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.

Another Quarterback, Another Loss

Look, I've tried to keep my personal feelings about Coach Siegfried's choices at quarterback rather restrained, as he is privy to information that I'm not. However, I don't think I can bite my tongue any longer on this topic. Saturday night, he made the "surprise" decision to start Bryan Randall at QB. I say "surprise," because it stuck with Coach's running process: Start a QB for a few games, then go to the next guy to change things up if the games aren't going perfectly. Before walking into the arena, I had a fear that this very thing would happen.

This is not to say that he wasn't doing a fairly good job. In fact, the game started beautifully, with him marching the team down to score, then "Gingabread" LeFlore made a perfect interception from Cleveland's John Dutton and we went right back to score. On those two drives, the worst thing that happened was that Randall couldn't seem to keep both shoes on. However, things went downhill fairly quickly after that.

Although Randall threw for over 300 yards on the night, he also threw two picks. He should actually be fairly pleased with this, because there were 4-5 other ones that should have been picks. He had great moves in the pocket and was able to get out of a lot of trouble there throughout the game. He also wasn't afraid to air it out. Unfortunately, he was so focused on his own receivers, he seemed utterly blind to the 2-3 defenders that were around them.

He also suffered the same issues that every other new QB has had with the Power: Not knowing the routes, not realizing that Joystick is 5'8" and generally just not being worked into the offense yet. The one advantage that all of our new QBs have is actually not knowing their receivers. They don't have a favorite yet, so they spread it around and keep the defense guessing.

So, now to the main issue: Too much confidence during a game, not enough between them.

I realize that both Stull and Hines were injured when they were relieved, but they're still a symptom of the disease. The disease is the simple fact that we lost Rowley, and he was who the Power hung their whole season on. This is an exaggerated version of what happened last year when we lost Bernard Morris early in the season. I don't know if it's that Coach panics, if it's because he never gains confidence in his backups, or if he always wants to try the next best thing in order to hopefully find the spark that sets the powder keg off.

Hines did well enough in the opening game, but when the time came to sign a backup, the Power regained Bill Stull. Because he played a few games for us last season and might have been better on paper, he became the starter in Hines' place. Rather than stick with the guy who already won a game against ugly odds, they went with "experience." I don't agree, but I can see the logic.

When we got shellacked against Philly, Stull played the whole game. Again, I can see the logic, because he'd just gotten in the lineup after being on the team for a few days and he needed to get into the swing. However, the next week in Milwaukee, he was still struggling and played way too long, especially since he was hurt enough to go on IR. I would have pulled him before things got that bad and put back in Hines. Not replace him in the lineup, just give him a break. Instead, they kept him in until he was beyond use.

The change from Hines to Cassidy two games later was more organic - Hines got hurt, Cassidy came in and he began to find his footing. However, the "spark" still didn't seem to be there, so once again, Coach puts in yet another QB this week who doesn't know his way around, he struggled, we lost.

We need to pick a QB and stick with him. At this point, it might be too late. We've dug ourselves into a deep hole that we're only going to get out of with help (thank you for losing this week, Mustangs.) So, Cassidy, Randall - pick one and let him go to town and grow into a QB. Even with year-to-year contracts, we might get someone we can line up behind for next season. However, next week Bill Stull will be eligible to return from IR if he's feeling up to it and I will bet dollars to donuts that Siegfried will put him right back in because he's their starter and he's back.

If that doesn't work out, we'll have Hines back two weeks after that. Once again, anyone know what Anthony Morelli's up to these days?

I haven't said much about the actual game itself, and I apologize. Are defense played very well, but just couldn't quite put up enough stops. The usual suspects were there and in action (although, Joystick had a bit of trouble holding onto the ball) and the ingredients were there. Sure, we had little answer for Robert Redd on returns, and we just could not for the life of us stop Domini Goodman (come on, Gingabread- LeFlore? Goodman? The Dodgeball references are writing themselves!) but the fact is, we had no center. No heart. For the second season in a row, we have no anchor in the position of QB, and that tells more of the story than anyone else on the field. We haven't had anyone that's truly awful at the position, but have just never been able to give anyone the time to develop.

