Hit the Road, Jack

This week, the Power head back out on the road, Keller and I follow them again, and several players get the boot.  It's action-packed, and I haven't even gotten to the part where I talk about Chickie's and Pete's Crabfries.

I mean, just look at them.  LOOK AT THEM!

Let's start with what we will be facing when we meet up with the Soul for the first time this season.  At 3-3, they're not quite the powerhouse they were last season...but that doesn't mean they're not decisively at the top of our division.  Part of their slide this year is due to the loss of Tiger Jones, Captain Morgan, and few others.  However, they've kept stars like Dirty Dan Raudabaugh, Derrick Ross and LaRico Stevenson (seriously, I miss that guy.)

Dirty Dan continues to be the red-headed menace that he's always been.  This season, he's on the right side of a 32/6 touchdown vs interception ratio.  He has good protection, thinks well on his feet, and is mobile.  He is the prime threat, and there's no two ways about it.

On the receiving side, Larry Brackins - stud of the last Arena Bowl -is still around and doing his thing, but definitely in more of a supporting role.  The heavy lifting is being done by Anthony Jones, and that dude is a monster, with 775 yards and 14 TDs in just six games this season.

While he's the threat in the air, Derrick Ross is most assuredly a threat on the ground in a league that doesn't use infantry very often.  His 14 TDs on the ground is a pretty good stat for a fullback for a season.  In just a third of a season, it's phenomenal. 

On the other side of the ball, LaRico Stevenson and Joe Goosby are twin terrors, putting up respectable numbers in sacks, turnovers, and tackles.  Given the continuing situation with our offensive line, these are the two that scare me the most.  Add to that the fact that Stevenson can return...


In typical Power fashion, it's time to replace some QBs and swap out kickers.  Czajkowski who, while formidable in Words With Friends, has been struggling.  He was let go, while Baker and Wolford have been placed on IR.  This makes room for a new kicker, a new receiver, and QB Steven Sheffield.  If that name sounds familiar, it's because we had originally signed him to a 3-year contract in November.  That's good.  It means he was someone the Power thought was worth locking in.  He was Garcia's backup, after all.  On the other hand, he didn't play for us because he didn't show up. That's bad.  But it was for family reasons.  That's...none of our business, really.

I'm just not super stoked about the situation.  Quarterback drama has become our bread and butter.  Last week, we brought back Derrick Cassidy - architect of the killer comeback against the Preds last year - to fill in while Shane Austin is out with an injury.  However, not only did they only use him for one or two plays, but Jefferson kept running back on the field like he was going to play whether coach liked it or not.  I have no frickin' clue what the situation really was, but best case it's that everyone was confused and worst case, it was that Coach Sting has no control over Jefferson.  Neither is good.

So, what's going to happen is, the Power, Keller, and myself are going to drive to Philly, the Power are going to figure some stuff out while we drink some beers, and then I'm gonna eat a cheesesteak and some crabfries while I enjoy some football and Soulmate cheerleaders.

LOOK AT THEM!

Elsewhere in the League

• Tampa at San Jose is mainly interesting to me because we're playing Tampa next week.  Both teams are looking strong right now, but being in different divisions, there's not a lot riding on this one.
• Chicago at Cleveland.  You know what?  This game is pretty important.  (Just bear with me for a second on this one.)  Playoff spots go to division leaders, then the next two best records.  Right now, Philly and Jacksonville are leading their respective divisions.  Tampa Bay is coming up on the Sharks hard.  That leaves a spot open.  NOLA, Cleveland, Orlando and Pittsburgh are all tied at 1-5.  If we can't get the wins honestly, I'll take our rivals losing.  So....Go Rush.
• NOLA at Iowa.  See above.  Go 'Stormers
• Utah at Arizona:  The Blaze is still at the bottom of a strong division and need every win.  I really don't know how to call this game.  Blaze is better than their record and the Ratts need to lose occasionally.   But I don't think they will this week.
• Sharks are on the road in San Antonio, and they will most likely rack up another win.
• Orlando at Spokane.  This will show whether or not the Preds beating us was a fluke or if Garcia is going to make them the real deal.

Time to Take Command

Okay, Power. This is it. Your clear and undeniable chance to hit the high point of your season and...wait for it...

Beat a team that's not Orlando.

The Kansas City Command is the worst team in the league. They haven't won a game this season. They've barely come close. There were two games this season where they were ten points behind. So far, they've only scored more than 40 points once.

My point is, if we can't beat them, that will be an embarrassment that would leave the Power no choice but to change their name and go into witness protection.

For the Power's part, it looks like they're still going with the "throw everything against the wall and hope to God something sticks" tactic. We've picked up a new kicker in the hopes that he might know which end of the field to aim for. LaRico Stevenson is now on reassignment - which has been increasing been code for "I don't want to play here anymore" - which is a blow because he's one of the only people in our secondary who can tackle. Christian Wise is on injured reserve, so with the two of them, we're down two DBs (Wise is listed as a WR/DB, so it counts)...but gee, we've activated/signed two OLs.

In short...I have no idea what to expect, and I'm not entirely sure that they do, either. The good news is, if there was ever a safe team to just try random stuff out on, it's the KC Command.

I realize that my last few posts have come across as really pessimistic, but really, that's only because they have been. The Power is continuing to be stuck in the midst of a crisis. I'm not sure if it's because the whole strike thing broke them at the beginning of the season, or if it's because of bad luck, or a result of bad coaching - but the result is the same.

I will still be down at the arena with metaphorical bells on. It's always fun, and I encourage all you you to come down and prove that we can support a struggling team. After all - we still go to Pirates games.

Elsewhere in the League

• First up, is Georgia at Milwaukee. This is a tough one to call as Georgia is 1-2 on the road and the Mustangs are 1-2 at home. Georgia has the better record, but Milwaukee always keeps it close. In the end, I'm picking Georgia because of their record and the fact that I want the Mustangs to lose.
• In past years, I couldn't say this, but the Game of the Week should be a lock for the Voodoo over the Predators. The Voodoo has been playing hard, and as mentioned earlier, the Predators are a broken team.
• The late game is Philly at Spokane. The Shock is a decent team, but decent isn't enough to beat Dirty Dan and the Soulcrushers.
• On Saturday night, the Sharks host the Barnstormers at 7:00. The Barnstormers are hanging in there in a tough division, and the Sharks are floating in the middle of a somewhat soft one. From what I've seen out of both teams, the Barnstormers are the safer pick in this one.
• At 7:30, the Tampa Bay Storm travel to Cleveland in the War of Teams that Used to be Pittsburgh. Tampa is having a good season, but in a bit of weirdness, they are the first team to hit this point in the season winless on the road and undefeated at home. Add to that the fact that Cleveland is a tough team, and I don't see that changing this week.
• Later in the evening, the Talons host the Sabercats. As much as I like Garcia, Quiroga and Willis, I just don't see them winning. The Cats are great, and they handled the Talons rather handily earlier in the season.
• Arizona once again finds itself in the position of being tied up with a division opponent that they're playing. Right now, they're half a game ahead of the the Blaze and really, really don't want to lose this one. Tommy Grady and his crew in Utah are solid, and so are the Ratts. Close call, but I'm going to go for the Rattlers - though I fear that might be loyalty speaking.
  

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?!