite. With the Crush in the Championship, Club Crush was invited to host an AFL-wide Tailgate in Vegas. Club Crush members made it to Vegas by air, by car, and even by a charter bus loaded with tents, tables, and most important, coolers and grills. Although Club Crush was considered the "host", the tailgate showed another of the great things about Arena Football. Fans from every team came together, dressed in costume and home team colors, celebrating a fellowship not seen in any other sport. The game was a classic example of how exciting Arena Football is. In the fourth quarter, the game was tied three times, the last time 48-48 with 18 seconds left. The Crush were able to drive down far enough for Clay Rush to kick a 20-yard field goal, as time expired, to give the Crush their first World Championship.

So, what happened after the game? Those same fans, from every team, came back to party together, congratulating the Crush and consoling the Force. In fact, we all came away with contacts so that it's a pretty good bet if you are traveling and happen to be in a city with an Arena Football game going on, all you have to do is show up at the tailgate or game, and you will be treated like family.

So what's up with Club Crush?

Club Crush has continued to thrive, averaging over 500 members ever since that first year. About 25% of us have been around since day one...back in the "can't win a game at home" days of 2004. Besides the "normal" folks who go to the game, dressed in exclusive Club Crush gear or their favorite player's jersey, we have a few who fit the description of true fanatics.

Hey kids, look - There's the jolly ole grey-bearded gentleman in the ORANGE suit - Santa Crush. And, when the other team needs a little intimidation, we've got the CRUSHINATOR!

In 2007, the Club decided to get back to its roots. We moved back into the parking lot, designating Club Crush tailgates and functions as Members Only - not because we wanted to separate ourselves from the rest of the fans, but because we wanted to emphasize the benefits of being a member. We still tailgate every home game, averaging a hundred or more die-hard fans. Don't expect to walk by without someone inviting you to come in, check us out, and have a burger on us. We have live bands as often as possible, and grill up a helluvalot of good food. (We might even have a cold beer or a "CRUSHARITA" every once in a while!) We really love Saturday afternoon games, so we can start pregame tailgating by 11:00, watch the Crush play from 2:00 to 5:00, and then head back out to Tailgate Central for postgame Victory Tailgating until...

Tell me another sport where the team staff and players, or their significant others, come out before the game, and join in the tailgate, just to show the fans how much they appreciate them being there. In fact, just about every week, we can count on one special member of the Club to show up. Kyle Moore-Brown is a true Ironman of football. Now, in his fourteenth year in the AFL, he has never missed a game, playing in over 200 consecutive games. Yet he thinks he hasn't had a complete game unless he starts it by hanging out with us for fifteen minutes or so.

We pride ourselves in being a class organization, where fans are able to party and enjoy themselves, but also where fans from any team feel welcome to come join in, even if they are not wearing burnt orange and blue. (Well, not when they arrive anyway.) Along with that, several of us have been fortunate enough to make road trips to other AFL sites, where we are treated with the same respect and fellowship. If you can't make it to Denver, stop by Blaze Nation in Salt Lake or Flight Crew headquarters in Kansas City, just to name a couple.

As I said earlier, when the Crush and the Force were successful in making it to the Arena Bowl, fans from every other team were also there, not to support their teams, but rather to support the AFL, and to party with friends from all over the United States. Having gotten a taste of Arena Bowl Championship celebrations in 2005, several of us have been fortunate to do more of the same the past two years - going back to Vegas in 2006 and then in 2007, to New Orleans, where the AFL voted to move Arena Bowl XXI, as the first national sports program to bring support back to the city after Hurricane Katrina. (The New Orleans Arena shares a parking lot with the Superdome, which was obviously seen around the world for months following the disaster.)

Several AFL booster clubs, including the Club Crush, are making plans for a return trip to New Orleans for AB XXII, and to be able to tailgate in proper N'Awlins style.

Along with tailgating, Club Crush is proud to have one of the best websites in the AFL. So, if you can't make it Tailgate Central, jump online to ClubCrush.org. If we're not busy firing up a grill, we'll be there.

 

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