Monday July 19, 2010
Last year, when the Arena Football League was absent from the sports landscape, I used the opportunity to take in some arenafootball2 games with my sons. We traveled to Wisconsin from Michigan to see the Milwaukee Iron play twice and we even made a trip to Oklahoma to see the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz play a game. This year, the AFL is back and the Cleveland Gladiators were on my radar as a team to see in person.
When I looked at the 2010 AFL schedule and saw that Oklahoma City was going to be in Cleveland on Saturday night, July 17, I decided to make my first trip to Quicken Loans Arena for the game.
Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday June 29, 2011
Week 16 featured three games were decided by a single point, while four others were blowouts of at least 20 or more points. Jacksonville won the American Conference regular season crown and its record-breaking 13th straight game, Cleveland handed San Jose the second worst defeat in AFL history, Tommy Grady hit the century mark and Orlando s playoff streak might be in jeopardy. This and much more await you in this week s Breaking it Down.
SHARKS CLAIM #1 SEED IN AMERICAN CONFERENCE AGAIN
In just two seasons in the AFL, the Jacksonville Sharks have not just won the always-tough South Division that features AFL legacy teams in Tampa Bay and Orlando, but have claimed the top seed in the American Conference portion of the playoffs both years. Saturday s 25-point win over Tampa Bay marked the Sharks 13th straight win, which is a new AFL record for consecutive wins in a season. In four games against the five-time ArenaBowl champions, Jacksonvi
CLEVELAND One rough series and Chris Dieker got the hook.
Shane Austin was more than ready, leading the Cleveland Gladiators to a 54-47 victory over the visiting Iowa Barnstormers. Coach said all week for both of us to just stay ready and stay prepared, Austin said. Every game, whether I m the backup or the starter, I always prepare myself mentally as a starter.
Austin finished 19-of-27 for 259 yards and six touchdowns. Chris is struggling a bit, and we ve started off slow every game almost, coach Steve Thonn said. We really wanted to get a quick start so it s really not so much against Chris. It s just that Shane is good.
Randy Snow
Wednesday July 2, 2008
Jermaine Lewis has made quite an impact this season playing in the Arena Football League for the Grand Rapids Rampage, which is just up the road from his college alma mater, Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo. From 2000-2002, Lewis played safety and wide receiver at the Mid-American Conference school.
“Coach (Jim) Knowles, the defensive coordinator at the time, recruited me,” said Lewis. “He stuck with me and got me into college.”
In 2003, Lewis signed with the NFL Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent and also spent time that year on the practice squads of the San Francisco 49ers and the Tennessee Titans. In 2004, he was allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe by the Houston Texans.
What s that mean? You ve seen how he guards that lot, right?
Yeah? Well, just like him, we don t let nobody come right in the Q and play around, Jackson said.
All season long, the Cleveland Gladiators have rode their boom-or-bust defense. At times, they ve left wideouts wide open. They ve pressed one side only to leave the other wide open. The junkyard appears barren.
Then, the dog pounces.
They hit hard, jump routes, jostle the line of scrimmage, take their share of blown coverages and keep on chugging.
On Friday night, their opportunistic defense again came up with a pivotal late turnover and Cleveland rode that to a 48-41 win over the red-hot Tampa Bay Storm - and a 13-1 record.