Found this interesting documentary that follows the Spokane Shock in the lead up to last year's Arena Bowl.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Headlines - April 8, 2011
No game this week, but we still have Headlines!
From the Top 10 Observations from Week 4: "The Central Division got a lot more competitive. Entering Week 4, it looked like either Dallas or Chicago would turn it into a two-team race. But both lost. The Barnstormers won to move over .500 and the Tulsa Talons surprised most fans with a 45-22 win over the Power. Look for some good divisional games between the Barnstormers, Rush, Talons and Vigilantes to duke it out."
Jamar Ransom and Matt Bassuener were Week 4 POW Candidates
From the Central Week 4 Recap: "Tulsa quarterback Matt Bassuener, starting in place of Bobby Reid, threw for just 199 yards and three touchdowns, but the key stat: zero interceptions. Turnovers plagued Tulsa last week against the Arizona Rattlers. The Talons fell behind 42-0 at halftime and gave the ball away six times."
Mass Bassuener the TV star: "The new Tulsa Talons passer said he couldn't imagine anything worse than getting cut by the Louisville Fire in the old af2 league in 2008. But that led to a three-year gig as a stunt quarterback for the television series Friday Night Lights. The show, which ended in 2010, was filmed in Austin, Texas. Bassuener was there to try out for the Arena Football League's Austin Wranglers."
A Pittsburg Fan's recap of the game: "A lot of the credit goes to jittery mindset by the home team, but the lion's share goes straight to Tulsa for being wherever the ball was. If they didn't pick it out of the air, they were right there to force a fumble and recover it."
From the Top 10 Observations from Week 4: "The Central Division got a lot more competitive. Entering Week 4, it looked like either Dallas or Chicago would turn it into a two-team race. But both lost. The Barnstormers won to move over .500 and the Tulsa Talons surprised most fans with a 45-22 win over the Power. Look for some good divisional games between the Barnstormers, Rush, Talons and Vigilantes to duke it out."
Jamar Ransom and Matt Bassuener were Week 4 POW Candidates
From the Central Week 4 Recap: "Tulsa quarterback Matt Bassuener, starting in place of Bobby Reid, threw for just 199 yards and three touchdowns, but the key stat: zero interceptions. Turnovers plagued Tulsa last week against the Arizona Rattlers. The Talons fell behind 42-0 at halftime and gave the ball away six times."
Mass Bassuener the TV star: "The new Tulsa Talons passer said he couldn't imagine anything worse than getting cut by the Louisville Fire in the old af2 league in 2008. But that led to a three-year gig as a stunt quarterback for the television series Friday Night Lights. The show, which ended in 2010, was filmed in Austin, Texas. Bassuener was there to try out for the Arena Football League's Austin Wranglers."
A Pittsburg Fan's recap of the game: "A lot of the credit goes to jittery mindset by the home team, but the lion's share goes straight to Tulsa for being wherever the ball was. If they didn't pick it out of the air, they were right there to force a fumble and recover it."
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Week 5 Picks
Last Week: 6-3
Overall: 21-11 (.656)
Dallas Vigilantes at Georgia Force: DALLAS. The NFL game of the week looks to be a good one. Dallas is coming off a bad loss to Utah. Georgia on the other hand completely dominated the VooDoo. Dallas looks to be the better team of the two, behind a great rookie coach. Expect Dallas to bounce back with a strong win.
Utah Blaze at San Jose SaberCats: SAN JOSE. The loss of Gabe Nyenhuis to the Injured Reserve will hurt a San Jose defense that has been less than stellar all year. However, San Jose has to have been focusing on defense all week after the shortfalls of the past few weeks. They should be able to come out and put on a strong showing against the Blaze.
Philadelphia Soul at Orlando Predators: ORLANDO. The Soul have disappeared since their great showing in Week 1. Orlando, despite losing last week, have been playing outstanding ball and is one of the best teams in the league. They should roll to another win.
Iowa Barnstormers at Kansas City Command: KANSAS CITY. Iowa has looked amazing so far this season with impressive wins over Spokane and San Jose. But for some reason this Kansas City team has me intrigued. In front of a strong home crowd the Command should get over the hump and get that first win.
Overall: 21-11 (.656)
Dallas Vigilantes at Georgia Force: DALLAS. The NFL game of the week looks to be a good one. Dallas is coming off a bad loss to Utah. Georgia on the other hand completely dominated the VooDoo. Dallas looks to be the better team of the two, behind a great rookie coach. Expect Dallas to bounce back with a strong win.
Utah Blaze at San Jose SaberCats: SAN JOSE. The loss of Gabe Nyenhuis to the Injured Reserve will hurt a San Jose defense that has been less than stellar all year. However, San Jose has to have been focusing on defense all week after the shortfalls of the past few weeks. They should be able to come out and put on a strong showing against the Blaze.
Philadelphia Soul at Orlando Predators: ORLANDO. The Soul have disappeared since their great showing in Week 1. Orlando, despite losing last week, have been playing outstanding ball and is one of the best teams in the league. They should roll to another win.
