In the Heat of the Knights: Fire Advance - Barely
Kevin Sedelmeier
Sunday August 7, 2005
It was the second year in a row that the Fire won a first round game on a miraculous finish. Remember Derrick Sheperd’s rumbling recovery at Quad City last year? But Saturday’s game got off to a rough start long before the kickoff. First, the third-seeded Fire couldn’t even host the game because Freedom Hall wasn’t available. Secondly, on the way to Macon, the Fire’s team bus broke down…twice. The team missed Friday’s on field walkthrough. And shortly after the game started, the Fire’s clutch receiver and holder Dennis Fryzel was injured in the first quarter and didn’t return to the lineup.
Until Matt Sauk’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Nate Green with 22 seconds left, the Fire had not led since 13-6 early in the second quarter. Throughout much of the game, Fire fans couldn’t help but feel like "Well, I guess this just isn’t our night." But The Fire had other plans. It was a comeback like few others, a comeback that made the return of athletes like Tommy John and Terry Allen seem almost pedestrian. And it certainly dwarfed career comebacks by the likes of Duran Duran and John Travolta.
When the Fire took the lead for good, WKJK 1080 radio play-by play-man Paul Wilman summed it up with what was left of his voice. "You talk about deflation," Wilman said not referring to macroeconomics. "These Macon Knights look like their armor has been stripped off," he said. Wilman, host of the weekly Fire radio show on 790 WWKY, and voice of the Fire on the road, was ecstatic.
When Macon’s Sharif Najib missed a 35-yard field goal as time expired and the Fire secured the recovery, Wilman yelled, "Louisville wins! Louisville wins!" He was beside himself, giddy as a schoolgirl on field trip day. "What a victory by the Louisville Fire!" he yelled in disbelief, his voice crackling and weak.
For those of us unable to be there with the other 2,800 fans, Wilman’s call was the next best thing. He was our eyes and ears for another fantastic finish. Macon’s a better team than their 8-9 record suggests, and, pardon the cliché, a win is a win. Wilman will be back behind the microphone next weekend in Manchester.
That leaves the Fire just two games away from the ArenaCup – let’s just hope Wilman’s voice and fans’ hearts can take it.
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.