John and Jon: What the AFL has been Waiting for
Craig T. Mackey
Saturday March 20, 2004
This Sunday Elway’s Colorado Crush will battle Bon Jovi’s Philadelphia Soul. The game will be played at the Wachovia Center and not in Jon Bon Jovi’s house. And I can almost guarantee that John Elway will not be playing in this game and Bon Jovi will definitely not be anywhere near the sidelines during the game.
This game will not just be about the owners as many people are making it out to be. There is much more on the line for both teams than which owner gets more face time on the network, although over/under should be set around 45.
Currently the Soul are at 3-3 and have won two in a row overall and two in a row at home. With a win on Sunday, the Soul can go over the .500 mark for the first time in the franchise’s short history. More importantly though, a win would get them closer to their ultimate goal: the playoffs.
Right now, the Soul sits in the ninth spot in the race for the playoffs, but one of the teams in front of them are the Crush. Remember, this year only eight teams make the playoffs which makes this such a big game. A win would get them even with the Crush (4-2) in the standings.
The fact that the Soul are thinking playoffs shouldn’t be all that surprising considering the man leading this team. Head coach Michael Trigg has done a terrific job molding this team together. At the beginning of the season, the Soul were showing all the signs of an expansion team. They were committing key penalties and just weren’t giving QB Nick Browder any time.
Defensive coordinator James Fuller also deserves a lot of credit; the defensive has been the catalyst for their recent turnaround. In their last four games, opposing teams have scored just 28 points total in the third quarter. That may not seem that important, but for this team it is very important. For some reason the offense does not seem to get it going until the second half. With the defense holding down their opponents, the offense is then able to get into their groove make their move.
On the other hand, the Crush have also been playing better than expected. This team was just 2-14 last year in their inaugural season. Even though they could have used the excuse that they were an expansion team, John Elway and the rest of the organization knew that changes had to be made.
The most important change made was hiring a new coach. Last year, the Crush hired Bob Beers, a coach with no previous experience in the AFL. Colorado knew they made a mistake, admitted it, and then brought in a coach with plenty of experience. After spending 10 years with the Firebirds, Mike Dailey decided to move to take on the challenge of building the Crush into a winner.
Dailey and Trigg are no strangers to each other. This Sunday will be the 10th time that they’ve met, including the playoffs. They had to go through each other when they both won the ArenaBowl with their respective teams. In 1999, Dailey’s Albany Firebirds beat Trigg’s Grand Rapids Rampage in the first round of the playoffs on their way to the championship. Trigg would then get his revenge two years later as the Rampage beat the Firebirds in the semifinals of the 2001 playoffs on their path to championship.
The Crush are led by QB John Dutton, who has thrown for almost 1400 yards and 25 touchdowns. Their prime time player on offense is Damian Harrell, who comes into this game with 469 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns. On defense, they are led by Saul Patu who brings his 2.5 sacks into the game.
The Crush still struggles with their kicking game, as do the Soul. Crush K Anthony Brenner has hit just 33% of his field goal attempts. On the other side, Ken Hinsley has hit a lean 25% of his field goals attempts and just 75% of his extra points. Let’s hope this game is more about the passing games and less about the kicking games.
These teams will meet twice this year, unusual when you consider they’re not in the same division. They play again on May 2, yet another nationally televised event. The AFL has put a lot of stock into the star stature of these team’s two owners and on Sunday we’ll find out if it pays off..
Craig T Mackey is a an engineer in Philadelphia. He is a huge philadelphia sports fan. He has worked for NFL Films in the past and is a 1999 graduate of Penn State University with a bachelors degree in journalism.
