Vindication Comes In The Air
Tony Mercado
Tuesday April 4, 2006
With just over a minute to play in Sunday's game against Arizona, a victory all but certain, quarterback Mark Grieb found he could contain himself no longer.
Right there on the sideline, he danced a little. He pumped his fist twice. He clapped his hands. It was a picture of pure excitement and in that moment from my spot in the press box high above the field, it was difficult not to be excited for him and the SaberCats.
Gone was the memory of last week's disappointing 51-48 loss to Nashville and the whispers of a season close to being lost. In its place was the resounding statment to detractors to save their breath because this team is far from being out for the count.
On this night, one of the Arena Football League's greatest players made a lunge toward breaking one of his own records. And in the process, he gave his team some much needed breathing room in its quest to secure a playoff spot and, oh yes, make a run for yet another league championship.
Grieb matched a team best with, get this, nine touchdown passes.
Nine.
And he's done it on two other occassions during his eight-year run with the team. He went on to throw for 361 yards with no interceptions.
My friends. If that's not a career night, I don't know what is.
"It was night and day between this and last week," said a clearly vindicated looking Grieb, referring to the Nashville game. "It's nice. I'm not going to lie and say it isn't nice to put up those kinds of numbers, but to be honest, the biggest thing is getting that win."
And a huge win it was. In the days before the contest, head coach Darren Arbet told his players the game was of major importance to the team's post season hopes. They knew they had to win, he said, and they promptly went out and dominated.
The SaberCats held Arizona scoreless in the first quarter and made it difficult for another of the league's best - Sherdrick Bonner - to get his passes to receivers and move the ball downfield. The Rattlers converted less than half of their attempts on third down and finished with -4 yards rushing.
Offensively. the 'Cats were on fire all night.
James Roe, the game's Iron Man, hauled in four of Grieb's TD passes while rolling up 111 yards on 10 catches, yet still found a way to be his own worst critic.
"There was a couple of catches I should have made that I uncharacteristcally dropped," he said.
Ben Nelson continued to border on greatness, catching 11 passes for 203 yards, the second highest single game total in SaberCats history behind the amazing Steve Papin's 232 yards. He also had five touchdowns in being named the Offensive Player of the Game.
All of which moves San Jose to within one game of Arizona and Las Vegas for the Western Division lead and gives them a one-game lead over three teams for the sixth and final playoff spot in the American Conference.
A few weeks ago, as the SaberCats were mired in a losing streak, who would've thought all this would be the case?
"The way we were struggling, it would have been easy to point fingers, turn and go south, but I thank God for keeping us together as a team," said Roe. "But we still have to humble ourselves because we've been in this same boat before where we came out, played well and then next week, it just doesn't continue."
Watching this team play Sunday, however, I sense things are getting back on track. With their backs against the proverbial wall, the entire team responded with fire and spirit.
"Hey, this isn't an aberration," Grieb said of the SaberCat's performance. "We've been playing this way for three or four weeks now. We may not have won all those games, but we played well."
Look for that to continue as the 'Cats roll on.
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.
