The Determined Champions
Tim Ball
Friday February 23, 2007
A DVD produced by the Chicago Rush franchise for its fans entitled The Determined Champions, The Story of the 2006 Chicago Rush, tells a story that should move every person involved with any football team.
Champions are good role models and the Chicago Rush has pointed the entire AFL forever in the right direction.
Never again are disappointments and discouragement a place to give up.
As we enter the third decade of the Arena Football League, a special film has been made about one of the most incredible seasons in football history.
On February 8th at the Rosemont Theatre in Chicago, thousands of Rush fans braved frigid below-zero weather to join their team in a celebration of the 2006 Championship season and to be part of the players receiving their rings.
As the throngs of fans interacted with players and coaches in the Rosemont Theatre the Rush management handed out The Determined Champions DVD highlighting the 2006 season. It was a gift given out as a thank-you to fans that literally never quit their team for one moment.
Written and produced by Mike Alzamora, Rush Vice President of Communications, along with co-producers Curt Gruber and Adam Dew, the film chronicles a season that will live as a reminder that winning and losing is just a matter of perspective and giving up is never necessary.
While the DVD showcases a team that wins the Championship, with great highlights of fantastic plays; it does not sugarcoat for a moment the path to that victory.
Just before the Rush players were to receive their rings, the lights in Theatre were dimmed and a screening of the film was offered to the immense crowd of excited Rush fans seated for the event.
While the cheers and jeers rang out through the Rosemont Theatre at the sight of diving catches and severe tackles showcased in the film, silence dwelled throughout the seats many times as the realization of what it took to win the Championship was seen in detail.
Incredible moments and great interviews with players and coaches are not this films only strong point. What the film brings to life is that the “never-say-die” attitude is not just a speech given by a coach, but as a mindset, can take a team all the way to the championship.
That night at the Rosemont has come and gone, but the film produced for that night has important implications for a long time to come.
The story of the 2006 Chicago Rush is one for the ages.
As a fan, it shows that supporting your team win, lose, or draw can mean all the difference in the world. Don’t give up on your team and they won’t give up on you.
For a player, it shows that all that hard work, which goes unseen, does payoff.
If you are a coach, it will show that it takes guts to make the moves that will bring about winning.
And for ownership and staff, it shows that when all things are in place the outcome is fantastic.
Thousands of Determined Champions
The Rush suffered many disappointments in 2006 not only losing its first two games and juggling a roster of different players, the team and fans also endured a six game losing streak mid-season that had the team hardly a footnote to league observers.
And when finally finding their feet and getting some deserved wins, Chicago was slammed by a devastating 55-20 loss to the Georgia Force with only two-games left in the regular season.
At a place where most organizations would start looking to next year, the Rush somehow turned defeat into motivation.
On the DVD is a chronicling of a trip to the ArenaBowl that will forever be an example for any and all teams to call on.
At 5-9 with only two games left in the season, the idea of the Rush even making the playoffs was as dim as the headlights of a total wreck.
Somehow, some way the Chicago franchise fixed things in the most improbable run to a Championship in league history.
For all time, proving that from losses, adversity and disappointment; comes motivation, drive and an example of success that no one, neither athlete, fan or franchise ownership can ever forget.
Not just highlights
What transpires in The Determined Champions video is anything but a fairy tale of glad tidings. Chicago suffered much travail before it reached its happy ending. While the highlights sizzle, the dark and cold spots in the season are where the video shines.
When Chicago beat Las Vegas 67-47 and looked to be turning things for a stretch-run, their next game should have proven a back-breaker as the Rush was dominated by the Georgia Force 55-20 with just three games remaining in the season.
For those that like honesty with their reality, Alzamora records the low points of a season that would eventually lead the Rush to the pinnacle of success. What is the truth of the 2006 season, marks a place in history fall all to take witness of.
Not sparing anyone, with the voice of veteran announcer Tom Dore narrating the film the DVD sets an ominous tone going from highlight to disaster without so much as a flinch:
“The win over Las Vegas was, without question, the team’s best performance in two-months. With just three games remaining, and the Rush fighting for a playoff spot, Chicago knew it still had a great deal of work ahead of it. But everyone was feeling like the team had turned the corner,” says Dore.
