Maybe Bobby Sippio is the Answer After All in Orlando!
Adam Markowitz
Saturday May 22, 2010
I'm not sure of any nicknames that anyone may have for Orlando Predators WR Bobby Sippio, but I'm officially giving him one after Friday night: "The Answer."
Ok, so maybe I was a tad wrong a few days ago when I said in an article entitled "Bobby Sippio Not the Answer in Orlando" that the Preds' newest signing wasn't going to fix the problems that they had at quarterback, at defensive line, or in the secondary.
Can someone please pass the salt for my crow?
Sippio hauled in a 40 yard touchdown pass in the dying seconds of Friday night's dramatic 58-54 win for the Predators at Amway Arena over the Milwaukee Iron. He ended the day with six catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns. The stats didn't matter. The play did.
I'm not ready to anoint the Predators as a playoff team or god's gift to the AFL, but I will say that Friday night was a refreshing change from what I have seen in past weeks.
The defensive line is still stuck on two sacks. The secondary still looks old and slow. The offensive line still had plenty of breakdowns. The coaching and clock management was still questionable at best at times. I could just as easily say that the only reason that Orlando won this game was because Milwaukee fumbled two kickoff returns to start the game and didn't get its offense on the field until the Preds were already up 17-0.
But what mattered is that the Predators showed some heart on Friday night, and that's what won them the game.
Quarterback Nick Hill threw plenty of ducks on the day, as he had officially had three passes broken up and another one intercepted. When the dust settled, he went 20-of-32 for 314 yards with five TDs and that lone interception. What impressed me though, was his 22 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. When things broke down in the pocket, Hill was able to get out and find some open space.
At one point in the fourth quarter, he and a host of players in black and red successfully pushed a pile of Iron players a solid four or five yards further down the field than Hill would've gained on his own. The Southern Illinois product jumped out of the pile when the play was over, threw a huge fist pump in the air, and played a fantastic game from that point on with the Jungle crowd behind him.
HC Pat O'Hara declined to be interviewed by ArenaFan following the game.
Ok, Orlando. You've got my attention at this point. You're 3-3, you finally have a credible win under your belt, and now you have your hated rivals, the Tampa Bay Storm, making their way up I-4 next week for a huge divisional showdown. Sippio will be going against a Tampa Bay team that he had a cup of tea with back in 2006.
Prove yourself, Sip. Lead the Predators to another victory. After all, you are "The Answer."
