Between the walls

by Josh Stein
Published on April 14, 2004 under National Indoor Football League (NIFL)

The NIFL made a nice recovery from the biggest mess that anyone involved with it has probably ever seen. The schedule is being moved around here and there, but most importantly, teams are not losing home games. With the dissolving of Greenville's home games and with Colorado, we are getting a few better matchups. Houma at Lake Charles. Ohio Valley at Lexington. Wow, this is going to be a good week.

The NIFL rankings, as it pertains to Ohio's high schools, will look somewhat skewed. Undefeated teams may be lower than they're supposed to be, because there have not been enough games played at this stage. But, here's how it works. You get points for winning games. You get points for the teams you beat winning games. The maximum score that is possible is 30 points (which is impossible, because you have to be undefeated as well as all of the teams you play being undefeated...also, this is not a direct correlation to Ohio's rankings). The ratings will go up in time, as I have used fractions to give teams more points for more wins (so teams with more games under their belts will have a higher ranking). So, on to the rankings!

TEAM POINTS
1 Lexington 2.65
2 Tupelo 2.65
3 Houma 2.55
4 Tri-City 2.55
5 Billings 2.45
6 Omaha 2.45
7 Utah 2.45
8 Ohio Valley 2.24
9 Beaumont 1.73
10 Fort Wayne 1.63
11 Sioux Falls 1.63
12 Lincoln 1.53
13 Wyoming 1.02
14 Sioux City .92
15 Evansville .82
16 Show Me .82
17 Wichita Falls .82
18 Atlantic City .71
19 Lake Charles .71
20 Myrtle Beach .71
21 Waco .71
22 Black Hills 0
23 Colorado 0
24 Greenville 0
25 Oklahoma 0
26 Staten Island 0
Note: I will have all teams that play an NIFL game this year (incl. Colorado).

The touchdown watch will be updated when teams (Beaumont, Lake Charles and Waco) decide to start sending in statistics.

And now, it's time to see what the NIFL's schedule change has done with this week's schedule...and to see the games.

***** The folding of Greenville is good for at least a few fans.
(3-0) Ohio Valley Greyhounds @ (3-0) Lexington Horsemen
Huge game that is very likely to be a playoff matchup as well. Lexington has taken Fort Wayne out of the division title picture with two wins. Ohio Valley has smacked around a couple of division slappies and now gets to go on short notice to one of the best teams in the whole league. Lexington has improved depth everywhere, and that will make them an even tougher foe, which could be interesting as the Hounds only beat them on a last second field goal. Although there's no Lloyd Clemons to hit over 160 rushing yards, the Hounds' OL/DL combination will be too much for Lexington to handle. It'll be close, though. Greyhounds 54-50.

(2-2) Sioux Falls Storm @ (3-1) Lincoln Capitols
Huge division game, as both teams need this one. Lincoln is coming off of a smacking at Sioux City, and Sioux Falls is off of two straight wins. The big matchup here? The Storm offense, led by the resurgent Richard Fuentes against Lincoln's always-tough defense. The team that wins this matchup wins the game. Lincoln's 1300 a couple of weeks ago was loud and rowdy, and that carried the team to blast Wichita Falls. Reports have over 2000 at this game, and that will make it doubly loud and rowdy. That will not be good for the Storm, although they may have a team capable of handling it. Of course, teams can't handle the fans in Wheeling, either. Where am I going with this? I don't know. Capitols 37, Storm 33.

(3-1) Omaha Beef @ (3-0) Billings Outlaws
Should be an undefeated matchup, but Omaha forgot that in Kearney. Oops. With that said, Billings has been much less than impressive lately, not even looking like largely the same team that went to the 2002 championship game. Maybe it's early-season jitters, or maybe the players are just taking payments. However, without Troy Travis, it will take a couple of games for the new guy to get adjusted. Billings 45-31.

**** Good games.
(3-1) Houma Bayou Bucks @ (1-1) Lake Charles Landsharks
After getting thrashed in Houma, Lake Charles came home and beat the perennial NIFL megapower Oklahoma Crude. After losing in Tupelo, Houma pulled off three straight wins. That of course includes the big win at home against these Landsharks. Revenge? Certainly, that will be on Lake Charles' mind, having lost the last three regular season matchups with the Bucks. Revenge could be on Houma's mind, too, as they got beat in the Lake during the playoffs. Lake Charles is still working out the kinks, and Houma is ready. Bucks 44-30.

