Rampage owner ecstatic with 2008 season
Chip Burch
Monday August 11, 2008
The surprise team of the Arena Football League this year was the Grand Rapids Rampage. The team made it's first foray into the postseason since 2003 despite ending up with a 6-10 record, just two games better than where they finished last year.
The Rampage even made it as far as the American Conference championship game, where they lost to the San Jose SaberCats, defying critics who said they couldn't get that far.
Owner Dan DeVos couldn't be happier with the result.
DeVos spoke to ArenaFan.com after a press conference in which the other team he owns, the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins, introduced their new head coach, Curt Fraser.
AF: Dan, how ecstatic were you with how far the Rampage went this year?
DeVos: I tell you, I was so pleased with the team, how they came together at the end of the year. They had it going when they needed it to go. It was just a thrill to see it all come together.
AF: Then you had to be excited about the future of the Rampage, especially with no TV, no radio, and now all of a sudden they get on ESPN and they get that little bit of exposure in the playoffs, showing they have a decent team, too.
DeVos: Yeah, they do. The coaching staff came in and in just one season they were able to get the right personnel on the field and make that work. It's hard to get them to gel immediately but they got them peaking just at the right time, and it's certainly a great base going into next year. I think they had enough momentum at the end of this year to carry us into the beginning of next year. We're really looking forward to next year.
AF: Evaluate Steve Thonn and his performance in his first year.
DeVos: I think it was more than we could have hoped for. We know that the arena teams can be turned around fast. To be able to turn around this fast and really get that far in the playoffs, to be playing San Jose for a chance to go to the ArenaBowl, that's pretty incredible in my book. To make it happen that fast, and I give Steve all the credit for making the year what it was.
AF: With arena football, you're going to have a big turnover of players. What's your expectation for the players and the team for next year then?
DeVos: We're working at locking in the key players for our team – and certainly there will be a lot of turnover with that – but the players have responded well to Steve and they like playing for him and his coaching staff, and that certainly makes things easier. They like playing in Grand Rapids. So I think we have to keep a very good core of players for next year, and then we'll have to supplement them with additional players. So I'm very confident that we'll have a very strong team on the field coming up next season.
AF: Do you see James MacPherson coming back next year?
DeVos: We're planning on it, yeah. We're doing everything we can to make that happen. He certainly got the season exciting with some of his high-scoring games and his passing. He was certainly a key to the whole year.
