Fire Quackers – Matt Sauk
Kevin Sedelmeier
Thursday August 5, 2004
Q You`ve had playoff experience, but many of your teammates haven`t. What advice would you give those who haven`t been there before? And, as a team, do you learn from or forget the second half of last week`s game? Both?
A I just told them that what you normally play on any given game day, you have to increase two fold in the playoffs. Otherwise you are looking to get beat bad! As far as the 2nd half of last week’s game, you have to learn to forget. You learn what you did wrong, and you forget how bad it was. You can not dwell on what happened, only fix it and move on.
Q The Fire has arguably the best receiving corps in the league, but there have been a lot of injuries this season in addition to Tony Stallings` absence. What has it been like working with so many different receivers and trying to get on the same page with them?
A It has been hard. I had this issue last season at Tennessee Valley, where I threw to a lot of guys. The only difference this season is we are better this year then what I had last season. But still, in this game you need that go to guy! And James is that kinda guy. And to not have him hurt our offense and will continue to do so as long as he is not out there. But the good thing is we do have other guys out there that can compete and get open and catch the ball. But you still need that OS and James is a really good one!
Q Has Louisville - the Fire and the city - been what you expected? How is it different?
A It is just a bigger city really compared to Huntsville. I love it here, I love the people and I like the area. I am glad my family moved here and plan on being here for a while.
Q You`ve had another big year. Your 4370 yards leads the league. In addition, you`ve thrown 76 TDs and become only the fifth player in arenafootball2 league history to hit the 10,000 yard mark. Talk about what that means. It seems like a ticket to the AFL..
A Well I did happen to throw a lot of picks this season. More then I wanted to, but all those yards all those touchdowns can all be put on the way the line has blocked this season and the wide receivers making plays. It all starts up front and the lineman only gave up 6 sacks this season on almost 590 pass attempts. I am not to worried about moving up to the AFL, if it happens it has to be the right situation for me and my family. I am more worried about getting my teammates up there since most of them younger and want to move up.
Q You came here with football coaching as a future option. Do you get to see your Utah State offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino very often? Will you follow U of L this season?
A I try and talk to him every few weeks. It`s funny because every time I talk to him I feel like I am talking to my dad. That is how much I respect him and what he did for me not only on the field, but off the field. And of course I will follow the U of L season, they just became my favorite college team. (Well, I am still a Michigan fan of course.)
Q Clichéd question but I`ll ask it anyway. If say, you were stranded in Hawaii after the Islanders game, what five CDs would you want with you until you were rescued?
A Hmmm, I would say Pearl Jam "Ten", Any 2 Pac CD, Tim McGraw (they are all good), Kenny Chesney (again they are all good), And some sort of jazz CD.
Q You`re the dad of a toddler, like myself, ... Blue Clues, Sesame Street, or The Wiggles? Or another favorite show in the Sauk home?
A Wow, well she does not watch any TV but maybe a hour a week if that. But in that hour it is all three! I have always had serious questions about The Wiggles, but she loves them. Who can hate Sesame Street? And Blue Clues, heck even I like them. (Editor’s Note: Actually, I agree with Matt. But I do prefer the Steve episodes over the Joe episodes of Blue.)
Smoke Signals
Besides the playoffs, there are two other big stories from Fire camp this week…
Dave Arnold is no longer the Fire’s general manager. This happened during the past week. Not sure of any specifics on whose decision this was, but regardless, it’s a curious move the week before the playoffs. Dave’s a good guy; hope all is well. In the interim, Fire owner Will Wolford will be handling the GM duties.
Former Fire kicker Marc Samuel will be on the same field as the Fire this week … but as the kicker for the Quad City Steamwheelers; who take on the Fire in the first round of the playoffs. In the immortal words of Canadian songstress Alanis Morissette, “Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?” Samuel will be doing battle against his old team in what may make for the most surreal moment in AF2 history.
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.