Firebirds Shot Down in Season Ending Loss
Steve Sgambelluri
Saturday August 5, 2000
He`d be most fitting sitting next to Regis Philbin on ABC`s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. There would be no problem getting through the first few rounds but when push came to shove, White would never walk away without the million dollars. Furthermore, the best part of this whole scenario would be White would only need one lifeline.
And that one life line was used to perfection as White`s Arizona Rattlers overcame a hostile crowd and some key injuries to beat the Albany Firebirds 53-50 Saturday night at Pepsi Arena in the quarterfinal round of the Arena Football playoffs.
 Arizona Headcoach Danny White goes on to the semi-finals. Image courtesy of Mike Wright |
Nittmo`s kick was nearly perfect as Arizona recovered and, with the help of two pass interference calls on the Albany secondary, knocked the defending ArenaBowl champions out of business.
"We work on that everyday in practice," a relieved White said. "It`s a tough play to cover."
"Not only was it a gutsy call," Firebirds head coach Mike Dailey said. "But they made it work. We had talked about [an onside kick] being a possibility. They executed it well."
So, Albany makes an early exit out of this year`s season. The Firebirds finished at 9-6 and had an up and down campaign all season long, losing one of the game`s most electric players in receiver Eddie Brown, and having been bit by the injury bug way to often. Against Arizona, Albany was without four key players in Leroy Thompson, Carl Sacco, Tim Brown and Jon Krick.
However, even though some couldn`t recognize the Firebirds without a program, Dailey`s team was right there, on the brink of victory. Sometimes luck just seems to go against you, and a bounce here or bounce there can cost you your season.
"We played hard," a dejected Dailey said afterwards. "I`m upset for the fans. I`m sorry for all the people in our front office and sorry for all of our players."
Albany got out to its customary slow start after quarterback Mike Pawlawski threw an interception to Arizona`s Muhammad Oliver on the `Birds` second play of the night. A play later, Rattlers quarterback Sherdrick Bonner found Oliver for the first score of the game.
Albany fought back and climbed to within one point 36-35 at halftime. The team traded scores down the stretch and when Joe Jacobs sacked Bonner in the fourth quarter, knocking him out of the game, Albany seemed to have most of the momentum. But Arizona backup Lance Funderburk picked up where Bonner left off as he hit nifty receiver Hunkie Cooper for a touchdown with 2:08 remaining in the fourth to put Arizona ahead for good. Cooper made an unheard of grab in the process.
When Arizona recovered Nittmo`s onside kick, six plays later on third and eight Albany`s Evan Hlavacek was called for pass interference trying to prevent Cooper from making a grab. And if that weren`t enough, another six plays later with the clock showing :35 seconds, Derek Stingley was tabbed by an official for an illegal chuck on an Arizona receiver. Arizona then ran out the clock and advanced.
"I`ve got to look at the film," Dailey said of both interference calls. "I`m not going to point a finger at anyone."
Bonner finished the night 18-for-27 for 254 yards and 6 touchdowns while Cooper burned Albany with 7 catches for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns.
"Sooner or later, teams are gonna figure out that when the game`s on the line, you better put 2 or 3 guys on Hunkie," White said.
Pawlawski ended his year going 25-for-38 for 266 yards and 5 touchdowns while receiver Quincy Jackson grabbed 11 balls totaling 152 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The talk of a complete team separation has already reached the whispering stages in terms of next season for the Firebirds. Dailey hopes it doesn`t hold any truth. "I don`t like seeing it end this way," Dailey said. "We have a great organization, and I hope we have the chance to be together again and get another crack at it."
Steve Sgambelluri was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
