Storm Special Teams Anything But
Adam J Locascio
Tuesday March 23, 2004
Keeping with the tradition of failed title defenses that has plagued the greater Tampa Bay area since August of 2003 (save the Lightning, who repeated as Southeast Division champions in the NHL), the Tampa Bay Storm have been nothing short of spectacular as they lifted the ever-downed spirits of a Carolina Cobras franchise that had yet to win a home game with a gift-wrapped 54-43 game that once again hinged on special teams play.
One would think that it would be impossible to have a game where the Storm were in a must-win situation against a team that went had won two games in two seasons. Looking at the schedule, this one was pretty much penciled in as an unofficial bye week.
And again, special teams decided to make things interesting for a team that had enough questions to answer on both sides of the ball. Free agency depleted a great defense; a quarterback change is thrown in after five weeks, and is it really a Storm season if there isn’t problems in the kicking game?
The most nauseating aspect of this season comes in the fact that Storm has been in a position to win all four of their five losses. If you go through the season and take out the interceptions returned for touchdowns along with the kickoffs and field goals run back for touchdowns, this team is 6-1. That’s how much special teams hurt.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy used to say that in order to win a football game, you have to win two of the three phases of the game. Well, that’s tough to do when the special teams is spotting the other team two touchdowns almost every single game.
I’m no coach, but what happened to “stay in your lane?” I play flag football in our office intramural league and before every single kick-off, I’m yelling, “Stay in your lane.” Special teams aren’t complicated and it shouldn’t be playing this large of a roll in the outcome of a season.
Kick. Tackle. Done.
A lot can be said about Storm kicker Mike Black not hitting the net on the kick-off, but come on. Cobras return man Jarrick Hillery had kick-off returns of 58 and 57 yards for touchdowns. He’s going the length of the field plus an extra eight yards which says he’s catching the ball six feet from the back of the end zone.
And the Storm can’t get arms on this guy?
Oh and it gets better too. The Storm visit the Georgia Force this weekend which means Force OS Markeith Cooper gets a chance to duplicate his five-catch, 132-yard, four-touchdown performance that riddled the Storm in Week 2. He also returned five kickoffs for 138 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown return at the end of the first half. Cooper’s 270 all-purpose yards set a Force single-game record.
With the Storm’s playoff hopes dwindling and five teams currently with five or six wins with 10 weeks left in the season, it looks like the magic number is going to be 10 wins to get into the field of eight that advance for a shot at ArenaBowl XVIII.
At 2-5, the Storm most likely has one more loss to play with until the end of the season; and the season’s remaining games include New Orleans, Dallas, San Jose and Chicago – all four division leaders – along with Austin (who already beat the Storm) and an emotional road rivalry game against the Orlando Predators.
Adam J. Locascio is a financial advisor in the Tampa Bay area and a Board Member of the Tampa Bay Storm Surge Fan Club. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Phoenix and is a six-year season ticket holder for the Tampa Bay Storm.
