Sabercats at Power: Final home game

Pretty much, it's all over but the crying at this point.  Technically, the Power is still playoff eligible, but we would need to win out and have the Predators lose out.  Not gonna happen, but we can dream.

If nothing else, this weekend will be one last chance to see the Power play at home for the season and -- win or lose -- Sabercats games are fun.  Defying all logic, we've always matched up very well against them, despite them being way out of our league.  The games are generally close, and we've been capable of winning against them.

So, we should just sit back, relax, and watch some football.  It's going to be a short and sweet post, but that's because everything's been said before.  Next week, we'll have a better idea of the playoffs and we can get back to it.

The Sabercats are led by one Russ Michna, known primarily as being the long-time QB of the Chicago Rush and looking just like Keller's brother.  I'm still not sure why Chicago decided to part ways with him, but their loss has been San Jose's gain.  Once they kicked Aaron Garcia all the way back to Florida, Michna turned their offense around.  He's accurate and mobile, with the experience that makes him hard to rattle.

Our offense really hasn't been the same since Jason Willis left, and unfortunately, his return is going to be on the wrong side of the line.  He already has 31 TDs with the Cats, and I'm sure he'll rack up a few more this weekend.

On defense are Clevan Thomas who is an interception machine and Ken Fontenette, who is a tackling machine.  Also, his last name always makes me think that it's the word for the soft spot on a baby's head.  I need help, seriously.

Last week in Cleveland, the Power should have won.  The refs even did everything they could to give us the game, and we still frittered it away.  It was pretty sad.  That kind of play will not stack up against the Sabercats, however, I really think that it's more because the Power have already packed it in for the season.  The record they've had the last two seasons would demoralize anyone, and these guys are only human.  I just hope that they can pull it together one more time for the paying home crowd - especially since the game will be nationally televised.

Elsewhere in the League

• Utah has nothing left except to play spoiler.  Philly clinches the number one seed in our conference with a win (and a Shock win) this weekend.
• Iowa is just about out of this if they lose, and the Preds have buffer space.  Given that they have more to play for, the Barnstormers might pull this off - but my money's on the Preds
• Spokane travels to Jacksonville this week and it could go either way
• Cleveland's out if they lose this week, and I'm fairly sure that the Rush can accomplish that objective.
• Tampa pretty much just needs to beat the Talons to get a postseason spot, and they've historically been pretty good when their back is against the wall.
• Finally, there's NOLA at AZ....which is a freebie for the Ratts.

Voodoo at Power preview

Another tough loss last week.  The Power kept it competitive, but at some point they need to start winning games, even if other teams losing keep us in the playoff hunt.  There are three teams that need to finish with a worse record than the Power, and they had a chance to beat each of them, one right after the other.  So far, that didn't work against the Preds -who were the most important of the three - but we still have NOLA and the Gladiators to go.

This week is the New Orleans Voodoo, a team that the Power successfully beat in their house and is also a team that hasn't won on the road so far this season.  Granted, the Power doesn't have a great record at home, but it's a winnable game.

The big problem Saturday night is going to be Captain Morgan himself.

I can't count the number of times that's been the case

Donovan Morgan is a force of nature on offense.  When he's on his game, no one else on the team seems that scary - and given that this game is just as important to the Voodoo as it is to the Power, expect him to be on his game.

The question mark for both teams is quarterback.  The Power continue their random roll call for QB every week - it looks like Sheffield will be under center this week, but that's never a sure thing.  He might have "family issues" again at the last minute, Austin might be really on it in practice, or Coach Sting might just feel like throwing Cassidy in again.  We don't know.  On the Voodoo side of things, Kurt Rocco is their starter.  He let the team to a strong showing last year, but he's been struggling this season.  After a pretty bad showing last week, Chris Dixon might be in.  I'd rather that - replacement QBs on the road are generally less dangerous than a troubled starting QB.

Wrapping up the season:

Down the stretch here, the Power is 2 games back from the Preds, and some wins need to stack up.  The Preds will face Sharks, Rattlers, 'Stormers, Gladiators and Voodoo.  Sharks are a rival, so it's tough to call.  Ratts will be a loss.  Iowa, Cleveland and NOLA should all be wins, but they'll probably drop one of them.  So, optimistically, the Preds will go 2-3 in their last five.  Optimistically.

