Cobras Self-Destruct in Abysmal Performance
Chuck DiLullo
Wednesday April 23, 2003
The Cobras suffered their second 40-point loss of the season and played, arguably, their worst game, committing a franchise record eight turnovers and failing to score a second-half point for only the second time in team history. Ironically, the only other team to hold the Cobras scoreless in a half was the Nashville Kats, the team that became the Georgia Force.
“I thought we would come out and protect in the second half and things would be differ- ent,” said Hold, “We were still in the ball game at the half and we weren’t even playing football. It just got worse in the second half. I just don’t know what to say.”
 Bernard Holmes Image courtesy of Ken LaRue |
“The OS is the primary weapon in this offense and unless I have a good game, I don’t feel like we have a chance to win,” said Holmes.
The fact that makes this type of performance so hard to accept for Cobra fans is that the team has shown tremendous improvement over the course of the past several weeks, in- cluding taking the league’s best team, the Storm, to overtime the week before. So that for the fans to accept such an inept and pathetic performance this late in the season is a hard pill to swallow. The Cobras were soundly booed for the first time all year during the second half. The embarrassment of the loss was magnified by the fact that it was witnessed by AFL Commissioner, David Baker.
“The things we failed out tonight were ‘Football 101,’” said Defensive Coach Flint Flemming, “I have never seen a butt-kicking up front in my whole Arena career like I saw tonight. We had guys mentally that made mistakes and physically came not ready to play -- and if you don’t come physically or mentally ready to play, you might as well not come at all.”
Owner Pete Loftin, Senior Advisor Billy McGehee, G.M. Darrel Harbin, Senior Football Advisor Eddie Khayat, Head Coach Mike Hold and his staff and players all have to take a long and honest look in the mirror and answer some very difficult questions about the direction of this team and franchise. Nobody expected to be 0-12 at this point in the season but there have always been positives that could be taken away from a defeat and the team has always shown signs of improvement. But this time, the team quit against the Force -- leaving their fans with a sense of disappointment and betrayal.
The Cobras will attempt to rebound on the road versus the Arizona Rattlers on Friday, April 28. Their next home game will be a Sunday afternoon battle versus the Chicago Rush on May 4.
Chuck DiLullo works for a manufacturer of process control instrumentation as a sales engineer. He has been a fan of professional, college and high school football since he could walk. Chuck is originally from Philadelphia and he became a huge Arena Football League fan while living in Buffalo. Chuck has lived in Charlotte since 2000 with his wife & three children.
