New Age for New Destroyers
K.E. Schlosser
Wednesday February 4, 2004
While the Destroyers may be in their sixth year of existence, Saturday represents the rebirth of the franchise formerly known as the Buffalo Destroyers when they take the field as the Columbus Destroyers for the first time. To the new Destroyers, this season represents a fresh start in a new town with new ownership, a new arena, a new coach, a new front office, new players and an entirely new fan base. If you haven’t come up with a common theme yet, everything that is old is new again.
Those of you who have been around for awhile will remember the Columbus Thunderbolts, the city’s first team to play in the AFL. For those who don’t remember, they managed to last one winless season in 1991 before moving to Cleveland and folding three years later. What went wrong with the Thunderbolts? A quick survey would respond low attendance, an outdated arena (Fairgrounds Coliseum), poor management both on the field and off, and money woes.
The Destroyers faced many of the same problems that plagued the Thunderbolts as they struggled to survive in Buffalo. The problems that forced the Thunderbolts to move to Cleveland and their eventual demise, led to the sale and relocation of the Destroyers to Columbus after five tough years in Buffalo. Why revisit old news and past failures? To look at the reasons that this team is different and will likely succeed.
The Marine Midland Arena and the Fairground Coliseum have been replaced with the state of the art Nationwide Arena. Gone are past owners that ran the teams on a shoestring budget. An experienced group has replaced them with deeper pockets led by Mark Hamister, James Renacci, John McConnell, and Joey Galloway. Gone are games where there were more people on the sidelines and working behind the scenes than fans in the seats, as they have been replaced by a strong core base of 10,000 + season ticket holders. As far as the product on the field goes, improvement can only be seen by time and experience.
Head coach Earle Bruce identified the team’s goals as winning the opening game and winning all of their home games. While he has acknowledged the loftiness of those goals, he also has acknowledged the need for time for everyone to come together and become a team.
When questioned further, Bruce responded, “The need to take each game one week at a time, setting and achieving new goals for each week, each opponent, and each player. It is a process of building off of your strengths and improving upon your weaknesses; achieving smaller goals, making new goals, while striving to do the best you can every day and leaving it all on the field every game.” Bruce continues, “It is better to set your goals high, because it gives everyone involved a reason to shoot for the stars.”
What this season will bring and how it will unfold has yet to be determined, but it will definitely be a learning experience for everyone: the team, the coaches, the front office, and, especially, the fans. Starting fresh means it will take time for these players and the staff to come together as a team. As the season progresses, we should see improvement each week as they develop the chemistry needed to take this team all the way. Only time will tell how well positive that chemistry will be. And if they meet Bruce’s goals, it will be accomplished one game at a time.
Season Outlook
Each week during the season, I will provide a game-day primer and game review as well as updates and breaking news as it develops and is released. In addition, I will be doing at least one player story each week. After posting the initial story, I will be fielding any questions from you the fans for each of the players. I will get the answers that you want to know about the player, the team, what is going on the field and what is going on under the helmet with a follow up article the following week. In addition to the current players, I will be working on several stories on Coach Earle Bruce, Chris Spielman, Joey Galloway, Bobby Olive, and Jim Lachey. Let me know if there’s something in particular you want to know, and I’ll do my best to get the answers for you.