What one would expect at this point would be the rah-rah speech from a Head Coach or the finger wagging of never-say-die fans.
But what we get is stone-cold football reality:
“But waiting around that corner,” declares Dore, “was a brick-wall . . .”
“The Force,” continues Dore, “apparently was not impressed with Chicago’s recent success.”
At this point the film turns to a player that earlier in the video was showcased for his on-field talent. OL/DL John Moyer is not only a fan favorite, but is known league-wide as one of the toughest players in the game.
Now it would be the realization of other determined teams that would motivate the Rush players:
“The loss to Georgia was a bad defeat for us,” says Moyer. “That might have been the turning point of the season. That bad of a loss might have just kicked us into the drive that we needed.”
And with a narrators dire voice Dore doesn’t forsake the drama:
“With the team’s record at five and nine and the knowledge that the Rush would have to win its last two games of the regular season to make the playoffs,” warns Dore, “the prospects seemed dim.”
Moyer goes on at this point to say that the team met together after the Georgia loss to refocus and as he puts it: “In the Arena Football League,” says Moyer, “you’re never out of it.”
In the five games after that team meeting, the Chicago Rush was the World Champions of Arena Football with a convincing 69-61 victory over the Orlando Predators.
”Never out of it”
The Rush, at 5-9 and with those two games left, should have expected empty seats at the last home game of the season.
And in all fairness, sometimes the best fans in the league, the best players, or the best team don’t always make the championship game.
But, in the case of the 2006 Rush, there is a strong case that all were in place from the loud and spirited home-opener in Chicago to Las Vegas cheering for a Championship well-earned.
From now on every team and every fan has the example of the 2006 Rush forever to shine a light on any season.
Here’s an example:
With Chicago at nine-losses, more than 16,000 Rush fans packed the house for the final regular season game against the Utah Blaze and watched the Rush open up with a 35-0 lead on the way to a 67-47 win.
In the film Etu Molden is on the field after the game giving an emotional speech to the fans declaring that the Rush would bring the championship trophy to Chicago.
Molden and his teammates would not let those people down.
Rush fans would see their team win every game from that point on.
And on the last play of ArenaBowl XX, it was the Chicago fans that would receive the last pass of the championship game, as Matt D’Orazio threw the ball up into a section filled with Rush fans as time expired.
A perfect ending to a great story.
History in the making
Determined Champions of any season make it with a combination of many things. None more important than talent, leadership and support.
In Alzamora’s gem of a film we have more than a glimpse of what goes on through the most amazing season to date in AFL history.
In the case of the 2006 Chicago Rush, they can boast of having every angle covered.
They have the documentation and hardware to prove it, as the ArenaBowl Trophy resides in the Windy City.
I’m hoping (and I have mentioned this to Mr. Alzamora), that The Determined Champions, The Story Of The 2006 Chicago Rush, makes it into mass production. It is a valuable film for many reasons.
What Alzamora and the Chicago franchise set out to record for Rush posterity, is an example for every team to follow.
The Determined Champions DVD should be in the video library of everyone involved in the AFL. Though it is intended for the season-ticket holders in Chicago it is work that far surpasses what it was intended for.
It is not just for Chicago Rush fans. It is a lesson to be studied and applied to every game in every season from now on.
The Chicago Rush franchise, its players, coaches, corporate staff and fans, have the set the bar for loyalty and commitment that should have every individual - claiming to support this league – actually believing that they to can achieve what the Rush accomplished in 2006.
After watching The Determined Champions DVD many times one thing struck me above all else . . . a sell-out crowd and their team at five-wins and nine-losses.
The team that never gave up.
If any team in the history of the AFL deserved to win a Championship, it was the Chicago Rush.
There is already a copy of The Determined Champions for sale on ebay.com.
I recommend it highly. This film is a testimony of an entire league.
I have urged the Rush management to produce this film for sale to everyone.
“We know how special this team is and the fans that never once gave up on us. We are all in this together,” said Alzamora. “We created this video as a way to show our appreciation to the best fans in the AFL.”
Tim Ball is a writer in the Chicagoland area. Married and father of three, his opinions on Arena Football reflects the positive aspect of the game as a family event second to none in pro sports.
