Fire Can’t Defrost Blizzard
Kevin Sedelmeier
Tuesday June 21, 2005
Near the end of the third quarter, the Fire’s Kabote Siykala recovered a Green Bay fumble at the goal line to provide a huge momentum shift and, going into the fourth quarter, the Fire led 46-42. But they were outscored 14-3 in the final period. It was a period that included some questionable calls by the officials and by the Fire coaching staff.
Earlier in the game, the officials displayed some horrid indecision on a Green Bay fumble. Apparently, they didn’t even realize that a football fumbled against the boards is out of bounds and cannot be advanced. If that was an oversight, the officials outdid themselves in the final seconds of the game. After questionably calling a first half Matt Sauk to Rob Mager pass a touchdown in the corner of the end zone in front of an incredulous Green Bay bench, the officials were looking at a similar play with less than 10 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter.
Unlike the first quarter touchdown that Mager snagged yet appeared to be out of bounds, replays on the scoreboard clearly showed Mager to have both feet in and possession before he was toppled over the boards near the end of regulation. "I had it, and they pushed me out, and I even had I as I hit the ground down there and somebody on their bench knocked it out of my hands as I was holding it up," said Mager, who again played like an all-AF2 selection with 16 catches for 187 yards and five, oops, four touchdowns. "I pledge to this day that I had that ball. I don’t complain too much, but I had that ball." He was right.
The Fire were helped, though, at the end of the game by consecutive Green Bay defensive penalties, a pass interference and a hold, ultimately gave the Fire the ball on two-yard line with no time left on the clock. (It was the second time this season, the Fire had a chance to tie the ball game with 0:00 on the clock.)
To the Fire’s credit, with just 22 seconds left, they marched down field with only one timeout and were positioned to score. Sauk had one of his best nights of the year going 34 of 51 with eight, oops, seven touchdowns and only one interception, and that was on an outstanding play in which Green Bay’s Joe Peters batted the ball down and snagged it out of the air.
But no matter how good Sauk or any other quarterback is playing, it is tough to complete passes consistently inside the ten yard-line especially when the end zone is curved like the hockey-rink style of Freedom Hall. The fade route doesn’t work well. There are so many bodies criss-crossing, that it’s tough for receivers to get any separation. A run from the high motion is not a bad option in that case. All of these factors point to the Fire’s questionable decision to go for a first down or a score from their own 11-yard-line leading 46-42 with 10:53 left. A field goal would have put them up by seven, instead the Fire didn’t convert and Green Bay kept the football for seven minutes, taking a 49-46 lead with 3:53 left in the game.
Although Fire kicker Danny Kight wasn’t having a good night, missing three extra points, landing two kick offs out of bounds, and hitting the scoreboard with two more, he did kick a fourth quarter field goal, and the field goal opportunity with 10:53 to go would have only been from only about 23 yards. Did Fire Coach Tommy Johnson decide to go for the first down because he was lacking confidence in Kight? "Not really," said Johnson. "We weren’t really playing the clock. We were scoring. We were trying to move down the field. We had chances to turn the game around and run with it," he added. "We didn’t capitalize on it."
Coach Johnson is a player’s coach (I hate that expression, but I’ll use it here), a soft-spoken Tony Dungy-like leader who treats his players with respect, and doesn’t talk negatively about them publicly. Still, fans must wonder if any of his concern over the kicking game factored into that decision. Kight’s a veteran, who can come back from a bad game, and make it up with one kick. Too bad he didn’t get that chance here.
Were any of the players taken aback by the decision to go for the first down and not the field goal in that situation? "I was a little surprised with it," said Mager, "but as an offense, we’re always confident we’re going to score. We’re never doubting Coach. We’re always behind him 100%, so whatever he calls we’re going to try and score no matter what."
Knowing the mayhem that has ensued in the long final minute of Fire games this year, it was peculiar that the Fire let the clock run down twenty seconds to the one-minute mark when they had the ball deep in Green Bay territory. Historically speaking, the Fire hasn’t done a yeoman’s job of holding teams from scoring in the final minute. That’s probably is not so much the Fire being an anomaly as it is simply how Arena Football works. That’s why you want to get the football last. After Kight kicked a short field goal to tie the score at 49, that left a long 45 seconds on the clock for the Blizzard. You see where this one’s going.
