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Wed,
June 16 04 "Moose's on
location in Hawaii Arena 2 report!"
Hawai'ian
Islanders v. Central Valley Coyotes @ Neal Blaisdell Centre Arena, 6:30
p.m., HST, Saturday June 12th, 2004 By:
Rich "Moose" Salzer
Last
Saturday Night I had the best time I've yet had covering the Arena 2 League,
since it started in 2000. I was
given a Media Credential and Pass for the Islanders
Business Pavilion of Blaisdell
Arena for Islanders v. Central Valley game. The
food was very Ono and the
atmosphere Ohana as I met many of the great folkes who make
the Hawai'ian Islanders and their sponsorship possible. Many exchanged business
cards with me I feel many lasting connections were made. The
theme for the evening was "You've got to KIDing" as the kekei were
treated to
great party with games, prizes, et, al. As far as the rest of the Arena2 teams
I visited none are quite as
good at putting on a party like the Islanders.
There was a Hula show with
young ladies from a local school and music. The
game started promptly at 6: 30 p.m., HST and the Islanders wasted no time
in scoring
following a great kick return by Anthony Arceneaux. It meant a lot since
the Islanders had hit an
unexpected dry spell lately, dropping two games in a row
and dropping to second
place in the National Conference West Division. The Islanders
and dropped to 8th in the Af2
Coaches Power Poll before this game also. In
the first quarter both teams started a little tight before settling into their
basic Offences. Hawai'i is
know for it's running game, but the 1-8 Central Valley Coyotes
hug with them, trailing only 7-6
after one surprisingly low scoring first quarter.
In the second quarter, QB Darnell
Arceneaux, Anthony's brother caught fire and
hit strike after strike to
Anthony until the Coyotes Defence finally shut them down
somewhat.
The Islanders were without such quality players as FB/LBs Kekei Misipeka, who
I knew from the
CFL's Edmonton Eskimos, who won the Grey Cup last Nov., Fabrian Manumaleuna,
OL/ DL Mose Tuia, the
League's only player from New Zealand and DS Eddie Klaneski,
who 'is out for the
remainder of the season with knee surgery. So
Central Valley hung in there, down only 33-27 at the half. Anthony Arceneaux
had 3 TDs, two on
receptions and one kickoff return. The Islanders really came out
fired up in the third
quarter scoring 21 of the next 24 points. Central Valley switched
Defencive coverages in the
third quarter to blanket Anthony Arceneaux but it backfired as
Darnell Arceneaux continued
to find Nian Taylor and Robert Kemfort open. Even TE/DE Joe
Correa caught a three yard pass in
the third. In the second half Hawai'i's Defence
came alive too,
intercepting three passes and taking two back for TDs. Kemfort, Josh
Robinson and Desmond Maul
each had one pickoff.
Hawai'i outscored Central Valley 37-15 in the second half, finishing the night
with my buddy from the
University of Hawai'i, Shawn Withy-Allen scoring his first Pro rushing
TD. After the game Withy
and all the Islansders signed autographs for 30 minutes as is the Arena
Football custom since the
League first started in 1987. Much Mahalo to all those who made
the night possible for this
travelin' Virginia-canadian, Kama'aina! I was treated like an
Ali'i. Mahalo to Thomas
Yoshida, Tau Harrington, Alema Harrington, Kimberly Dey, Chris
Dey, and especially to
Kekei Misipeka, who gave me a ride back to the stree my hotel
is at in Waikiki. I will
cal to get Media / Business passes again this week. With the Islanders,
you're always in the game.
