First Home Game, and Some Issues.

Dear Sioux Falls Storm,
This season through the Storm web forum and the team facebook page, fans have been given access to give then team their feedback. I think we're lucky to have a place to voice our opinions almost directly to the team. I think Storm fans however; have come to expect certain things during our game-day production. Much like church, or a family reunion, some of us have been standing next to, or in front of the same people for 6, 7, 8 years. If this Sunday I went to service and they did communion before the readings, I'd be really confused. This is the same church I've always gone to, the same pastor, somehow things are just different. Much the same way, I'm sure a lot of Storm fans, myself included, felt when I was looking straight at the same PA guy I’ve had for the last 7 seasons, but something was different.

The attire was business casual, and yeah I think I’m ok with that. Wearing (now outdated) jerseys and cowboy hats was cool, but perhaps it ran its course. I mean I used to wear green Sears Toughskins back in the day, but today they’d be rather inappropriate. However it wasn’t just the attire that was different. The game had a mundane, almost mellow feel. Mellow is not what any come to expect from Storm games. We’ve come to expect our PA guy to be as into the game as we are.

I hate to sound like a pompous windbag here, but there’s a saying in business that I learned a LONG time ago. The customer is always right. The Storm fan that buys season tickets, tailgates, buys merchandise, goes to Chaamps on a Tuesday night to eat simply because the coaches show it there, these are the life blood of your business. Without the fans, the teams dies, just ask Alaska, or Colorado. By asking your PA announcer to pretend he’s announcing high school football instead of OUR TEAM, well that obviously hasn’t sat too well with some of the fans. Near the end of the game, the PA was better than at the beginning, and I do hope that the new administration can balance their visions of gameday with the fans wants and needs. Now, on to MY rant

*Please Note*
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Sioux Falls Storm or the Indoor Football League, nor do they reflect official policies of the Sioux Falls Storm or the Indoor Football League.

Bolt, the red haired cannon shooter.. You’re fired… cheesy…seriously z cavaricci cheesy

Our Owner owns the finest collection of fitness gyms in the region not owned by a multi-billion dollar organization; surely a pudgy fat Blizzard mascot goes against some of his most core wellness principles. BRING BACK SKINNY BLIZZARD

Famous Dave’s Pigskin Pass…No Pig Suits, no promo, “Where’s the Pigs?”

Now, I don’t want anyone to think I’m just Mr. Negativity here…so here’s some things I DO like

Thank you for fully clothing the Ball Beauties. I saw the black and white striped outfits, and I wasn’t impressed.

You kept the Harleys during pre-game… Good call

The on-field promos were quick and snappy, none of last year’s kicking fiasco’s

Production quality of Midco’s TV coverage was phenomenal.

Sean “Bubba” Bryant back next to Mr. Roste, good to have you around, Rich doesn’t sound the same without you.

You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out. At the end of the day, it’s not like any of us won’t be back, let’s just work on melding the vision of the new ownership with what the fans want, and have come to expect.

By The Numbers

Of all the ways to account for seven points in the game of indoor football, two safeties, a defensive two-point conversion and a blocked extra point is fairly low on the list of probable combinations. But it is exactly that combination that let the Sioux Falls Storm escape the Omaha Civic Auditorium with a win in the season opener Saturday night.
The Storm defense, led by eight year veteran Mark Blackburn, came up with a classic Storm defensive stop, tackling Beef quarterback Ben Sankey in the endzone to extend the Storm’s lead to the eventual final score, 54-47 with 1:06 to play. The game wasn’t the prettiest display of football I’ve ever witnessed, but it thrilled and frustrated everyone in the building, and for that both sides deserve kudos.
In order to save myself time and effort, and in an attempt to not to sound too much like a journalist, I’ll skip the stats and the rest of the game review and skip to the nuts and bolts. I’m borrowing a segment from local sports talk radio called “Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down”.
Thumbs Down:
- To the Beef fans that headed for the exits with :59 left down by 7 with two timeouts left. This is indoor football, crazier things have happened.
- To Mother Nature, for the crazy dense fog on the way home!
Thumbs Up:
- To the Beef fans, I might just detect the slightest bit of ringing in my ears, well done.
- To Storm owner Todd Tryon, without all your hard work and dedication, this season wouldn’t have been possible.
- To the Storm veterans, for coming back and giving us one more year.
- To the Storm fans that made the road trip, for being loud and proud!
A Win, is a Win. But this game left the Storm bench looking like a MASH Triage, with several players suffering injuries. Early in the game, Leif Murphy was assisted off the field by team medical staff and local paramedics with some sort of upper arm or elbow type of injury. Our thoughts and prayers go out to ‘ya Murph and here’s hoping for a speedy and successful recovery.
This week, the Storm travel to Wichita to take on a Wild team that thoroughly dismantled La Crosse in their season opener on February 26th. The Storm defense will be tasked with stopping the dangerous duo of Dixie Wooten and Clinton Solomon, a challenge that will certainly be a test for new defensive coordinator Andre Fields.
Lastly Storm fans, don’t forget the home opener is Monday, March 22nd when the reigning and defending IFL Champion Billings Outlaws come to town. Be Loud, Be Proud, GO STORM!