What does that mean for the Power?  Nothing good.  That would mean that the Power needs to win out.  Our final opponents are Voodoo, Gladiators, 'Cats, Storm and Shock.  Voodoo and Gladiators are the best bets.  Cats are a strong maybe, Storm's unlikely and the Shock ain't happening.  Best - absolute best - case, the power goes 4-1, though I'd expecct 2-3, and that won't be enough.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer about the situation, but that's really what it comes down to - and it's not taking into consideration the Voodoo and Gladiators going on a tear...I mean, the Preds could just as easily fall apart.  I'm not putting money on either.  The simple fact is, the Power probably won't make the playoffs, but still have a chance of ending the year with a better record than last year.

Baby steps.

Elsewhere in the League

• Orlando at Jacksonville - as I said above, it's a rivalry game and it was a three-point game last time they met up.  I need to think positive and say that the Sharks will pull it off again.
• Philly at Cleveland - Philly's better on the road, and Cleveland's not good.
• Another division match-up, and it's between the Talons and Barnstormers.  The Barnstormers took the Talons at home last time, and they should be able to do it on their home turf as well.
• As far as I'm concerned, the GotW is once again featuring the Cats, even if it's not the TV game.  Last time the Cats and Blaze met up, San Jose won by a point.  Utah needs this win hard, but I'm still betting the Cats win the rematch.

Soul/Power Round Two

I'm strangely optimistic about this game.  Philly hasn't won a division game yet, we've beaten them, they've made some consistent mistakes, and we looked good last week.

First off, even though the Power lost in San Jose last week, it kind of felt like a win.  Cassidy took the snaps and looked confident the whole game.  In fact, in the last minute of the game, it was tied up.  Everything after that was a matter of risk/reward that didn't fall our way.  San Jose is one of the toughest teams in the league, and the Power hung in against them and played a good, clean game.

Philly, on the other hand, very nearly lost to New Orleans at home last week.  It was a sloppy, sloppy game where they never held a lead until almost the end.  Also, they continued messing up in a critical area they've repeated week after week: Blowing it in the fourth with stupid mistakes.  When the Power was out there, they were in the driver's seat until Dirty Dan threw a pick right at the end.  When the Rattlers were out there, they were looking good until Dirty Dan tried to throw it away between the wall and the iron...and had the ricochet picked.  This past week with NOLA, they actually had to burn their last time out or they would have lost by one point because the clock ran out!

I know, a Power fan ragging on a team for 4th quarter meltdowns is a bit hypocritical.  However, when the Power melts down in the fourth, it's generally because they gave up in the third.  Philly, on the other hand, lets sub-par teams hold in way longer than they should and/or make one truly stupid mistake late in the game that turns things around.

So we've got it made in the shade, right?

Well, no.  The first catch is that Philly tends to do these things to themselves at home, not on the road.  Secondly, they have a very solid team on paper - one that is pretty similar to the Arena Bowl team from last year.

As usual, Tiger Jones is going to be the aerial threat that we need to watch out for.  The most annoying part is, every time he scores, he'll do an obnoxious dance (that tends to be fun to watch...)  Also, we have to accept the fact that Derrick "the Boss" Ross is going to set an AFL record this week.  It's going to happen.  He's 7 yards shy of the all-time rushing record, and he can get that on one carry.  Philly is just about the only team in the league that actually plays a running game, and they play it a lot.  (Side note:  The record Ross is going to beat took Bo Kelly 12 years to set - and Ross has been in the league for three.  So, he's going to push it out of reach by the time he's done playing.)

One last player to note for this week is Ryan McDaniel.  In many ways, he reminds me of an evil Gary Butler.  He's Philly's big time hot-head.  He's been playing great on offense, but at the same time, he's drawn some big-time penalties because of his short fuse.  Here's where the Bully can come in - if Butler and McDaniel clash enough, they might get each other ejected, and that could be exactly what we need.  Regardless, getting him to lose his cool could be that 4th quarter screw-up for this week.

