Desperados to practice against Avengers
January 20, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Dallas Desperados News Release
With only two weeks remaining until the 2003 AFL season kicks off, the Dallas Desperados will wrap up their three week training camp by practicing against the Los Angeles Avengers. The teams will hold two-a-day practices against each other Tuesday and Wednesday before squaring off in a scrimmage Thursday night.
The Arena Football League increased its schedules this spring to 16 games â up from 14 in previous years â and eliminated preseason games. In lieu of preseason games, teams will work and scrimmage against other teams during training camp to prepare for the upcoming season. The work this week against Los Angeles will be the Desperados only work against another team this preseason.
The clubs will begin their intersquad practices on Tuesday with practices at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at Texas Stadium. They will continue their work together on Wednesday with practices again at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at Texas Stadium. Following separate walk-through practices Thursday morning, Dallas and Los Angeles will square off in an intersquad scrimmage Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at Reunion Arena. This scrimmage is open to all media but closed to the public.
Thursday night's scrimmage will be played as if it were a game as opposed to the controlled intrasquad scrimmages the Desperados have held the past two weekends. Following the scrimmage, the Desperados will have Friday off before closing training camp with two practices on Saturday. The club begins preparations next week for its season opener against New York.
The Desperados and Avengers met twice last spring with the team's splitting games. Los Angeles claimed a thrilling 52-51 victory in Dallas that saw the Desperados miss three extra points and ended with a scramble in the end zone for a fumble that could have given Dallas the victory. In the rematch in Los Angeles a month later, the Desperados scored with under a minute remaining in the game and held the Avengers on downs to exact revenge with a 62-55 victory.
Following is the Desperados practice schedule against the Avengers:
Tuesday, Jan. 21
9:30 a.m. â 11:30 a.m. Practice (Texas Stadium)
11:45 a.m. â 12:30 p.m. Desperados locker room open
3:30 p.m. â 5:30 p.m. Practice (Texas Stadium)
Wednesday, Jan. 22
9:30 a.m. â 11:30 a.m. Practice (Texas Stadium)
11:45 a.m. â 12:30 p.m. Desperados locker room open
3:30 p.m. â 5:30 p.m. Practice (Texas Stadium)
Thursday, Jan. 23
7:00 p.m. Scrimmage (Reunion Arena)
Coach Avezzano and selected players available following scrimmage
The Desperados kick off the 2003 season on Feb. 2 by hosting the New York Dragons. NBC Sports â in their first season associated with the AFL â will televise the game, as well as up to 70 other AFL games throughout the season. Desperados season ticket packages start at $40 and can be ordered â along with single game tickets â by calling 972-785-4900, visiting TicketMaster locations or by visiting the Dallas Desperados website at www.dallasdesperados.com.
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