Focused and Having Fun, the Fire Return Home 4-1
Kevin Sedelmeier
Friday May 14, 2004
After last season, few AF2 fans would have predicted the Fire would be 4-1 after five games, winning at home, on the road, and even in close games. Of course, few were aware of the internal and external changes this team made in the off season. New talent can mean a world of difference, but it doesn’t always guarantee a winner. We all know there is no “I” in team. Hackneyed training camp mottos aside, it really applies to this year’s squad. Look at last week’s Memphis game. The didn’t mourn the absence of playmaker Tony Stallings – who left for the filming of Animal Planet’s reality series King of the Jungle. Instead, Japanese all-star, Takuya Furutani, who was previously not activated, stepped up and scored two touchdowns and was named the AF2’s US Army Ironman of the Week. Quality players like Furutani show the depth of this year’s team.
Aside from human highlight reel Stallings (who is expected to return to the Fire in June), a few Fire players are excelling and are among the league leaders. Kicker Marc Samuel leads all kickers in scoring. QB Matt Sauk has become a true leader and is playing extremely well; he is forth in yards and third in TDs with 29. Offensive specialist James Scott is a big play threat and has 45 catches for 602 yards and 11 touchdowns. And defensively, Justin Thomas is having the type of season that almost guarantees an AFL promotion next year. He leads the league in passes defended and tackles.
But this team really isn’t about individual accolades. This team mirrors the good nature of head coach Tommy Johnson. If you ask Thomas about it, he remains a humble team player. “We’ve got a scrappy team, and we’ll work for everything we get,” he says. When Wilkes Barre-Scranton mounted 13 penalties for 108 yards and numerous roughing the passer hits on Sauk last week, the Fire stayed composed, only offering a protective retaliation after the final whistled was blown. Lineman Brandon Dyson let the Pioneers’ Ufuoma Pela know he didn’t appreciate the harsh treatment of Sauk. Such Lester Haynes-like cheap shots most likely won’t be soon forgotten when the Pioneers stop by Freedom Hall on May 29.
So what is it about this team that is different from the previous three Fire teams? Why are they so focused and such fighters? Fire owner Will Wolford remembers the last couple teams. “We had some players two years ago and even last year that had Andre Reed talent, but they didn’t have Andre Reed heart, class, and character,” says Wolford, referring to his former teammate with the Buffalo Bills. Unlike years past, this Fire roster is void of players who need to be bailed out of jail or can’t keep their head on straight. It’s a more mature and talented group according to Stallings, who was on the 2002 team. “I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys [on the 2002 team], but I think Coach MacKeown and Coach Johnson did a great job of finding better talent in every single position [this year].”
Fire veteran Dennis Fryzel says, “Everybody is focused on a team effort this year. We want to win. We know we can. We feel confident in the system. We feel confident in each other’s abilities and everybody believes in everybody else.” Fire newcomer Derrick Shepard, an important addition to the defensive line, offers a similar take, believing this team has a confidence and camaraderie. “Last year they had the talent, but everybody didn’t believe in each other. This year – everybody looks at each other as their brother.”
Another Fire newcomer Ryan Russell, currently out a few weeks with a groin injury (the words “groin injury” elicit an immediate wince don’t they?) agrees “It’s a great group of guys. It’s fun to play with these guys.”
At the risk of sounding terribly clichéd, this more mature, talented, and focused Fire team seems, well, intent and content on taking things one game at a time. (For the benefit of you the reader, I have avoided the more popular derivation of this phrase simply because “One Day at a Time” may conjure up images of Bonnie Franklin scolding an inebriated Mackenzie Phillips, and frankly none of us need that.) But the truth is, this team is different. It’s really a team in every sense of the word. They don’t look ahead; they don’t disrespect opponents. They seem like a close-knit group of friends. And the bottom line is, it looks like they’re having a lot of fun.
According to Samuel, who has been here through the good and bad, “We’re playing like champions. So, there’s no telling how far we can go this year.” While the characters in The Family Circus are perpetually stuck at the same age and height, this Fire team is on the move, getting a little better and more confident each week. And if asked if I think this year’s team will succumb to the pitfalls of previous seasons, I have to take a page out of The Family Circus and emphatically say, “Not me.”
Smoke Signals
The Fire is getting more media coverage lately. Channel 24 broadcasts Inside the Fire each Thursday night; Xtra Sports 790’s Fire Coaches’ Show airs Tuesdays 5-6, and QB Matt Sauk joins The Bob Valvano Show Thursdays has Sauk, and 1080-AM WKJK carries all games. Paul Wilman does a solid job on both the show and the play-by-play of games. He also asks good questions and has insightful commentary about this team. Whether the Courier Journal will do something is not known. Never know when an article about a Fire win might get bumped because a McCracken County fifth grader with a decent jump shot has announced he might like to attend UK someday.
Thanks to Will Wolford for being subjected to the first Fire Quackers column. Hopefully, Coach Johnson, staff, and players will follow.
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.