Storm Should Make South a Snoozer
Adam Markowitz
Tuesday March 11, 2008
The headline in the South has been Tim Marcum and his Tampa Bay Storm. Though they’re not winning games in the prettiest of manners, a 51-49 victory in Kansas City, and Friday night’s 69-48 thrashing of the Georgia Force are both impressive.
Quarterback Brett Dietz, beginning his first full season as the Storm signal-caller has been efficient this year, posting eight TD passes against just one interception, a long pass at the end of the first half against the Force that had little effect on the outcome of the game. The special teams and defensive have been opportunistic for the Storm, posting a pair of TDs in as many games and four turnovers. Kick returner Sedrick Robinson has been as good as advertised, averaging 22.0 yards per return to go with his three receiving TDs and a net recovery for a score on kick coverage.
As for the rest of the division, it’s been a comedy of errors so far in 2008, and probably will continue for the next four months.
The New Orleans VooDoo were widely accepted as one of the worst teams in the league coming into 2008 and did little to remove that tag after losing by 17 to the Los Angeles Avengers in spite of intercepting Sonny Cumbie three times.
However, times changed for the VooDoo when QB Danny Wimprine took over for the injured Steve Bellisari against the Orlando Predators in Week 2. Though they were playing against arguably the worst defense in the AFL to date, Wimprine went 27-of-37 for 311 yards and six scores against what used to be a vaunted Predators D.
Despite victory over Orlando, the VooDoo can’t be considered a real threat to the Storm unless they show a real sign of improvement in the coming weeks. They’ll get their chance to prove that Week 2 wasn’t a fluke when they take on Tampa Bay this weekend.
Once a proud 14-2 team, Doug Plank’s Georgia Force have opened up the season with back-to-back losses. Though these losses were against very quality opponents (Dallas and Tampa Bay), the offense that put up almost 63 points a game last season is only mustering 44.5 through two games this year. Clearly there has been no replacing departed receivers Chris Jackson and Derek Lee, but the losses on the offensive line and in the secondary are both being felt.
Looking at Georgia’s schedule, one could reasonably see a large string of losses put together by the Force. Hosting Los Angeles is no easy task, and then the team hits the road in Orlando and Utah. Could the defending division champs really start the season 0-5?
For as disappointing as Georgia has been out of the gates, the biggest embarrassment in the Southern Division has to be the Orlando Predators. Though the Preds weren’t expected to challenge Tampa Bay at the beginning of the season, hopes were higher than this. The harsh reality is that Orlando has completely turned the roster over from the team that played in the ArenaBowl two seasons ago, and bringing back veteran DBs Kenny McEntyre and Damon Mason have proved fruitless. Ten rookies highlight the roster, which really isn’t a good sign in general either.
If the Storm can find a way to win this weekend, they will be two games ahead of the VooDoo and at least two games ahead of both Orlando and Georgia. At that point, barring a string of unfortunate injuries, the Storm are going to be either the #1 or #2 seed in the National Conference.
The joke of the whole thing is that at least one (and probably two) other team(s) in the South have to make the playoffs. Technically the other five playoff spots could be filled by the five teams in the Eastern Division, but in all likelihood, those teams will play enough games against each other to knock a couple of them out.
The only good news for Orlando, Georgia, and New Orleans is that everybody else has problems in the conference as well. Philadelphia and Dallas both look incredibly strong and destined for the 2nd season, as does the virtually expansion Cleveland Gladiators.
Columbus hasn’t found a way for their revamped roster to gel yet and New York is still battling injuries to Aaron Garcia.
One of my good friends suggested that the Storm may have the South wrapped up by Kentucky Derby Day (the first Saturday in May). As sad as it sounds, while they’ll be yelling “And down the stretch the come!” at Churchill Downs, the rest of the National Conference may be forced to say, “And down the stretch they limp!” towards the postseason.
Adam Markowitz has followed the Arena Football League since the inaugural season of the Orlando Predators in 1991. He graduated from Florida State University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and History. Whether it be the NFL, college football, the Canadian Football League, or the AFL, Adam always makes time to get in his football fix regardless of what time of year it is.