In the Hawai'i Football League this past weekend: Kona
Razorbacks 29, Hilo Storm 6
Kaua'i
Cowboys 8, Pacific Irondogs 6
Arena Football League Semi-Finals:
Arizona 45, Colorado 41
San Jose 49, Chicago 35
Tues,
June 8 04 "Moose's Massive Arena report! This weeks
playoff picks!" Myk Aussie
Speaking
of NHL / Skating related events, you may have missed hearing
about this one. The best
U.S. figure skater of all time, Kristi Yamaguchi (Mrs. Bruce
Hedican, of my beloved
Carolina Hurricanes) did the opening coin toss at the Af2
Hawai'i Islanders game Sat.
a week ago. It didn't help the Islanders as QBs Kane
Claunch and Kevin Feterik
lit the Islanders up for 10 TDs in the highest scoring
game in Af2 history, San
Diego 91, Hawai'i 77. The Islanders lost by a touchdown this
past week- end, too, 52-44
to Bakersfield. They still are tied for first in the National
Conference West at 5-3,
with Bakersfield. They get their good luck charm back in
town as the 'ole Moose,
yours truely makes his way to the Aloha State for two weeks
of fun and frolic to hit 5,
6 or maybe seven Islands.
Af2's other results:Florida 46, Macon 29
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 57,
Manchester (N.H.) 41
Columbus (Ga.) 44, Brimingham 42
Louisville 62, Quad City 61 {Eagle Keys and Phil Simms mighty proud today!}
Shreveport 67, Memphis 28
Green Bay 57, Peoria 29
Oklahoma City 66, Laredo (Tx/Mex.) 41
Tennessee Valley (Ala.) 36, Arkansas 23
Tulsa 62, Wichita 49
San Diego 45, Central Valley (Ca.) 24
In
the Arena League playoffs this weekend: San
Jose got by a stubborn Defending Champ Tamps Bay Storm team, 56-52.
Jay Gruden can drive from
Orlando down to Tampa now to help his older brother
John Coach the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers (2003 Super Bowl Champs) since his beloved
Orlando Predators got beat 52-42
in Chicago by the hard-charging Rush.
And Colorado did away with New
Orleans, 45-42. On NBC Sunday, Arizona,
who's been blown out in the
last two Arena Bowls, got by L.A. by two TDs. Here's
my analysis and picks for the Semi-Finals Arena playoffs: Arizona
(2-2 in four Arena Bowls) - Lead
by ancient players like QB Shredrick Bonner, WR/KR/DB-LB Hunkie Cooper,
OL/DL Mark Tucker (the original
'American Gladiator'), and injured WR/LB
Randy Gatewood, they've won
their last nine games. This could be the last run
for the Rattlers in a long
while since the team, a model of consistency in the
league, is up for sale and
it's doubtful COach Danny White will be back.
I say he ends up in
Dallas and Will McClay ends up in Arizona, unless White and G.M. Gene
Nudo can buy the team.
Wayne Gretzky is interested in acquiring them. The
reason why I'd love to see these guys go down to Colorado is because
I know they will get blown out in
the Arena Bowl and I don't want to see
these guys go out the way Marv
Levy's Buffalo Bills did. OL/DL Jon Morris
& TE/DE William Gaines
have had career years. Both, along with Bonner are
one time Arizona Cardinals (I think they probably could take the Cardinals,
too!). Kicker Nelson Garner
is from here in Virginia at James Madison University,
too. I like these guys but
they don't match up well at all v. the other three
remaining teams in the race. Take the... Colorado
Crush (Denver 1-0 in Arena Bowl I) - John
Dutton is the only QB in the Arena playoffs to be undefeated in Arena
Bowls, going 1-0 with San Jose,
while starter Mark Grieb was out with
a broken clavicle (collar
bone to you and me) in '02, suffered in game 13,
after San Jose had been
12-0.
Don't worry, in case you don't remember:
San Jose BROKE ALL of the
Rattlers, 52-14 in Arena Bowl XVI that year.
In Colorado, Big John Elway, the
greatest QB in the history of Pro Football
and primary Co-owner, has put
together a monster. FB/LBs John Peaua, a
former Rattler and Rich Young (a
former XFL standout) are pure dynamite
in the backfield and ex-Calgary
Stampeder Willis Marshall has had a fine
year, punctuated with last
weeks Offencive player-of-the-week selection. Ex-Toronto
Phantom Damien Harrell is now the
best OS in the league. At 6'3" 200 lbs.
he's a tough match up for the
aging Rattler secondary. But making this
deal even tougher is that
the Rattlers are banged up and Colorado is the fastest
team in the league.
