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Friday, March 5 2004
Kevin Pakos - S&E News
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Bonner Great For a Half!
Replaced by Joe Germaine!
Well Rattler detractors, you finally
got your wish. Pull the old guy, Sed
Bonner, let the young blood play. In
this case it was the former Ohio State
star Joe Germaine. Yep, ya'll were
right, it was gonna happen. Get real!
Bonner got bored the Destroyers were
done and the Joe needed the run.
The Rattlers have got their swagger
back. With a younger team, that could make
things difficult, but with the veteran
Snake Squad it just expands their
opportunistic playmaking ability. The game
started with Siaha The Warrior Burley
taking the kickoff 54 yards for the
first score of the game. Columbus
answered back with a Ryan Vena 2 yard TD
run and things looked good, but not so
good, you know what I mean?
It was one for us, one for them, one
for us, one for them. Not how it should
go. Then the swagger showed up and the
Rattlers pretty much owned the field, the
game and the day. When it was over the
Destroyers were, well, Destroyered,
Devastated and Dilapidated. This is a team
that has a college legend at coach,
Earl Bruce, an NFL legend in the front
office, Chris Spielman. Don't
forget NFL almost legend, now falling
star, Joey Galloway (Cowboys) as
one of the Owners.
How bad was it for the Destroyers? I
waited for over 30 minutes outside their
locker room to interview anyone and got no
one. They were all in meetings and could
not come out. So I cannot tell you what
their thoughts on the game were. But it
had to be rough for them. Their entire
staff is world class talent and they have
some great players but everything went
terribly wrong almost from the start.
The Rattlers, the easiest team in the
AFL to figure out continue to confound the
biggest, best and brightest of the NFL
that is drifting into the league. Each
year the teams look at their adjusted
staff and player roster and just know they
got the old guys number. LA started their
Arena Bowl celebration right after
stopping one of the leagues best offenses,
they said. Now, they are injured, hurt and
looking for someone to bail them out.
Literally.
Detroit hit town and then blew out like
a Fury with a win and started their talk
of greatness, then they nearly lost to
Indiana and did lose to Colorado. The
Rattlers for a time now have been the team
they all love to hate and beat. Heck,
Galloway and Spielman could each buy their
own franchise outright with the money in
their kids piggy banks. Money can
buy happiness, or at least the things that
make you feel happy. But one thing is
still true, Money can't buy you Shove.
For that you would need superstar AFL
lineman Wendall Punisher Gaines and
Bryan The Hammer Henderson. Two of
the best in the league and, coincidently,
both from Oklahoma colleges. So the
Rattlers remain "America's Arena Team",
you either love them or hate them. To that
we can only say. "How About Them
Rattlers".
This game was not over before it
started. When the Rattlers beat the
Dragons, people were saying that it was
not a "good" Dragons team. This week the
not as good Dragon QB lit up the AFL and
the Ho Hum Sabercats with 9 TD passes,
giving San Jose their first loss. Columbus
is going to become a contender, but not at
the Rattlers expense. Not today.
Let's go over the Arizona scoring:
BURLEY, Siaha 54 yd kickoff return (Garner
kick - GOOD)
GARNER 18 yd field goal - GOOD
GAINES, Wendall 12 yd pass from BONNER
(Garner kick GOOD)
BURLEY, Siaha 11 yd pass from BONNER
(Garner kick GOOD)
BURLEY, Siaha 29 yd pass from BONNER,
Sherdri (Garner kick GOOD)
GATEWOOD, Randy 22 yd pass from BONNER
(Garner kick GOOD)
BONNER, Sherdri 1 yd run (Garner kick
GOOD)
KELLY, Bo 4 yd run (Garner kick
GOOD)
BURLEY, Siaha 17 yd pass from GERMAINE
(Garner kick failed)
BURLEY, Siaha 14 yd pass from GERMAINE,
Joe (Garner kick GOOD)
Not a bad day's work for the old guys
from the desert. Again this week points
were scored by someone from every
different group within the team including
the linemen.
On defense a lot of people kept Pace,
especially Tom Pace with help from
Kelvin Hunter, Randy Gatewood, Hunkie
Cooper, Wendall Gaines, Joe Jackson
and Orshawante Bryant. The fellas
kept the heads in the game and their hats
on the Destroyers all night.
An interesting battle unfolded early
when it became obvious the Destroyer two
way player #10 Ryan Sloth was given the
task of unnerving Mr. Ironman Randy
Gatewood. Ryan did everything but move
into Gatewood's apartment.
Including, grabbing, pulling, pushing,
hitting, shoving and trying to intimidate
Randy. He almost succeeded, at one
point it looked like Gatewood would
die. Die laughing! I mean come on
Columbus, Gatewood practices
everyday with guys like Cooper, Tucker,
Parker and The Punisher. Do you
really think Sloth ith gointh to Rattlthe
him. Me neither. Good plan, wrong team.
PAADOW AWARD: Goes, for the
second straight week to #89 Wendall
Punisher Gaines. He scored his second
touchdown on a pass reception in two
weeks. It was how he did it that made it a
PAADOW! A one handed, jump over the
Destroyed defender and then glide, yes,
glide into the end zone for a perfect
landing. A 747 could not have touchdowned
smoother. He also was in on 3 tackles. But
again, a stat not kept, the hurry,
pressure or uh-oh play. He spent more time
in front of the Columbus QB Ryan Vena than
any of the Destroyers blockers. What else
can you say but, Punisher, this
PAADOW's for you!
The Warrior: Siaha Burley,
LA's loss is AZ's gain. He is the guy that
is making Rattler fans say Chris who? Now
Siaha won't toot his own Horn, so
we will not make it the Chief issue here
either. But who is this guy? Is LA that
blind? Here is what the game looked like
for Siaha Receiving, 9 for 105
yards and 4 touchdowns. Oh yeah, there is
one more, kind of important detail. He
took the opening kickoff in for 6 points.
