Continuity lifts Tulsa, Spokane
If the game itself has not slowed down, something has in arenafootball2: the roster churn.
Oh, players still come and go. Starters depart in midseason, new depth is acquired when needed. But the weekly shuttle of bodies is not quite what it was even a couple of years ago, and exhibits A and B can be viewed Saturday when the Spokane Shock and Tulsa Talons meet at the Spokane Arena for the National Conference championship.
These are two of af2’s most successful franchises – Tulsa topping the all-time victory list (134), Spokane the best in winning percentage (.865), both figures including playoffs. They are also leaders in roster stability, relative as it may be in af2.
The Talons, for instance, won the 2007 af2 championship and have 10 players from that team on the current active roster, including two National Conference first team all-stars – receiver Jeff Hughley, linebacker Jamar Ranson – and quarterback Justin Allgood, who led af2 with 108 touchdown passes this year.
“We’re in a little bit of a special situation,” coach Mitch Allner said. “We had a couple of guys who had opportunities in the Arena league after that year that didn’t quite pan out for them. And quite a few of those guys either live here locally or played here in college.”
Likewise, the Shock have 10 players on the active roster who were on the team a year ago when it reached the af2 title game, losing in overtime to Tennessee Valley. Two more, receiver Patrick Bugg and lineman Jeff Van Orsow, are injured.
This is something of a contrast to Spokane’s 2006 title team. Eight of those players saw action the following year, but by 2008 only receiver Raul Vijil and center Rico Ochoa remained.
“It helps tremendously,” said Allner, a former af2 star who played for three teams over five years. “When you get to this point of the season, it’s not all about the football. There are so many things going on that can distract players and when you have a core group that’s been down this road before, they can help the other guys keep their minds on the goal in front of them.”
The ticket window
Shock owner Brady Nelson reported that ticket sales for Saturday’s 7 p.m. game “are ahead of last week’s pace.
“I would hope we’d sell out. It’s late in the season, I know, and August is a tough time to lure people indoors, but I would expect we’d have a full house.”
Shock attendance, which has topped 10,000 for each of its last 25 regular-season home games, always takes a dip in the playoffs. This month’s first-round victory over Stockton drew 7,267 – a franchise low – and 8,041 were announced at Saturday’s victory over Boise.
Nelson said he thought the noise level for the Boise game was “still very loud” but acknowledges that he’d like to have a full house “from a pride standpoint.” He also wouldn’t mind seeing an adjustment to the af2 schedule.
“I firmly believe that we should finish in July, including playoffs,” he said, “and stay out of August. Other than baseball and NFL exhibition games, every sport stays out of August. We’ve talked about that (at the league level). In the past, the AFL kind of said when you start. But there’s no consensus.”
Notes
Spokane receiver Charles Dillon was awarded the af2’s Big Game Catch of the Week Award for his grab of a Nick Davila bullet for the game’s first touchdown against Boise. … In addition to Nelson and 2006 Shock head coach Chris Siegfried, another player with Spokane connections is on the list of 15 finalists for the af2’s inaugural Hall of Fame class – Matt Sauk, who spent the 2008 season as an assistant coach after a standout quarterback career in the league.