Random Thoughts
Dan Ryan
Thursday March 1, 2001
AFL purists may be lamenting the transfer of Iowa and Albany, saying that it’s like losing their Green Bay. If that’s the case, then why didn’t AF2 keep its Green Bay, which just happened to be in Green Bay in the form of the Indoor League’s Bombers?...
The Nickname Game: New nicknames include Phantoms, Gladiators and Dragons. This proves there is still hope and creative options do in fact remain for teams ending in -s... Why does every sports league outside of the big four have at least a Storm or a Fury?... New jersey Gladiators? Hmph. When I think of New Jersey, Russell Crowe doesn’t come to mind, Bruce Springsteen does. The New Jersey Bossmen...yeah, that`s the ticket.
While "Rush’’ works for Chicago, I wish they would have decided on the Chicago 34s in honor of Sweetness, the late great Walter Payton... There’s an expressway bearing my name in C-Town. It’s dangerous and full of pot holes [Insert your punchline here]... Still haven’t gotten the memo from Arenafan owner and editor Kevin Sheller whether or not our stylebook states Storm is singular or plural...
Mike Ditka is no longer with Chicago. No Ditka, no: "Da Rush"... Maybe we can salvage this with some other connections with Rush -- that’s it -- sign Geddy Lee or that blow-hard Limbaugh...
This comes from the heart: The Storm and Predators press row won’t be the same without PR powers Charlie Winham and Dan Pearson, but it looks like you’ve left things in good hands.
Another national signing day endured. Is it just me, or have the so-called experts and web columnists turned this non-event into more than what it is? These kids are still in high school. They still are not old enough to vote. Let them be kids for a little while longer before you start living vicariously through them. Does William Shatner need to update his "Get a Life" speech for you recruiting junkies?
 Webbie Burnett lines up against Carlos Fowler in Orlando Image courtesy of Joe Kauffman |
To all those media and XFL haters, here’s a clue: It’s called a remote. No one is holding a gun to your head. Don’t like it, then don’t &^$%#% watch...
It’ll be good to see Pat O’Hara in a starting role again, even though it’s in Toronto and he’s just paving the way for some future youngster to take over in a year or two. Blame Oliver Stone... Carolina fans, enjoy Webbie Burnett. As good a person off the field as is he on.
The Florida Bobcats are destined to be the league pariahs another year, but that’s what they get for trading Fred McNair, which on paper, was one of the worst deals since Jack traded a cow for a couple of beans...
Dan Ryan has been involved with all forms of arena football since 1988, including writing for ArenaFan when Joe Kauffman and Tim Capper aren’t killing his columns because they don’t get his jokes or perspective. His day job is at Bethune-Cookman University, which has produced both an NFL Hall of Famer (Larry Little) and an Arena Football Hall of Famer (Stevie Thomas) and his hobby is tracking how many f-bombs Adam Markowitz drops in the chat room on game nights.
