YouTube Tuesday - August 10th, 2010

Live Coverage: Tampa Bay Storm at Tulsa Talons

Headlines - August 8th, 2010 (Venom Edition)

Summary of Friday Night's win over OKC: "Justin Allgood tied a franchise record by throwing 10 touchdown passes and the Talons needed every one of them to outdistance Oklahoma City 74-61 in the Arena Football League regular-season finale before 7,702 spectators at the Cox Convention Center."

Andy Lopusnak of Arena Fan named Gabe Nyenhuis Defensive Player of the Year: "Nyenhuis broke the league records in sacks (15.5) and forced fumbles (nine), while helping the Talons lead the league in sacks. All of the previous times a player had 13.5 or more sacks, that player was named both the Defensive Player of the Year and Lineman of the Year"

Andy also breaks down last week and looks at season records

KRMG Interviews Marco Capazolli

According to the Tulsa World the Storm are gunning for the Talons: "There's definitely a revenge factor," Storm quarterback Brett Dietz told the St. Petersburg Times. "We have three (postseason) games to win, and (the Talons) are the first team in the way."

But according to their Radio Guy: "Getting ready to head out to watch the Sharks and Shock on NFL Net. Go Shock. I would like to avoid a trip to OK next weekend."

Apparently Allner is restless: "Mitch Allner said he awoke at 3 a.m. Monday and couldn't go back to sleep. By 4 a.m., the Tulsa Talons head coach was at the office preparing for Saturday's playoff game against the Tampa Bay Storm."

A look at Carlese Franklin: "Carlese Franklin doesn't mind being the other guy in the Tulsa Talons receiving corps. Jeff Hughley and Donovan Morgan are among the most popular and successful players in Tulsa's arena football history."

News Coverage for tonight's playoff game

OK Blitz's look at tonight's game

Rick Couri previews tonight's game: " The Talons finished the regular season with the 2nd best offense in the league averaging 62.1 points per game. The offense will need to be firing on all cylinders as they will be facing the league's 2nd stingiest defense. The Storm gave up just 50.8 points per game during the regular season."

According to a Facebook post, Donovan Morgan is taking on a new persona: "Tulsa Talons fans sorry to inform you but spiderman is gone for the playoffs.. It's VENOM show now. I got a surprise for yall Saturday.. let's go Talons"

The Tulsa World give a primer on the Talon's Playoff Game: "The Tulsa Talons have participated in postseason play every year since their inception as an af2 team in 2000, winning two titles. Now they're appearing in the Arena Football League playoffs for the first time."

Oh in case you didn't hear, the winner tonight gets to host the next playoff game: "The Predators will hit the road for the American Conference championship game next weekend, which will either be in Tampa or Tulsa, OK. The Storm and the Talons do battle on Saturday night in Oklahoma in the other conference semifinal."

Picks - Playoffs First Round

Orlando Predators at Jacksonville Sharks: JACKSONVILLE. Who is gonna pick against Sharks on Shark Week? Really? Add to the mix that Orlando will be without one star player, and Jacksonville will have the return of Aaron Garcia and it makes for a solid chance for Jacksonville to run away with this one.

Arizona Rattlers at Spokane Shock: SPOKANE. Spokane is a hard place to play in. They simply pack that place to the brim. Combine that with the motivation after a tough loss to Jacksonville last week and this should be a game Spokane is ready for.

Chicago Rush at Milwaukee Iron: MILWAUKEE. This is probably the game of the week. Two well matched rivals with survival on the line. Milwaukee has the talent while Chicago has the coaching. I expect to see the early season Iron who were pretty much unstoppable.

Tampa Bay Storm at Tulsa Talons: TULSA. A rematch from a great week 1 game. The biggest difference this time is the Talons have improved their secondary. Neither team made a single sack in the first matchup and don't expect that to happen again. As long as the Talons offense fires on all cylinders they should pull this one out.

