Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Heroes

They say excuses are like rear ends, everybody has one. The 2010 Sioux Falls Storm haven’t used any excuses to explain away any of their potential shortcomings on the field. Storm management labeled this season “The Season of Redemption.” A cute marketing ploy, but what did they need to redeem themselves from? Three 2009 on field losses to the Billings Outlaws? A mammoth off the field faux paus caused that 2009 team to miss the IFL playoffs and left us fans at home a month earlier than we’d been used to. That was last year and it was, for lack of a better term, what it was. Many of the same faces returned this season to address whatever issues they themselves had left unresolved after the abrupt end to last season. Our beloved “band of brothers” was back, but at times this season for various reasons they’ve looked less like brothers and more like a loose collection of 2nd cousins that get to see each other every other year at the family reunion. The boys have played their hearts out and at times it just hasn’t been enough.

Webster’s defines synergy as “The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.” In order to win championships, sports teams need synergy. They need to know that the collective efforts of each of the players combined will be greater than the sum of the individual parts. That knowledge though, isn’t just given, it must be achieved, and once achieved it must be maintained. It must be maintained each and every week as the season or the playoffs wear on. Each player needs to be able to look to his left, and to his right and know, beyond a shadows of a doubt, that not only are they giving every ounce of themselves, but that the guy next to him is doing the same.

Being the best at anything, whether it’s indoor football or an adolescent spelling bee requires a level of hard work and determination that many of us, once we’re no longer competing, forget about. Our Storm players risk injury, they leave their families across the country in order to buckle up that red helmet that we so passionately cheer for every week. They work all off-season to stay in shape, lifting weights, plyometric drills, cardio, etc. All for the honor, such as it is, of putting on that black jersey and going to battle with their teammates.

For those of you that followed my blog last season, and saw my ire grow with every passing week, with not only with the IFL and Tommy Benizio, but with the inability of last year’s team to get past Billings. This was such a change from seasons past for us as Storm fans because it always seemed, when the chips were down and it was time to pay the dealer, that the Storm came out on top. Each player on those teams could look to his left and to his right and know that his fellow player was going to make a play when it was time to do so.

As a fan this season I’ve logged just short of 4000 miles traveling to 13 out of 14 regular season games. Eaten world-class bar-b-que, seen dramatic heart stopping finishes, and eaten potentially a gallon of post-game throat soothing ice cream. I’ve done this because there’s just something about indoor football. More specifically, there’s just something about the Sioux Falls Storm. The people I’ve road tripped with are some my closest and dearest friends, the players I’ve watched play are real people. There are rally monkeys, pineapple, 10 year old mesh jerseys, and a myriad of other odd and strange superstitions that, taken out of context, might make us seem rather insane. I can live with that. This season has been a joy and a privilege to share with my fellow fans, the players and coaches. But the best is certainly yet to come.

This week is the final weekend of the regular season in the 2010 Indoor Football League. The Sioux Falls Storm take on our backyard brethren to the south, the Sioux City Bandits. The Bandits come in a battered and beleaguered bunch. Head Coach Tommie Williams resigned prior to their last game due to differences of opinion with Bandit owner Bob Scott. The Bandits aren’t likely to look anything like the squad that were 1 yard away from breaking a 15 game losing streak to the Storm when the two teams collided in Sioux City back in May. Former Storm player Leon Hall and the ageless Spetlar Tonga will lead the mangled bunch into the Sioux Falls Arena this Saturday night. Bob Scott’s unwillingness, or inability to provide his players league approved benefits, such as housing, food, and decent practice facilities that aren’t a tennis court, has left the Bandits, and their fans, beat down, embarrassed, and utterly disgruntled.

After the Bandits leave town the regular season is officially over and the real fun begins. The Storm should face the Omaha Beef in the first round of the playoffs and if the last two games against the Beef here in Sioux Falls are indicative of anything, it should be one heck of a show.
The playoffs are a special time in any sport that uses such a tournament to decide its champion. It’s a time when heroes are made. The Sioux Falls Storm has had their share of playoff heroes. Adam Hicks and his ever so steady right foot that cemented United Bowl I in 2005 and put the Storm into United Bowl IV beating Billings in the Western Conference Finals in 2008. There’s Casey Veenhof’s catch over the boards in the north endzone, and a host of players like Tony Hermes who broke his leg, if memory serves, in United Bowl I but still led the Storm that game with 6 unassisted tackles. The playoffs are what turned a very average 2005 Sioux Falls Storm team during the regular season into National Champions. It’s time for us as fans to be loud each and every game. It’s time for the players to dig deeper within themselves and put it all on the line. Pick your favorite motivational speech and insert it here. Whether you prefer ringing the bell, being perfect, winning one for the gipper or finding the inches that are all around us, whatever motivates you, find it. Seize that passion, that fire, hold onto it.

It’s playoff time… Who wants to be a hero today?