Records Mean Nothing to Kats
Charliy Nash
Saturday June 30, 2001
Likewise, when I mentioned that Oklahoma’s Brian Goolsby leads the league in rushing, the Kats players were unaware of the record. “Is he? I didn’t know that. I’ll have to shut him down then, get me some more yards,” said FB/LB Travis Reece, one of three Kats with over 100 rushing yards, “As long as we keep winning, I don’t care about that too much. I’d rather keep getting the W’s.”
FB/LB Rupert Grant said of the game plan for Goolsby, “We approach everybody the same way. T. Reece and myself watch film together -- not only us two, but the whole offensive and defensive line. We sit around and watch these guys and try to take advantage of their weaknesses. We see so far that he’s a pretty sound player, but we have better talent than them and we’ll take advantage of that when we get the opportunity.”
Defensive back Ron Carpenter is more concerned with stopping the Wranglers passing game with QB Ron Lopez and OS Lamont Cooper. “We’re getting a handle on the routes they like to run,” he said, “I’ll be on [WR/LB Bobby McGowens] most of the night.” The Wranglers loss to San Jose last week provided the Kats with some clues on defending Oklahoma’s explosive offense. “San Jose did a good job against them. They kind of did some things to take away their receivers and left him only one option. We’re checking that out and we’re trying to shape our game plan to add some of the things that San Jose did to them.”
The game plan is not being based completely on the Wranglers loss to the Sabrecats. “You’ve got to look at them at their best and them at their worst,” explained Pat Sperduto, “They played pretty well against Houston and took them to the shed. That’s a credit to them. We obviously struggled with Houston. That’s a team we wanted to see them against, then we also looked at them against San Jose, we looked at them against Arizona.”
A New Attitude
Before the Buffalo game Rupert Grant was exhorting his teammates to have fun. The players seemed more relaxed and loose in the tunnel than they did going into some other games. “We were taking these games too seriously,” admitted Grant, “we were worried about the playoffs long before the playoffs had started. We’re going back to how we played earlier in the year, just having fun and winning the games one at a time.” Concentrating on playoff seeding, the Kats put too much pressure on themselves, setting up disappointing losses to Grand Rapids and San Jose which were fueled by penalties.
It’s no surprise that “Dogghead” (Grant) would be the moving force behind this more relaxed approach. “He’s a leader,” said coach Pat Sperduto, “He lightens up the atmosphere and loosens everybody up.”
But I’ve Been to Oklahoma
The Kats have never played in the Myriad Center, but a few of their players are familiar with Oklahoma City. DS Adrian Lunsford grew up in nearby Lawton, OK, and OL/DL Bruce McClure spent his college days at the University of Oklahoma. “I think I’m going to need about 50 or 60 tickets,” laughed McClure, “I think between me and Adrian and a couple other guys from Texas we’re going to have about a hundred some people there, maybe more.”
Injury Update
I caught up with the teams Senior Medical Consultant, Nick Pappas, and asked him to review his patients.
WR/LB Darryl Hammond’s shoulder injury is not as bad as originally thought. “Darryl will be back. The coaches will hold him out this week, but he’ll probably be ready for action next week.”
DS Robert Davis continues to recover from a hip flexor injury. “Davis is doing pretty good as well. He’s practiced all week and is looking pretty good.”
OL/DL William Gaines injured his big toe in the San Jose game. “William as well had recuperated from his injury and practiced through the week. He’s still a little banged up, but he’s a tough warrior and he’ll be back as well.”
OL/DL Ben Crosland became nauseated after taking a hit to the head in the San Jose game. “Ben’s got a concussion. He’ll probably be held out this week, and will probably resume practice next week.”
Playoff Picture
Going into this week the Kats are the fifth seed. If the playoffs began this week the entire Southern Division would be playing. The Kats need outside help to move past any of the teams in front of them, which leaves Kat fans in the uncomfortable role of rooting for the Orlando Predators this Sunday when the “War on I-4” continues in Tampa Bay.
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.
