Sweet Revenge as Storm Hex VooDoo
Adam J Locascio
Tuesday May 25, 2004
“Five more wins,” he said. “Five more.”
Well the Storm got number one on Sunday.
Playing against a largely uninspired New Orleans VooDoo squad, the Storm jumped out to a 42-16 lead and never looked back as Tampa Bay coasted to a 59-51 victory, racking up their fifth consecutive win and, most importantly, moving them into a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot.
The VooDoo (10-5) are doing their best impression of their cross-town counterparts, the Saints, with their late season collapse. Since the bye week, New Orleans is 3-4 and they are in danger of losing their grip on a guaranteed home playoff game, which does not bode well for their post season longevity. Of their 10 total wins thus far, only three have come against teams with winning records. They close the season at home against the Austin Wranglers (8-7), who they defeated 63-59 in Week 12.
On the other hand, the Storm (8-7) are getting hot at the right time and are looking to make some real noise if they can skate in to one of the lower playoff spots. With a little help, Tampa Bay could possibly finish as high as sixth in the playoff seeding as they own tiebreakers over Los Angeles, Austin, and Orlando. Los Angeles and Orlando (both 9-6) face off on Sunday.
The Storm essentially handed the VooDoo their Week 5 win in the “Graveyard” via three Shane Stafford interceptions that were all returned for touchdowns. The VooDoo, spotted 21 points, didn’t do much else and cruised to a 55-43 win, a win that landed quarterback Shane Stafford on the bench for two weeks.
Stafford, showing the resilience of a seasoned veteran in only his second year as a starter, put the past in the past and riddled the VooDoo secondary with a 22 of 30 passing performance for 267 yards, six touchdowns and, more importantly, no interceptions en route to Offensive Player of the Game honors.
But Stafford won’t rest on his laurels from his latest conquest.
“We’ve got to go and take care of business next week,” said Stafford. “Otherwise it’s all for naught.”
The Storm wraps up their season on the road on Sunday against the Dallas Desperados (6-9), who are headed in the exact opposite direction of Tampa Bay, dropping six straight. The Storm will most likely have one eye on the out-of-town scoreboard as they battle for their playoff lives in Dallas. but a win is essential if the Storm wish to run their streak of playoff appearances to 14.
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.
