Fever Preparing for Rapid City
May 31, 2006 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Tri-Cities Fever News Release
Kennewick, WA. 05/31/06. The Tri-Cities Fever had an extended weekend off through Memorial Day. After the Big Sky Thunder was unable to maintain their commitment to host the Fever Saturday night, Coach Dan Whitsett gave the team four days off. "The injured players got a chance to heal up, and the healthy players got to stay healthy," said Whitsett.
The Fever was back at it on Tuesday night practicing at Edgar Brown Memorial Stadium. Fresh legs were plenty, but body aches normally associated with coming off a weekend game were few and far between. Whitsett said that the players being fresh and well rested resulted in a very good practice. "Guys came out with a little go in their step tonight, they were a little feisty, ready to play some football." There will be some tough decisions for the coaching staff this week in just about every position. "We have 29 guys here and 22 spots on the roster to suit up," said Whitsett. "We have all these guys getting healthy at once and combined with the players that we have brought in, we have some decisions to make."
Receiver, linebacker / defensive back, and the offensive and defensive lines are positions that Whitsett pointed out that are being evaluated very carefully this week. To take a closer look at the big picture, here are some of the decisions the coaching staff will be facing from here on out. The Fever have seven receivers in camp and just four will be suiting up the rest of the way. There are seven linebackers / defensive backs and just six of them dress. There are nine linemen in camp and just seven suit up. There is even competition at kicker with Brandon Schillinger and Jesus Solis. "It feels like training camp out here now," said Whitsett. "We are getting healthy at the right time. It is time for this team to step up to the level we should be playing at, and I think they will."
One new player to the Fever roster is defensive end Matt Walters from Michigan State. The 6'2" 270 pound Walters will give the Fever some stability at the defensive end position opposite of Michael Hodges. Whitsett sees a lot of similarities in Walters to last seasons left defensive end Michael Romero. "He reminds me a lot of Romero," said Whitsett. "He will take away the edge and play the position. He may not get a ton of sacks, but he will do the right things out there."
Back from injury this week is offensive lineman Patrick Girardi, offensive /defensive lineman Aaron "Pudge" Retzlaff, receiver George Carter, and receiver/defensive back Emery Beckles. Beckles has moved over to receiver as his primary position from defensive back. "Beck played receiver for parts of two seasons in the CFL (Canadian Football League)," said Whitsett. "He is an accomplished receiver and runs very solid routes." Beckles is battling for one of the four coveted receiver spots this week. All the decisions are tough right now, but the receiver position is probably going to be the toughest decision of all of them for coach Whitsett. "They can all do so many good things and they all add a little bit of a different dimension to our offense. I won't sleep well before or after those decisions. They all deserve to be playing and I really like all seven of them."
The Fever host the Rapid City Flying Aces (9-1) Sunday, June 4th at 5:05 p.m. Tickets are going fast and not expected to be available too much longer. You can get your tickets at the Toyota Center Box Office or by calling TicketsWest at 1 (800) 325-SEAT. Don't miss the FINAL regular season home game for the Fever!
• Discuss this story on the National Indoor Football League message board...
National Indoor Football League Stories from May 31, 2006
- Fever Preparing for Rapid City - Tri-Cities Fever
- Rage announce game promotions - RiverCity Rage
- Commentary: NIFL daily buzz - OSC Original by Jerry Hewitt
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
