A week to rest, wait

By JOHN COTEY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 24, 2001

Perhaps it was fitting that the Storm capped its uneven and oft-sloppy second half with a last-second win over the league's worst team when the backup quarterback fell and got back up to throw the winning touchdown. The Storm will take it after stumbling home 3-4 following a 7-0 start. Thanks to a little help from Detroit's 66-58 win Sunday over Indiana, the Storm squeezed into the No. 4 seed and earned a first-round bye in the AFL playoffs.

It wasn't pretty Saturday, but when Shane Stafford got up to find offensive specialist James Bowden in the end zone with 9 seconds left, it gave the Storm a 44-41 win over New Jersey and set the stage for Detroit's helping hand. Incidentally, Detroit coach Mouse Davis is one of Storm coach Tim Marcum's closest friends.

"That was nice of him, wasn't it?" Marcum joked. "It was probably a little selfish on his part, actually, since they had to win to make the playoffs. I don't think he did it just for me."

KALEO'S BACK?: Despite a couple of impressive outings by Stafford, the extra week off virtually assures that the Storm will go into the playoffs with the more experienced John Kaleo at quarterback.

Though he hasn't thrown since separating his shoulder July 7, Kaleo sounded ready to go, telling reporters (before knowing that the Storm had a bye), "I'm going to try to come back next week if I can make some of the throws I need to make. If I can put a little more zip on the ball, I think I can play next week."

ONE WILSON OUT, ONE IN: Bernard Wilson will miss the rest of the season because of a medial collateral ligament injury. The extra week will give replacement Sir Mawn Wilson time to heal from his knee injury. Wilson was inactive this week but should be ready in two weeks.

STILL UNFAIR: Marcum still insists his ejection, the first of his career, was unwarranted, but at least one Storm player applauded the coach.

"I congratulate him on getting kicked out," Bowden said. "We needed it. We played dead in the second half, and that's what we needed to spark up the team. I applaud him all the way, 100 percent."

AROUND THE LEAGUE: Grand Rapids, which the Storm beat easily a few months ago, is the league's No. 1 seed, followed by Nashville, San Jose and Tampa Bay.

The AFL never has had such parity. Going into the playoffs, seven or eight teams are considered contenders.

Look at the teams not getting a first-round bye: No. 6 Orlando (the defending champion), No. 7 Arizona (two-time champion) and No. 9 New York (no defense but quarterback Aaron Garcia threw a league record 104 touchdowns).

The most interesting first-round matchup might be Chicago at Orlando on Friday. The expansion Rush beat a banged-up Orlando team Saturday, but the Predators always seem ready for the playoffs.

The other games are New York at Toronto, Detroit at Arizona and Carolina at Indiana.

The Storm plays Aug. 5 at the Ice Palace against the highest remaining seed. Game time is 1:30 p.m., and ESPN will broadcast. If all the highest seeds win, that will be Indiana. But if Carolina upsets the Firebirds and the other higher seeds win, it will be Orlando.

Every game will be televised by ESPN, ESPN2, TNN or ABC.

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