San Jose’s Championship Season From Beginning to End
Tim Ball
Tuesday August 20, 2002
Well that’s how fourteen other teams feel about ArenaBowl XVI.
Like a fine tuned racer, the San Jose SaberCats were firing on all cylinders and The Arizona Rattlers were simply left in the dust.
The excellence that San Jose showcased in the ArenaBowl wasn’t an accident. It was a result of hard work and dedication to playing the best every time they took the field. A 17-1 record and an ArenaBowl championship didn’t come from motivational speeches by coaches; it came from sweat on the practice field.
“We focused on the things we needed to improve on,” said head coach Darren Arbet.
Was it that simple?
Blueprint for success
 OL/DL Mike Ulufale celebrates with the crowd. Image courtesy of Kevin Sheller |
This strategy and foresight was the key to the team unity that was stressed from the first pre-season game. “This is football. You know your starter is going to go down,” Malley said. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s when. We had two outstanding quarterbacks in Mark Grieb and John Dutton and it paid off.”
“We selected Grieb and Dutton because they are smart and talented,” said Darrena Arbet. “Practice is where you prepare and we push our guys very hard. The trust and relationship that our players have in each other is what set up the success we had this year. The way Grieb and Dutton went about their responsibilities had the team confident we could win.”
From the star positions to the unnoticed players, San Jose’s coaches rewrote the meaning of team in Arena Football. The importance of each player at every position carried them to a season like no other and will be a guide to future championships.
Preparation and ability
 From start to finish, the SaberCats owned the game. Image courtesy of Kevin Sheller |
“It’s important that players get along and know how important working relationships are,” said Arbet. “There’s no other way around it. Coaches can teach the players but the players are on the field. If they do not have confidence in each other that’s going to show in the game.”
Winners
Losing is where a winner is born. From the very first frustrating efforts of a child to achieve, to the triumph of a champion failure always teaches the value of accomplishment.
Championships can never be taken away. San Jose didn’t just win ArenaBowl XVI, they earned it. It began on the practice field before the season started by a team that decided that effort would define them. The team performance in the championship game was staggering in its effectiveness and showed what dedication achieves.
Barry Wagner came to San Jose because of the ownership and coaches. “We are given the opportunity to be the best. We have outstanding facilities and personnel. We players have to win on the field, that’s what they pay us for. But it all starts where you train and where you learn. Now it all ended with the championship being ours. If you don’t take it serious before the game you aren’t going to win.”
In ArenaBowl XVI the league witnessed a team play every down with an intensity unmatched in championship games in recent memory. Every player on every play did what was needed with precision and consistency.
San Jose did what teams are supposed to do but they did it at a level that was shocking in its totality and errorless in execution.
2002 Champions of Arena Football
The loss that San Jose suffered in Arizona may stay in the record books but it was completely expunged from the spirit of the game by a championship that was claimed by a team, not just by players.
There were no last second heroics to celebrate but excellence to honor.
ArenaBowl MVP John Dutton was with players in the locker room after all of the celebrations and excitement was gone. As he sat down to take off his uniform he looked around and leaned back against the wall and smiled.
Not one teammate asked him why he was smiling. No one asked anything at all.
They too know the smile of a champion.
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
