Post by UnoBomber on May 13, 2007 23:00:13 GMT -5
From erieathome.com
The adage is familiar to many a sports team both semi-successful or disastrously dreadful, “Wait until next year!”
With the 2007 American Indoor Football season drawing to a close near month’s end, the latest version of the Erie Freeze finds itself closer to the later than the former with an embarrassingly woeful 1-10 record good enough for only last place in the AIFA’s North Division. When the season started the Freeze were considered one of the League’s upper echelon. Now at season’s end the Freeze are considered merely an afterthought.
With fan confidence waning as the summer months approach, Freeze owner Dave Hodas only knows one thing to do.
“Coming off a bye week, the front office and coaching staff figured that this was a perfect time to, in essence, start the 2008 season…right now,” proclaimed Hodas.
“I’m a real estate guy; a property owner. If one of your holdings starts to crumble or show a little wear and tear, what do you do? You don’t just let something that is close to your heart fall into disrepair. No, you try to fix it up sooner rather than later,” continued Hodas.
How did a team one game away from a league championship in 2005 and a playoff team in 2006 find itself behind expansion team mired in last place in 2007?
Hodas replies honestly, “In my wildest imagination, I never saw this coming. If someone told me at the start of the season that in the first week of May we would be 1-10, I would have laughed. No way. I look at the talent up and down the roster and I would have told you then and I’ll tell you now, the Erie Freeze isn’t a last place team.”
Hodas’s words are merely one of those with a group of guys close to his heart. A quick look at the AIFA statistic sheet supports what the owner says. While struggling in the standings, the AIFA’s statistical leaders are littered with members of the Erie Freeze on both sides of the ball.
As a team, the Freeze are second in the AIFA in passing offense and eighth in overall scoring. Even with the last place rushing team in the league, the Freeze are still in fourth place in total offense. Always a threat, the Freeze lead the league in kickoff returns.
Defensively, Chris Blackshear leads the entire AIFA in tackles, but as effective as Blackshear might be, the rest of the defense has been the Freeze’s Achilles heel.
The Freeze are second last in pass defense, second last in turnover margin, second last in total defense, and are dead last in the amount of first downs they’ve given up to opponents.
Hodas says, “Obviously, we need to get better on the defensive side of the ball. That being said, we were almost in every game. We’ve fielded a competitive team every week except the one that traveled to Johnstown. We were decimated by injuries and we had a few players miss the game due to serious personal issues.”
With the Johnstown game behind the Freeze, the only issue that faces Hodas and the Freeze are the remaining three games on the schedule. The Freeze play a home and home series with the expansion Pittsburgh RiverRats and finish the slate at home against the Mississippi Mudcats.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have a three game season. If we can beat Pittsburgh and knock off the Mudcats, it’ll turn things around and we’ll be 3-0 in a sense. These last three games are also the first tryout for next year’s team. Everyone will be fighting for a job,” stated Hodas.
As for the games against Pittsburgh, the Freeze will face former League MVP and former Freeze quarterback David Dinkins. Dinkins and new Freeze quarterback Randall Secky are almost identical statistically, so are there any hard feelings towards the former Frozen pivot?”
“No, not at all. This is just like any other game. We’ll prepare for this game like any other on the schedule. David Dinkins coming back to the Igloo isn’t really a big deal at all,” said Hodas with his first smile in weeks and a sly wink.
The Freeze face the RiverRats on Saturday, May 12 at the Igloo in the Tullio for “Mother’s Day Mayhem.” Log on to www.eriefreeze.com for ticket information.
The adage is familiar to many a sports team both semi-successful or disastrously dreadful, “Wait until next year!”
With the 2007 American Indoor Football season drawing to a close near month’s end, the latest version of the Erie Freeze finds itself closer to the later than the former with an embarrassingly woeful 1-10 record good enough for only last place in the AIFA’s North Division. When the season started the Freeze were considered one of the League’s upper echelon. Now at season’s end the Freeze are considered merely an afterthought.
With fan confidence waning as the summer months approach, Freeze owner Dave Hodas only knows one thing to do.
“Coming off a bye week, the front office and coaching staff figured that this was a perfect time to, in essence, start the 2008 season…right now,” proclaimed Hodas.
“I’m a real estate guy; a property owner. If one of your holdings starts to crumble or show a little wear and tear, what do you do? You don’t just let something that is close to your heart fall into disrepair. No, you try to fix it up sooner rather than later,” continued Hodas.
How did a team one game away from a league championship in 2005 and a playoff team in 2006 find itself behind expansion team mired in last place in 2007?
Hodas replies honestly, “In my wildest imagination, I never saw this coming. If someone told me at the start of the season that in the first week of May we would be 1-10, I would have laughed. No way. I look at the talent up and down the roster and I would have told you then and I’ll tell you now, the Erie Freeze isn’t a last place team.”
Hodas’s words are merely one of those with a group of guys close to his heart. A quick look at the AIFA statistic sheet supports what the owner says. While struggling in the standings, the AIFA’s statistical leaders are littered with members of the Erie Freeze on both sides of the ball.
As a team, the Freeze are second in the AIFA in passing offense and eighth in overall scoring. Even with the last place rushing team in the league, the Freeze are still in fourth place in total offense. Always a threat, the Freeze lead the league in kickoff returns.
Defensively, Chris Blackshear leads the entire AIFA in tackles, but as effective as Blackshear might be, the rest of the defense has been the Freeze’s Achilles heel.
The Freeze are second last in pass defense, second last in turnover margin, second last in total defense, and are dead last in the amount of first downs they’ve given up to opponents.
Hodas says, “Obviously, we need to get better on the defensive side of the ball. That being said, we were almost in every game. We’ve fielded a competitive team every week except the one that traveled to Johnstown. We were decimated by injuries and we had a few players miss the game due to serious personal issues.”
With the Johnstown game behind the Freeze, the only issue that faces Hodas and the Freeze are the remaining three games on the schedule. The Freeze play a home and home series with the expansion Pittsburgh RiverRats and finish the slate at home against the Mississippi Mudcats.
“As far as I’m concerned, we have a three game season. If we can beat Pittsburgh and knock off the Mudcats, it’ll turn things around and we’ll be 3-0 in a sense. These last three games are also the first tryout for next year’s team. Everyone will be fighting for a job,” stated Hodas.
As for the games against Pittsburgh, the Freeze will face former League MVP and former Freeze quarterback David Dinkins. Dinkins and new Freeze quarterback Randall Secky are almost identical statistically, so are there any hard feelings towards the former Frozen pivot?”
“No, not at all. This is just like any other game. We’ll prepare for this game like any other on the schedule. David Dinkins coming back to the Igloo isn’t really a big deal at all,” said Hodas with his first smile in weeks and a sly wink.
The Freeze face the RiverRats on Saturday, May 12 at the Igloo in the Tullio for “Mother’s Day Mayhem.” Log on to www.eriefreeze.com for ticket information.