An All Around Black Eye

By: Jerome Cusson

The best thing that can be said about the Chicago Rush and Kansas City Brigade game as far as Rush fans are concerned is that the Rush won. Much like the mafia, don’t ask how it was done. Just know the final score was 49-42 Rush and quickly move on.

If it wasn’t for a professional obligation, I would call it a day right now and just leave you to look at the score. This is game footage that should be burned and blown up into space as soon as the first chance presents itself. Everything from the game to the officiating to the presentation on ESPN2 served as a black eye for the AFL and the fans who have supported it over the years.

Russ Michna stepped in to start his second game of the season. Sherdrick Bonner was out with a knee injury, and Michna admirably stepped up with the exception of two crucial mistakes. When offensive lineman John Sikora wasn’t being busted for holding, Michna looked quietly efficient. He threw 28 passes, completed 20 of them, and had 4 touchdowns.

Michna managed to get all three top receivers into the game. Travis LeTendresse had his best game with the Rush. He caught seven passes for 68 yards and caught two touchdown passes, including the game winner with six seconds remaining. Damian Harrell continued to be quietly efficient as he led the team in yards with 81 and made a number of key late fourth quarter catches. Donovan Morgan returned to the line-up and also scored a touchdown.

It was truly a game Jeremy Unertl will forget as he seemed to be getting burned all game long by Brigade receiver Mike Horacek and friends. The Rush defense as a whole missed assignments, left receivers wide open, and made some key penalties to keep drives alive. The injuries to defensive lineman John Moyer and defensive back Jonathon Ordway certainly could not have helped matters, but there is no excuse for some of the penalties and mental mistakes.

Kicker Dan Frantz had another lowlight in what has been a season of nightmares as a field goal of his was blocked. He was redeemed by going seven-for-seven in extra points and being consistent on kickoffs. On returns, Talib Wise turned some heads with his performance. He constantly provided the Rush excellent field position and deserves a second chance next week against the Rampage to continue causing havoc on special teams.

The biggest problem for the Rush was their radically inconsistent play in all three phases of the game. There was more yellow on the field than fans in the stands. Penalties were an issue the entire game, both offensively and defensively. It’s something that needs to be addressed before next Sunday’s game at the sold-out Allstate Arena against the Grand Rapids Rampage. While the Rampage record isn’t anything to write home about (2-4), they managed to score 92 and 84 points consecutively. The Rush will need to control Anthony Hynes a second time and retain some that swagger. Being at home will undoubtedly help, and getting some starters to return from injury is even more important.

ESPN’s All-Access Failure

ESPN2 used this game as a platform to discuss some of the intricate rules and strategies of an Arena Football game. Thanks to the officiating, announcers Ray Bentley and Bob Wischusen got to address many of the rules being violated.

The announcers on ESPN2 promised to explain the rules, provide an all-access pass into the locker rooms, and discussed many times how the players and coaches were being miked. What they should have mentioned was the all-access pass only extended until someone decided to swear. Random bouts of silence permeated the entire game. ESPN2 should either not mic the field up so heavily or let the curse words fly. Pick one.

It’s quite easy to blame officials for everything, but it seems like these referees are either not paying attention or don’t know the rules. Having older gentlemen officiating games when everything is so quick is a bad idea. The AFL must do something to improve the quality of their officiating so that the two teams can decide games and not have every other play stopped because of yet another penalty.

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Jerome Cusson is a proud graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Currently, he is a freelance writer and a contributer to such websites as The Cool Kids' Table and giveawaytheending.com. Check out his NSR blog as well.

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2 Comments

  1. Jerome, thanks for covering the Rush… and for the take on the game. Nice writeup.

    Comment by Steve Tanner on April 16, 2008

  2. Jerome,

    You write this article as if you’ve just noticed now how bad AFL officiating is!

    I’ve been a fan for 20 years and have been loyal regardless of the fact of how many games are ruined by the officiating and their ticky-tack calls.

    Keep up the good work, but you shouldn’t be reporting this as if it’s “New News”.

    J

    Comment by Jim on April 16, 2008

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