Mr. Invisible: Antionne Scott
got a sack in this game. With the lineman
on the Rattlers, Mr. Scott has his
work cut out for him to get noticed. But
he will get noticed.
Toe Boy: Nelson Garner had a
great day, just like coach White
said he would. He got a field goal and was
nearly perfect on extra points. Yo,
Nelson, keep your head down, your chin
up and your eyes open. Especially if
Gatewood is running around behind you.
Konversation with a Kicker
RR: How do you handle the fan
critics? I used to read the
press clippings and the message
boards. But I can't play for them, I
have to play for my team mates. When
you start worrying about that stuff,
you are finished. It is tough,
sometimes it gets easier when we are
playing away and we do better on the
road. Just as fast as they turn on
you, they are back when you have a
good game. The Columbus game is not
where I want to be yet. I am not
happy when I miss extra points. I
don't blame them for being upset, I
get paid to do a job and when I am
not doing it, their should be some
dissatisfaction.
RR: Danny has been in your
corner, even when the media is being
critical of that, does it help when
Danny says, He is my kicker?
Sure, it is good to have a vote of
confidence. I am smart enough to
know I cannot be unproductive and
not improve. He supports me because
he knows how much I put into it, how
hard I work. Having said that if I
am not productive or have too many
games like that, they will have a
short leash with anybody. I take
some comfort from it, but I don't
get a false sense of security
either. |
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| RR: How does your
faith help you, it is easy to rejoice
when it is good. But when everyone is
not talking to you, how does your
faith come into play there? I find
that sometimes my faith comes more
into play when I am struggling.
Sometimes we think we can go on our
own. It is a lesson I learned, I catch
myself thinking I can't believe I am
coming back to you now when there is a
problem, I wasn't making time when
things were going well. It builds
character, the bible talks so much
about going thru trials. It is
building your faith, if you think
being a Christian is going to make it
all peaches and cream you are sorely
mistaken. I have to draw and that and
know if it is not football, then God
has a plan for me somewhere else. Yes,
there is stress, it is easier said
than done. I will deal with that.
Sometimes you are forced to go to your
knees and say Lord, whatever your will
is I am going to work hard and do
everything to do well and the rest is
in your hands.
RR: You have a team Chaplain,
Dave Deal, is that helpful to you and
the guys? We have a good committed
group of 7-8 this year. A bunch of us
went and saw the movie, the Passion.
Siaha Burley is going to lead the
Bible study this week and the topic
will be that movie. We will do some
study from there.
Note: His wife and new baby are
here in town with him now. They were
not when the season began. Last year
his wife was away all year and now she
and the baby are here. He says it
makes all the difference in the world. |
So, yeah, Bonner did get the
hook. But not for any lack. Had he stayed
in the game he could easily have thrown 9
touchdown passes like the other Rattler
(former) guy did for the Dragons.
But hey, Joe got to throw and now
we know he can go. So for the next game be
sure to show.
On the Carpet: Did anyone even
see the Destroyers head coach on the
field? Was he even there? The head job for
the Destroyers was available in the off
season. The two candidates. Earl Bruce and
Doug Plank. The thing is that coach
Plank would have taken the job, if
offered, if the team had not Shuffaloed
from Buffalo. But he did not want the job
in Columbus. At least that is what a
little, but very loud bird told me.
HHHMMMMM, just wondering out loud. Where
do you think coach Plank will be as
the head coach in 2005. Somewhere for
sure, probably not far from here. Yep, not
far at all. If I was a gambling man, which
I am not. I would bet he rolls snake eyes.
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Destroyer QB Ryan Vena
RR: You were named the starter today,
was that part of the plan to trick
them? I don't know, I just
know I gotta get on the field somehow
to help the team. It kinda sucks when
you are sitting on the side. It was
good to be out there from the start, I
was a little rusty, made some mental
mistakes.
RR: What was your game
plan against this defense? We know
this a tough place to play, these fans
are awesome. We just wanted to get on
the scoreboard early. To try to take
the crowd out of it a little bit. We
did a little of that in the first half
and we kind of fell off in the second
half. |
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| RR: Did you plan
to do all the scrambling, was it
designed? I have always been that
type of QB, for the most part I was
getting pretty good protection up
front. A couple of times I had to run
around, that is usually what I try to
do. I am not going sit in the pocket
and take a sack to throw the ball
away, that's the way I work.
RR: How close is the team to
getting what it needs to be more
competitive? We are always
competitive, that's not the question.
The thing is we have to play mistake
free football and capitalize on others
mistakes and not have penalties and
kill ourselves. We did not turn the
ball over except for one fumble, I
believe. We will pull something
together, it is a slow process right
now, we have to find our niche.
RR: I noticed you doing the
prayer, is that something you do all
the time? We have a chapel prior
to the game with team mates and
whoever wants to do it after the game.
Without God we would not be here. We
don't have a chaplain, actually our
Director of Operations, Chris
Spielman that runs it, we get guys
together that want to do it. |
AWARD WINNERS
Offensive Player of the Game: Sed
Leader Bonner
Ironman: Wendall
Punisher Gaines
Defensive Player of the Game: Bo Dozer
Kelly (Wolfpack)
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| Arizona
Rattlers 3-2 |
10 |
21 |
21 |
13 |
65 |
| Columbus
Destroyers 1-4 |
14 |
7 |
7 |
14 |
42 |
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Don't
forget, the AFL is on NBC every Sunday.
The
Rattlers quest for a third straight
ArenaBowl began February 8, when they took on the Los Angeles Avengers at
America West Arena. For season ticket
information, call 602-514-TDTD or visit
azrattlers.com
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