Elsewhere in the League

• First up is Cleveland at Orlando.  Really, this game can't work out badly for us - merely "good" and "better."  Obviously, we want Cleveland to lose, on principle and because they're in our division.  But, if they happen to win, Orlando losing is good as well.  Even if we lose, whichever of those teams win can only tie our record, and we have more division wins than Cleveland.  Right now, 4th place in the conference is a playoff spot, and we're still on pace for that.
• I don't have nearly as much to say about Tampa Bay at NOLA.  They're gonna beat the Voodoo, and that's good for us - the Voodoo is the other team we need to stay at a worse record than us to get into the playoffs.
• Likewise, San Jose shouldn't have much trouble against the Barnstormers.
• The match-up between Spokane and Arizona is being touted as a preview of the division championship.  It might be - regardless, it's going to be a great match-up.  I'm not going to feel comfortable until the Ratts lose again.  I mean, they can beat the Shock, but they've won 8 in a row and are still due for a stumble.
• The main thing San Antonio's meeting with the Chicago Rush has going for it is that it's a division match.  They're pretty evenly matched, and I'm going to give a slight edge to the Talons.
• I'm still baffled that Utah has had such a crappy season.  I honestly haven't watched enough of their games to really get a feel for why, but the fact is, things haven't gone their way.  Jacksonville, on the other hand, is in it to win it.

Cleveland Gladiators at Pittsburgh Power Preview

Finally, in week ten of the season, we have a division rivalry game at home.  As some of you may remember, the last time we were scheduled to play the Gladiators, they were so intimidated that they didn't take the field, making them the only AFL team in history to forfeit a game.  (That's the way I choose to remember it, rather than think about the vast amounts of strike BS that plagued the league last year.)

As we all know, the Power is having a rough go of it this season, but frankly, so is Cleveland.  We both stand at 2-6, so this is a pretty important game.  We've both beaten Philly so far, so - believe it or not - we both still have the right to dream of taking the division.  Sure, any one of us would exit the playoffs early, but who cares - making it to the post season is all that really matters.

The Power got their collective asses handed to them again at home last week (one of the head office guys commented to me afterwards that, since I was in Philly, I'm one of the lucky few to actually see our boys win this year) and that's sad.  Thing is, there was a lot of good in the game - it's just that turnovers killed us.

Right from the word go, our defense was all over Tampa's QB.  They weren't able to close the deal often (only one recorded sack on the game) but they were back there in his space a lot.  Conversely, our O line was actually looking half-way decent.  They certainly were giving Sheffield time to think, or at least to scramble, which is something that's been lacking up until now.

Sheffield himself was looking promising during his first home start.  He has the range, he has accuracy, he seems good natured when coaches correct him on field and he can move (35 yards on the night.)  The problem was INTs.  The best that I can figure is that he has tunnel vision.  Nearly every pick was seemingly a perfect throw to a defensive player who was wide open.  I think what's happening is that he's so focused on his receiver that he just plain doesn't see anyone else on the field.  This is not good, and it's something that I sure hope he can shake.

Cleveland is, again, not the strongest team in the league, but they're not a pushover.  Brian Zbydniewski completes about 50% of his passes (most while the other team is spell-checking his name) and averages only about 1 pick a game.  Also, he is mobile enough that he has 6 rushing TDs on the year.  This is concerning only because McPhearson was able to put up some serious yardage on us last week, and the defense wasn't able to do much about it.

While the Gladiators lost some key players in the off season - most notably Robert Redd - they kept Dominick Goodman.  He, Johnathan Lewis and Thyron Lewis are going to be the main threats that we have to contain this week.  They make up the bulk of Cleveland's yards and scores and will likely be the main targets.

Cleveland has a bad habit of giving up a lot of yards on penalties, just like we do.  I know I say it a lot, but we need to capitalize on those tendencies and play the cleaner game.  Our officiating crew at home royally sucks, but if the Power can manage not to piss them off and let Cleveland rack up the penalty yards, it could make or break the night.

We haven't seen a home win since April 14, 2012 for crying out loud.  This is a streak that HAS to end.

