Giving Credit Where it is Deserved
Jeff Sims
Sunday June 4, 2006
If you would have told me halfway through the AFL season that the Chicago Rush would make it to ArenaBowl XX, I would have looked at you like you needed your head examined. After posting a 3-5 record through those fist eight games and finishing with their first sub .500 season (7-9) in team history, there was no way that I would have believed that this team would still be in contention to win it all.
This team could not find its identity. They had no idea who their quarterback was going to be, they couldn’t find a kicker to replace Keith Gispert after injuring himself before the first game of the year, and DS Tony Lukins was getting burned more than my morning breakfast toast. Throw in a number of key injuries during the season such as John Moyer, D.J. Bleisath, and Etu Molden, you would have thought that this team would have been doomed and would have had to "wait ‘til next year".
But the coaching staff and front office worked hard to obtain players that, as Rush Head Coach Mike Hohensee put it, "could get the job done." Their focus for a number of weeks was to help make this team better, and they did just that!
The Rush traded for DS Jeremy Unertl, signed K Dan Frantz after Keith Gispert was unable to perform after his early season injury, picked up (I refer to it more as stole) OS Bobby Sippio off of waivers, moved up WR/DB Woody Dantzler from the practice squad, and signed DS Marvin Taylor.
Unertl was able to provide the defensive spark after he joined the team before week three. His size (6’2") and speed helped to defend some of the better receivers in the league. His eight interceptions were a team high this season as were his 74 tackles.
After Gispert’s injury during warm-ups in week one, the Rush went through the next two weeks trying to find a quality kicker. Then along comes Dan Frantz, coming off of knee surgery in 2005 and looking to find a home again in the league, who just takes over. Even Gispert, who I am a fan of and should kick again in this league, could not match the success of Frantz who connected on 52.9% of his field goal attempts this season and made some huge kicks for the team in critical situations. His three fields goals of over 50+ yards in the playoffs have provided some much needed points. In my opinion, the 52-yard field goal that he hit just before halftime yesterday was the key play that got the Rush to this year’s big game. It took guts for the Rush to make this move after Gispert had been solid for the past three years.
In the six games that Dantzler has played late in the season, he put up 26 catches for 5 touchdowns and made himself a legitimate third option for Rush QB Matt D’Orazio.
After coming out ahead of Michael Bishop during training camp and being in and out of the praises of Hohensee all season, D’Orazio has stepped up to be one of the better QBs in the league this season. He led the league this season with a 126.2 QB rating, led the league in rushing with 200 yards, and threw only five interceptions.
Probably the main reason for D’Orazio’s improvement late in the season was the addition of a guy that can make big catches for you when you need him to. In just five games with the Rush during the regular season, Bobby Sippio cured a number of ills for the Rush offense scoring 17 touchdowns on 38 receptions and averaging just over 130 yards per game. He is the big play receiver that has according to Coach Hohensee, "said and done all of the right things since he has been here." Sippio is now signed with the Rush through the 2008 season.
After putting together this current Rush roster halfway through season, the challenge of getting them to understand the system and play well together was a tough one for Hohensee and his coaching staff.
"It’s hard work," says Hohensee. "It’s extra meetings, it’s a little ‘Rah Rah’ here and there, it’s putting up with little mistakes a little bit more than you normally would. You have to be more tolerant so the guys keep pushing and wanting to learn and not just saying I’m going to get yelled at for messing up."
Typically when a team makes that many changes late in a season, it is tough to believe that they have a chance to be successful right away. Rush General Manager Mike Polisky told me during the last home game (that seemed so long ago) "once the playoffs start, everyone starts even again. We think we have set ourselves up to be a legitimate threat in the playoffs."
Mike, I now believe you!!!
After winning three out of their last four regular season games to qualify for the playoffs, the Rush have now pulled off three straight road victories in the playoffs against Nashville, last year’s champion Colorado, and now San Jose.
The week the playoffs started, Hohensee gave each of his team members an ArenaBowl itinerary and told them that it could be their schedule if they worked hard and put in a full team effort. That dream is now a reality and the Rush have made it to the ArenaBowl.
Credit goes to the coaching staff, front office, and especially the players for putting in the hard work and having the dedication to turn this season around after a very rough start. They made all the right moves and have put everything together at the right time. And as a result, they deserve to be headed to this year’s ArenaBowl.
Jeff has been writing for ArenaFan.com since 2004. Originally from New York, Jeff has been living in the Chicago area for the past ten years and is an avid football fanatic. He holds a BA in communications from Hofstra University in New York and a sports management certificate from Loyola University in Chicago.
