Firebirds Head Into Critical Week Eleven
Steve Sgambelluri
Friday June 23, 2000
If the Albany Firebirds checked themselves into a hospital, they would be immediately rushed into the intensive care unit and put under 24-7 attention.
Luckily, time heals wounds, but as far as the Firebirds are concerned, time will have to wait another week.
Albany enters Week 11 finding itself atop the Eastern Division, sporting a 7-3 record. The ‘Birds head south to National Car Rental Arena in Sunshine, Florida to face the Florida Bobcats on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.
After Saturday, Albany is looking at it’s bye week with opens arms and hopeful hearts. The team doesn’t return to action until July 8, when they visit the Houston Thunderbears and a week off seems to be just what the doctor ordered for this team. But before vacation, one more week of work remains.
“It’s not like baseball or basketball, when you can lose one game and bounce back the next night,” veteran receiver Greg Hopkins said. “We all can’t wait for our week off, but we can’t overlook Saturday either.”
The vacant week comes in near perfect timing for Albany. They are still without key players in Derek Stingley, Tim Brown, Leroy Thompson and Jay Jones.
Stingley is questionable for Saturday, while Thompson will play at about 90%. Brown’s status looks to be a question mark for the remainder of the season and Jones needs a few more weeks for his broken wrist to heal properly.
“We’ve got a veteran squad,” Hopkins said. “We’ve had this scenario before, just not as severe. If we can get healthy and back on track, we’ll be in excellent shape.”
Albany owns a convincing 7-1 edge against Florida in the all-time series. The lone Bobcat victory came in 1993, when the team was then known as the Miami Hooters. All accolades aside however, Albany head coach Mike Dailey knows the importance of this contest.
“Every win is a win, but it’s more difficult to win on the road,” Dailey said. “It’s important to have guys that contribute. It’s definitely important for us to win and feel good about ourselves and get healthy.”
In their last meeting, Albany pounded the Bobcats 71-39 at Pepsi Arena. This season, Florida finds themselves in fourth place at 3-6 in the Southern Division. However, they could very easily sport a much better record by virtue of just a couple of plays.
“We match up very well with them,” Dailey said. “They have a much better team than their record indicates.”
The Bobcats have a big time receiver in Curtis Ceaser, who has grabbed 47 balls totaling 520 yards and 8 touchdowns. Along with Ceaser, Jack Jackson rounds out the talented receiving corps. Jackson broke out last week in Florida’s 63-49 loss to Los Angeles, contributing 120 yards and 3 touchdowns.
However, one Achilles heal that Florida may have is it’s inability to name a permanent quarterback. Both Jim Arellanes and Clemente Gordon have been in relief of each other the last three games. In order for Florida to make a push at the playoffs, one will need to step forward.
 Mike Pawlawski Image courtesy of Andrew Mason |
Hopkins leads the air attack, totaling 79 catches for 912 yards and 22 touchdowns. Pawlawski is completing better than 68% of his passes while kicker Nelson Garner has hit on 8-16 field goal attempts and 71-76 PAT’s.
These next four weeks may prove to be the ultimate test for the defending ArenaBowl Champs. After the bye week, Albany travels to Houston and Iowa and doesn’t return home until July 23, when they host the Orlando Predators. If they can win on the road, that would be a giant step in gaining confidence and momentum heading into the playoffs.
“Our main thing is to continue to put ourselves in a better position for the playoffs,” Dailey said. “Hopefully, all the guys who are filling in will be able to step up.”
“We control our own destiny,” Hopkins said. “We put ourselves in a tough spot the last two games. We’re 7-3, it could be a lot worse. We just need to remember work first, then vacation.”
A much needed vacation if you ask the Albany Firebirds.
Steve Sgambelluri was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