Elsewhere in the League

• At some point while I wasn't paying attention, the Talons managed to get to the top of their division, and the Shock started getting back on track.  This game might actually be worth watching
• Jacksonville at Orlando.  The Preds stumbled last week against Philly, but in general, Garcia is trying to turn them around.  Things went completely pear-shaped for the Sharks last week (both on and off the field) and they got beat hard to continue their slide.  They need a big win this week, and facing their former star QB in the interstate War on I-4 matchup might just be  the tonic they need.  I'll take the Sharks in this one.
• Football is never an if A>B and B>C then A>C equation.  Just because we beat Philly and Tampa Bay beat us doesn't mean that Tampa is going to beat Philly....but I still think Tampa can beat Philly.  They're playing at a higher level and have all the right ingredients   Philly just seems to be a bit lost this season and haven't quite gelled. 
• Iowa is not a bad team.  They're not a great team, but they're not horrible.  Arizona, on the other hand, is 8-1 and destined to go to the Arena Bowl again.  The only way Iowa wins this one is if the Ratts overlook them or play easy this week...neither of which is something the team is known for.
• Utah at San Jose....oh dear.  Where do I start?  On one hand, it's a division match, Utah continues to be kinda crap and San Jose's winning streak is running the same as Utah's total wins - 4.  On the other hand, the Cats are showing their true colors as that team I love to hate when, after beating the Sharks handily, still felt the need to start some shit with the dance team for interfering with the game.  The end result - several arrests, a senior-citizen coach hospitalized and an appearance on Fark.com.  What does this mean for the game?  Probably very little, but I still hate the Sabercats because they're a bunch of douchebags...but I love watching them play.
• Finally, Chicago needs every win they can while they stay neck and neck with San Antonio in their division, and a cream puff team like the Voodoo is probably the best thing to happen.

Predators at Power Preview

Hello Sports Gods, it's me, Weidman.  I realize that you're probably already busy with hockey playoffs and all, but if you're going to be around Consol - and I think the first playoff game the other night proved that you are - could you just throw the Power a bone?  There is one team in the entire league with a worse record than us, and that's the Preds.  Please don't let us be their first win.

Right now, the Power holds the all time series edge...but at 2-1 it's not that impressive, really.  However, after last season's sweep and the 31 point comeback game (that the Power marketing team refuses to let us forget) the Predators are the closest thing that we have to an actual, factual rival.  As such, I'm really looking forward to Saturday, even if it scares me to my core.

After Orlando's absolute thwumping at the hands of the Rattlers last week, there have been some (rumored) changes on their team.  Nothing has been officially said as of yet, but the smart money is on Orlando releasing QB Kyle Rowley due to poor performance and a run-in with the law.  Sadly, this isn't a new occurrence for players on their team, however, they don't seem to be standing for it.  They have acquired aging gunslinger Aaron Garcia as a last-ditch effort to save their season - and their money.

In San Jose, his issue seemed to be clashing with the head office over who was - literally - calling the shots.  I don't see that being a problem in Orlando.  They're gonna let him do whatever he wants.

Because they have such an abysmal record (Note: we have one win, so our record is just "sad") there aren't a lot of things that we have to be watching out for.  The main thing is Garcia himself.  If he can get in the groove, we're in trouble.  If not...we can take them.  For my money, the biggest play last week was when Chris Terrel knocked Nick Hill the f%@# out.

Seriously - it had to look something like this to him

The fact that he still completed the touchdown should have no bearing on how awesome it was. 

Aaron Garcia is probably my favorite player of all time, he's old (for football) and he deserves respect - but if our D can take him down, I'm all for it.

As for our QB situation, it seems like they're sticking with what they're used to.  All I've read says that JJ's getting the start again this week.  I'm sure that, after his performance last week, a lot of people would like to see Shane Austin get the start.  Admittedly, he was looking pretty good, but then, he's a completely different QB.  Where Jefferson goes for the targeted assault, Austin likes to get mobile and throw it where he may.  It worked pretty well against the Talons, but they weren't expecting it.  Whichever QB they go with, protection is still the issue.  While I'm saying that we need to nail Garcia, some blogger in Orlando is writing the same thing about our guy.

The prime thing working against the Predators this season is the same thing working against us - penalties.  They are giving a up a lot of yardage and so are we.  Whichever team manages to control those will ultimately control the game.

That means:  Get down there, get a ticket and get loud.