Until that happens, we just cannot excel.

Elsewhere in the league

• Due more to poor clock management and going for a touchdown instead of a field goal than individual performance at QB, Chicago lost to the Talons by one point. It was a great back and forth game that Chicago should not have lost, but I predicted they would.
• Unsurprisingly, Spokane beat Jacksonville by a comfortable, but not overwhelming amount.
• Philly continued their bloodthirsty march through the AFL this week, and the Preds fall once more.
• Utah at Milwaukee was a close game, but as mentioned, the Blaze can't afford to drop any. They won a by a hair at 61-58.
• I called this one as well, except that I thought it would be close. It was not. Not at all. Sabercats storm some barns of their own, 76-33
• Coming into Sunday, AZ saw that Utah and San Jose weren't going to give an inch in the division, so they absolutely schooled Georgia, 60-27. Unrelenting offense and a safety-inducing defense made it so Georgia never had a chance - but despite the score, Georgia played some very impressive defense. They got thwumped, but they still made the Rats work for it.
• I didn't want to hold the column just for the a Monday night game that even I'm unlikely to watch. Unless the Command actually manages to pull an upset and win for the first time this season, I went 100% on my picks this week. Suck it, Keller - maybe we need to put money on this league.

Ladies and Gentlemen - Start Your Vuvazelas! It's the Gladiators preview.

Okay, folks - Hockey's over, Buccos suck and after the draft, no one will really care about the NFL for several more months (except for vehement discussions about why the hell Colbert drafted a safety in the 2nd round or something.) So, in the mean time, lets give the Power all the support we can.

And let me tell you: THE SEASON IS NOT OVER.

Yes, the Power has struggled. Yes, things look bleak - but this game has huge implications.

Let me break this down: The race is for #2 in our division and a wild card berth. That's a fact, and we have to live with it. Philly is so good that they can have two of their top recievers get injured, put a 5' 3", 150lb guy in their place, and still dominate. Dan Raudabaugh is the heir apparent to the throne of either Aaron Garcia or Mark Grieb. Unless the entire team gets fired (What are the chances of that?) they are going to win our division. Again, this is just the facts.

Right now, we're 2-4, Milwaukee is 2-3 and Cleveland is 3-3. The Mustangs are playing the Blaze this weekend, and I don't see them winning that. We're playing Cleveland. If we win, we have tied records, one division win apiece and us with the head-to-head. Meanwhile, in the central division, #1 is between Tampa, Georgia and New Orleans, all at 3-3 right now.

So, in other words, a win this weekend against Cleveland puts us very, very firmly in the hunt for a wildcard spot. It's not a sure thing by any means, but it's the difference between "also played" and "here we go!"

So, what will it take? The same stuff I've been saying every week, basically. The team is growing in skill and confidence every week. I still count last week's loss as a moral win, because of how well the Power played. If that team shows up, and the Gladiators I've seen the last few weeks shows up, we can beat them.

Early on, Cleveland was hot and boasted one of the best defenses in the league. However, they've lost two out of their last three games, and that third one was a pathetic win against the Predators. They also lost to the so-so-but-getting-better Force, and won against the winless Command. Their one no-bullshit, bona fida win came against Philly, the Soul's only loss of the season. That game scares me, but the sum total of the others gives me a lot of hope.

John Dutton, their QB is no slouch. We didn't need to play him last year because of an injury, and he's the main weapon. Last week, he became the 6th QB in history to throw for 700 career TDs. Thing is, he's also been throwing a lot of picks.

So, that's the deal - Okay team, won a big one, good defense, lost some silly ones, QB who throws picks but can get the job done...which one am I referring to? I think we're pretty evenly matched, even though people tend to favor the Gladiators. Either way, game kicks off at 7:30 at Consol and on the CW - grab your vuvazelas and make some noise!