Iowa Barnstormers at Kansas City Command: KANSAS CITY. Iowa has looked amazing so far this season with impressive wins over Spokane and San Jose. But for some reason this Kansas City team has me intrigued. In front of a strong home crowd the Command should get over the hump and get that first win.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Week 5 Power Rankings
| | Rk (LW) | Team | Rec. | Note |
| | 1 (1) | Arizona Rattlers | 4-0 | Coming back against a strong opponent like Orlando is the sign of a great team. |
| | 2 (4) | Cleveland Gladiators | 3-0 | Even without Dutton the Gladiators are taking down tough competition in pro form. |
| | 3 (2) | Chicago Rush | 3-1 | The Rush lost a tough one on the road to a strong rival, can’t fault them too much for that. |
| | 4 (3) | Orlando Predators | 2-1 | Orlando may have given this one away, but on the road they put up a great fight against the best team in the league. |
| | 5 (6) | Jacksonville Sharks | 3-1 | Jacksonville continues to gather wins, but doing it against lesser competition begs the question of how good this team really is. |
| | 6 (7) | Utah Blaze | 2-1 | Utah proved they are a contender by taking down a strong Dallas team. |
| | 7 (11) | Iowa Barnstormers | 2-1 | No one expected Brad Banks to be this good, this quick. |
| | 8 (5) | San Jose SaberCats | 2-2 | The SaberCats continue to fall on the heels of back to back losses. |
| | 9 (14) | Spokane Shock | 1-3 | The Shock may have got the win they needed to start to turn around their season. |
| | 10 (12) | Georgia Force | 2-1 | Georgia pounded a VooDoo team that has been struggling to improve to 2-1. |
| | 11 (8) | Dallas Vigilantes | 2-1 | Dallas fell apart against a strong Utah team on the road, they need to bounce back in their matchup. |
| | 12 (9) | Philadelphia Soul | 1-2 | What happened to the Soul team that we saw in week 1? |
| | 13 (18) | Tulsa Talons | 1-3 | Matt Bassuener may be the leader the Talons have been searching for. |
| | 14 (10) | Pittsburgh Power | 2-2 | The Power have struggled in their past five quarters, is rest what this young team needs? |
| | 15 (16) | Milwaukee Mustangs | 1-3 | The Mustangs have held in there for the past two weeks and it paid off this week against the soul. P.S. R.J. Archer is the truth. |
| | 16 (13) | Kansas City Command | 0-3 | KC gets to open at home this week, however it comes against a strong Iowa team. |
| | 17 (15) | Tampa Bay Storm | 1-3 | The Storm are having tryouts this week, not a good sign. |
| | 18 (17) | New Orleans VooDoo | 0-4 | The VooDoo are the perfect example of how important a good lineman core is. |
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
YouTube Tuesday - April 5, 2011
In honor of Matt Bassuener's coming out game Saturday, we have the Zeener's highlight reel from his entire career:
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Talons at Power: Pregame Primer
vs. 
Tulsa Talons (0-3, 0-2 road) vs. Pittsburgh Power (2-1, 1-1 home)
TV: N/A
Stream: Click here
Radio: KRMG 740 (740 AM)
Time: 6:30 CT
Passing Yards: Talons – 564 (16th), Power – 644 (14th)
Rushing Yards: Talons – 226 (1st), Power – 57 (10th)
Passing Yards Allowed: Talons – 849 (12th), Power – 774 (9th)
View from the enemy: Boltsburgh Blog
Tulsa is 0-3 on the season, coming off the worst loss in franchise history. So the Talons will be ready and hungry. They’ve been learning together and on the verge of turning the corner. But beating the Power will definitely be a challenge.
Pittsburgh coming in: The Power played Monday, barely escaping Milwaukee.
THE MATCHUPS
The teams are much closer than their records reflect. However, where things went wrong for the Talons, they went right for the Power.
On Offense, Bobby Reid will be pressured constantly by former Talons Terrance Carter. The offensive line will need to be on its game tonight to give Reid the time he needs to get the ball to the Talons receivers. A bright spot for the Talons is that for Pittsburgh, the defensive backfield has been the weak point on their defense.
On Defense, Jamar Ranson and Fred Shaw will need help from the defensive line that has been struggling all season. The power have had some injuries on the offensive side of the ball, especially at quarterback. So, some pressure could possibly force some mistakes that will help the Talons pull this one out.
Kickoff at 6:30 CT.
Headlines - April 2, 2011
Mitch Allner on next week's bye: Head coach Mitch Allner promised lineup changes Saturday and said more could be on the way with a bye week to intensify player evaluations and search for new prospects before the next home game against the San Jose SaberCats on April 16. "We're always on the lookout for guys who can come in here and help us win," Allner said. "Our job isn't to keep losing all year. It's to get this thing turned around and get back into contention for the playoffs. We're going to do whatever it takes to make that happen."
Football Gameplan's Talons/Power Preview
Owner Paul Ross on the player exodus: "We're allowed to pay so much money under the guidelines," Ross said. "When we offer a marketing contract and a player says he's got a better deal, there's not much more room for us to go unless we want to start breaking the rules."
ArenaFan on Ross's Statements. I think he doesn't give "smaller markets" enough credit.
Tulsa World on last week's loss: "They made one mistake after another Monday night. They had busts in pass coverage and penalties that wiped out positive plays. And they lost six turnovers, including four interceptions by Reid, who played his worst game in three pro starts. The league's leading rusher was held to 29 yards on the ground and 108 passing yards."
Football Gameplan's Talons/Power Preview
Owner Paul Ross on the player exodus: "We're allowed to pay so much money under the guidelines," Ross said. "When we offer a marketing contract and a player says he's got a better deal, there's not much more room for us to go unless we want to start breaking the rules."
ArenaFan on Ross's Statements. I think he doesn't give "smaller markets" enough credit.
Tulsa World on last week's loss: "They made one mistake after another Monday night. They had busts in pass coverage and penalties that wiped out positive plays. And they lost six turnovers, including four interceptions by Reid, who played his worst game in three pro starts. The league's leading rusher was held to 29 yards on the ground and 108 passing yards."
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