Elsewhere in the League

• This week starts out with a division match between Iowa and San Antonio.  The two teams are pretty evenly matched, but my money's on Iowa.
• Topping their respective divisions, Chicago and Philly will duke it out Saturday night.  Neither team really looks like a division leader at this point, to be honest, but the Rush has the better record.  Take that for what you will
• The TV game this week is Tampa Bay vs NOLA.  If it weren't a bitter rival match, it would be set up to be a snoozefest given how poorly the Voodoo is playing this season.  But, these two teams always bring their A game against each other.  Plus - bonus Chris Farley the Coach. (I never get sick of that.)
• As usual, only the West Division could have a top-vs-bottom match-up that might still be worth watching.  The Blaze had been on a slide since destroying us in week one, up until they destroyed Cleveland in their last game.  The Shock have only lost one game so far, but the Blaze is anything but a pushover.
• When Cleveland heads to San Jose, about the only thing I see coming from that game is more padding for us in the division standings.  Cleveland is just bad.
• Finally, the game I most want to see is the one that airs the same time as the Power game:  Arizona at Jacksonville.  The Arena Bowl between these two a few years ago was epic, and right now, both are looking like their old selves again.  This game should be awesome.

Talons at Power Preview

"OK, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it's called 'two in a row'. And if we win again tomorrow, it's called a 'winning streak'... It has happened before!"

-Lou Brown, Major League II

Okay, so - I forgot to write a preview last week until it was too late.  I'm hoping that wasn't the lucky omen that helped the Power win their first game of the season, because I remembered this week.  Our boys traveled to the Big Easy and won a hard-fought battle against the Voodoo.  The game went the distance, they played a full four quarters and they brought home the "W."  Does this mean their problems are solved?

No.  They're still sloppy and have their problems on the offensive line, but they're getting better.  Also, the Voodoo are struggling this season - but a win's a win.  This is largely a symbolic victory.  It wasn't in our division and the majority of Power fans probably didn't even see it since it just aired online....but they won and on the road no less.  The team knows it and they can go into this week strong and not feeling like it's futile.

Hopefully, this meeting won't be as disastrous as it was when we went to their house last year.   Honestly, I don't think that's possible.  Even if it were, they no longer have Willis and Garcia, so those are two big factors taken off the field.  The main weapons that we have to contend with are Jomo Wilson and Dwayne Eley Jr.  Shut them down and things will be a lot easier.

Honestly, the Talons are looking pretty beatable right now.  Their record is the same as ours (1-3) and they've had a change-up at QB.  Last week, they brought in Nick Hill (previously of the Storm.)  Although he's a really good QB, he seemed very confused against the Rattlers last week and the Talons got crushed.  That could easily just be because he had new guy jitters and the Rattlers are still awesome.  However, if he hasn't gotten it together by this week, our defense has a prime opportunity to go pick-crazy again.

I think the Power has just about used up their home-field goodwill in regards to losses.  They need to start stacking up wins, and it needs to happen this week.

Elsewhere in the League

• GotW: Tampa at Spokane.  This one is tough to call.  Tampa doesn't look great, but they don't look terrible, either.  Spokane is one of the only undefeated teams left and this just might be the week they underestimate their opponent.
• On the opposite end of the scale are the hapless Orlando Predators.  I'm still sad to see them struggling like this, but at least we have a better record than someone.  They're winless and have to play the Ratts this week.  They're gonna owe some people money this year...
• I'm looking for the Voodoo to get a critical win this week when they host the struggling Sabercats who ask the question, "Is Garcia washed up?"  Their signing of accountant Russ Michna to a two-year contract seems to say "yes."  Garcia hasn't been able to gel with the San Jose offense's play calling scheme, and it looks like they've decided to move on.  I don't think Michna really expected to come back to the league, and I'm betting that he's going to have a lot of rust to knock off this week.
• The other undefeated team is the Jacksonville Sharks, who travel to the City of Brotherly Love Saturday.  The Soul have gotten pretty roughed up so far this season, but they're really strong at home.  Like the Shock, I'm not sure that the Sharks will make it through this week perfect.
• I can't believe I'm saying this, but after coming up huge against Philly last week and the Blaze only beating us so far...I might actually have to take the Gladiators at home against Utah.
• Finally, the first game of the week is Chicago at Iowa in a rematch of week one.  Wanna know how this game between two bitter rivals is gonna play out?  Flip a coin.

