Rampage Improve Defense for 2003
Randy Snow
Tuesday January 28, 2003
After winning Arena Bowl XV in 2001, the Rampage finished the 2002 season with a disappointing 8-6 record and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Carolina Cobras, who were a mere 6-8. Look for the Rampage to be much improved on defense this year thanks to the acquisition of a couple of free agent defensive specialists from the Arizona Rattlers. Derek Stingley and Cecil Doggette are expected to bring immediate help to a defense that, last season, was the second worst in the league in average points allowed per game (54.2). At the same time, quarterback Clint Dolezel led the league in touchdown passes (79).
The team also re-signed OL/DL Cory Mayfield and Joe Wylie, kicker Brian Gowins and WR/DB Terrill Shaw. All four were with the team in 2001 and Shaw was the ArenaBowl MVP.
Grand Rapids did, however, lose a few players this off-season who were with them during their 2001 championship season. Lineman Lucas Yarnell signed with the Detroit Fury while DS JoJo Polk signed with the Buffalo Destroyers. Longtime Rampage WR/LB Michael Baker also retired after seven seasons in the AFL, the last five in Grand Rapids. Baker was the last player on the roster who played during the team’s inaugural season in 1998.
During the shortened off-season, Rampage head coach Michael Trigg was also very busy. Not only was he wheeling and dealing in free agency, but he was a part of the league’s competition committee that instituted some new rule changes that will help speed up the game.
With the Toronto Phantoms out the expansion Colorado Crush in, a realignment of the divisions was inevitable. Unfortunately, that has led to an end to the 2-year, in-state divisional rivalry with the Detroit Fury. Grand Rapids remains in the Central Division while the Fury are now in the Eastern Division and aren’t even on Grand Rapids’ schedule at all this season. That’s a shame, too, because these two teams provided fans with some very, shall we say, “spirited” contests. Instead, the Dallas Desperados will now join Grand Rapids, Indiana and Chicago in the Central Division.
With NBC televising Arena games in 2003, this year’s Rampage team will reach a lot more people than ever before. NBC will televise them regionally seven times, 5 at home and twice on the road.
There is also one bit of exposure the Rampage received during the off-season that most people might not even be aware of; a television commercial for the electronic store Best Buy. In the commercial, two guys are shown checking out the store’s selection of TVs. Playing on all the TV screens is footage of the Rampage and the Tampa Bay Storm.
Grand Rapids may be the smallest market in the AFL, but they have already won one league title. Could a second Arena Bowl championship be in the cards for the Rampage? Tune in to NBC and find out.
Randy Snow covered the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League for ArenaFan from 2003-2008. He also covered the Fort Wayne Fusion of arenafootball2 in 2007. From 2004-2008 and in 2010, he was a member of the Arena Football League Writer’s Association and, since 2011, has been a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association. Randy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan but will travel just about anywhere for a football game or a great football story. He runs the web site www.theworldoffootball.com and hosts a podcast with his son, Adam, called “This Week in The World of Football.”
