Battle of the Bays I
Keith Antigiovanni
Friday April 26, 2002
“There is a definitely a rivalry. We call it the “Battle of the Bays”. Mobile and Pensacola are only 60 miles apart. It doesn’t matter whether were playing football, backgammon or horseshoes both teams want to win,” Wizards Head Coach Chad Lindsey said.
After playing respectable in its first two games against Florida and Birmingham the Wizards thrashed last week at Tennessee Valley losing 72-28. “They beat us up front physically and kept our offense pinned down the entire time. On offense their line protected the quarterback and gave him plenty of time. When you have that much time nine times out of ten then your going to complete the pass and make big plays,” Lindsey said.
As a result of last weeks’ loss the Wizards made numerous roster changes which is not a surprise considering they are an expansion team and have only played three games. “We upgraded our roster the past week. We want guys who will work hard and play hard for us. We need guys who can do the little things because the teams that have success are the ones who can do the little things,” Lindsey said.
You figure something has to give tonight as the af2’s lowest scoring offense(Mobile) faces the lowest scoring defense(Pensacola). In a game dominated by offense this could be Mobile’s night. Shoring up the quarterback situation will be important if Mobile’s offense has any chance of getting in gear. “Right now I’m not quite sure who will be starting. Both John Holmes and Billy Luckie had a good week of practice. I’m going to make a game-time decision based on a gut-feel,” Lindsey said.
The coach added that the Wizards have a “quarterback competition” not a “quarterback controversy”.
Will all the road games played be a factor for the Wizards tonight? Lindsey doesn’t believe so and isn’t going to let that get into his players heads. “The road games are a non-factor. We knew our schedule going in and we cant help but play the cards dealt to us,” He said.
Keith Antigiovanni is a free-lance writer in San Diego, California. He has worked for several local newspapers covering sports, government and business. Keith started writing in 1995 after graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Media Communications from the University of San Diego. Aside from working as a sportswriter he has a side business of providing marketing assistance/research for small businesses and also directs,produces and hosts a regular public access television show on Time-Warner Cable named "San Diego Yesterday". Antigiovanni is also a member of the San Diego Sportswriter Association.
