The Way It Was

Matt Eichenblatt
Saturday July 14, 2007

No doubt about it, this one stings.  

The 2007 Georgia Force will be looked back on one day, as the team that started it all, because, the nucleus of this team might lead the way to numerous Arena Bowls, and into the history books. But right now, the season is a massive disappointment.

“The pain that I feel inside right now, it’s very intense,” remarked Head Coach, Doug Plank.

“Our goal all year was to win the Arena Bowl, and to come this far and not fulfill that goal is very disheartening.”

Going into this game, Georgia had it all. They were playing at home where they were 9-0 on the year, the team had another good week of practice and besides Troy Bergeron, the team was healthy.

Besides Troy Bergeron? Yeah, that’s a big ‘besides.’

For the first time all year, Georgia did not score on one of their two opening possessions. With Bergeron out of the lineup, the Columbus Destroyers defense was able to get out of the customary zone and play more physical with the Georgia receivers. What ensued was a lot of timing problems for Force quarterback Chris Greisen, and an alarming amount of unfinished drives. 

“I would have to say I was a little bit hesitant about not having Troy this week,” said Coach Plank. “Can I pin the loss on his absence? No, but missing a major piece like him hurts; his ability to make plays on offense as well as special teams was so important to us all season long.”

If you were to take one positive aspect from this overall dismal day, is the Georgia Force displayed a lot of heart. Down 20 points in the middle of the third, the team could have pulled a Dallas and just folded. Instead, they romped right back to take the lead in the middle of the fourth, and infusing a charge into the raucous crowd that filed into Philips Arena this afternoon. 

Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be.

While hindsight will always be twenty-twenty, you just kind of wonder what would have happened if the Force didn’t trade Matt Nagy. 

I am in no way slighting the decision to acquire Chris Greisen as our starting quarterback. In fact, I love the fact he is our quarterback because he is an outstanding leader, outstanding player, and more than anything, an outstanding person. 

But on this day, Matt Nagy was the better quarterback—and saying that hurts.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” asserted Nagy after the game.

“I just play with such a great group of guys, it means a lot to come in here and win, and go to my second Arena Bowl. Hopefully it goes better for me this time around.”

It is hard to put into words what it feels like to come so far, and to be so dominant the whole way though, and suddenly have it all end. 

The 2007 Georgia Force will always be one of my favorite teams, because the group they consist of are the embodiment of true Arena Football players. They loved to practice together, play together, and win together. 

They never celebrated division titles, or appearances in Conference championship games; they relished in taking the next step towards the ultimate goal: winning the Arena Bowl. My hope is that everyone on this team comes back next year, because there is not one guy on this roster I would trade for someone else, because together these guys are winners.

The site of the 2008 Arena Bowl is not yet announced, but when it is, look for Doug Plank and his staff to circle it on the map, and circle the date on the calendar. In training camp, it will be brought to the attention of everyone in the organization as a reminder of what the ultimate goal is.

When the Force ‘break it down’ for the first time next year to start training camp, I know exactly what they are going to do it to: ‘championship.’

You know why? They really mean it.