Steamwheelers Seek To Resolve Unfinished Business in ‘04
Gary Stibolt
Tuesday March 30, 2004
Paul Savich restarted play in the game with a kickoff and all the Steamwheelers had to do was pin the Arkansas Twisters deep. What unfolded next was a nightmare for the Steamwheelers and a gleam of hope and anticipation for the Twisters. Breakdown in kickoff coverage for the Steamwheelers allowed Arkansas to return the ball into Steamwheelers territory.
It was too good to be true as a field goal attempt was all but guaranteed with only :03 seconds remaining to rock the af2 world. With the kick up and good, the Steamwheelers fell short of their quest for a third ArenaCup title.
That is how the 2003 season ended and it is also how the 2004 season begins.
“That hurt,” stated a numb coach Ingold following the game. He continued, “We are a better football team than the way we played out there tonight.”
That was the reaction then and it still rings true for the 2004 campaign.
“We have some unfinished business to take care of,” stated a focused Ingold as he was preparing a workout in camp last week.
There are a few guys on the 2004 squad who remember all to well how 2003 went down and they now have the task at hand to teach the new faces of the Steamwheelers exactly what is at stake.
Every player plays with their eye on the prize. They all want to win a championship. It is the incentive to play at every level of sports. However, for the Steamwheelers, there is some unfinished business to take care of and the emotions that are attached to it are hard to transfer to another player who didn’t go through it with them a year ago.
The Steamwheelers OS, Jeff Hewitt explained, “we don’t like the way we ended last year at all.” He continued, “We have to focus on this year and work with the new guys coming in especially the younger players.”
Notes
The Steamwheelers entered camp with thirty-two of the possible thirty-five man roster allowed. As of Monday, they trimmed that down to the league mandated minimum 21-man roster.
There are nine returning Steamwheelers and they are QB – Ronnie Gordon, OS – Jeff Hewitt, OL/DL – Damon Williams & Pete Traynor, FB/LB – Brian Berg, WR/DB – Tim Dodge, WR/LB –LaRico Cole and Danny Thomas, and DS – Matt Forbes. Add to that the eight returning veterans of the arena game who did not play for Quad City last year. They are QB – Matt Pike, OL/DL – Jon Verdegan, Chris Smith, Antonio “Bear” Bryant, Harvie Herrington, WR/LB – Charles Sheffield, DS – Chazz Moore, and Kicker – Ryan Geisler. Combine this with the talented rookies making their af2 debut this weekend and you have a team that has the tools to get it done in 2004.
The af2 implemented a new coaches poll for the 2004 season that asks the coaches to rate the best twelve teams in their opinions but they cannot vote for their own. The Steamwheelers came in second in the initial coaches poll only a few points behind the Tennessee Valley Vipers. The only emphasis that can really be put into this specific poll is that it is a reaction from the coaches based on the talent a team has in camp and what they know about that talent collectively.
This weekend, the Steamwheelers open up play for the 2004 season against the Manchester Wolves on Saturday night at the Mark of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. This will be the first of a two-game stand (home and away) between the two ball clubs. This also marks the first time these two teams will have played each other. With Manchester, it also marks the first of a long season riddled with some very tough opponents. Just based on the parity of the league talent-wise and the rosters the af2 teams have put together, this looks to be the toughest schedule the Steamwheelers have had in their brief five-year history in the league.
There is a lot of work ahead but after watching the team practice nearly everyday throughout camp I can honestly state the Steamwheelers have put together another solid football team. Last year they had a solid football team but their weakness was on special teams. After signing former San Diego Riptide kicker Ryan Geisler, it appears the Steamwheelers now have a leg up on making reparations on their special teams play. In order to reach the pinnacle of arena football, the Steamwheelers will need to take care of unfinished business one meeting at a time. Ironically, 2004 will start like the way 2003 ended…their kicking game.
Gary Stibolt has covered the Quad City Steamwheelers since their 2000 inaugural season. He also owns, operates and is the Chief Editor/Publisher of SteamwheelerFans.com, a website dedicated to the Steamwheelers and their fans. He coresponds for other media outlets covering arenafootball2. In addition to leading the Steamwheelers Fan Club, Gary serves as Coordinator of the National af2 Fan Club. He is married with two sons and works as an Infrastructure Analyst for Deere & Company in their Corporate Computer Center in Moline, Illinois.