How’s it gonna be?
Tony Mercado
Thursday March 30, 2006
It’s somewhat appropriate.
One of its hits was the 1997 release, "How’s it gonna be?" and it’s a question the SaberCats need to answer in the wake of a 51-48 loss to Nashville that saddled them with a 3-6 record going into the contest with Western Division leading Arizona.
Will it be a game that signals the turnaround fans have been waiting for? The game where we see this talented squad put it all together again as it did in a 65-50 win against Utah?
History is on the side of the SaberCats, who have always played well in the spring, going 15-9 in games played in April.
They’ve beaten Arizona for Arena Bowl titles in 2002 and 2004 and already have a victory from the Rattlers this season, 58-50 on Feb 12 in Phoenix.
Thanks to the early craziness of the Western Division, a win would put the SaberCats within a game of the division lead and would claim the head-to-head tie breaker with the Rattlers.
Of course, all the history in the world won’t matter unless San Jose can protect quarterback Mark Grieb and neutralize the penalties that have uncharacteristically plagued the team all year.
We all know that Grieb is one the league’s best quarterbacks and ensuring he has time to get the ball to weapons like James Roe, Ben Nelson, Barry Wagner and Charles Pauley is a no brainer.
The ‘Cats stepped up their protection of Grieb on March 23 by bringing back veteran lineman Franke Beede, the team’s starting center on the 2004 Arena Bowl title squad. That’s a quality player who’s going to do nothing but help as the season goes on.
What’s going to work even more is to stop the flow of penalties. Against Nashville, San Jose was penalized a season high-tying 11 times, the fourth occassion this season they were flagged more than 10 times. The SaberCats currently rank fourth in the Arena Football League with 75 penalties.
So here we stand on the threshold of another key match-up.
How’s it gonna be?
To shamelessly quote another of the post-game entertainment’s tunes, Let’s hope it’s something that gives us cause for "A semi-charmed kind of life."
Tony Mercado holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from San Jose State University and spent 10 years as a newspaper reporter in the Bay Area. He now works in the public relations field, but continues to enjoy writing about the local teams and the positive impact its players, coaches and dance squads have in their communities.
