February 26, 200521 yr WEEK 5: FEBRUARY 25-27 TELEVISION Friday, February 25 Tampa Bay @ New Orleans - 8:00 PM Cox Sports TV Georgia @ Austin - 8:30 PM AFL NET Orlando @ Chicago - 8:30 PM FSN Chicago, Sun Sports TV Saturday, February 26 Las Vegas @ Nashville - 8:30 PM FSN South* (12:00 AM ET), FSN West Sunday, February 27 Dallas @ Philadelphia - 3:00 PM NBC Arizona @ New York - 3:00 PM NBC Los Angeles @ Colorado - 3:00 PM NBC Columbus @ Grand Rapids - 3:00 PM None Bye: San Jose Storm visit VooDoo tonight (Listen Live on 620WDAE.com) The Tampa Bay Storm placed offensive specialist Freddie Solomon and lineman Kelvin Kinney on injured reserve, with both expected to be out for two games. "We're going with a skeleton of our ballclub," head coach Tim Marcum told the Tampa Tribune. Tampa Bay is at New Orleans Friday night in a game that will air live on WDAE. Pregame is 7:45 p.m. with Jack Harris and Jason Dixon to call the action; there is no TV locally. The Storm were off last weekend, and despite the fact their archrivals lost did not fare too well in the standings. Georgia and New Orleans were both victorious on Sunday, with the Force winning 38-13 at Las Vegas and New Orleans dropping Philadelphia 61-47. Both teams are now 3-1, along with Orlando which lost Thursday to Dallas. So even though they are 2-1, the Storm are now in fourth place in the five-team Southern Division. While all four Southern Division teams are above .500, the American Conference only has one team (Los Angeles, 3-1) with that status. Twelve members of the 2003 Arena champion Storm will be getting the real deal when it comes to their championship rings. The Storm and the AFL Players Association came to an agreement, announced Tuesday, that rather than go before in arbitrator last Monday. At question was whether the Storm legally should provide real diamonds, rather than the cubic zirconia that 12 players received in their rings. Six of the players were starters on the team who all bolted for free agency that offseason, including quarterback John Kaleo, who had a acrimonious parting with Storm head coach and GM Tim Marcum. Other players, Marcum previously stated, might not have gotten the diamond rings because of relative lack of service. Marcum told the St. Pete Times on Tuesday, "It's something management and ownership decided to do and get it behind us." The Times broke the story of the fake rings months ago. THE STAKES: PREDATORS LOOK TO RIGHT SHIP AFTER SUFFERING FIRST LOSS OF SEASON After winning their first three games, the Orlando Predators returned to the pack ? in a hurry ? after a 42-28 loss to the Dallas Desperados. ?I?m not sure if it was overconfidence or what, but we were soundly beaten in all aspects of the game last week,?? Predators Head Coach Jay Gruden said.? ?We warned our players about it all week...one loss...and we would be just like every team in the league.? Now we have to find a way to regroup for this week?s game.? It will not be an easy task for the Predators as they must hit the road again to face a Chicago Rush team that beat the Predators twice last season ? including laying the worst beating ever on an Orlando team ? a 58-15 thrashing on March 21, 2004. The Rush are off to a 2-2 start after a stunning 52-39 upset loss at Columbus on Sunday afternoon.? That loss came after impressive wins over Philadelphia and Colorado.? ?It seems like both teams received wake-up calls last week,? Gruden said.? ?With Chicago losing to Columbus, it certainly isn?t going to make our task any easier on Friday.?? The contest will air on Sun Sports in Florida (formerly Sunshine Network) and will also be broadcast on WQTM radio (740 AM).
February 26, 200521 yr Author I predict the Storm to beat the VooDoo and the Predators to beat the Rush.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.