Elsewhere in the league

• Chicago at San Antonio. Early game at 3:30 on Saturday. Both teams have looked shakier than their records show. It pains me to say, but you gotta go with the QB and the home team - both point towards Aaron Garcia.
• Spokane at Jacksonville. Big win last week for the Sharks, but the Shock should have this one sewn up.
• Philly at Orlando. Well...Philly's gonna get another win.
• Utah at Milwaukee. As I said earlier, even though I liked the Mustangs early on, the Blaze is a tough team in the toughest division and can't afford to drop any games. I see them coming in and taking care of business.
• Cats at Barnstormers. I've been adopting a "never bet against the 'Stormers" stance, but I have an earlier pact with San Jose. Cats by a hair.
• As I mentioned earlier, the Force are in a three-way, 3-3 tie for first. Arizona is in the same position at 4-2. It's a tough-ass division, and I'll take the Ratts.
• With the Voodoo having the week off, the Force likely to lose to AZ, and the NFL GotW being Monday night, Tampa Bay needs to get their personal NFL Network tie-breaker. KC Command is winless, and I don't see them taking down the Storm.
  

Buried in the Graveyard

This is one of those games that's beyond frustrating to write about. Not just because we dropped another one. Not even because we dropped such a close one - but because if we had been doing better this season, we would have almost been able to look on this game with a bit of pride, despite the loss.

All things considered, the Power played a great game, and kept at it until the final whistle. I was pretty worried about Cassidy coming into his old house and playing against a defense that knows him - especially when that defense is known for takeaways, and Cassidy having gotten picked so much last week. Fact is, he threw for 226 yards, five TDs and only one INT. That's really not a bad job at all. By way of comparison, Aaron Garcia - voted the 4th best QB in Arena history - only threw for about 60 more yards Sunday night (with the same TDs and INTs) and he lost by 30 more points. Again, not a bad performance for our 4th QB of the season.

Our defense stood strong and put ups some big stops. Plays were broken up, fumbles recovered, passes intercepted. All of our regular standouts were there: LaRico Stevenson, Bryan Williams, newcomer Sanderson, and of course, Chris "Dodgeball" Le-


...er, okay. "Gingabread." Point is, they did well.

The standout of the evening was "Superman" Berry, returning home to NOLA. He was all over the place. He ended with nearly 300 yards, a kickoff return TD, a receiving TD, hell - he even threw for a touchdown on a trick play. Pouring salt on the wounds, he took it to the next level by slapping a Power sticker right on the Voodoo logo in the end zone on that return.

The down point of the evening was Colin "Money" Wagner, who did not live up to his (me-given) nickname. (You can't tweet me, buddy - I don't do Twitter. Go bug Keller.) Now, before people jump on me about my past post concerning my feelings on kickers being blamed for losses. I never said that a kicker can't be responsible for a loss, just that they are often unfairly hung with that. However, when a kicker misses two PATs, three FGs and his team loses by three points...yeah. That's his fault. Now, one of those PATs was a bad spot and two of the FGs were from extreme ranges (one of which being when the offense committed penalties that kept them from the end zone), but the math majors out there will notice that leaves 4 points out there.

End of the night left us on the wrong side of 51-48, and another loss in our record. Next week is our hands-down, no-bullshit, must-win, do-or-die game against the hated Gladiators.

Elsewhere in the league

• Georgia at Orlando. This was a snore-fest. Orlando finally got a win, but it was 27-24 win. Georgia remains at the top of their division in a 3-way 3-3 tie. Take note, Power - Wildcard is always a possibility in this conference.
• Philly continues their march of burning everything down and quest to be the first team to ever hit 100 points. They made Tampa look like a third-rate team on the NFL Network Friday, winning 83-48.
• Utah wins the rematch against the Barnstormers in one of this week's two nail-biters - 63-62.
• I would like everyone to take a minute to thank Jacksonville for coming up BIG in the last seconds of their game this week and putting Cleveland within reach of us in our division, 54-49.
• The Rush put the Mustangs down for us by one point Saturday, 62-61.
• KC held the Sabercats back more than I thought they'd be able to, but still remain the one winless team in the league, 49-35. I wish I knew how, but the Ustream feed was out.
• Finally, the Arena Bowl rematch between Aaron Garcia and Nick Davila played out a bit differently this time. The Talons were completely routed 68-34 by the Rattlers.