Sharks at Power Preview/Blaze Post Mortem

Okay, last week was painful and ugly.  I'm not going to sugarcoat it, because that's what it was.  The Power got their collective and individual asses handed to them to the tune of 64-33, and it's exactly how we didn't need to start the season.

I say the reason we lost is that this place was allowed to be open during the game.

However, it's pretty much what I expected to happen given who we drew for the first game opponent, and what the Power did during their off-season.  The Blaze was a good team last year, and they're still a good team this year.  Grady's still a giant with a laser arm, and the rest of the team still does what they do.  It's a fact of nature, and there' nothing the Power could do about it.

It was almost a clinic on offensive lines and special teams.  When the Power lined up for the attack, they looked like football players.  When the Blaze lined up, they looked like monsters.  Grady is somewhere around 6'7", and yet, he just looks just a little taller than the guys around him.  His O line protected him beautifully, and the pocket stayed generously open, giving him more time than a player like him needs.  Because of this, he didn't have any trouble connecting with his receivers and scoring.

The Power's line, however, just collapsed on most plays just the way I feared it would.  Honestly, I liked what I saw out of Jefferson - he's mobile, pretty accurate, and - once he got tired of eating turf - isn't afraid to run for it (he rushed for almost 20 yards in the opener.)  However, he got sacked four times.  Grady got hit once, and frankly, that's only because the Blaze were getting cocky at the end.  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  I don't care if we had started Tommy Brady to their Tommy Grady - if our QB keeps getting planted 4 times a game, he's going to have a short, winless career.

The other concern I've had is Special Teams, and those were also mirror images in this game.  PJ Berry's a wild man, and he's our fan favorite star...but the Blaze had his number.  He was getting nailed inside the five yard line most of the game.  Utah, on the other hand, started with prime position on most drives.

Our defense is solid (Jackson is looking like a prime pickup.)  Joystick and Superman can still catch - these areas are not a concern.  However, they also don't matter a lick if the Power doesn't clean up the O Line and Special Teams.  I want a QB to actually stick around a whole season and not go to greener pastures.  Speaking of which...

...The Sharks return to Consol this Friday, bringing back former Power QB Bernard Morris.  Remember him?  He's that guy that everyone said was a bum and couldn't get the job done our Freshman season.  He keeps getting sacked, he can't get the ball off, he's always injured...and then he took the Sharks to the post season last year.  He's a good quarterback, and on the right team, he's done well for himself.

Also, we'll be facing Jeff Hughley, whom you might remember from his scoring drives against us with the Soul last year, and our former DL Justin Parrish.  Hughley is the main concern, as he's their Superman (the technical term is "Ironman.")  He can run, catch, tackle, return - he's the whole package.  If the Power can shut him down - at very least on returns - they'll be getting off on the right foot.  Unfortunately, they also have Jeron Harvey and Markee White to catch.  That's a problem that hopefully Jackson, LeFlore and Wise can keep contained.

Other than that, it's going to be a matter of keeping the pocket clean long enough for Jefferson to make some decisions.  Yep.  That simple.  No problem, right?

I just hope the jackass with a big head isn't sitting in front of me again

Elsewhere in the League
The bright point in our loss is that we weren't alone.  Since both Philly and Cleveland lost, it's a three-way tie in our division.  The downside is that Philly still looks like a contender.  They stumbled a bit in the second half in their rematch against the Rattlers, but it was a much cleaner game than the Arena Bowl.  Arizona is already looking scary good.


Cleveland got throttled by the Shock almost as badly as we did by Utah...so, we should at least be able to match up against the Gladiators.


The Talons kept the game close against the Cats and Garcia (Who now has 1200 career TDs.)  The beginning of the game didn't look like that was going to happen when the Cats jumped out 20-0, but then the Talons came roaring back, only to lose by a hair.

This week:

• Hopefully the Ratts will slap the Blaze down for us Friday.  Judging by the two teams' performances last week, it should be a slugfest.
• Game of the week is NOLA hosting the Barnstormers.  Both teams won their openers and play good, classic football.  They're well matched and not full of showboaters.  It's the kind of game I love to watch.
• Sunday is Spokane and the Rush.  If nothing else, it doesn't feel like Sunday without the Rush.

