Rampage Outplay Rush
Mary-Ann Williams
Monday July 9, 2001
“I’m not even sure who we play next,” said Rush QB Billy Dicken at practice before the Florida game. “I don’t think beyond this week.”
Maybe, maybe not. The point is, there are games that are more important than others, and Saturday’s game at Grand Rapids should have counted up there at the top.
Grand Rapids has proven themselves contenders to not only be in, but to host ArenaBowl XV. They’ve beaten their main division rivals, the Indiana Firebirds, twice this year. They are the team to beat in the Central Division. Beat the Rampage and you’ve saved face. Just ask Milwaukee.
Add to that, the dominant Rampage barely squeaked out a win over the start-up Chicago Rush in an emotional slugfest at the Allstate Arena seven weeks ago. What more does a team need to fight for a win? Oh, yeah, a three-game losing streak which could potentially knock them out of the playoffs.
If Chicago wanted to re-establish itself as a viable threat to anyone, a win against the Rampage would have been the way to go. Too bad for the impotent Chicago Rush that Grand Rapids didn’t falter Saturday night.
Minimal mistakes and a respectable showing helped the Rush look better than they have been, but didn’t do much to give them the game. The Rampage wiped the Rush out with a score of 79-58. Shoot, by halftime the Rush had fallen behind by 17, 48-31.
Technically, the Rush did fine. Only one interception; no sacks allowed. Dicken had time to get the ball downfield, and his receivers even did a fairly good job of catching and keeping it. Penalties flew, but no worse than any other Arena game, and Chicago has certainly lost a heck of a lot more yards than they did Saturday.
So what went wrong?
“Tackling,” said Chicago head coach Mike Hohensee. “We couldn’t get our hands on them. And Dolezel was on tonight. There’s no doubt about it.” The Rush didn’t give the game away; Grand Rapids took the game away. They merely executed their game plan, something the Rush has been unable to do for weeks now.
The Rampage scored on every possession. They have perfected a wide receiver screen play that stymied the Rush throughout the game. And because the Rampage use it exceptionally well, they know what to do with it on defense. When the Rush tried the same plays, their receivers went nowhere.
The Rush have heart, and a certain amount of talent. I’m tempted to say that the problem is that a first year team just isn’t capable of providing playoff-quality football, but Coach Hohensee took that excuse away five weeks ago. He said at midseason that they no longer counted as an “expansion team.”
“Everyone has the same amount of experience now. There is no rookie and there is no expansion team.”
So now it’s up to the newest Chicago sports team to figure out how to pull themselves out of this funk. It wouldn’t hurt ticket sales to go out on a win… or two. How ‘bout it, guys?
Playoff Picture Hazy
I wish I could say that I still hold out hope that the Rush will make the playoffs, but honestly, I don’t. They could make it. If they take out the resurgent Mustangs and knock off the ArenaBowl XIV champion Orlando Predators, they would be in good position. But those are lousy odds.
Milwaukee has made one heck of a run the second half of the season, going 3-2 since the halfway mark, a great record considering their 0-8 start. Orlando is coming off a loss to cross-state rival Florida and looking to redeem themselves. Neither team is going to drop the win on Chicago without a fight, something Chicago hasn’t been able to answer to in four games.
Mary-Ann Williams lives in Chicagoland with her four children, Carter, Jackson, Jeremy, and Riley Jade. As a freelance writer, she`s written articles for the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Daily Herald. She also serves as editor of the AFL-side of Arenafan Online, and covers the Chicago Rush.