They had the second best rushing attack to... Chicago
(0-1 in Arena Bowls as the Chicago Bruisers in '88) - With
ex-Rattler / ex-Sabercat Bobby McMillien, the second rusher in Arena
Football history, with two Arena
Bowl rings to his credit (Arz.'97 & S.J.
'02), FB/LB Jamie McGourty
and ex-Hamilton ('97) reserve pivot, Ray Philyaw,
a priority free agent
acquisition in the off season, the Rush (synonymous
with their nickname) the
best Rushing Team in Arena history. OL/DL James Baron
has slipped a bit (he's
penalty-prone now) playing alongside Riley Kleinhesselink
and John Moyer give the Rush
blocking and pass rushing a-plenty. Baron,
a TE/NG, has lost two Arena
Bowls with Nashville ('00 & '01) and would like
nothing better than to at least
get one. Philyaw has exceeded everyone's
expectations (sort of like Marcus
Crandell when Calgary won the Grey Cup
in '01).
This will be lifer-Coach (& former Pro QB) Mike Hohensee's teams
best chance to win the Arena Bowl.
They've got the rest of the league
on the run, which brings us to.
San Jose (1-0 in Arena Bowls) - While
QB John Dutton got San Jose the Arena Bowl with his M.V.P performance
in '02, Mark Grieb had to play the
good soldier / Trent Green role. See
if you can follow me here;
Trent Green, former third San Diego QB ('94 Super Bowl
season team) gets hurt for
the Saint Louis Rams by FORMER San Diego teammate
Rodney Harrison in a
preseason '99 game; enter former Arena Bowl QB Kurt Warner
- Rams win the Super Bowl.
Warner's backup - ex-Ariz. Arena Bowl winning
QB, Paul Justin. Justin's
backup; current Ariz. No.2, Joe Germaine. Still
with me? Mark Grieb wants
this Arena Bowl himself. This year. San Jose's clock
is ticking, too. But not as
much as Arizona. Barry Wagner, Joe Jacobs, Shalon Baker,
a former Edmonton Eskimo
rookie of the year, Keala Keana'aina (from the
Big Island-Hawai'i), Sam
Hernanadez (Arena League Reggie White, alltime sack
leader), et, al are headed for the
Arena Hall-of-Fame, Des Moines, IA,
in a few years. This team
is probably the best coached in the league. Darren Arbet,
Terry Malley and Michael Church
are the best 1-2-3 puch in the league
as H.Coach, Offencive
Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator. Can they withstand
Chicago's RUSH?! Stay tuned,
folkes!
Moose's
Semi-Final Picks:
Chicago
by one OVER San Jose (sorry, Mark Grieb)
Colorado
by Ten OVER Arizona
Sat,
June 5 04 "Watch
The Drive to ArenaBowl XVIII on NBC" Moose
Quarter
Finals:
Saturday, June 5 @ 2:45 pm ET Tampa
Bay Storm (7) vs. San Jose SaberCats (2)
Sunday, June 6 @ 3:00 pm ET Los
Angeles Avengers (8) vs. Arizona Rattlers (1)
Orlando Predators (6) vs. Chicago Rush (3)
Colorado Crush (5) vs. New Orleans
VooDoo (4)
Semifinals:
Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13 at 3:00 pm ET
ArenaBowl
XVIII on NBC - Sunday, June 27 at 4:00 pm ET.
I
called Jim Foster, Ar.FL yesterday and got permission to put the Arena Bowl
XVIII logo on our link. If you
could post it sometime before the Arena Bowl, Jun.
