2010 Storm Preview
(March 28, 2010)
2010 Storm Preview
(March 28, 2010)
"We're back and we're not going anywhere," so proclaims Arena Football League Commissioner Jerry Kurz. The former af2 commissioner added, "We are tremendously excited to bring Arena Football to our ardent following of fans across the country. With a restructured business plan, we are poised to come back stronger than ever."
The face of the Tampa Bay franchise, Storm head coach and general manager Tim Marcum, is equally elated. "We're back, and we're happy. In many respects, we see this as a rebirth of the arena football product that Tampa Bay fans have long enjoyed. We have high expectations, we intend to win, and many of the players our fans have come to enjoy watching will be back with us.”
Some recognizable names return to the Storm. Quarterback Brett Dietz, wide receiver Hank Edwards, lineman Tim McGill, linebacker Terrence Royal, wide receiver Tyrone Timmons and kick returner Sedrick Robinson all played for the 2008 team. Interesting newcomer are former Florida State QB Drew Weatherford and South Florida receiver DeAndrew Rubin.
Other newcomers are a new ownership group. Todd Boren, an investment banker and owner of a money management firm, is the now the Team President and managing partner. The other partners in the ownership group are Orlando based lawyer Michael O’Quinn, Steven Jones who is a partner in a Orlando based restaurant and nightclub group, and local real estate and business management consultant Robert Dison. Boren commented, “The 2010 Tampa Bay Storm is locked and loaded and ready to kick off another season of In Your Face Football and the Storm has, hands down, the greatest fans in arena football… period. We look forward to having you with us as we strive for our sixth world championship.”
| AFL Tidbits |
| NFL Network will broadcast a Friday night Game of the Week. |
| All games, except AFL Game of the Week on NFL Network, will be available live on the Internet. Download the NiFTy viewer at arenafootball.com. |
| Locations being looked at for future expansion include Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Denver and Southern California. |
| The Tampa Bay Storm have won more ArenaBowls than any other team with five. The Detroit Drive are next with four. |
The Arena Football League return features a mix of the old and new. While the league was initially going to be called Arena Football One, this group of former af2 owners and newcomers purchased all rights to AFL properties. It is now a mix of the now defunct af2 and old AFL names.
Fifteen teams that will play a sixteen game schedule over eighteen weeks. The teams will be broken into four divisions with the Storm in the South Division. Also in that division will be the Orlando Predators, who need no introduction, nor does new head coach Pat O’Hara. The Jacksonville Sharks are a new team, if the name sounds familiar that was the name of the city’s WFL franchise in 1974, and they will have AFL legend Aaron Garcia at quarterback. The Alabama Vipers round out the South and will play their home games in Huntsville. That franchise dates to 2000 and was known as the Tennessee Valley Vipers when it won af2’s Arena Cup in 2008.
The Southwest Division has the Bossier City-Shreveport Battle Wings, a former af2 franchise that dates to 2001. The Dallas Vigilantes are a new team with former Storm owner Peter “Woody” Kern as co-owner and former Storm QB Shane Stafford. The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz are an af2 team dating to 2004. The Tulsa Talons were the most successful af2 franchise. Dating to 2000, Tulsa won more games than any other af2 team and won league titles in 2003 and 2007. The new AFL league offices are also based in Tulsa.
The Midwest Division has the Chicago Rush, an AFL team since 2001 that won the ArenaBowl in 2006. The only head coach in Rush history, Mike Hohensee, returns and the team is co-owned by Mike Ditka. The Cleveland Gladiators are an old AFL team that dates to 1997 and also played in New Jersey and Las Vegas. The Iowa Barnstormers played in the AFL from 1995 to 2000, then played in af2 in 2001 before folding. The Barnstormers did return to af2 action for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. The Milwaukee Iron played the 2009 season in af2.
The three-team West Division has the Arizona Rattlers, who played in the AFL since 2001 and won ArenaBowls in 1994 and 1997. The Spokane Shock is another af2 team that won the title in its first season (2006) and won the final Arena Cup last year. The Utah Blaze played in the AFL from 2006 to 2008, then where know as the Utah Valley Thunder in the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) for the 2009 season.
It is really hard to predict what will happen this season. Will the af2 teams have more continuity and surprise that larger former AFL markets? Whatever happens, it is just good to see the Storm and indoor football return!
