Shock Ready to Ride Out the Storm in ArenaBowl XXIII
Adam Markowitz
Friday August 20, 2010
It only took one step into Spokane Arena on Thursday's Media Day for ArenaBowl XXIII to know that there was something special here. Just take one look in the rafters. Banner after banner after banner are hanging in the end zone just to the left of the scoreboard. Three divisional banners, three conference championship banners, and two ArenaCup banners are all flying high.
On Friday night, an ArenaBowl banner can be added to the bunch if the Spokane Shock can take down the Tampa Bay Storm.
In his State of the League Address, Commissioner Jerry Kurz shared with the media a pair of proclamations. August 20th is now Spokane Shock Day in the state of Washington, while the day is also known as "Paint the Town Orange Day" in the city of Spokane.
Shock head coach Rob Keefe mentioned that this would be the biggest sporting event in the history of the city of Spokane. Though the city doesn't quite have the same sort of buzz that I was expecting when I got off the airplane here, I'm not doubting the fact that over 10,000 will cram into the arena and make life a living hell on the Storm on Friday night.
Confidence was clearly brimming from all of the players and coaches on the Spokane side during Media Day. The Shock aren't just here to enjoy being in the ArenaBowl. They're here to win it.
And why shouldn't they have confidence? Since starting the year just 1-2 at home, the team has rolled off seven straight wins here. As the guests, the Shock have averaged beating opponents by the score of 63.2-53.4. Since allowing 70+ points in the first three home games of the season, Spokane hasn't allowed a single team to score more than 57 points. It has only been held under 57 once this year, including in both postseason games.
If Spokane has one deficiency, it is in a lack of championship experience. QB Kyle Rowley won the championship here with the Shock in 2006, but the only other man to play in an ArenaCup on the active roster for Spokane is WR Markee White.
Though Rowley has had a fantastic postseason this year, throwing 14 TDs without a pick, he doesn't have the most stellar of numbers in the world in the playoffs in recent years. Since throwing 15 TDs and no INTs in the ArenaCup run of 2006, Rowley was woeful in the af2 postseason. He went a combined 47-of-64 for 457 yards with six TDs and six picks in two playoff defeats with the Arkansas Twisters.
Still, Rowley has rebounded this year and should be considered a tremendous threat in this game.
One can tell that Rowley is beaming with confidence, but his feet are remaining on the ground. At Media Day, he told me, "This is just another game" and followed that up with, "Every game is like our championship."
Even though his team doesn't have a lot of experience playing in championship games, Keefe certainly does, both as a coach and as a player. The man in charge of the Shock might only be 29 years old, but he was an assistant coach for the Shock in 2009 when they won the ArenaCup, an assistant for the Philadelphia Soul in ArenaBowl XXII, and a player for Spokane when it won the ArenaCup in 2006.
Bringing a championship to Spokane would clearly be huge to the Shock's young gun head coach. "It means the world that a city that might not have the greatest sports history can host an event this big and this special," said Keefe.
When asked what it would mean to put that ArenaBowl banner up on Friday night though, he was nearly speechless. However, he summed it up with the simplest of answers: "That would just be so special."
