After three consecutive losses, the Grand Rapids Rampage got back in the win column with a 72-38 victory Friday night (April 25) over the Kansas City Brigade. A crowd of 8,102 was on hand to see the Rampage outscore the Brigade by 34 points and improve their record to 3-5 on the season.
Anyone who has followed my writing over the years knows how much of a fan I am of clock management. I harped on Jay Gruden about it seemingly each and every week when he was coaching the Orlando Predators, and I have written articles about how to manage the clock in the past. On Friday night though, my ire is with Steve Thonn of the Cleveland Gladiators, who watched his team get demolished 69-48 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in front of 8,686 fans.
It seems that the city of Cleveland is all the sports world is talking about lately. From the return of LeBron James to the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers to the minute-by-minute coverage of everything that rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel is doing at the Cleveland Browns NFL training camp. But where is the national coverage of the most exciting sports story to come out of The Forest City so far this year, the incredible season of the AFL Cleveland Gladiators?
It's easy to say that the regular season is meaningless this year, but don't tell that to the Rattlers. They fought with all their might on the road against the Sharks on Saturday night and earned an overtime victory on a night where their defense wasn't particularly special and Nick Davila threw two picks. If Kevin Guy's club can win a game like that in hostile territory, it can do anything.