*** Games that still have serious implications
(1-2) Sioux City Bandits @ (1-2) Wyoming Cavalry
Sioux City got off their slide in a big way, blasting Lincoln. Wyoming hasn't done quite as well as I had predicted yet, but the season is still young, and they can come alive. They have what are possibly the NIFL's best fans, and they'll be in force again for a game against a Bandits squad that has been seasoned for hostility (in Omaha). Wyoming's offense is as potent as ever, and their defense as swiss cheese-like as ever. Sioux City is still generally feeling out the NIFL, and it will show with early losses that will knock them out of playoff contention, only for a late season rally. Like this one. Cavalry 45-35.

(1-2) Waco Marshals @ (3-1) Tupelo Fireants
Tupelo must be one of those "really good at home, really bad on the road" teams. That or they got blindsighted after the 111-12 "game." I'm betting it's the latter, as they have assembled quite the team. Waco is still feeling their way into the NIFL, and after a bad ownership put them behind the 8-ball, Waco has to take some time and come back in a big way. They will have a successful season, but Tupelo is far too good to lose to a team like Waco at this stage. Fireants 47-28.

** Every week has their games
(0-4) Black Hills Red Dogs @ (3-1) Utah Warriors
The Rapid City owner may want to figure out how to build a successful team, because whatever he has done isn't working. However, they put up a nice fight last week to barely lose to Billings, which has to be considered a moral victory. Utah's offense hasn't lost much from last year and their defense has picked up. That's not a good sign for anyone facing the Warriors, and it's not a good sign for the Dogs. It won't be as bad as that 2003 preseason game, but...Warriors 52-31.

(1-3) Wichita Falls Thunder @ (3-1) Tri City Diesel
The Diesel, largely considered the throw-in as result of a pathetic division, are now the throw-in because of their division, but an outside choice to possibly even get that #1 seed in the Pacific, because they have passed some tests. Such as beating the Beef 41-30. Wichita Falls could be the NIFL's best expansion team, but they'll get blasted here. The Diesel are way too good this year for expansion teams. Finally. Diesel 48-27.

(1-2) Show Me Believers @ (1-1) Evansville Bluecats
Although these teams still have serious chances at playoff berths, it's not an attractive-looking matchup. Evansville is still considered a bad team, even after giving Waco a beat down. Show Me is looking somewhat better, but still not good...Atlantic City could be the worst team in the NIFL not named Greenville/Lancaster. With that said, Evansville is about 2 ½ miles better than they were last year, and they're a team that will not lose much at home, especially with the funky field. The Believers could still make a run later, but they have to do it at home, because they are the team to get ambushed on the road. Bluecats 58-30.

* Oklahoma's on the crap list already?
(2-2) Beaumont Drillers @ (0-4) Oklahoma Crude
I think this is Oklahoma's last hurrah. The team is getting no better, and the fans aren't showing up at all. It's sad, as I think that area would support a team that isn't crap. And the Crude are crap. Beaumont isn't championship-caliber, but they'll have their way with teams like this. Drillers 74, Crude 50. I didn't say Beaumont's defense was all-world, either.
My thoughts on last week:
- It's good we can focus on the games, rather than the off-field crap.
- I hear Myrtle Beach will come back in some capacity. It screws the schedule up even more, but it's better for everyone that the team doesn't die.
- How bad does Atlantic City look if they're only up 2 at the half on basically the same team that lost 111-12 the week before?
- How bad does Atlantic City look when the Greyhounds go to Staten Island and note that the turf had absolutely no problems?
- How bad does it sound when the Hounds are up 36-7 AT Staten Island, and the Xtreme are probably going to finish second in the division?
- If Lancaster can pick up a couple more linemen that aren't too bad, they should be able to beat teams like Atlantic City as the season goes on.
- Will Birdie Dockery (Greenville) give up the NIFL game or will he resurface somewhere else, as he is the record holder for rushing yards in a season with 1,355 (regular season, in 13 games)?
- Now that we know the revised schedule for next week, it's nice to see the NIFL turn the mess of teams getting thrown out turn this into some great matchups for home fans.
- Will Billings lose one of these close games that they should probably be blasting their opponent in?
- How many people are now calling Fort Wayne a lock to win the Atlantic Conference after two straight losses to the Horsemen?
- How many more people will jump off the Freedom bandwagon *if* Lexington loses to the Greyhounds?

In other news, the Lake Charles Landsharks were sold by Carolyn Shiver to her son James. Sure, this happened a little while ago, but it is probably a good thing for Shiver to focus more on the NIFL. Granted, she didn't put that much focus in the Landsharks themselves, but it's still going to be at least a little more emphasis on the NIFL. Maybe if the Greyhounds win it again, she'll actually be the one to hand the trophy over to Bonar or whoever receives it. Until next week, this is the War Between the Walls.

National Indoor Football League Stories from April 14, 2004

• Diesel Add Two to 2004 Roster - Tri-City Diesel
• Between the walls - OSC Original by Josh Stein

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.