Cats and Birds..Part II
Keith Murphy
Thursday May 16, 2002
The ‘Cats are also still getting a little local armchair coaching from fans and members of the local media who questioned the ‘Cats trading away quarterback Vic Penn and starting Mike Gluski. Siegfried hopes that the offensive unit’s performance this week will help bring an end to the speculation. “Last week, I really didn’t expect us to score a whole bunch of points based on the fact that we had three receivers who hadn’t played the week before. We’re starting to gel a little bit. The line’s coming around and a couple of guys are coming off injured reserve this week so we’re starting to look a little bit better.”
Siegfried was quick to dispel any notion that the quarterback controversy, or any other controversy, affects his team’s play. “They understand this is a business. Mike’s a winner. Vic’s a winner, too, but Mike is a proven winner in this league. Mike Gluski’s advantage is his knowledge of the game. If he stopped playing today I’d hire him as a coach. He’s comfortable here and likes it here which will help us down the road.”
The Wildcats players, according to Siegfried, have come to expect adversity off the field. “Our players have been through so much adversity in five games that I don’t think anything bothers us. On the trip to Norfolk, the bus broke down three times. I had that situation in New Haven where I had to suspend some players. A quarterback controversy…these guys don’t get affected by anything. It’s a amazing how they are all business. I guess that Norfolk trip set the tone. Now if something doesn’t go wrong during the week I think that would affect them more than if something does go wrong.”
One of the ‘Cats strengths this season has been their defense which has been led by E.J. Burt. Burt, a 6-3, 260 pound lineman from West Liberty State leads the league in sacks and is in the top ten in forced fumbles and tackles for a loss. Siegfried says that Burt is a “solid player. He’s a smaller guy who, because of that, uses his speed to his advantage.” Whose skills are showcased because of the defensive strength of his teammates. “He does as well as he does because the other guys on the squad are doing such a good job. If they take away E. J. Burt then Tito Simpson and John Hall or Clinton Cochran end up putting pressure on the quarterback. What other teams are starting to do to E. J. is to hold him and, unfortunately, the refs aren’t calling it all of the time.”
The ‘Cats also face recurring injury problems. “The good news is we don’t rely on any one person. The bad news is we can’t keep our fullbacks healthy. Charles Gunning is probably going to come off injured reserve this week. Unfortunately, we’ll probably be putting Clinton Cochran on injured reserve. For whatever reason the FB/LBs in our system can’t stay healthy. I don’t know what it is. We’ve had five injuries in five games. From a roster situation it’s working itself out. I’m not having to cut anybody. But, I’d really like to have these guys healthy. We’re taking it easier on them in practice hoping that they’ll be healthier down the road. We’ve already had our bye week and this is a long season.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm Saturday at Cumberland County Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville.
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