Fortune Smiles on Rattlers in Win Over SaberCats
Tim Ball
Tuesday June 1, 2004
Who invented this game anyway? Do we know anything about this Jim Foster guy? Those of us in attendance at the San Jose SaberCats/Arizona Rattlers game need to wonder if he is a genius or someone sitting somewhere with an evil twisted smirk on his face.
Cheers of joy as the SaberCats continued to dominate and roll with hometown fans reveling in Rattlers underfoot. Then shock, worry and despair as Arizona took away the momentum in an instant. And then, sudden happiness as it swung back and the hometown heroes rose up once more in a glorious moment of triumph… and then, darkness. This is not a game for the feint of heart.
Much will be made of Barry Wagner dropping the ball on a pass that would have surely won the game leaving one second left on the clock, but many SaberCats mistakes, coupled with the Rattlers’ determination, tipped the scale in favor of Arizona.
By now even expansion team fans know all too well that in Arena Football “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” isn’t a phrase garbalized by Yogi Berra, it is part of the strategy of this game. San Jose dominated the first half and seemed to have things put away, but then again, this was the SaberCats against the Rattlers, where games won and lost are just chapters in a book never finished. There will always be another page to turn. This saga was a happy ending for the Snake Pit faithful.
Between us
San Jose fans have legitimate “what ifs?” to use as a place to find solace in this loss. SaberCats OS James Hundon’s touchdown reception called back on a holding penalty in the third quarter was pivotal to the outcome of the game. Instead of San Jose success, Arizona held on fourth down. What would have again been a 17-point lead for San Jose evaporated in two plays by Arizona. And another “what if?” joined a basket of others.
Nothing can take away from the fact that San Jose’s bitter rival will walk away from the HP Pavilion with the first place seed in the playoffs, but the SaberCats have reason for hope. On the field, players, coaches and reporters talked about a game that typifies their history.
Moments after the game Rattlers head coach Danny White stared intently at reporters on the field asking about Wagner and the play that secured victory for Arizona.
“Wagner has made so many great plays and won so many games in his career, there was bound to be one he missed; we’re fortunate tonight,” said White. “One play does not win or lose a football game though. We fought back from a 34-17 deficit at halftime and put ourselves in position for this win. I’m not going to take away anything from our effort tonight. This team came in and responded the way we have all season.”
Asked about destiny playing a factor, White was quickly dismissive.
“I don’t know about that,” said White. “This team turned things around by the effort they were willing to bring to each game. Today’s game seemed to be another example of what we went through all season. The credit goes to our players.”
SaberCats head coach Darren Arbet made no excuses for the outcome either. Like White he quickly went to effort and not luck.
“Arizona made the plays when it counted,” said Arbet. “They made the stops and capitalized on situations when it mattered most. It’s always a battle when we get together and neither team is going to quit until time runs out. I think you saw that tonight.”
Post game duties
Though utterly disappointed by the loss, the SaberCats players stayed on the field for Fan Appreciation Night. The San Jose fans were twenty rows deep all around the field and the exchanges between the players and those who support them eased a little of the pain of losing the number one seed, the Western Division and losing to the Rattlers, but only a little.
While SaberCats players were prodded by reporters for their comments on the game, most just shot them a look and kept talking to fans. When asked another typical question, quarterback Mark Grieb, noticeably irritated, looked around, and then down, and then right into the eyes of the blank-faced deadline seekers.
“I’m disappointed,” was the foundation of the obvious response Grieb would eventually utter. And as that retort was leaving his lips, he returned to the fans yelling out his name.
Though most journalists were clueless or typically rude and fruitlessly chattered more questions, the smart ones wandering around left the field for their spot near the locker room and awaited the players as they walk by.
How many ways does a thesaurus describe disappointment? It doesn’t take a Pulitzer caliber scribe to write this one. Players and fans continued without so much as a hint as to how this game would go down in the local paper. The SaberCats are still in the hunt.
Nothing was more impressive than seeing Wagner with fan after fan. The San Jose faithful know that there will be many more times that Wagner will come through for them and hundreds of fans let the superstar know it. “Wags” let them know by covering every foot around the field and signing a many souvenirs as possible, until the SaberCats personnel pulled him away for his moment of explanation with the ever-beckoning media crowd.
“Playoffs next week guys,” said a fan. “One, two, three and we’re champions again.”
There is a light that shines in every fans heart when they know that there is a next week.
The rivals
Not able to leave the field where painful memories are beginning to fade, Hunky Cooper, Orshawante Bryant and Sherdrick Bonner and many Rattlers players were signing autographs for the Arizona fans who made the trip. Bryant, still bouncing and smiling quickly answered questions.
