Gonna Be a Cat Fight
Charliy Nash
Saturday April 28, 2001
Bigger Badder Bobcats
They’re definitely on the same page. Everyone I asked about the Florida Bobcats’ defense answered with the “A” word (no, in this case that is not “Arrington”). “They’re a little more aggressive than what we’ve seen.” explained Nashville offensive coordinator Marty Lowe. “They’re aggressive and love contact and play a lot of zone,” agreed receiver Tyronne Jones, “We just have to go in with the right game plan and defeat them.”
Nobody in Music City is taking the Bobcats lightly. Nobody sees their victory over Orlando as a fluke. “They seem to be improved vastly from last year,” observed lineman James Baron, “They look tough on the nose; they look tough on the edges; they’ll be a better football team than what we’re used to seeing.” Tyronne Jones added, “It will be a good fight, a good game fight.” Head Coach Pat Sperduto summed it up best, “The bottom line is Florida is 1-1, we’re 1-1. We beat Orlando, Florida beat Orlando. We lost to Tampa, Florida lost to Tampa. We’re the same team right now. We’re going to find out Saturday night who is the better football team.”
Krippled Kats
Adrian Lunsford may have to start wearing a “Hello, My Name is” nametag as he anchors the secondary of the week for the Kats. Kirk Pointer has a foot injury and may be joining the very crowded Injured Reserve list. John Williams, who had never even seen an Arena Football game before his seven-tackle performance against Orlando, is one of three players out for the year with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament. So this week’s defense will feature some combination of Robert Davis, Cliff Green, and Steve Johnson.
Great Scott
Freddie Scott’s excellent second half performance against the Storm may have surprised some people, but not Marty Lowe. “Freddie’s a competitor. Every time the competition gets hot, gets a little fierce. It’s always the same guys stepping up time after time again. The Darryl Hammonds, the Tyronne Joneses, the Freddie Scotts. It wasn’t a surprise to me.” Lowe compares Scott to a utility player in baseball, “He can play any position at any time we need him to. He knows the offense front to back. It’s good to have a guy like that around. It gives you a little consistency and a little confidence boost too.”
Some of Scott’s success came from a game plan that used speedster Tyronne Jones to set up the defense. “I can’t get all the balls,” joked Jones, “I can stretch the defense, so that’s what I was trying to do. Since I scored early -- quick in the first half -- in the second half we just came back and tried to stretch the defense.”
Return of the X-Men?
Two of the Kats XFLers have been lost to injuries. Fan favorite Jeff Russell tore an ACL in the XFL championship game, and WR/DB Phil Savoy is out with a torn meniscus. Ron Carpenter will join the team on Sunday. Dell McGee is getting married this weekend and is scheduled to join the team in a few weeks.
Charliy Nash has covered both incarnations of the Nashville Kats, and now has make the 2 hour drive to Huntsville for an Arena Football fix. He also covers the Tennessee Titans as a blogger for nfl.com and still hopes this will eventually lead to a paying gig.