YouTube Tuesday - August 3rd, 2010

In honor of this week's playoff rematch against the Storm we have a recap from the season opener:

Who is Collin Taylor?

On Friday night the Talons visited the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. While the game had no playoff implications, as the Talons had already locked their playoff seeding and Oklahoma City was eliminated last week, the game was very exciting. Tulsa had a few players banged up from the week before against Arizona (mainly Terrell Mingo and Brett Rayl) and brought in some new talent to give some depth to the roster. One of those additions, Collin Taylor, didn't take long to get noticed by the fans.

Up 62-47 in the 4th, the Talons let Taylor get his chance at wide receiver. Taylor caught two consecutive passes and fought into the endzone for his first AFL Touchdown. Taylor made plays all night on special teams as well. At one point I think the coaching staff was going to put him at defensive back as well. He seemed to be someone who had a lot of talent and was willing to use it anywhere the team needed it. But the question arose, just who is Collin Taylor.

Collin Taylor graduated from Carmel, Indiana before going to Indiana University to play Wide Receiver. While he didn't make any appearance his freshman year in 2006 (he was a red shirt player in 2005) he started to make a name his sophomore year and was even named Scout Team Player of the Week. In his Junior year, Taylor began to make regular appearances as a wide receiver and on special teams. However, due to injuries, Taylor was asked to move to safety. According to Taylor, "after playing so much WR, I didn't think I would ever enjoy defense as much. But after a while, I really enjoyed it." Taylor's biggest game came in his senior year against Iowa. In that game, Taylor had two interceptions before Iowa made a triumphant comeback.

Taylor graduated this past December and began his preparation for transition to the Arena Football League. Originally, he wanted to stay close to Indiana and tried to make the teams for either the Chicago Rush or the Milwaukee Iron. Things did not go as planned though and Taylor ended up being signed by the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz. Taylor was with Oklahoma City for the first couple of months of the season before being released. He made an appearance in only one game, against Iowa as a Jack Linebacker. Taylor didn't let the release hit him personally though. "I understand that the AFL is a business and things just didn't work out while I was there," Taylor said.

Then, due to injuries, the Talons asked Taylor to come play for them. Taylor said he was, "just excited to be able to help out the Talons, but it definitely made it a bit sweeter to be able to play against the Dawgz, and against some good friends." Always wanting to help his team, Taylor said he is willing to play any role, defense, offense, or special teams, but if he had to choose he would play receiver. Taylor feels he fits in perfectly with the Talons system. "If one of our WRs were to sit out, I don't think we'd have to change any play calls or any offensive schemes," Taylor commented.

In addition, Taylor is excited to get better as a player. "This is a great place for me because I also get to learn everyday from three of the top wide receivers in this league, and that only helps me get better every time I'm on the field." Taylor proved friday he can play very physical football. This is most likely to being able to play both collegiate offense and defense at Indiana. "It made me a better overall player," Taylor said while discussing the transition to defense.

When asked about the difference between playing in the Big 10 and the AFL, Taylor said, "The AFL features great football players playing at their peak and great competitors, and just like the Big 10, you never know who will win the game until its over."

Next week Taylor should get a chance to play against one of the historically best franchises in arena football, the Tampa Bay Storm. Taylor knows how loyal and loud Talons fans can be and looks forward to the home field advantage of the BOK.

Week 18 Picks

I will edit in my record for the season and last week later. In a rush to head to OKC for the game tonight! Expect some good stuff next week as I am now done with the bar!

Spokane Shock at Jacksonville Sharks: Jacksonville

Tulsa Talons at Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz: Tulsa Talons

Iowa Barnstormers at Arizona Rattlers: Arizona

Milwaukee Iron at Cleveland Gladiators: Milwaukee

Orlando Predators at Tampa Bay Storm: Tampa Bay

Dallas Vigilantes at Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings: Dallas

Utah Blaze at Alabama Vipers: Alabama