Finding the Silver Lining: Positives after Empire Drops Home Opener
Ryan McCarthy
Monday April 16, 2018
ALBANY - The Albany Empire hoped to repeat the fortunes of their predecessor Albany Firebirds with a win to open up their team history. Unfortunately, the result was not to be as the Philadelphia Soul defeated the Empire, 56-35, in Albany’s rebirth into Arena Football.
The Empire stayed in the game through the first two quarters until the Soul caught some breaks that enabled them to pull away. An interception, a recovery on a backwards pass, and a net recovery off of a missed field goal turned into 21 points for the Soul.
Although it was a losing effort, there are a couple of silver linings to take away from the Empire’s home opener.
The Crowd: the inaugural game was an official sellout with an announced crowd of 13,648. Those who showed up didn’t forget that Arena Football was back in the area and it was evident from the pre-game block party on South Pearl all the way to opening kickoff. Some fans showed up to the game wearing their old Firebirds gear with pride and anticipation. The loudest pops from the crowd came when the Empire weren’t even on the field. ‘Touchdown’ Eddie Brown was announced as honorary team captain and at halftime when his #17 was unveiled alongside the ArenaBowl XIII championship banner. Throughout the game, the sellout crowd would inspire the defense to some big stops and cheer loud when the offense scored touchdowns. Sadly, as it became evident that the Soul had the game in hand, fans headed for the exits. But the Empire were able to keep the fans in the game for as long as they could. Speaking of which…
The Team: for a team that was put together barely a month ago, the Empire showed tenacity and persistence frequently throughout the game. The defense made a big stop in the second quarter within their own 5-yard line to keep the Empire within striking distance and the fans in the game. They scored on the next possession and hung tight with the more experienced Soul. The Empire defense would make another big stop in the fourth quarter to prevent the Soul from scoring, but the offense could not convert to bring them closer and the Soul put in the final dagger with 5:47 remaining. Regardless of the outcome, give credit where credit is due to head coach Rob Keefe and his coaching staff for getting their players ready in a short amount of time.
The Empire will spend their next two games on the road: they’ll be in Washington, DC next Saturday to face an improved Valor team and then in Baltimore the following Saturday afternoon to face the Brigade. The next home game will be May 5 against Washington and hopefully, the loss and the long layoff between home games won’t deter fans from coming back.
Ryan McCarthy has been an on-and-off Internet columnist and blogger since 1997. He has been an avid follower of Arena Football since 1990 when the Albany Firebirds were established. Ryan currently attends Regent University, where he is pursuing his Bachelors degree in Communications with a Journalism concentration. He anticipates graduating toward the end of 2019. You can follow Ryan on Twitter at @rwhoisryanmcc