Firebirds Loss Sucks
Matthew Pickut
Wednesday April 28, 2004
—Unnamed Indiana Firebirds player
As I interviewed WR/LB Brett Bech about the Firebirds 46-43 loss to Arizona, from the locker next to him came the above sentiment that seemed to sum up the feelings in the locker room.
“Its tough,” said Bech. “We haven’t lost in a while, and you kind of forget how it feels. We had our chances, we just made too many mistakes”
Three turnovers and a blown onsides kick presented too much to overcome for the hometown team, but the game remained close right up until the end.
“You kind of make your breaks and we didn’t make it on that onsides kick,” said Firebirds head coach Mike Wilpolt. “That was their stop at the time and we gave them the lead. It looked like both my guys tried to pick the ball up and run with it instead of falling on the ball and giving us possession at the five-yard line. The officials said they didn’t know who had the ball and they had to wait until everyone got off the pile and they were on top of it. Some one took it away as I understand it, but that’s football; you keep fighting.”
One of the turnovers came on QB Adrian McPherson’s first interception in six games.
“For me, it was that one mistake,” said McPherson. “I threw an interception, and if we go down and make that score we win the game. We need to score every time we have the ball and they gave us some opportunities, we just didn’t take advantage of them.”
In spite of the loss, McPherson earned high praise from two members of the crowd who know a little something about football: AFL Commissioner David Baker and Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning.
“I think he’s an outstanding athlete,” said Baker, “and I was sitting up there with Payton Manning and he was telling me, ‘this kid’s got a lot to offer’. I know after some of the mistakes he has been through we interviewed him, his mom and his dad and his agent and we felt that this was a kid who addressed his issues and needed a chance. I think this is his chance and he’s made the most of it. I think we’ve demonstrated as a league with Kurt Warner and Tommy Maddox and other guys that this is a great place to learn how to be a quarterback. You don’t have your tackles and tight ends and you throw a lot of three step drops. You better be accurate and you better score on every possession or your going to come up on the short end. I think he’s a young guy who’s developing and he’s going to be a great quarterback.”
The play of the team impressed Wilpolt who, despite being disappointed by his first loss as a head coach, saw his team fight until the end.
“That last play, we were right there,” said Wilpolt. “Bonner was falling back to his right and he just zings the ball. They just made the plays this week… we did fight. It comes down to that last fourth down and they get it. We just need to get better.”
Normally even-tempered WR/DB Evan Hlavacek admitted the loss hurt, but knows that mistakes will take a toll on a team.
“No one likes to lose,” said Hlavacek. “We were on that streak for a while and I thought we could run the table, but we need to get another streak going and get into the playoffs. We did play well. We played a good team, but it’s a game of turnovers. If we win that, we win the game, so we just need to take care of that.”
Looking ahead, Wilpolt agrees that the loss will hurt the team, but still sees possibilities for the team getting to the postseason.
“It hurts right now,” said Wilpolt. “Tomorrow we have to go on, but were a young team and I think nine wins will get us into the playoffs, so we still have four games to get three wins.”
Welcome Back
The crowd greeted former Firebirds and current Rattlers kicker Nelson Garner with a mixed reaction when he took the field, showing once again that sports fans have good memories.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Garner. “I have a lot of great memories of this place. I have a lot of friends and family here today. You don’t know how much longer you can do this, and I’m at a point in my career where I enjoy every minute of it. I wish I could have had a better game. I had two good games coming in here and I didn’t have such a great game today, but we got the win and so I’m happy with that.”
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
