Milanovich Could Have Made A Great Story
Dan Ryan
Sunday July 21, 2002
All you had to do was make one more stinking extra point. One little kick, and it would have been the AFL story of the year – a former NFL quarterback kicking the deciding point that could have totally screwed up the AFL’s post-season.
But NOOOOO, as Belushi used to scream, you shank the sucker so bad that it resurrects a phalanx of Tampa Bay Bucs inept jokes and memories. Fortunately, you and the rest of the Tampa Bay Storm can laugh it off thanks to David White and a great pass break-up by John Williams that preserved a 67-61 victory.
Of course, we’re just having a little fun with one of the greatest Terrapins of all-time. A [that means Milanovich played for Maryland, nothing to do with his footspeed.] QB and kicking, those are two different worlds altogether. But if you’re good enough to play on Sundays in the fall, shouldn’t you have a diverse portfolio of abilities?
Think about seeing Daunte Culpepper playing linebacker or Steve McNair defending passes or Eric Zier doing, well, anything for that matter. Perhaps old-timers such as myself were spoiled by one Jim “Crash” Jensen, who played every position for the Dolphins and came down to QB for the Miami Hooters a while back. Jensen had nothing to do with the Hooters’ demise, it was just that America doesn’t want to see guys in tight orange pants.
Anyhow, just when I thought this NBC deal had sapped all the quirky, irreverent fun out of the league, a 6-7 team and a 5-8 squad delivered at the Ice Palace. Nothing like a hundred and twenty-eight points and the possible Milanovich drama to restore one’s faith.
Georgia was playing for a divisional title that would be good for the resume only since Phillips Arena is booked solid next weekend, meaning the Force would be in all likelihood be on the road – and face it, a 7-7 team shouldn’t host a playoff game -- for the first round of the “Who’s going to upset San Jose Sweepstakes.” Tampa Bay was playing just to prove this season, as bad as it has gone, was still the worth the effort.
Then, in the second quarter, Storm kicker Mike Black gets bulldozed on a kickoff return. After some two-point attempts by the Storm, Milanovich warms up at halftime and gets cheers from the end zone crowd when he makes the Meatloafian quota of two out of three, which ain’t bad.
In the fourth quarter, Milanovich nailed his first attempt, but the other two, well, were bad. Very bad.
It wasn’t all bad for Storm special teams, which gives me the opportunity to plug a homeboy, Mr. T.T. Toliver, who was Vince Carter’s point guard at Mainland High School in beautiful Daytona Beach, Florida and spent one season on the Bethune-Cookman College basketball team before a two-year stint on the LA Rams’ practice squad.
Toliver had two first-half KO returns for TD and had two more inside the Georgia 8-yard line that helped the Storm ring up 36 points in the first half and led by three going into the locker room.
Since there is now a next week for the Storm, as well it should, Black should be back. Toliver will be, and so will Milanovich, who can’t be faulted for being unable to deliver the best story of the season. But it could have been a great one, damn it.
Dan Ryan has been involved with all forms of arena football since 1988, including writing for ArenaFan when Joe Kauffman and Tim Capper aren’t killing his columns because they don’t get his jokes or perspective. His day job is at Bethune-Cookman University, which has produced both an NFL Hall of Famer (Larry Little) and an Arena Football Hall of Famer (Stevie Thomas) and his hobby is tracking how many f-bombs Adam Markowitz drops in the chat room on game nights.