Lining up for the Fire’s kickoff, the Blizzard were expecting an onsides kick, leaving only one man back deep. It would have been the perfect opportunity for the Fire to squib one downfield and try to recover since Green Bay was bunched up toward the line of scrimmage. Instead the Fire made a questionable decision to kick off. That’s when Kight hit the scoreboard for the second time, giving the Blizzard the ball at the 20-yard line. The Fire soon called a time out on defense with 37 seconds left. That was interesting and, it was seemingly fruitless, because the Blizzard scored fifteen seconds later.
And then there was the before mentioned Mager "touchdown" that should have been. Early in the game, Mager caught a Sauk fastball, diving away from his body for an impressive snag, and Mager’s former college teammate Cesare Manning made a circus catch for one of his two touchdown receptions, both drawing impressive responses from the crowd of just under 7,000. But it was the incomplete call on Mager’s last second catch that incensed the crowd, and ultimately spelled the end for the Fire. To say it cost the Fire the game may be a little strong, but it certainly looked like the wrong call.
Frankly, this was one of the better games of the season. Green Bay’s QB Johnny Turman was 24 of 35 with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. The lanky Turman had a nice touch all night and has got to be one of the best QB’s the Fire have faced all season. But Green Bay was no one-man team. They are quick and strong. They have good speed and size; Robert Garth is a bullish receiver, and Peter Lazare is a skilled linebacker in a bodybuilder’s body. Joe Peters added a blocked PAT to go with his interception. The Blizzard have come a long way in just two years.
The Fire also held their own in this game, however. Paul White continued his steady play knocking down a couple passes from his defensive end position. Justin Ard and Andrew Tippens did a good job of giving Sauk plenty of time to throw. Tippens just returned to the Fire a couple weeks ago from St. Cloud State where he is the defensive line coach and has been working on his Master’s degree. "We’ve just got to get back on the winning track. This was a tough loss today, said Tippens. "It sets us back, but we’re going to rebound, and go back to the drawing board." Although he said he was "rusty" on the offensive side of the ball, Tippens did a good job of keeping the Blizzard off Sauk – as did the rest of the offensive line.
In the end, this was a tough one to take. Now with two losses to Green Bay, at 6-5, it essentially puts the Fire back two games out of second for the East Division race. Sure, the playoffs are still a possibility, but the Fire know they’ll have to pull out. But that’s not out of the question.
With the next two games against sub-.500 Albany and San Diego, the Fire’s playoff hopes are not on ice. Maybe if they get some calls, convert some fourth downs, or opt for field goals on fourth down, they will be closer to thawing out their mid-season swoon and returning to playoffs for the second straight year.
Into the Fire
Indianapolis Colt receiver Troy Walters was on hand for the ceremonial coin toss, and the Colts cheerleaders did a routine and signed autographs. The Colts have done a good job reaching into the Louisville marketplace and grabbing some fandom over the past few seasons.
Is it just me, or do you cringe when it’s time for that Chili’s Baby Back Ribs jingle sing-off? I feel really embarrassed for the participants.
Sumerset Houseboats has been a major sponsor of the Fire this season; they even have an end zone named after them. A few times each game, their commercial plays on the scoreboard. It shows a happy family frolicking on the water, and there’s a cut to the wife bringing her husband a cold beverage and giving him a kiss as he sits there, relaxed and doing nothing. I just can’t help but wonder what fantasy-land this commercial is set in.
The Fire Fanatics, dressed in their bright t-shirts and fireman’s hats, were in fine form Saturday night. Standing in the end zone, you really get a perspective of how loud this dedicated bunch of fans is. In addition to their famous cowbells, they beat on a large bucket and generally make as much noise as possible. Sitting right by the opponent’s bench, they were distracting to the Blizzard. Now that’s a ninth man in Arena Football.
My vote for best P.A. song of the year so far this year goes to the Barenaked Ladies’ One Week. Come on, any song that mentions Aquaman can’t be bad.
I have avoided temptation and not made any Dairy Queen references this time. No headlines like "Blizzard Filled with Shards of Glass and Not Oreo Cookies for the Fire" or "Blizzard Not So Refreshing for Fire" or "Fire Prove Lactose Intolerant Against Blizzard." Now had Green Bay receivers dropped passes and lost, I wouldn’t have been above using "Fire Enjoy Blizzard Filled with Butterfingers."
After the game, the season’s largest prayer circle assembled at midfield, including players and staff of both teams. It was an impressive site. It gives some perspective to what had transpired during the preceding hour.
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.