Finally, Steamwheelers Football

Gary Stibolt
Tuesday March 27, 2007

Wow!  Was that exciting or what?  So how about that preseason win over the Green Bay Blizzard at home this past Sunday?  "It feels great, I'm still undefeated here at home," stated Quad City Steamwheelers assistant coach, Shon King, whom was all smiles following their thumping of the Blizzard in front of nearly 2500 fans.  Keeping coach King undefeated at home is a tradition that Steamwheeler fans wouldn't mind continuing throughout the season.  It is also a new tradition that coach Ponder plans on doing.  In a previous interview I did with coach Ponder, he stated that he would like to win all of his home games and at least half of their road games.  Doing the math means you have a 12-4 season which isn't too shabby and will put you in the playoffs.

If the Steamwheelers take care of business once the regular season starts like they did in the preseason, there is good cause for excitement and optimism in the Quad Cities.  However, we are cautioned that it was a preseason game.  Guys fighting for a roster spot were played and some were on the field quite a bit and some not much at all as coach Ponder was mixing up the personnel packages with different game situations to see how the guys would perform.  A lot of questions were answered in the 61-24 defeat over their division rival Green Bay.  Unfortunately, those answers only added more questions for coach Ponder as he and his staff trimmed the roster back to the league mandate of twenty-two players (see foot notes below for transactions).  For the fans, questions were answered.  For them, they saw what they yearned to see: Finally a defense that could dominate and an offense that can play the aerial assault as well as the smash-mouth running game.  While the offense put the points on the board, the fans had pretty much expected that from Ponders offense last year.  It was the defense that fans were wanting to find out about.  It appears that the offense won't have to shoulder the burden to compensate for the defense.

The new defense under proven defensive-minded coach and two-time af2 champion, Troy Biladeau was a reason for fans to rejoice.  "Our guys played like I thought they would tonight," explained Biladeau.  The difference from last year to this year is thanks to his coaching philosophy, system, and he deserves the credit.  "I don't think I want to give out any of my trade secrets," laughed Biladeau.  "It was really our players, the speed we have on defense and the way the guys covered in the secondary and the speed and pressure up front that made the difference for us.  The guys played their hearts out and they didn't take any plays off.  We have some things I'll nit-pick about when we watch film but I'm pretty pleased with how they played tonight."

So are the fans, the front office staff, and the new owner.  "Can you believe what kind of team we have...Wow," stated majority owner, Mike Bawden.  "I'm very pleased and have been pleased with the job Coach Ponder and his staff have been doing.  We have some things to work on from a game operations perspective and for that reason I'm glad we have a couple of weeks to work through them before we open at home on April 13."  

I don't think fans noticed much about the pregame ceremonies, if they did, they soon forgot it once the game kicked off, the defense forced a turnover on downs, and the offense scored within their first three plays of the game.  As for the pregame ceremony, one of the things that was different was the team entrance.  They entered from the opposite end of the field where the doors are from the main entrance into the arena.  The MARK also installed a new Ribbon Board during the off-season which added a great deal to the game effect.  The preseason game was not only about evaluating talent on the team, it was about implementing and executing game operation fundamentals.  There was also another point of interest about this game and that is the Happy Joe's Special Needs Children's charity.

"We had more than double the turnout for this year's Pizza Bowl than what we had last year, almost three times as many," explained Bawden.  "We raised $3,000.00 for Happy Joe's Special Needs Children's charity.  I can't express enough how much I appreciate Brian Noble (owner of the Blizzard) and his staff in assisting us in putting this event together.  They are very a professional and class-act organization with great people.  They were very accomodating especially in working through the uniform situation."   

Those uniforms were specially customized for the Pizza Bowl in the eleventh hour thanks to a cooperative effort between the Steamwheelers, the Blizzard, the af2 league office, and the uniform company.  Following the game, both Green Bay and Quad City game jerseys were sold for $75 each.  There are many left and available for sale.  The proceeds from the jerseys also go to the Happy Joe's Special Needs Children's charity.  

This preseason game is a win, win situation for everyone involved.  Obviously for the Steamwheelers it was a dominating performance on the field, but also a win for the corporate citizenship of the Green Bay Blizzard, the af2, and the Quad City franchise.  The fans also won.  They got what they have been missing in Steamwheelers football and that has been the physical, dominating, and powerhouse football we were once accustomed to.  Despite this being a preseason game, it is an indication.  Not because of the fact the Steamwheelers won but it was the way they won!  We now need to see this excitement about the team resignate to other fans and sponsors and make the Steamwheelers experience better than ever.

The Steamwheelers open their season on the road with the expansion team, Cincinnati Jungle Kats on Saturday, March 31 at US Bank Arena - kickoff scheduled for 6:30 (CDT).  All games will be broadcasted on WOC AM 1420 and will be streamed on the Internet from both SteamwheelerFans.com and Steamwheelers.com.  There will also be a Game Day Live webcast of each game this season so fans can follow the action play-by-play online.

Notes:

The Steamwheelers finalized their roster with the addition of an offensive lineman and making their cuts.  The transactions follow.

Signed -

OL/DL Ryan Pahua (6'4" 355 - Utah State) from Rio Grande Valley Dorados for future considerations

Waived (Placed on Recallable Re-Assignment) -

WR Jonathon Jackson (Fort Valley State)

Waived (Placed on Re-Assignment) -

OL/DL Brad Bulls (Snead State Community College)

OL/DL Bryan Ewert (Navy)

FB/LB Nic Grinvalds (Harper College)

Placed on Injured Reserve -

OL/DL Hausia Faleofa (New Mexico Highlands)

WR/DB Joe Hinton (Pearl River Community College)

DS Ronnie McDougal (Sioux Falls) - Torn ACL/MCL knee

FB/LB Kevin Talley (Norfolk State) - Left Wrist strain