First Round Picks From Hoh
John Hoh
Thursday July 26, 2001
Who would have guessed that BOTH expansion teams would make the playoffs, while the Mustangs not only miserably fail, but also are quite possibly packing franchise bags? Houston wasn’t expected to be in the post-season dance, but I thought they had more talent than a 3-11 team.
Buffalo was a disappointment. I thought Ray Bentley had them headed in the right direction after their amazing turn-around last year. And indeed the Destroyers started strong, but faltered down the stretch and miss the playoffs, despite improving upon last year’s record. Carolina and LA were surprises. And Toronto has a division winner—the first Canadian division winner in Arena history! And New York finally got a competitive and exciting team.
As the 2001 season drew to a close, the playoff picture found these teams and their seeding:
#1 Grand Rapids Rampage (11-3)
#2 Nashville Kats (10-4)
#3 San Jose SaberCats (10-4)
#4 Tampa Bay Storm (10-4)
#5 Indiana Firebirds (9-5)
#6 Orlando Predators (8-6)
#7 Arizona Rattlers (8-6)
#8 Toronto Phantoms (8-6)
#9 New York Dragons (8-6)
#10 Detroit Fury (7-7)
#11 Chicago Rush (7-7)
#12 Carolina Cobras (7-7)
Which creates the first-round matchups:
Chicago Rush at Orlando Predators
New York Dragons at Toronto Phantoms
Detroit Fury at Arizona Rattlers
Carolina Cougars at Indiana Firebirds
#1 Grand Rapids, #2 Nashville, #3 San Jose, and #4 Tampa Bay all receive byes as the teams with the four best records (the parity in the Eastern Division meant one of the other three divisions would have two bye teams). They will wait till after this week’s action to see whom they will play, because in the playoffs, anything can happen.
Of the teams playing this weekend, I go with the following (Please, this is for my amusement. No wagering!):
Chicago Rush at Orlando Predators
A rematch from last week, when the Rush harried the clawed warriors from the Sunshine State. However, this is the playoffs. Orlando has the edge in experience (three straight ArenaBowl appearances, two AB wins). The QB position is in Chicago’s favor. However, Chicago has been inconsistent all year. I don’t see the Rush marshalling resources a second week in a row. Good start this season for the expansion franchise, though. Pick: Orlando
New York Dragons at Toronto Phantoms
Intra-divisional rivalry, this will be the fourth meeting this season between these two teams (two in the regular season, one in the pre-season). Toronto has won all three previous meetings! Can Toronto, who won the division title, go 4-0 against NY this year? Or will NY, with its explosive offense, blow the lid off this streak? Pick: Toronto.
Detroit Fury at Arizona Rattlers
Two teams coming off season-ending wins, Detroit in a must-win to make the playoffs. Arizona couldn’t go up in the seeding, but could lose home field had they lost at Milwaukee. The Fury was more consistent than their Windy City expansion brother, finding ways to split their games with the top teams in the division. Both teams have capable quarterbacks, but again the experience factor and home field make the Rattlers the favorite. Detroit’s 2-5 away record not sparkling; Arizona an uncharacteristic 3-4 at home. Pick: Arizona
Carolina Cobras at Indiana Firebirds
Carolina is the third team making its first playoff appearance (New York and Toronto appeared last year as the Iowa Barnstormers and New England Seawolves; the Firebirds played as Albany last year). Indiana is coming off a tough loss that knocked them from having a first round bye. Carolina is scrappy with QB Fred McNair. Raymond Philyaw is his equally capable counterpart behind center for Indiana. This could be a closer game than the seedings (#5-#12) would suggest. In the end, Albany, er, Indiana will prevail. Pick: Indiana.
Looking even further ahead, I gaze into my crystal ball (OK, actually a Mustang snow globe) and see the Nashville Kats hosting the San Jose SaberCats on August 19. Meow! Last year the Kats followed the NFL Titans to the league title game before falling. This year both teams won their divisions. But the similarities end with ArenaBowl XV. Kats over the ‘Cats!
John L. Hoh, Jr., is a free-lance writer from Milwaukee who grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, as an avid Dolphins fan. He followed Arena Football since its inception, at one point watching tape-delayed games on low-powered WAV-TV in Waukesha. His happiest day was when Milwaukee was awarded the Mustangs franchise; his saddest when the Mustangs were contracted out of the league. John is married to his wife Maija (13+ years) and has a young son, Matthew. John pines for the return of the Arena Football League to Milwaukee.
