I Don`t Know Art, But I Know What I Like
Scott Miller
Tuesday February 18, 2003
An announced crowd of 12,521 was sharing none of my caution and cheered and jeered as the Las Vegas Gladiators overcame a 21-point fourth quarter deficit and defeated the Tampa Bay Storm 61-55 in overtime. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an exciting home opener.
Audentes Fortuna Iuvat (Fortune Favors the Bold)
Monday night’s game featured fewer careless or damaging penalties than last week. One noteworthy penalty was a Las Vegas false start; the excited crowd was so loud that the players could not hear the quarterback. With approximately four minutes left in the second half, the Gladiators were called for pass interference. On the next play, Jeroid Johnson intercepted John Kaleo and scored a touchdown.
God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Turnovers were still a problem for the Gladiators. Three fumbles resulted in 18 Storm points. In fact, the game ball should be awarded to the entire Gladiator defense for keeping the team within striking distance despite the offensive errors. Of course, another game ball should be awarded to Storm kicker Pete Elezovic, who went 1 for 6 (3 missed points after touchdown and two missed field goal attempts) on the evening. That included a missed 54-yard field goal attempt with one minute remaining in regulation.
Another factor is that neither team seemed able to close the deal. With little more than one minute remaining, Tampa Bay receiver Sai Poulivaati was wide open and dropped the pass, forcing the unsuccessful field goal attempt and sending the game to overtime tied at 55.
The Storm had the first possession in overtime. However, on fourth down and with a totally ineffective kicking game, they went for the touchdown. The Gladiators took over on downs and scored to win the game 61-55. You could not have asked Hollywood to script a better home opener.
Both players and the head coach regarded this victory as a potential turning point in their season and a way of putting last week’s loss behind them.
I admit I don’t know art but I know what I like. And, I like the way the Gladiators looked in this victory, reducing the number of errors and refusing to give up. The Gladiators travel to New York this week and return home on March 2nd to face the San Jose SaberCats.
Scott Miller is a professional computer geek and talk show host in Las Vegas. His show is streamed live from klav120am.com on Fridays at 8PM. Archives of his show, The Usual Suspects can be found at his website.