One if by Land, Two if by Sea
Scott Reed
Wednesday April 18, 2001
For you combination football/history buffs, Revere served for years as the principal rider for Boston`s Committee of Safety, making journeys to New York and Philadelphia in its service. On April 16, 1775, he rode to nearby Concord to urge the patriots to move their military stores, which were endangered by pending British troop movements. At this time he arranged to signal the patriots of the British approach by having lanterns placed in Boston`s Old North Church steeple: “One if by land and two if by sea.” Two days later he set out from Boston on his most famous journey to alert his countrymen that British troops were on the march.
Now don’t tell me you don’t see the similarities! Iowa at 0-2 get the distinction of being the blue-coats, and Quad City at 2-0 and defending af2 Champions are fitted with the red. The site, “the Barn”, just happens to be just north of an old church, and you can SEA the Des Moines River from the parking lot.
The Steamwheelers are looking for their 22nd conquering in as many tries. A 26th win, which puts them on the shores of Tennessee Valley May 19th, would give them the distinction of holding the longest professional winning streak currently held by the ’21-’23 NFL Canton Bulldogs.
Oh, by the way, May 19th, is not only Armed Forces Day but also in 1962 Stan Musial broke Honus Wagner`s National League hit record with 3,431 and the US performed an atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island. Don’t you just LOVE history!
Iowa returns home after starting out the season on the road for their first two games. Quad City will be traveling for the first time (hopefully heading west on I-80 and not down the Mississippi and up the Des Moines River at Keokuk).
Iowa Head Coach Art Haege and Quad City Head Coach Frank Haege (yes, father and son) will meet for the first time. During a pre-season press conference, Coach Haege (dad) said about his son, “The best thing that could have happened to Frank was to go undefeated and not get af2 Coach of the Year.” Well, you can take that two ways sports fans. Either the message was meant to be a ‘get ‘em next year son and prove AGAIN that you are worth it’ or ‘you are playing me twice this year and if you think I’m going to roll over you’re crazy!’
One thing is for sure, if the Barnstormers don’t keep it close, this could be the highest attendence we see in Des Moines this year. This community will not stand for an 0-3 start. If they win, it will bring new life to the fan base and hopefully corporate sponsorship.
Just remember, even though two lanterns will be hanging in “the Barn” Saturday night, the home team has been known to put up a pretty good fight.
Scott Reed was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2002.
