Post by fwp on May 22, 2010 8:59:01 GMT -5
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/22/SPT41DET5C.DTL
05-21) 22:10 PDT -- There isn't going to be anything flashy about a place that used to be called the California State Livestock Pavilion, even if you put a disco ball and some cheerleaders in it.
The football players who take the field at the Cow Palace do their part, scoring a lot of points even though most of them are undersized and anonymous.
It's a start, two sticks rubbing against each other - you have to give the San Jose Wolves that, as indoor football has returned to the Bay Area this year with the American Indoor Football Association. The players put their bodies on the line for $200 a game, some hoping for the chance to play outside again but others for a much simpler reason.
"We play for the love of the game," said Wolves fullback Fitu Tuua, who, at 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, has a lot of love to give.
And they play to win. The Wolves are 7-1 heading into tonight's 7:15 home game against the 8-0 Wyoming Cavalry. Fans who wear team colors black and orange will get in free.
"Everybody has a story, which you hear when you recruit these guys," Wolves coach and general manager Bennie King said. "And you have to stay active. You have dreams of being the next Kurt Warner, you still need to get on a field and play."
The Wolves are coming off a 60-57 win over the Wenatchee Valley Venom last Saturday. Quarterback Omar Jacobs, after missing the first drive due to traffic, threw for four touchdowns and ran for two.
Jacobs, who threw 41 touchdowns against four interceptions at Bowling Green in 2004, played only a quarter before coming out a week earlier in a 71-12 win over the Ogden Knights.
Two championship teams
King is an intense former semipro player who talks about bringing a "championship mentality" to San Jose in the team's first year. And that's not hot air. King might be the first professional coach (hey, he gets paid) to win titles with different teams in back-to-back seasons. He won with the Lakeland (Fla.) Thunderbolts in 2007 and the Florence (S.C.) Phantoms in 2008.
"A lot of times, with these owners in indoor leagues, once they win a championship, they get out," King said.
Yup, the parade procession keeps on going, right out of town.
But King thinks he has found a home on the West Coast. Team owner Ryan Petersen - the CEO of computer hardware manufacturing company OCZ Technology - said he has sunk more than $1 million into startup costs and has his sights set on joining the reborn Arena Football League.
"We will meet with each league during the offseason," Petersen said. "We certainly have what it takes as a team to be dominant in any arena/indoor league."
But before the splash, there is just a ripple.
"It makes it a little more difficult starting in Daly City than in San Jose," King said. "But we just weren't able to get HP Pavilion because of scheduling conflicts."
South Bay sponsors
There were also cost issues, even though the Wolves were able to get a healthy number of San Jose and Milpitas sponsors on board - businesses that are eager to get back some of the 12,000 fans who attended San Jose SaberCats games on average in 2008.
Still, one has to wonder what Wolves fans at the games are thinking when they see a banner for Burrito Express in Milpitas or Mountain Mike's Pizza in Campbell. Even the best burrito in the world might not warrant a drive from Daly City.
If the Wolves and their sponsors make the jump to the Arena league, there will be a little more money for the players, who get the 200 bucks a game from the Wolves plus 50 more if their team wins. Franchise players like Jacobs - who has 31 touchdown passes - get $500 a game. When the team plays at Wenatchee, Wash., next month, it will take the bus there. When the Wolves play at Casper, Wyo., they fly to Denver and take a bus the rest of the way.
"Everything at this point is about keeping costs down," King said. "And winning."
The Wolves' coaches definitely take pride in the product. San Jose line coach Steve Robinson even walked over to an Ogden player and berated him after a bad snap led to a Wolves score.
But the San Jose players know how to have fun, some taking the field in sunglasses and often dancing to "Who Let the Dogs Out?" between plays. The 1,500 or so fans that show up have a good time - they get to keep the footballs kicked through the uprights, so most sit in the end-zone seats - and there are signs popping up for favorites like Tuua.
Fresno State star
Tuua played three years as an offensive guard at Fresno State, earning all-conference honors in 2001, then left school before the 2003 season because of academic issues and a blowup with coach Pat Hill.
He was playing in a recreational league when he was spotted by a San Jose SaberCats scout. He played four years of Arena ball, getting looks at tight end and fullback on his second stop with the Georgia Force, before the league went belly-up after the 2008 season.
One of the biggest players on the field every game, Tuua can make pass-rushers disappear with his blocks. He can also take the ball himself and do some damage, running five times for 13 yards and two touchdowns two weeks ago. (Tuua missed last week's game to try out for the UFL's Las Vegas Locomotives, using an out clause that all players have).
"He is an imposing, intimidating figure who allows us to win up front," King said.
Tuua, a San Francisco native, said he has "big numbers" in the area and claimed 200 of the 1,452 fans against Ogden as his own people.
"A lot of players still have football in them after school," said Tuua, who takes firefighting-science classes during the day. "So you come, have fun, and if another opportunity comes up because of it, then that truly would be a blessing."