Power in the Graveyard

That right there is an awesome name for a band.

I have long said that some teams just have better marketing than others. The Voodoo, with their Voodoo Doll dance team, playing in the Graveyard...you just can't compete with that. (Rattlers/Sidewinders/Snake Pit comes damn close.) For a long time, this marketing was needed simply because no one was showing up to see a football team that can't win at home. (I'm not trying to be subtle there - I'm trying to be damned obvious.)

At the beginning of the season, my look forward was essentially,
Predators - AAAAAAAAAAH!
Philly - Hmmm...
Mustangs - HA!
Barnstormers - Meh
Predators - AAAAAAAAAAH!: The Return
Voodoo - Gimme

Unfortunately, a lot has changed since then. Just a couple of weeks ago, no matter how good or bad the Power were playing, I could say, "Well, at least we're playing the Voodoo at home." Until they tangled with the Storm on the 6th, they had not won in the Graveyard in 4 whole years. Even though that time included a league suspension and a year in Shreveport, the fact remains that this was a lot of home games to lose.

Right now, both teams are sitting on an ugly 2-3 record and are looking to bring their season around. However, their losses (and the way they lost) speaks volumes. They've also lost to Philly and the Mustangs, so that's a wash. Last week, they lost to the Talons because they got cocky and forgot that Garcia can never be counted out. The Power's third loss was a game we should have won at home against the Barnstormers.

Where we've only been able to win against the hapless and winless Predators, the Voodoo have put up wins against both the Storm (3-2) and Blaze (3-2), both pretty strong teams in tough divisions.

Coach has said that Cassidy will be starting this week, even though we've signed Bryan Randall (Practice squad for the Falcons, Bucs and Steelers before bouncing around the other indoor leagues.) I'm not super excited about it, but he's what we've got. If he's calmed down and gotten in the groove more since last week, fantastic. If not, we're frickin' doomed.

The main thing that the Voodoo have going for them is the fact that they don't like to share. Someone else has the ball, they're going to take it away. They are one of the league leaders in takeaways, averaging about 3 a game. Alvin Ray Jacksonhas got four in the last three games, and Jeremy Kellem has one every game. Given the fact that our QBs throw picks like it's their job, and Cassidy threw 4 last week alone, this is the scariest thing about the game this weekend.

PJ Berry is continuing to come into his own, and is making waves in the league once again as a return man. Randy Hymes has been looking good at fulfilling the DeWalt role (all signs and rumors point to him having officially left the team), Joystick is all over the place and newcomer Christian Wise making the game-winner last week are all good things, but I still think that our offense has a few more levels they can climb to.

Honestly, the Power need to do what they did last week at home, and that's play even harder in the second half than the first. The Voodoo blew a halftime lead against the Talons last week because they lost focus in the second half. Yes, I still think the crowd was at least 35% of the reason we made that comeback, but now the Power remembers that it's not over until it's over.

Anything else to say would be rehashing things I've been saying for six weeks. We all know what the Power has to do, the only question is will they? Articles around the net are already writing them off - not just in the standings, but in the league as a whole. Attendance is half of what it was last year, and they need some big wins to get some viewers back. Once again, it's up to us, the fans to make it happen.

The game is on Ustream at 8, and rebroadcast on the CW Saturday at 7:30.

Elsewhere in the league

• The Predators return home to face the Force Friday night. Playoffs are pretty damn much out of the picture for them for the first time in 19 years, but they still need a win for pride. That being said, the Force have been getting better each week and should have this one.
• Tampa Bay matches up with Philly on the road. Chances are, Philly will continue to dominate.
• I'm picking the Blaze in the next one over the Barnstormers only because they have home-field advantage. It's going to be a tough one either way.
• I'd love to say that Jacksonville is going to stroll into Cleveland and hand their asses to them...I'd love to, but I can't.
  