“Give me a break; what a game,” said Bryant. “It never seems to be easy with San Jose. I’m still trying to get over it, but it wasn’t one play that gave us this win. No way. Luck had nothing to do with it.”
Asked what he thought about Wagner’s play, Bryant’s smile straightened into a veteran football player’s all-knowing face as he talked.
“The ball hit his shoulder pads or face mask,” said Bryant. “Also, the lights on that side of the field have some dark spots and he was on a dead run going for it. What’s the chance of Wagner missing that ball?”
“It was a game either team could have won, but you play four quarters and every play means something against a team like the SaberCats,” said Cooper. “What I’m thinking about right now is the people who wrote us off when we were three and five.”
“We continued to work hard all season and continued to fight game after game,” said Bonner. “Even in this game we had to weather the storm. We knew there was going to be a lot of emotion in this game with them in their home. You can’t point to any one thing. This was a team effort tonight.”
As SaberCats players and coaches started to cool off physically, as well as emotionally, they started to open up.
“I don’t know how this one got away,” said OL/DL Dan Loney. “We’ll look at the films and find the mistakes. We have to focus on the next game now. We’ve worked hard to get into the playoffs and though this is disappointing we’ll do what needs to be done.”
“You have to give credit to Arizona,” said WR/DB Rashied Davis. “We made some crucial mistakes and they capitalized on what we gave them. That is what a veteran team can do and they made the best of things.”
“It’s tough to see a game like this get away,” said offensive coordinator Terry Malley. “It seemed that we overcame mistakes and held our ground with momentum. There’s not much to describe how I feel.”
“This one got away from us and it’s tough to lose this kind of game,” said defensive coordinator Michael Church. “We’ll examine this one closely.”
Wagner knew as only Wagner does.
“I usually make those plays,” said Wagner. “I hope my teammates know how I feel. It came down to that one play and I missed it.”
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t get to worked up over it,” said James Roe as he stepped into his car. “He’ll be right back in it next week. That’s the kind of player he is.”
Monday-ish questions
There were many things the SaberCats did right against an amazing Arizona team that has dominated their opponents in the second half of the season. Dropped passes and blocked kicks were only a small percentage of what went wrong for San Jose.
Grieb (28 of 38 for 268 yards) was not a part of the negative. Grieb not being called on to throw on third and fourth down in short yardage situations is more a topic of serious discussion than any one missed play. Grieb has been the one constant in a sea of change for San Jose this season.
The 2002 Offensive Player of the Year, Grieb has continued his excellence since the championship season was cut short by a broken clavicle suffered in Arizona. Last year he played well below 100% with a healing collarbone and still the SaberCats were the number one seed again.
This season, Grieb leads the league in quarterback rating at 133.5, while leading an ever-changing lineup of replacement players.
While names like Garcia and Graziani dance on Al Trautwig’s NBC tongue like a line in a Shakespeare play, Grieb has maintained his excellence with a different cast of characters all season. Revolving players coming and going from the roster include legendary veterans, heralded rookies, on the job trainees and resurrected heroes of old, and still Grieb has delivered his lines on time and on target all season long.
Why not let Grieb have the game on his capable shoulders when everything is on the line? This is Arena Football, the passing league. That doesn’t mean passing up the opportunity Grieb can bring to a game by his handing off and rushing the ball into a line weighing almost a ton. Quarterbacks in this league know what is important and Grieb has shined like the sun.
But like a kickoff in this league, those questions are better deferred to those who know the answers. Or, of course, visiting the chat rooms and watching them unfold unceasingly between those who think they know.
The first One
The new AFL playoff format is unveiled this coming weekend as a phenomenal season showcases the historic big four of Tampa Bay, Orlando, Arizona and San Jose welcoming new members to the playoffs club.
The SaberCats next game pits the last two ArenaBowl Champions face to face. Tampa Bay comes to San Jose on a roll and Tim Marcum’s team has, well, Tim Marcum.
One championship ring shy of all fingers being wrapped in gold and diamonds, Marcum comes into San Jose with a Storm team that has had to fight every step of the way, to its fourteenth post season appearance.
Joy, happiness, sorrow and sadness, like the arena game itself, will unfold over the next three weeks with blazing speed. And once again the game of the week will include the SaberCats.
In any event, history has been made and the future is now. The SaberCats, with Arbet in command and Grieb at the helm, are once again in the playoffs. And wouldn’t you know it, just like the last five games of the regular season, San Jose has big drama ahead.
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
