Gluski vs. Penn; Next Week Practices Test Both
Keith Murphy
Friday April 26, 2002
Why would Porter trade a player as valuable as Gluski for “future considerations”? Siegfried says that Porter had a strategic reason to trade him to Cape Fear. “If we played Macon down the road this season, I don’t think he would have traded him to us. The only way we would play them is in the conference championship game and that is so far down the road. I think Kevin Porter would take that gamble.”
Siegfried said that soon after the announcement, he got a call from starting quarterback Vic Penn. “I told him, ‘Vic, you’re the starter. It’s your job to lose.’” Siegfried also made the situation clear to Gluski, “I told Mike if he’s [Penn] playing well I can’t justify pulling him.” Both Penn and Gluski have performed well so far this season combining for a 5-1 record.
The competition for the starting job should be intense. Siegfried admits that not much separates the two. “Athletically they are very similar. Vic’s a very good quarterback. The advantage Mike has is experience.” In fact, Gluski was 8 and 2 as a starter during Macon’s playoff run last season and 3 and 0 as a starter this season. Penn’s only AF2 starts have been his three this season. “It’s going to be interesting. The competition level has been increased dramatically. It’s time for Vic to move to the next level. I’m going to sit back and let it play itself out.”
Siegfried knows that the competition will be difficult on him as well. “It should make my job harder. It’s my job to do what’s in the best interest of my team. Kevin Porter did that in Macon and it probably shocked a lot of people. But, again, Mike Gluski hasn’t been promised anything.”
Siegfried and his staff haven’t been playing on the beach during their bye week, instead they have been out recruiting. “It’s my job to make sure we get the best players we can get. Until we are dominating this league, that’s my job.” The recruiting has included evaluating former college players who had hoped to be taken in the National Football League’s draft but now find themselves looking for another avenue into professional football.
The Wildcats’ next game will be Thursday night, May 2 as the ‘Cats travel to Richmond hoping to slow the Speed.
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