2010 Week One - A Short Rant

NO time for a blog just yet, but sit tight, I'll get to it at the Storm are set to kickoff their 2010 season this weekend.

I wanted to quickly rant, however about a fairly significant failure in week 1.

On Friday the IFL announced a partnership with Pointstreak for real time stats. This sounded great to me. I've used Pointstreak to follow the USHL (Tier 1 Junior Hockey) for a few years now. What the IFL had to offer this weekend however, did not meet my simple expectations.

1. A Box Score. An print industry standard, points by quarters, and scoring plays, individual game stats.. should not be that complicated to have one of these for a game review.

2. Individual game stats. As I'm looking at this thing not not only are the stats for the entire league, they're cumulative.

3. "LIVE"... yeah right - Half the games were not updated during the game, and as of this writing Alaska and Fairbanks game hasn't been touched.

I'd like to thank twitter for bringing us game updates ... freaking unacceptable for a "premiere" league.

30 Man Roster Released

# Name Position Height Weight College
1 Sean Treasure RB 6'1" 190 Minnesota State - Mankato
2 Bruce Peters WR/RB 5'9" 185 Arkansas - Pine Bluff
3 Kenneth Akridge DB 6'2" 190 Indianapolis
4 Kevin Adams DB 6'1" 185 Minnesota State - Mankato
5 Terrance Bryant QB 6'2" 210 Oregon State University
6 Stewart Franks DB 6'3" 190 Arkansas - Pine Bluff
8 James Jones WR/RB 5'7" 165 University of Northern Colorado
9 James Terry WR 6'4" 200 Kansas State
10 Lorenzo Brown QB 6'0" 185 University of Sioux Falls
11 Tommy Hofer WR 6'1" 190 Dakota State
14 Mark Blackburn LB 6'1" 235 University of South Dakota
15 Justiss Scales LB/DL 6'3" 240 University of South Dakota
23 T.J. Simmons DB 5'9" 185 University of South Dakota
24 Larry "Buddy" Williams DB 6'0" 190 Clemson
33 John Keith DB 5'11" 205 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
34 Brandon Blackmon DB 6'0" 190 Purdue University
38 Rob Zarrilli K 6'0" 175 Hofstra/Louisville
41 Brian McIntire DB 6'1" 210 Wartburg College
43 Leif Murphy DL 6'1" 265 North Dakota State
52 Rachman Crable DL 6'4" 290 Ball State
56 Bruce McCaleb OL 6'3" 300 Delta State/Memphis
74 Zach Tubbs OL 6'7" 365 University of Arkansas
75 Kyle Staudt OL 6'6" 302 University of Sioux Falls
77 Isaac Snell OL 6'6" 305 North Dakota State
78 Anthony "Big Daddy" Thomas OL 6'3" 315 University of Arizona
81 Brooks Little WR 6'2" 220 University of South Dakota
84 Dusty Hovorka WR 6'2" 200 University of Sioux Falls
90 Ledarius Anthony DL 6'4" 265 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
96 Cory Johnsen DL 6'1" 315 St. Cloud State
99 Tyrone Saterfield DL 6'3" 305 Louisville
Injured Reserve
40 Jeremy Huber RB 6'2" 240 Augustana College
51 Jason Bonwell DL 6'0" 245 South Dakota State
82 Jamie January WR 6'2" 200 Black Hills State