E-mail Vittorio Tafur at vtafur@sfchronicle.com.
05-21) 22:10 PDT -- There isn't going to be anything flashy about a place that used to be called the California State Livestock Pavilion, even if you put a disco ball and some cheerleaders in it.
The football players who take the field at the Cow Palace do their part, scoring a lot of points even though most of them are undersized and anonymous.
It's a start, two sticks rubbing against each other - you have to give the San Jose Wolves that, as indoor football has returned to the Bay Area this year with the American Indoor Football Association. The players put their bodies on the line for $200 a game, some hoping for the chance to play outside again but others for a much simpler reason.
"We play for the love of the game," said Wolves fullback Fitu Tuua, who, at 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, has a lot of love to give.
And they play to win. The Wolves are 7-1 heading into tonight's 7:15 home game against the 8-0 Wyoming Cavalry. Fans who wear team colors black and orange will get in free.
"Everybody has a story, which you hear when you recruit these guys," Wolves coach and general manager Bennie King said. "And you have to stay active. You have dreams of being the next Kurt Warner, you still need to get on a field and play."
The Wolves are coming off a 60-57 win over the Wenatchee Valley Venom last Saturday. Quarterback Omar Jacobs, after missing the first drive due to traffic, threw for four touchdowns and ran for two.
Jacobs, who threw 41 touchdowns against four interceptions at Bowling Green in 2004, played only a quarter before coming out a week earlier in a 71-12 win over the Ogden Knights.
Two championship teams
King is an intense former semipro player who talks about bringing a "championship mentality" to San Jose in the team's first year. And that's not hot air. King might be the first professional coach (hey, he gets paid) to win titles with different teams in back-to-back seasons. He won with the Lakeland (Fla.) Thunderbolts in 2007 and the Florence (S.C.) Phantoms in 2008.
"A lot of times, with these owners in indoor leagues, once they win a championship, they get out," King said.
Yup, the parade procession keeps on going, right out of town.
But King thinks he has found a home on the West Coast. Team owner Ryan Petersen - the CEO of computer hardware manufacturing company OCZ Technology - said he has sunk more than $1 million into startup costs and has his sights set on joining the reborn Arena Football League.
"We will meet with each league during the offseason," Petersen said. "We certainly have what it takes as a team to be dominant in any arena/indoor league."
But before the splash, there is just a ripple.
"It makes it a little more difficult starting in Daly City than in San Jose," King said. "But we just weren't able to get HP Pavilion because of scheduling conflicts."
South Bay sponsors
There were also cost issues, even though the Wolves were able to get a healthy number of San Jose and Milpitas sponsors on board - businesses that are eager to get back some of the 12,000 fans who attended San Jose SaberCats games on average in 2008.
Still, one has to wonder what Wolves fans at the games are thinking when they see a banner for Burrito Express in Milpitas or Mountain Mike's Pizza in Campbell. Even the best burrito in the world might not warrant a drive from Daly City.
If the Wolves and their sponsors make the jump to the Arena league, there will be a little more money for the players, who get the 200 bucks a game from the Wolves plus 50 more if their team wins. Franchise players like Jacobs - who has 31 touchdown passes - get $500 a game. When the team plays at Wenatchee, Wash., next month, it will take the bus there. When the Wolves play at Casper, Wyo., they fly to Denver and take a bus the rest of the way.
"Everything at this point is about keeping costs down," King said. "And winning."
The Wolves' coaches definitely take pride in the product. San Jose line coach Steve Robinson even walked over to an Ogden player and berated him after a bad snap led to a Wolves score.
But the San Jose players know how to have fun, some taking the field in sunglasses and often dancing to "Who Let the Dogs Out?" between plays. The 1,500 or so fans that show up have a good time - they get to keep the footballs kicked through the uprights, so most sit in the end-zone seats - and there are signs popping up for favorites like Tuua.
Fresno State star
Tuua played three years as an offensive guard at Fresno State, earning all-conference honors in 2001, then left school before the 2003 season because of academic issues and a blowup with coach Pat Hill.
He was playing in a recreational league when he was spotted by a San Jose SaberCats scout. He played four years of Arena ball, getting looks at tight end and fullback on his second stop with the Georgia Force, before the league went belly-up after the 2008 season.
One of the biggest players on the field every game, Tuua can make pass-rushers disappear with his blocks. He can also take the ball himself and do some damage, running five times for 13 yards and two touchdowns two weeks ago. (Tuua missed last week's game to try out for the UFL's Las Vegas Locomotives, using an out clause that all players have).
"He is an imposing, intimidating figure who allows us to win up front," King said.
Tuua, a San Francisco native, said he has "big numbers" in the area and claimed 200 of the 1,452 fans against Ogden as his own people.
"A lot of players still have football in them after school," said Tuua, who takes firefighting-science classes during the day. "So you come, have fun, and if another opportunity comes up because of it, then that truly would be a blessing."
E-mail Vittorio Tafur at vtafur@sfchronicle.com.