San Jose at Tampa Bay: Playoff controversy to season opener
Tim Ball
Sunday January 30, 2005
Just the thought of a game between the SaberCats and the Storm has got to have NBC engineers cringing when thinking of covering these teams again. Especially those that worked last season’s playoff game in San Jose.
This match up between ArenaBowl champions has more to it than just two great teams going at it. The SaberCats in the 2004 quarterfinal match up spurred on by a frenzied home field crowd, went up 35-6 over the Storm in the first half. Tampa Bay players who couldn’t hear much of anything while on offense due to the intensity of the home crowd, went into the locker room at halftime obviously determined to come out and go for broke.
San Jose players and fans started thinking about the next game too early. The Storm scoring on its first possession of the second half and only netting six-points, no one seemed to care about. The ensuing onside kick attempt was picked up by the SaberCats and returned for a touchdown, running the score to 42-12 with just over ten minutes left in the third quarter. San Jose fans went back to their cell phones.
Thinking all was said and done about this playoff victory, a shocked crowd of complacent fans witnessed a fourth quarter comeback for the ages. Led by a hot handed and hotheaded quarterback Shane Stafford, Tampa Bay scored 27 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Lucky for the San Jose faithful in attendance, their party was not to end as Tampa Bay fell just four points shy of snatching defeat from the jaws of the SaberCats.
5000 souvenir cowbells given to fans before the game, made more than just a buzz in the SaberCats playoff win over the Storm. Before the message boards and rumor mills started humming about the incredible noise made by the San Jose fans with those cowbells in the first half of the game (drowning out the NBC telecast from being heard whenever the Storm offense took the field), the league office had already heard all they wanted to.
Fined $20,000 by the AFL for providing the noisemakers, the SaberCats were obviously unfazed by it all as they made it past a talented Storm team and on to the franchises second ArenaBowl championship in three seasons.
But even the San Jose players were not completely unaffected by the rowdy and raucous home fans. "That was the loudest thing I have ever heard. My ears rang for days afterwards," said SaberCats kicker Dan Frantz recalling the game during his recent interview.
Even film crews covering the game that day felt the presence of those merciless clanging shards of shaped sheet metal. "My cameras were vibrating the entire time Tampa Bay was on offense," said ArenaFan staff photographer Ken LaRue. "I really thought that my digital equipment might shake loose inside. It was amazingly loud especially in the first half. The whole place vibrated like a massive beehive," continued LaRue. "I could see the NBC crew even having problems with the noise level."
Tragedy and triumph
San Jose fans expanded the whole "ninth man" slogan into a hoard of thousands. I have two of those bells sitting on a bookshelf and I rarely look at them without that day clearly recalled in my mind. They sit close to a book whose author, though long dead, may have had a premonition of that day.
Edgar Allan Poe, long before Arena Football was invented, knew the maddening power of banging bells. Written in 1849 here’s a glimpse of Poe’s poem that possibly possessed playoff premonition and what it felt like to be a Storm player that playoff day.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells . . .
How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour . . .
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, in the clamor and the clangor of the bells!
Seems like Poe knows Arena Football.
In the "clangor" of those cowbells, the Storm’s quest for a championship repeat and season came to a crashing end.
Tampa Bay head coach Tim Marcum, who suffered the manic mayhem of that monstrous matchup, marched mechanically in the hallway outside of the locker room moments after the loss to San Jose. Marcum was moved to contemplate asking Storm fans to return the favor when next these teams met. If Tampa Bay had scored just one more touchdown in the first half, they would have won the game.
"I’m not going to kid anybody, I was very upset about the noise in the Arena that day," said Marcum. "There are rules that govern this kind of thing and the league dealt with it accordingly. So in my mind it’s over and done with. It wasn’t the reason we lost that day and our fans know that as well. We’re looking forward to this match up and it will be decided by the players on the field."
On the one-sided record between the teams, Marcum was typically matter of fact. "They’ve beaten us the last five times we’ve played them," continued Marcum. "Our goal is to put together two complete halves. We play them well but let one or two quarters get away." In a statement that may hint of a quieter environment being beneficial, Marcum continued, "We’re in our house this time and our focus will be keeping them away from making the big plays that take us out of our rhythm."
I’m going to Tivo the game and watch it on delay, at least in the first half. Just in case the Tampa Bay fans take matters into there own hands. (No pun intended.)
Current events
While the matchup between the last two ArenaBowl champions is a story in itself, nothing is going to take away the memory of those incessant bells and, of course, the fine levied by the league.
But that’s all in the past now. The SaberCats are a football team with the best record in the AFL over the last five seasons for many reasons. And fans don’t pass and catch and tackle and block.
Today’s news is the SaberCats are picked once again to win it all. The Arena Football League Writers Association (AFLWA.com) see enough in this San Jose team to believe they are up to the challenge of making it to ArenaBowl XIX.