Restoring the Power

...and just like that, it's Arena season again.

After a long off-season and a fairly disappointing Steeler season, I find myself more than ready to switch gears and go back to the indoor game.  The first post of the year is hard in most sports, because you really don't know what the season is going to bring and how new acquisitions are going to work out.  This is even more true for this league.  It's almost impossible to predict what will shake out in the coming weeks, but I can show you the clues.

A few months ago, I talked about the things the team had and the things that they needed.  Specifically, I mentioned that our defense could take care of itself, kicking is killing us, and QB doesn't matter if we can't get anyone up front to protect him.

Well, the biggest moves they made in the off season were...to shore up the defense and snag a promising QB.  *sigh* It's like no one reads these posts...

Now, I'm not going to complain about us making sure to hold on to Chris "Gingabread" LeFlore to keep snagging picks, and I'm really not going to complain about them also getting Alvin Ray Jackson from the Voodoo, who grabs even more picks than LeFlore...but we had the #1 defense last year, and we still couldn't make the playoffs.  This is an offense-driven league and no matter how awesome the D is, we need something up front.

We still have Mike "Joystick" Washington, PJ "Superman" Berry, and Tyree "is he a FB or DL" Young.  This is good, and was what I really hoped we'd be able to pull off.  Fantastic and bully for us - if they stay healthy, we have some solid, experienced targets for our QB-of-the-week.

Yeah, I still really don't feel good about QB.  Why?  I mean, we have Jordan Jefferson starting at QB - an LSU standout who briefly worked out with the Tampa Bay Bucs and did some time in the CFL.  Backing him up is a fairly competent-looking Shane Austin out of Hawaii.  Well, there are multiple concerns here.  For one - Kurt Warner aside - rookies that were at the NFL level have a lot of trouble adjusting to this league.  It's a huge change.  But, even if it wasn't, they're both still green.

More importantly, we've had good QBs before.  Despite the crap the Facebook and Twitter like to heap on our past signal callers, I maintain that most of them could have done a hell of a job if they weren't thinking about how long it'd be before they got freight-trained into the turf.  The #1, no bullshit, buck-stops-here thing that I said we had to do was to shore up the offensive line, and I really don't know if we did that.  Of those four guys, we have two rookies, a guy who's played five games and returning center Beau Elliott.  Hey, maybe these guys are going to be the real deal - I don't know.   With only two years of history to look back on, and about that much combined AFL experience among them, it's a major wild card that concerns me quite a bit.

One way or another, we're going to find out Saturday night when the season starts.  Once again, Pittsburgh gets the honor of playing the first game (though it's not the nationally televised one) and that worked out wonderfully for us last year.  We're also playing one of the best teams from last year, the Utah Blaze.   They've had some turnover, which is to be expected, but they still have Tommy Grady and - frankly - that's all that really matters.

The Power really needs to start out with a solid win at home this season to get things rolling on the right foot, and Utah will make that hard.  I really wish we could have started out against someone like Orlando again - even if they beat us, we have the seeds of a rivalry there...but we're playing the Blaze and that's the card we've been dealt.  Win or lose, it should be a hell of a game.

Remember, it's a home game and tickets are cheap.  Opening night is generally the most festive game of the year with the highest energy and best attendance, so it's a great time to check the sport out for the first time.  Plus, the team is giving away some pretty slick swag this year and are offering $1 hot dogs and sodas.

Come on down, and here's to a great season of Power football!

Elsewhere in the League
While it's hard to gauge what my team is gonna do for the year, it's almost impossible to call the other teams.  But if I had to pick, these are the games to watch (and this year, they've change the viewing options AGAIN!  Now it's through the AFL site):

• Philly at Arizona:  Arena Bowl rematch is always fun.  These two teams kept most of their respective rosters intact in the off-season, so this Game of the Week (on CBS Sports) should be explosive
• San Jose at San Antonio:  Whoooo boy...first the hated 'Cats steal Garcia from the Talons, and then they get matched up right out of the gate.  Hell, the Talons even got Lil Jon for their half time show.  Seriously.