Post by fwp on Apr 9, 2010 9:49:59 GMT -5
www.albanyherald.com/sports/headlines/90333499.html
ALBANY — It was the same story everywhere Panthers general manager Will Carter went this week. Like a broken record, he heard the same thing over and over.
“Just about everyone I talked to said they were surprised we won our first game,’’ said Carter, who watched his newborn Panthers beat Columbus, 54-41, in the new franchise’s opening night game last Saturday. “People were surprised. They were shocked. I guess it was because we only had two months to put the team together. No one expected us to have a good team.’’
Carter and Panthers coach Lucious Davis had about two months to find players and then go through a quick training camp before opening in the Southern Indoor Football League, and to make matters worse, they opened against the franchise many felt was the best team in the league.
“There were stories written by The Albany Herald about the team, and people left comments (online) and it seemed that I read comments that said Columbus was going to destroy us,’’ Carter said. “Coach Davis has heard the same thing all week, too. Coach Davis talked to someone who told him: ‘We lost money on y’all.’ I guess people didn’t think we had enough time to put a team together.
“No one really gave us a chance. I think the only ones who gave us a chance were the people in house.’’
The Panthers were impressive in beating Columbus, which was coming off an 88-32 victory against the Louisiana Swashbucklers, the SIFL’s defending champs.
Still, Carter felt the team can play much better.
“I would give the team a B-minus (as a grade), because we did a lot of things well, but there were some passes that were a little off. We left some things out there,’’ Carter said. “We can get better.’’
The Panthers are hoping attendance gets better, too. They drew 3,772 to the Civic Center for their opener, but they were going against a lot more than just the Columbus Lions.
“It was the night of the Final Four, and it was Easter weekend and spring break,’’ Carter said. “There was a lot going on. Hopefully, we will have a lot more people when we play (our next game April 17 against Lafayette).’’
The Panthers also were fighting the critics who felt they didn’t have a chance against Columbus.
“I guarantee you if we would have lost a lot of people would have been saying I told you so,’’ Carter said. “So this was much more than a win. It was a win that will propel us for the city of Albany and the surrounding counties to support the Albany Panthers. It was really important that we won that game.’’
The Panthers have a bye week, and took the first few days off this week, but went back to practice Thursday at the Civic Center. They play the Lafayette Wildcatters at home on April 17.
Lafayette lost its opener to Greenville (S.C), 44-28, and hasn’t played since the March 21 opener.
“We went to work on special teams,’’ Davis said of the team’s first practice Thursday since last Saturday’s game. “I thought we were very sloppy on special teams.’’
Davis added that he isn’t fond of the bye week.
“Honestly, I don’t like having it this early in the season,’’ he said. “We’ve just played one game, and it kills any momentum we could have built up.’’
ALBANY — It was the same story everywhere Panthers general manager Will Carter went this week. Like a broken record, he heard the same thing over and over.
“Just about everyone I talked to said they were surprised we won our first game,’’ said Carter, who watched his newborn Panthers beat Columbus, 54-41, in the new franchise’s opening night game last Saturday. “People were surprised. They were shocked. I guess it was because we only had two months to put the team together. No one expected us to have a good team.’’
Carter and Panthers coach Lucious Davis had about two months to find players and then go through a quick training camp before opening in the Southern Indoor Football League, and to make matters worse, they opened against the franchise many felt was the best team in the league.
“There were stories written by The Albany Herald about the team, and people left comments (online) and it seemed that I read comments that said Columbus was going to destroy us,’’ Carter said. “Coach Davis has heard the same thing all week, too. Coach Davis talked to someone who told him: ‘We lost money on y’all.’ I guess people didn’t think we had enough time to put a team together.
“No one really gave us a chance. I think the only ones who gave us a chance were the people in house.’’
The Panthers were impressive in beating Columbus, which was coming off an 88-32 victory against the Louisiana Swashbucklers, the SIFL’s defending champs.
Still, Carter felt the team can play much better.
“I would give the team a B-minus (as a grade), because we did a lot of things well, but there were some passes that were a little off. We left some things out there,’’ Carter said. “We can get better.’’
The Panthers are hoping attendance gets better, too. They drew 3,772 to the Civic Center for their opener, but they were going against a lot more than just the Columbus Lions.
“It was the night of the Final Four, and it was Easter weekend and spring break,’’ Carter said. “There was a lot going on. Hopefully, we will have a lot more people when we play (our next game April 17 against Lafayette).’’
The Panthers also were fighting the critics who felt they didn’t have a chance against Columbus.
“I guarantee you if we would have lost a lot of people would have been saying I told you so,’’ Carter said. “So this was much more than a win. It was a win that will propel us for the city of Albany and the surrounding counties to support the Albany Panthers. It was really important that we won that game.’’
The Panthers have a bye week, and took the first few days off this week, but went back to practice Thursday at the Civic Center. They play the Lafayette Wildcatters at home on April 17.
Lafayette lost its opener to Greenville (S.C), 44-28, and hasn’t played since the March 21 opener.
“We went to work on special teams,’’ Davis said of the team’s first practice Thursday since last Saturday’s game. “I thought we were very sloppy on special teams.’’
Davis added that he isn’t fond of the bye week.
“Honestly, I don’t like having it this early in the season,’’ he said. “We’ve just played one game, and it kills any momentum we could have built up.’’