Friday the 13th, Part 2
Charliy Nash
Friday July 13, 2001
On April 13th the Kats kicked off the Arena League season by soundly defeating the defending champion Orlando Predators. In what would become a recurring theme in the 2001 season, they knocked Orlando’s starting QB out of the game (and eventually out of the league).
Three months later the opponent is the division leading Tampa Bay Storm. The Kats are looking for lightning to strike twice in the Alley. A win on Friday night would secure the Southern Division championship and give the Kats a first round bye.
And Yet More Injury News
Talk about bad luck. WR/LB L.C. Stevens, just back in the line-up from his second shoulder separation, has now gone back on injured reserve after pulling a hamstring at practice on Tuesday. OS Tyronne Jones, still bothered by a groin injury, is also expected to go on IR, as is OL/DL Aaron Hamilton who injured his hip during practice.
Since the Kats have a week-15 bye, these players will only have to miss one game (the minimum time for IR is two weeks, not two games). Head coach Pat Sperduto indicated that he might activate FB/LB Dan Curran from the practice squad again to fill one of the roster vacancies. QB Andy Kelly has been taking snaps in practice with little difficulty, but backup James Brown is also preparing as if he will start. Brown may see some playing time at receiver, since Jones and Stevens are out and receivers Darryl Hammond (shoulder), Jarrick Hillery (shoulder), and Scott Thomas (ankle) are banged up. Other options being explored include having Curran and defenders Ron Carpenter and Adrian Lunsford play receiver.
“The problem is finding out who can play and who can’t,” said Sperduto. “Some guys are going to be playing not on a full tank, I’m sure. Our motto has been the last three or four weeks, play with the 20 healthiest guys. We don’t even have 20 healthy guys now, we’re down to like 14, and there’s going to be four or five guys playing at half speed.”
WR/LB Cory Fleming’s broken ankle kept him out of the first match-up with the Storm; this week he may be the Kats’ healthiest receiver. “Being able to just walk is a good thing right now,” laughed Fleming. “That’s what an arena season does. You have a lot of injuries, nick knack injuries. That’s what we have, a lot of nick knack injuries, nothing really threatening.”
The late bye week is something of a mixed blessing. A break during the season would have been good, but having it at the end of the season allows for some recovery time going into the playoffs. “I think those two weeks off, a week off the last week of the season, then if we win we get a bye week, that will really help our guys out a lot,” said Fleming.
Same Game Plan
I don’t even ask Sperduto the game plan for upcoming opponents anymore. I already know the answer: knock their quarterback down. Tampa Bay’s offensive line leads the league in providing pass protection, so that may not be an easy task this week.
Lineman C.J. McLain, a big part of the Kats pass rush, was playing in only his second AFL game when the Kats and Storm met early in the season. He has learned and matured since then.
“We work hard as a team,” said McLain. “A lot of the older guys like JB [James Baron] and Big Nasty [William Gaines], they’ve all been trying to help me to learn a bit more about Arena Football. Some of the things that might have worked in (af2) that don’t work here, some of the things that might have worked in college that don’t work here, and some stuff that I can use to help better my game. Hopefully I’ve gotten a lot better since that second week and maybe I can be a lot more productive for the team.”
While many fans see this as a huge must-win game, the team is taking a more relaxed approach, one that FB/LB Rupert Grant describes as, “Quietly confident.”
“We know it’s a big game, but we are ready for the game,” said Grant. “We’re not even worried about what they’re doing per se, offensively or defensively, outside of the regular scouting report. We’re doing what we have to do to get ourselves ready for the game.”
The War on the Web
It’s not quite “The War on I-4”, but a friendly war of words has erupted on the Internet.
Storm fans have begun a little “trash talking” on the katsfan.com message board. I checked to see if the same was happening on the Storm Forum. The Storm’s more Orwellian web site only allows “registered users” to post comments on its moderated board, so there was no battle going on there. (Note: while anyone is welcome on the Kats message board, obscene or obnoxious posts and personal attacks will be deleted.)
All of the Storm fans (as well as other visitors throughout the season) have behaved themselves while engaging in good-natured fun. We’ve even seen Storm fans and Predators fans being civil to one another. I guess you really can find just about anything on the Internet!
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.
