Post by fwp on Jul 23, 2009 12:37:48 GMT -5
www.gazette.net/stories/07232009/largspo164830_32528.shtml
The Maryland Maniacs Indoor Football League team is entitled to host a second-round playoff game this weekend at Show Place Arena. But instead, the team will travel by bus to St. Charles, Mo., to face the River City Rage.
Maryland won the IFL's Atlantic Division title, but the team didn't secure use of Show Place Arena past the end of June and wasn't able to book another home date for the playoffs.
"I was trying to host a playoff game, but I found out last month that we couldn't," said Messay Hailemariam, CEO and president of the Maniacs. "It's a multi-use facility and I take a lot of the blame for that. We plan on leaving Friday morning, traveling and then getting there Friday evening. They'll get a walk-through. I would like to travel on Thursday, but a lot of these guys have other commitments. The ideal situation would be for us to stay home. It's going to take a couple of years to get the fan base and to become a profitable business."
Hailemariam said the team will spend $17,000 on the trip, while the average cost of renting Show Place Arena for a home game ranges from $6-10,000, depending on the day of the week and the number of personnel needed. Hailemariam added because the Maniacs are officially the home team, he is responsible for the expenses at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The field rental fee is part of the $17,000 the team will spend on the trip, Hailemariam said.
River City (9-6) defeated the Rochester Raiders, 45-42, in an opening-round playoff game on Monday, while the Maniacs have been idle since losing their last two games of the regular season on June 20 and 27. Maryland (10-4) opened the season by dropping a 42-24 decision to River City in the Maniacs' at Show Place Arena on March 29. The Maniacs opened an 18-0 lead, but lost, and then dropped their second game of the season before reeling off 10 consecutive wins.
During the long layoff since their last game, coach Matt Steeple said the team has had ample time to heal all the minor aches and bruises that accumulated during the 14-game slate. The team held its last practice prior to the trip on Tuesday. In the previous practices the Maniacs fine tuned their offense, and Steeple said he is confident in their progress.
"We've been working on having our receivers get separation and now it's up to our offensive line to keep [quarterback] Bryson [Spinner] from getting hit," Steeple said. "We'll play our usual defense and make adjustments to whatever they're doing. We've gotten much better since the first time we played them. It's going to be a very good matchup."
At one time River City held the lead in the Atlantic Division, but the Rage lost five of their last six regular season games and dropped to third place. The Rage ended the skid on Monday night by beating Rochester, which had defeated River City, 34-19, in their previous meeting.
In 13 games played, Spinner has thrown for 1,821 yards and 29 touchdowns. Maniacs' running back Darryl Overton is fifth in the IFL in scoring with 24 touchdowns, 15 on the ground and nine through the air. The Maniacs' top receiver is Terry Moss (74 catches for 808 yards and 16 touchdowns). River City quarterback Dixie Wooten had tossed a whopping 41 touchdown passes in 10 games prior to Monday.
E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.
The Maryland Maniacs Indoor Football League team is entitled to host a second-round playoff game this weekend at Show Place Arena. But instead, the team will travel by bus to St. Charles, Mo., to face the River City Rage.
Maryland won the IFL's Atlantic Division title, but the team didn't secure use of Show Place Arena past the end of June and wasn't able to book another home date for the playoffs.
"I was trying to host a playoff game, but I found out last month that we couldn't," said Messay Hailemariam, CEO and president of the Maniacs. "It's a multi-use facility and I take a lot of the blame for that. We plan on leaving Friday morning, traveling and then getting there Friday evening. They'll get a walk-through. I would like to travel on Thursday, but a lot of these guys have other commitments. The ideal situation would be for us to stay home. It's going to take a couple of years to get the fan base and to become a profitable business."
Hailemariam said the team will spend $17,000 on the trip, while the average cost of renting Show Place Arena for a home game ranges from $6-10,000, depending on the day of the week and the number of personnel needed. Hailemariam added because the Maniacs are officially the home team, he is responsible for the expenses at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The field rental fee is part of the $17,000 the team will spend on the trip, Hailemariam said.
River City (9-6) defeated the Rochester Raiders, 45-42, in an opening-round playoff game on Monday, while the Maniacs have been idle since losing their last two games of the regular season on June 20 and 27. Maryland (10-4) opened the season by dropping a 42-24 decision to River City in the Maniacs' at Show Place Arena on March 29. The Maniacs opened an 18-0 lead, but lost, and then dropped their second game of the season before reeling off 10 consecutive wins.
During the long layoff since their last game, coach Matt Steeple said the team has had ample time to heal all the minor aches and bruises that accumulated during the 14-game slate. The team held its last practice prior to the trip on Tuesday. In the previous practices the Maniacs fine tuned their offense, and Steeple said he is confident in their progress.
"We've been working on having our receivers get separation and now it's up to our offensive line to keep [quarterback] Bryson [Spinner] from getting hit," Steeple said. "We'll play our usual defense and make adjustments to whatever they're doing. We've gotten much better since the first time we played them. It's going to be a very good matchup."
At one time River City held the lead in the Atlantic Division, but the Rage lost five of their last six regular season games and dropped to third place. The Rage ended the skid on Monday night by beating Rochester, which had defeated River City, 34-19, in their previous meeting.
In 13 games played, Spinner has thrown for 1,821 yards and 29 touchdowns. Maniacs' running back Darryl Overton is fifth in the IFL in scoring with 24 touchdowns, 15 on the ground and nine through the air. The Maniacs' top receiver is Terry Moss (74 catches for 808 yards and 16 touchdowns). River City quarterback Dixie Wooten had tossed a whopping 41 touchdown passes in 10 games prior to Monday.
E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.