The Crossroad Game

Matt Eichenblatt
Saturday April 19, 2008

In any sport, in any league, there comes a game that is not considered big, rather a junction—usually that of good and bad.

With  a 3-3 record heading into week number eight, the 2008 Georgia Force have already hit this fine juncture: win, and you are still on track to being a candidate for Arena Bowl glory, lose, and you might make the playoffs.

With the past two Arena Bowls featuring teams with 7-9 records, I might get a lot of, “well it’s too early to call this game critical, what if they get hot the last two weeks?”
 
Excuse me but, when it comes to winning Arena Bowls, going in with sub .500 records are hardly the norm, rather an extreme rarity that was performed by a team that vastly underperformed in the early parts of the 2006 season, and have since been perennial contenders for the Foster Cup Trophy.

But instead of divulging into useless Arena Football trivia, let’s instead flashback to three weeks ago in Orlando: with three seconds remaining on the clock and the Force trailing the Orlando Predators 50-45, Quarterback Chris Greisen threw a short underneath pass to Wide Receiver Chris Pauley who scurried into the end zone for what looked like to be the winning score in a fantastic game.

Wrong. The referee had signaled that Pauley was touched on the end board just outside of the goal line, nullifying the touchdown and giving Orlando the win. Not to point fingers or anything because as Head Coach Doug Plank said after the game, “It’s our fault we were in that position in the first place,” but that critical phantom call put the Force at 1-3.

Now, regardless of the fact the Force were robbed in Orlando, they did something the past two games that really showed what kind of team they were: one of resolve. 

In 2007, the Georgia Force hardly ever faced adversity as they cruised to a 14-2 record right into the National Conference Championship game. But when they suddenly hit the wall of the Columbus Destroyers, it was too late—there were no games left to prove it.

This Force team has overcome a lot already this season. They’ve lost sixty-five percent of their touchdowns scored last year when Wide Receivers Chris Jackson and Derek Lee took their pass-catching talents elsewhere, and since, have gone through a revolving door of receivers outside of Troy Bergeron. They were robbed in front of 16,000 people in the Jungle against one of their fiercest rivals. They lost their genius-offensive coordinator Steve Thonn to the head coaching position in Grand Rapids. 

Nevertheless, the Force are still in the hunt.

In the Arena Football League, the most important part about the road to the Arena Bowl is simply getting into the playoffs. Last year, teams with home field advantage on the National Conference side had an abysmal 2-3 record on the road the Arena Bowl. Quite simply, home field advantage just isn’t that big of a deal, especially with the nuances of the quirky bounces the AFL has always been famous for.

It would be too cliché to call this rematch with Orlando Predators a “payback” game. Instead it should be considered exactly what it is: Week 8, against the Predators.

Would it be fun to have the National Conference Championship game back in Georgia for the third time in four years? Sure. But while it might be a convenience, it also might be a crutch that too many teams the past two years have leaned on, that has unfortunately broken before the Arena Bowl ever kicked off.

With all of the records and accolades collected last year, it’s time to focus on that one missing achievement everyone shoots for: the Foster Cup.

Hopefully at this juncture, Georgia chooses the right path.