• Hopefully Milwaukee continues to slide in the standings when they visit Chicago Saturday. The Rush should beat them, but despite their record, it seems like luck has been their best player.
• Kansas City is the only other winless team in the league and they need to play the Cats on their own turf. It is to laugh.
• Sunday night, the Talons travel to the Snake Pit to let Garcia and Nick Davila have a rematch. Should be exciting, but should be a win for the Ratts.
  

Don't Call It a Comeback, the Power's Been Here For (2) years!

Happy 500th post, everyone! I'm hoping that this milestone will inspire yinz guys to reach 500 comments in response to our posts. Thanks for reading!

I have spent the last couple of days trying to process the Power's insane, history-making OT win against the Predators Saturday night. We won, and no one can take it away from us - not even the refs (more on that, later) - but there are still some very troubling things about the state of our team that have me concerned.

But for the game itself....oh, mama...the game. "A Tale of Two Halves" doesn't really cut it, and "A Tale of Three Quarters and Oh-Yeah-We're-Supposed-To-Play-Four" is a bit wordy. Let's just say, the game that we saw for most of 45 minutes was vastly different than the one we saw for the final 15.

As feared, Bobby Sippio got the start for Orlando, and proving that they have more trickery up their sleeve, they decided at the last minute to start Justin Roper at QB instead of Colin Drafts, throwing all planning out the window. We had no answer for Sippio, and Roper sure enjoyed throwing to him.

The Power started with the ball when Orlando deferred and then went 4-and-out. The Preds started their drive from near their own twenty, passed once to Eley Jr, and then aired it out to Sippio for the score. This set the tone for most of the evening right there. Roper was about 50% with 245 yards and six touchdowns, spreading the ball around to Forse, Sippio, Toliver and Eley Jr. Sippio counted for half the touchdowns scored by the Predator offense that night, and proved that he was a solid pickup for the team.

Our offense in the first half was just not going anywhere, and we ended the first half with 17 points (to Orlando's 41), no real pressure on the Predator offense, no interceptions, and an injured QB, yet again. Actually, to be technical, Hines went out at the end of the 1st quarter, and he hadn't looked that good while he was in. He didn't get picked at all, but he wasn't getting much done, and then he was out and we were left with Cassidy.

I'm really having a hard time deciding how to score Cassidy's performance. Sure, he threw for 5 touchdowns, looked more comfortable than Hines and we won the game...but damn, was he ever unimpressive. 12/22, 148 yards and 4 picks (AND ONE OF THOSE SHOULDN'T COUNT! Ahem...more later), he actually had a better time of it last year in his one game for the Voodoo. Sure, he's our (counts off fingers) 4th QB on the roster in five games, was an emergency pick-up and was only meant to be there if the human excrement hit the rotary blades of the air-moving appliance - and in that, he accomplished all we could have asked of him. However, depending on how bad Hines is hurt, we could be stuck with him until Stull gets better.

There is so much depressing about that statement that I just need to pretend that I didn't type it and just move on.

The second half looked like it was going to be more of the same. Down by 31 &^%*'n points, it would be an AFL league record if we were somehow able to come back from it. Uninspired offense, lackluster defense, scared silly QB and crowd that just couldn't be bothered to cheer (or show up, for the most part), it just wasn't looking like it was going to happen. I'm going to take a slight personal aside here, because it's where my mind was at the time.

To get to our seats, Keller and I enter through the swank-ass Captain Morgan club. For those who haven't been in there, there are nice concession stands on both sides. This week, only one was open. The stands were mostly empty. The Beer Guy only walked down through our section once the entire game. The Power was 1-3 on the season in a second (probably more like 3rd)-tier sport. One guy I passed heading up the aisle at one point was complaining that the commercials promise "Half the field, twice the excitement" but in reality, it's nothing exciting at all. Folks, these are not good things at all. This all seems to say that not only have the fans given up on the sport in Pittsburgh (again) but the venue is cutting its losses as well.

