Those That Don’t Learn From History…

Storm versus Bandits. There are few, if any, rivalries in the annals of indoor football that even come close. Two teams separated by 77 miles, with rosters that sport at least one player that has spent significant time on the other team. Two of the most passionate fan bases the sport has ever had. Two cities that are routinely punch lines for each other’s jokes. To quote an Old Milwaukee beer slogan “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The Sioux Falls Storm have had some heart stopping games in the Tyson Event center against the Bandits over the years; this past Saturday I swore I heard MLB hall-of fame broadcaster, Jack Buck. Trailing 38-28 in the 4th quarter, the Storm marched 34 yards in 6 plays concluding with a Terrance Bryant touchdown pass to a wide open James Terry. Kicker Rob Zarilli continued an off night by missing the PAT, leaving the Storm down 4. After Sioux City missed a field goal on their next possession, the Storm promptly drove 30 yards where Zarilli connected on a 30 yard field goal to pull the Storm within one point.

Then things got crazy. Great Storm kickoff coverage forced the Bandits to take over at their own 4, and on their second play from scrimmage Mark Blackburn tipped a Scott Jensen pass right into the waiting arms of Rachman Crable, who walked into the end zone to give the Storm their first lead of the game. Former Storm all purpose back Leon Hall Jr. then muffed the ensuing kickoff giving the Storm the ball back on the Bandit 21.


Zarilli’s struggles continued however, as he missed a short field goal, but precious time had been taken off the clock and the Bandits were now out of timeouts with 45 ticks left on the 4th quarter clock. The Bandits needed just one play to make things interesting again, as Jensen completed a 44 yard bomb to T.J. Williams who was downed at the Storm 1 yard line with 35 seconds left in the game. Inexplicably, Jensen managed to fumble the snap on the following play and when Blackburn emerged from the bottom of the pile with the ball, the Storm had capped an improbable, impossible 43-38 victory. Queue Jack Buck… “I don’t believe… what I just saw.”

If you’re thinking to yourself, like I was, that somehow this all seems oddly familiar, you’d be correct. A chance sighting of former Storm kicker Adam Hicks made it all come back to me, and if history repeats itself, someday Scott Jensen will be in the NFL. Current Buffalo Bill’s running back Fred Jackson once fumbled at the Storm 1. That fumble cost the Bandits United Bowl 1, which was the first of 16 straight wins by the Storm over their I-29 rivals.

Up next for the Storm is a pair of home games against the Omaha Beef and their band of cowbell wielding fans. The Beef, all but left for dead at an uninspiring 3-4 this season, took themselves off life support by blowing out the Arkansas Diamonds, one of the Intense divisions best teams, 71-33. Game time is 7:05 at the Sioux Falls Arena.

A win is a win

Welcome to a rare, post cross-town move edition of the Section O blog. I apologize to any avid readers, both of you, for not being more consistent this year, but frankly I’ve been busy getting my health in order, and also preparing for the aforementioned move. A great big huge thanks to two fellow Section O’ers for helping us move in on Friday evening so we could make the tailgate and the game on Saturday, you guys totally rock.
The Sioux Falls Storm defeated the Colorado Ice last Saturday 41-28 in a lackluster affair. Two quick things of note from the game
1. Defensive Coordinator Andre Fields was MIA, not sure what the deal was but Donny Hilsenroth was calling the defense. It may help explain some of the apparent confusion in the first half.
2. Normal long snapper Brian McIntire wasn't in uniform. I wasn't aware of any injuries, but that most definitely explains the long snapping issues all night.

The optimist in me wants to say the Colorado's defensive scheme prohibited the deep ball, and the 10 yard post patterns that we've become accustomed to seeing and that there's not something more serious wrong with the sputtering Storm offense. Having JJ, Sean, and JT running the ball effectively against Colorado sure helped. It's boring like watching a West Central high school game, but it gets the job done.
Colorado's offensive line was extremely effective with the cut blocks early in the evening giving a shorter QB time, and sight-lines to throw. How many completions did he have while being completely engulfed by a defender as well?

Never look a gift win in the mouth, Sioux City topped Wichita 48-47 with backup QB Scott Jensen at the helm of the Bandit ship. The Wild had it tied at 7 early in the first, but trailed the rest of the way. The Storm offense will need to be able to keep up with the Bandits, just like the first game or this could turn ugly fast.

I want to take some time in this blog and touch on some fan behavior issues I’ve heard about and been a part of over the last few weeks. I’d like to remind all Storm fans to conduct ourselves with some semblance of self control when attending Storm games both home and away. I had the misfortune of running into some less than friendly Wild fans in Wichita several weeks ago, and then was horrified to hear that some idiot Storm fan had thrown beer at a Wild staff member, his family, and a player when they visited us a few weeks before. This type of behavior shines a most negative light on all of us, and the team. I’m not suggesting that we yell any less loudly, or have Section O sit or anything crazy. Simply take a personal inventory of how your actions reflect the fan base as a whole as well as the players and coaches whom we are lucky enough to get to cheer for.

It’s the last official Storm Chaser trip of the season. Hopefully we can fill more than a single bus of loud, proud, respectful fans and rock the house in Sioux City.