These Two Teams Don’t Like Each Other
Kevin Sedelmeier
Thursday July 3, 2003
There are also the athlete interview clichés. The “give 100%,” “keep it in perspective,” or “take one game at a time” comments emanate from locker rooms across the country regardless of sport. And then there are the broadcaster clichés. “These two teams – they just don’t like each other.” Now we’ve never heard that one. Maybe it’s an announcer-created case of pseudo-animosity done to hype up an unattractive contest, or maybe it’s completely accurate. Bears-Packers. University of Louisville-University of Kentucky. Florida-Florida State. Well, you can add the Louisville Fire-Peoria Pirates rivalry to the group of genuinely distasteful match-ups.
What it lacks in history, it makes up for in cheap shots, tenacity, and finger pointing. It really doesn’t even matter that the Fire (3-10) has lost seven games in a row. It doesn’t factor in that they have lost their ten games by an average of nearly 24 points. It doesn’t care if the Fire is coming off a 34-point pummeling at the hands of the Green Bay Blizzard who had only one win coming into the game. Rivalries don’t care. But if this game meant more to the teams in the scheme of the playoff picture, it would be a more heated renewal, right? Not really. At this point in the season, dignity means as much as the post season. Pride is a powerful thing.
Peoria comes into the game with a 4-8 record, but undoubtedly, they well remember April 25 when the Fire beat them in Freedom Hall 54-50. It was by far the Fire’s best game of the season, and it ended with police on the field to avert mayhem after a tumultuous and hard fought four quarters.
After that game Peoria Coach Bruce Cowdrey was particularly classy. He would not shake hands with Fire coach Tommy Johnson, who had just enjoyed his first win as a professional head coach. “That hurt me more than it did upset me,” Johnson said, referring to Cowdrey’s snubbing. But Johnson added, “I have no ill feelings against Coach Cowdrey.” Louisville fans, on the other hand, may not be able to say the same thing. They’ve watched him whine and curse at games and even scrimmages in Louisville. Of course, it’s also unlikely Cowdrey is too worried about what Louisville fans or players think. After the game, the Peoria Journal Star reported Cowdrey as calling the Fire “a bunch of average football players.”
When you realize that Cowdrey was one of the first people Johnson called when he got the Louisville head coaching job; when you know that Johnson says he looked up to Cowdrey for his on-the-field success – it’s no wonder it ruffles a few feathers of Fire supporters. Even if the Pirates played without the late hits and thuggish shenanigans, the fact that the foul-mouthed Cowdrey is on the sidelines may give many Fire fans reason enough to root against the Pirates. Maybe he has unofficially become the new Dana Kirk or Hal Mumme for fans of Louisville sports.
There is little to salvage from this season, a season that looked hopeful after the first Peoria game when the Fire was 2-2 but, at times, the season degenerated into an embarrassing festival of turnovers, penalties, and lopsided losses. But, beating a rival in their own home arena can help ease some of the pain of a tough season.
The cliché of the moment in the business world is “moving forward.” Apparently, it dwarfs in importance the archaic “in the future...” Meetings are filled with “moving forwards” and “thinking outside the boxes” and “paradigm shifts” and “action items” and “taking this offlines.” While it is a sport, professional football is also a business, and when teams traditionally win 2 and 3 games a year in a 16-game season, people expect them to lose, and in turn, eventually may stop showing up to watch them play. Needless to say, that’s not good for business.
If he Fire could salvage a few wins at the end of this season – especially one against the nemesis Pirates in hostile Carver Arena – it would show signs of improvement for this team. It would end the season like it began – with a promise of better things.
Kevin Sedelmeier is a native Louisvillian. A graduate of the University of Louisville with a B.A. in Communication and M.A. in English, he works as a technical writer and has written fifteen screenplays and numerous short
stories. He lives with his wife Elizabeth, son Lukas, and their dog Springsteen.