American Pride on the line for San Jose
Andy Lopusnak
Saturday June 14, 2008
The American Conference is woeful this year against the National Conference. The story has been the same for the defending ArenaBowl champions. This season, the San Jose SaberCats are 0-4 against the Nationals and will take on two more in the final two weeks of the season. Their first task will be the five-time ArenaBowl champion Tampa Bay Storm tonight.
When San Jose and Tampa Bay clash tonight it will be a battle between the league’s greatest teams. The Storm dominated the league’s first decade, winning four titles in its first six seasons (along with a fifth in 2003), while the SaberCats have been crowned three times in the last six years. This will be the fourteen between these teams with the SaberCats edging out the Storm 7-6 in the previous thirteen games. Tampa Bay won the first five matchups, while San Jose has won seven of the last eight.
At 7-7, the Storm is fighting for its playoff lives in the National Conference, but would had already clinched a playoff berth and a home playoff game if the team was playing in the American Conference instead of the National.
While Tampa Bay doesn’t know its postseason fate and is likely to need lots of help to reach the playoffs, San Jose does. A win and the SaberCats clinch the Western Division, a first-round bye and a home playoff game. Also if San Jose wins out and Chicago losses out, the SaberCats get home-field advantage until the ArenaBowl for the second straight season.
The Storm began the year 2-5 and has reversed its record in the past seven going 5-2, which included a season sweep over arch-rival Orlando. This year has been highlighted by the strong sophomore season of quarterback Brett Dietz (3.946 yards and 70 touchdowns) and the age-defying performance of receiver/linebacker Lawrence Samuels, who needs a catch for his fourth-straight 100-reception season and two grabs from being the first player in league history to reach 1,000 in his career.
For the SaberCats, QB Mark Grieb is three passing scores from becoming the fifth player in professional football to reach the mark. Receiver James Roe needs 27 receiving yards to join Rodney Wright (1,226) and Cleannord Saintil (1,241) as the first trio of SaberCats receivers to reach 1,000 yards in the same season.
SABERCATS’ KEYS TO VICTORY
KEEP THE PARTY GOING
Mark Grieb has won his last 17 regular season starts in the month of June dating back to 2000. In his last four games, Grieb has completed 74.1% of his passes for 32 yards and a 131.6 passer rating, while being only intercepted twice.
LEADER OF THE SACK
The SaberCats lead the league in sacks (27) and have eight more than their nearest competitor (Dallas and Philadelphia). Tampa Bay QB Brett Dietz has only been sacked three times in the last seven games. As a result, he’s only thrown four picks and the Storm’s record is 5-2. San Jose must get pressure on the reigning AFL Co-Rookie of the Year to help give the SaberCats their first win over a National Conference opponent since last year’s ArenaBowl.
Andy Lopusnak is an 11-year AFL front office veteran, spending time with the Tampa Bay Storm, San Diego Riptide and Grand Rapids Rampage. He works as a statistician for NFL and college sports for CBS Sports and is a freelance photographer. Lopusnak received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of South Florida and has been a fan of ArenaBall since its inception.