27th,
Wed,
June 2 04 "This weeks
playoff picks!" Moose
Arena
Football League Round One Playoffs Predictions:
#8
Los Angeles OVER #1 Arizona
#7
Tampa Bay OVER #2 San Jose
#6
Orlando OVER # 3 Chicago
#5
Colorado OVER #4 New Orleans
Tues,
June 1 04 "Arena Football
Massive Report and results!" Moose
By:
Scott Baxter & Rich Salzer
OL/DL
Jeremy Staat has left the Los Angeles Avengers for the rest of the 2004
season {this was before game 16 on Sun. on NBC - R.A.S}. Staat, from
Arizona State, was a teammate of the late Pat Tillman, who was killed
in Afghanistan one month ago. Staat is mentally exhausted and stillnot over the
death of his good friend Tillman. It has not been announced whether
Staat will return next season. The Avengers could have used the talented
OL/DL/ST'r Sunday, as his Avengers fell 52-50 to Orlando, who has won
7 out of their last eight games. And what a great game it was! New
Orlando Kicker Jason Wells, who spent much of the last two seasons with
the Dallas Desperados, was signed at 8: A.M. Sun. morning to replace injured
regular kicker, Jay Taylor, who will be on the playoff roster. Rookie
Orlando QB (who does have some NFL
/ NFL E experience) has been outstanding for the Predators the last 7 weeks
since returning from injury. WR/LB/KR
Cory Fleming, who got a Super Bowl ring from the Dallas Cowboys in
Jan. '96, along with Oronde Gadsden, a former NFL / Ar.FL standout, was had
a career year for the Preds with
127 catches. And FB/Mac LB Rupert Grant has an unbelievable 9.5 sacks from
behind the 'D'line at his position. An alltime
Arena
Football record. The Arena
Football League this year had better ratings on T.V. than boxing (a
dumb so-called sport in my opinion!), the NHL and golf (I guess 'Tiger-mania
is over, eh?) and the Arena League
topped 1.9 million fans thought the turnstiles
and there was a great article on the Arena Football League in ESPN the
magazine (not one of my favorites
anyway) last week. ESPN should take police that
they first promoted the League when it started in 1987 Commissioner C. David
Baker said more Arena expansion is on the way: Saint Louis,
Washington D.C., Jacksonville,
Boston (the Flutie Bros. team, eh?) and Miami in
the next two years. Also no word from the biggest Commish in Pro Sports history
yet on the proposed NAIFL in the great white North.
Those boys have been in
touch with both Myk and I about adverting on MykWebT.V. with nothing final
yet. And, before I forget again, Los Angeles Avengers Defencive Coordinator
was our H. Coach at the Univ. of
Hawai'i when I was there in '80-'82! Remember
Kids, I will be in the 50th state from June 11th-June 21st for two Hawai'i
Islander's games, and I'll say hello to future CFL standout (I hope!)
Hawai'i QB Shawn Withy-Allen, so
I'll try to send some of you post cards "from
the edge", so-to-speak. I e-mailed Mr. Thomas Yoshida for Media Credentials
and I hope to hook up with my old radio buddies, Super Bowl Wayne
LaVelle and Randy Miyamoto. Aloha and Mahalo!
Arena
Football Update The Arena
Pro Football League's attendance rose again for the sixth consecutive
season. The United States greatest
female figure skater of all time, Kristi Yamaguchi
did the coin toss at the Hawai'i Islanders Af2 game v. Kevin Feterik's San
Diego Riptide last Friday night. Here are the scores from last weekend's Arena
and
Af2games:
Arena
League: Orlando 52, Los
Angeles 50, Georgia 70,
Carolina 33,
Detroit 64, Grand Rapids 54,
Arizona 50, San Jose 43, Chicago
47, Colorado 56
New York 69, Philadelphia 54, New
Orleans 31, Austin 28, Tampa
Bay 59, Dallas 57Las Vegas 64, Columbus 51
Af2:
San Diego 91, Hawai'i 77, Manchester
(N.H.) 66, Green Bay 61,
Tulsa 51, Rio Grande Valley (tx.)
38, Wichita 64, Laredo (Tx.-Mex.)
34
Peoria 44, Albany 24, Birmingham
36, Tenn. Valley (Ala.) 30,
Macon 42, Cape Fear 60, Columbus
(Ga.) 51, Bossier City 41
Florida 43, Memphis (MS.) 20, Louisville
48, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 47
Oklahoma City 75, Arkansas 54, Bakersfield
41, Central Valley 25
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