Road Woes
Adam J Locascio
Wednesday May 18, 2005
"We win. We’re in," said Marcum. "We’re in total control of our destiny and that’s what’s important."
Standing in their way is the Columbus Destroyers, and another dreaded road game for the Storm.
The upside is that while the Storm are 1-6 on the road, the Destroyers are 1-6 at home. In one of those "something’s got to give" games, it’s tough to make a prediction. Who could come out on top? The playoff-hungry Storm, or the spoil-minded Destroyers?
The Storm can finish the season 10-6 thanks to an undefeated performance in their home contests, but how can a team that was so dominant at home, be so woeful on the road? Looking back at the past seven road contests, the results are not quite as staggering as perceived.
Going back to Week 3, at Orlando, the Storm traveled east on I-4 to take on the Predators. The Storm lost 61-46, but why? Looking at the schedule shows that the Storm took on Austin that Sunday at the St. Pete Times Forum on Sunday. The Predator game was on a Friday night. Giving the team one day off after the game leaves the Storm with three days to prepare for an undefeated Predator squad. Further, the Storm’s bus from Tampa was caught in terrible I-4 traffic. The team only arrived at the TD Waterhouse Arena about an hour before the game.
To make matters worse, OS Freddie Solomon dropped to the turf untouched in the first half, re-injuring an ankle that kept him out of the Austin game the week before. Quarterback Shane Stafford missed his best weapon and the Storm lose.
The following week, the Storm traveled to New Orleans to take on the VooDoo. Solomon again sat out the game but was replaced by OS Clif Dell who finished the game with eight catches for 62 yards and three touchdowns. The Storm forced overtime. The score was 48-42 in favor of the VooDoo. On fourth down, Stafford connects with WR David Saunders in the end zone for an apparent touchdown that would have tied the game. But referees ruled that Saunders was never in the end zone, even though he was pushed out of the paint as he leapt for the ball. The game was over although replays show clearly that Saunders was in the end zone and the score would have been tied.
The next road game took the Storm to Philadelphia to take on the Soul. Stafford enjoyed his most prolific game as a pro, completed more than 68 percent of his passes and amassed 348 passing yards, his highest single-game total of the season, but it wasn’t enough. Again, the Storm seemed to have this one won, but an offensive pass interference call wiped out a David Saunders touchdown. The Soul got the ball back and had their field goal blocked. Again, Stafford had a shot at winning the game, but WR Lawrence Samuels had a defender draped all over his back on the final play and the Soul won 69-63.
To add to their road woes, the Storm found out on the Wednesday before their Saturday night game versus the Los Angeles Avengers that Marcum was suspended for two weeks for salary cap violations. Assistant head coach Dave Ewart was thrust into the head coach’s spot with no time to prepare for the vaunted Avenger offensive attack. Unfortunately, it showed. The Storm lost 59-28.
After picking up their first road win at Austin, the Storm went to Nashville to play the Kats in what looked like an easy game. While the defense did an admirable job of holding Nashville to 37 points, the offense was shut out for three quarters and the Storm lost 37-21. This was the most confounding road loss of them all.
"Maybe we shouldn’t have gotten off the plane," said receiver Clif Dell. "I just don’t know what happened."
With the Southern division title on the line, the Storm ventured up to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Force. The Storm were missing some of the most important weapons as Solomon was out, OL/DL Nyle Wiren and Ernest Certain were out, and FB/LB Umar Muhammad was out. The Storm started three rookies in WR/DB and OS positions and the team lacked some much needed punch and experience. The physical defensive backs of the Force bullied the speedier Storm receivers and the Storm conceded the South to Georgia 52-40.
So what happened? Is it as bad as it seems? If you reverse the calls in the Philadelphia and New Orleans games the Storm are 3-4 and playing for a .500 road record right now which is the basic goal of every coach – win your home games and split on the road. Are they as bad as their record indicates? Certainly not. Did they happen to get some bad luck when they were on their road trips? Absolutely.
If the Storm are going to make some noise in the playoffs, they will have to realize that nothing will be handed to them. They’re not going to get ref’s calls, especially on the road. Let’s face it; they are the AFL’s version of the Yankees, just without the merchandising.
"When we get somebody up, we gotta bury ‘em," said Marcum.
No second-guessing that statement, coach.
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.