Most importantly is the Three Kings of SaberCats football.
Head coach Darren Arbet, offensive coordinator Terry Malley and defensive coordinator Michael Church are the source of a 67-19 win/loss record since 2000 that includes the victories in ArenaBowl XVI and ArenaBowl XVIII.
San Jose’s offence is the most prolific in the AFL averaging 60-points a game, but it was defense that made the biggest noise in both of San Jose’s ArenaBowl victories. The first in 2002, ArenaBowl XVI, was the most dominating defensive performance in AFL history. San Jose did not allow a touchdown until the fourth quarter. In ArenaBowl XVIII though with an impressive output of points by both teams, it was again defensive play that gave another championship to San Jose.
"Teams are going to score and score a lot in Arena Football," said Church, "but defense plays a part in more victories than is given the credit. You look at that play Rasheid Davis made to end the game in the ArenaBowl. It was routine but it was as big as it gets. The teams that have the attitude to make defense a major part of its overall performance are going to be the teams making the playoffs."
While San Jose boasts a great defense it’s the offense that make the headlines. Quarterback Mark Grieb, who set AFL records in 2004 with a 133.5 passer rating and completing 73-percent of his passes, is back with much of the same team in place. Grieb’s talent will once again be piloting a team with wide receiver James Roe, offensive specialist James Hundon and the legendary Barry Wagner to gather in Grieb’s passes.
Grieb and Roe earned ArenaBowl honors and Hundon was simply heroic when returning to the game after suffering a broken nose that forced him to leave in the third quarter and was too gruesome an injury to show on TV. Hundon scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Wagner, who needs no introduction, leads the AFL in virtually every major category. Wagner’s return brings an expertise and knowledge of the arena game second to none and will once again help rookies on the team with an example to follow that will give them an edge in learning the AFL game.
Lost and found
The AFLWA hasn’t gone out on limb with their prediction, as Grieb, - arguably the best quarterback in the league - with the return of his trusted core of receivers should find the rhythm to take them all the way.
While losing rookie sensations Fred Coleman to the re-invented Nashville Kats and Charles Pauley to the Chicago Rush was a blow, the SaberCats always find new talent to mesh with the veterans. San Jose’s talented coaching staff has proven they select players who fit the team’s philosophy and perform when expected.
"We look for players that have the attitude that they are the equal to any player on the team and understand the team’s philosophy of being ready when called," said Malley. "Losing players the caliber of Coleman and Pauley isn’t easy but it’s understandable when they get the call to be a starter on another team."
Coleman and Pauley follow in the steps of quarterback John Dutton, OS Kevin McKenzie (Colorado), FB/LB Bob McMillen (Chicago) and OS Aaron Bailey (New Orleans) who were not only stars with San Jose, but also led their teams into the playoffs in 2004.
The wall of separation
Though losing the high caliber linemen Frank Beede, SaberCats veteran linemen Joe Jacobs, Chuck Reed, Albrey Battle, George Williams and center Dan Loney’s experience on offense protecting Grieb, will play a pivotal role of anchoring the line this season, while also leading the rookies by example.
On defense, Jacobs and Loney have secured their rights to be feared up front but will need to find a way to replace the loss of Sam Hernandez, the AFL’s all time leader in sacks. With Jacobs’ relentless pressuring of quarterbacks and Loney’s strength at nose guard, veterans Battle and Devin Wyman, have the leadership and experience take up where Hernandez left off. The SaberCats have the consistency and leadership with these players to take the team through another season in search of a repeat championship.
A key reason for San Jose’s success in 2004 was the return of AFL superstar DS Omarr Smith. Smith is not only one of the best defenders in the AFL with a league leading record nine interceptions on the year, he is the only consecutive three-time ArenaBowl champion in league history.
Teamed with speedster Rashied Davis, who has established himself as one of the best all-around players in the AFL, Davis also played wide receiver as well as returned kickoffs, running back four for touchdowns. Davis was named to the AFL’s 2004 All-Ironman Team and is now famous for making the final play in ArenaBowl XVIII, by breaking up Sherdrick Bonner’s pass to Hunkie Cooper in the endzone as time expired.
First in line
The SaberCats have a tough road to start as four out of the first five games are away with the season opener being against the 2003 ArenaBowl champion Storm. San Jose only has two back-to-back home series this season, so a repeat trip to the ArenaBowl will be an uphill climb.
Already the first game of the season has payback and playoff implications on the line. The SaberCats find themselves in the same familiar territory as the last five seasons, that being the team to beat.
While not playing in front of their loyal and loud fans in San Jose except for a home opener in week two, the SaberCats do not have a two-game home stand until the sixth week of the season.
Game time for the San Jose at Tampa Bay game is 12:00pm EST at the St. Pete Times Forum. The game will be televised on NBC.
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.