I bring this up because I'm a die-hard Arena fan, and even I was wondering about the possibility of the Power still being in town next season. Even I had to say that the three home games this year were boring. Even I had to admit that absolutely nothing explosive had happened the wh-

HOLY SHIT, LaRICO STEVENSON JUST PICKED ROPER AND RAN BACK 9 YARDS!

Late in the third, things had finally started to turn around! We had the ball, we were close to the end zone and Cassidy was firing for Joystick and, oh damnit he got pick- FUMBLE! Do we have it? Who has it? BERRY HAS IT! SCORE! The crowd was on their feet and they were in it!

The remainder of the game conclusively proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that the crowd in this sport does effect the outcome. Up until this point, the Predators had ruled the field. Sippio and Roper merged with the offense like they'd been there the whole time. They had a 31-point lead, for cryin' out loud! But now the crowd was on their feet and screaming and it started to get in their heads. The next drive, we actually stopped them in their tracks and forced a turnover on downs.

Our next drive, we scored and failed a 2-pt conversion, but there were more points on the board. Here is where many of the fans, including myself, collectively - and I'm using the technical term here -lost our shit and almost rushed the field in sheer zebra-induced blood rage. The official play-reports reads Roper incomplete to Sippio, followed by Roper incomplete to Sippio, followed by Roper intercepted by LeFlore. Major kudos to Dodgeball LeFlore, but he shouldn't have had to do that. The first "incomplete to Sippio" was really an intentional grounding in the end zone and should have been a safety. The next one was a fumble, turnover and score by the Power. The refs just seemed to be watching a different game.

Look, I'm not one of those people who says that the refs lost us the game or only see things when they aren't called on the bad guys or anything, it's just that- INTERCEPTION? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THE BALL BOUNCED OFF THE DAMN GROUND!

I would like to take this moment to publicly apologize for the things that I said at a family venue. I have no idea if the ref's mother has ever even been to Tijuana or if she's even that flexible. I also have no idea what his penis size is, or if in fact he is using Orlando money to rectify a situation that may or may not exist. I will also apologize for using the word "said" and not "scream loud enough that my voice is still raspy."

All of this only stood to put the crowd even more solidly in the Power's corner. Pittsburgh loves an us-vs-the world moment and will take any chance to back a person wearing black and gold in it. The Predators started getting penalty after penalty for false starts, delay of game, illegal defense - you name it. We were in their heads and not going anywhere, and by the end of regulation, with both kickers missing one PAT during the game, the score stood at 51-51.

In OT, we kept the pressure on and held them to a field goal. New Guy Cassidy ended this one (and probably the Predator's season) with a pass to New Guy Wise and the day was ours. Situations like this don't happen every week, but when they do, they're unforgettable. When you're there, not only do you get to see it, but due to the nature of the game, you get to literally be part of it. On the way out, I made sure to point that out to the idiot who was complaining about it being boring.

Next up, NOLA in the Graveyard.

Elsewhere in the league

• Cleveland came up way short against Tampa Bay this weekend. Not sure where the vaunted Gladiator defense was this week, but it sure wasn't in Florida.
• The Sharks lost a heart-breaker, 75-67 at home.
• In the NFL GotW, the Voodoo got beat pretty good by Aaron Garcia and the Talons (I really enjoy watching him pass to Jason Willis.) The scoreboard really didn't tell the whole story, as New Orleans gave Garcia a lot of headaches in the first half and has a brutal defense. We are in a lot of trouble next week.
• I don't want to talk about the Soul/Sabercats game. I really don't. They didn't rebroadcast it, and Philly won by a touchdown. I would have loved to have seen it.
• Another I would have liked to have seen, just to know what went down. The Undefeated Rush are no more, as they got man-handled 70-49 by the Force. Didn't I say I had a bad feeling about this game?
• The Barnstormers squeaked by the Rattlers, leaving the West Division in a three-way tie between the Ratts, Cats and Blaze...whoo-boy, that's going to get ugly.
• Angry that I didn't mention Spokane in that last bullet point, Kyle Rowley and the Shock treated the 2012 Mustangs a lot like the 2011 Mustangs and won 57-26. HOW'S IT FEEL, MILWAUKEE?!