New Orleans VooDoo News and Notes

April 28, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release


• VooDoo REMAIN SECOND IN WEEKLY POLL: The VooDoo's 9-2 start and 63-59 victory over the Austin Wranglers impressed the Arena Football League Writers Association enough to keep them at #2 in the weekly writers poll for the fourth straight week. The weekly poll, which is based on a vote of AFLWA members, ranks the top eight teams in the AFL. The AFLWA is a national organization made up of media members who cover the AFL. New Orleans received 107 votes with two first place votes. The San Jose SaberCats, who the VooDoo will play on Saturday night, held onto first place in the poll with 118 votes and 13 first place votes.

• FITZGERALD NAMED ALFWA's PLAYER OF THE WEEK: QB John Fitzgerald's clutch play for the VooDoo earned him Player of the Week, as selected by the board of the AFLWA. Fitzgerald threw seven TD passes, including a 14-yarder to WR/DB Calvin Spears with 19 seconds left, to lift the VooDoo to a 63-59 victory over the Austin Wranglers. New Orleans trailed by 11 points with about 4 minutes left. The victory improved the VooDoo to 9-2, allowing New Orleans to keep pace with the San Jose SaberCats for the best overall record. Fitzgerald completed 24 of 38 passes for 298 yards with a career-high seven TD passes.

• PROTECTING THE QB: One of the reasons for Fitzgerald enjoying his finest AFL season is the protection that he has received from his offensive line. VooDoo linemen have surrendered only four sacks this season tying them for first in the AFL in with the Chicago Rush, Las Vegas Gladiators and Colorado Crush. This proves to be an important stat in the win-loss column as the following teams have combined for a 28-17 record, headlined by New Orleans' 9-2 mark.

• STINGY AT THE START: Getting off to a quick start on the defensive end of the ball has been one of the keys to the VooDoo's 9-2 start. In the first quarter of games this season, the VooDoo has surrendered only 64 first quarter points. This is the lowest point total that any AFL team has surrendered in a quarter this season. The closest to this mark is the 69 points that the New York Dragons have given up in the first quarter of their games in 2004.

• SAN JOSE GAME TIME CHANGE: The VooDoo's Saturday evening game with the San Jose SaberCats at the HP Pavilion at San Jose has been moved from 9:30 p.m. to 9:50 p.m. The time change will allow arena personnel to switch the arena floor from its hockey configuration to arena football should Game 5 of the NHL's San Jose Sharks Western Conference Semifinal series be necessary. The Sharks would host the Colorado Avalanche at Noon on May 1.

• VooDoo MILESTONES: The following individual marks could be set by VooDoo players this Saturday at San Jose:

OS Aaron Bailey needs 25 receiving yards to reach the 1,000-yard receiving plateau, one touchdown reception for 25 on the season and 128 receiving yards to break his career season-high of 1102, which he set with the Carolina Cobras in 2002.

OL/DL B.J. Cohen needs one touchdown reception for 10 in his career. Cohen needs one forced fumble to tie his career-high of 3 in 2001 with the Orlando Predators.

QB John Fitzgerald needs seven touchdown passes to reach 50 for the season. Fitzgerald needs eight touchdown passes to reach the mark of 100 for his career.

FB/LB Dan Curran needs 4 yards to reach the 250-yard mark for the season. Curran is currently the AFL's leading rusher with 246 yards and 16 touchdowns through 11 games. Last year's leading rusher in the AFL, Los Angeles's Chad Dukes, ran for 223 yards in 14 games. San Jose's Barry Wagner scored 18 rushing touchdowns in 16 games last season to lead the AFL. Curran also needs one touchdown for 30 in his career.

OL/DL Tim Martin needs one reception to tie his career-high total of five in 2003 with the Dallas Desperados. Martin has already set a career high with two TD receptions.

• VooDoo ON THE AIRWAVES: VooDoo and AFL fans will enjoy plenty of chances to watch the newest team in New Orleans both live and on various on radio and television programs throughout the 2004 season.

Every VooDoo game will be broadcast on WWL 870-AM or WSMB 1350-AM. The Voice of the VooDoo, Chris Kenyon, will handle the play-by-play. Selected Saints coaches, players and front office personnel will serve as color analysts. Saints DT Brian Young will handle color for the San Jose match up. Saturday's game will be broadcast on WSMB. WWL will broadcast The Mike Neu Show with VooDoo Head Coach Mike Neu each Tuesday from 9-10 pm as Kenyon and WWL's Kenny Wilkerson co-host. Fans can call into the show or submit questions for Coach Neu through the club's official web site, GoVooDoo.com. This week's show has been moved to tonight at 9 p.m. due to a scheduling conflict.

Up to 10 of the VooDoo's 16 regular season games are scheduled to be telecast by NBC (WDSU-TV 6 in New Orleans). Cox Sports Television will telecast most of the remaining VooDoo games on regional cable with each telecast starting with a 30-minute pre-game show. This Saturday's contest amongst league leaders New Orleans and San Jose will be broadcast on Cox Sports TV. Todd Kalas will handle the play by play and Harry McCulla will handle sideline reporting duties. Various local celebrities and selected Saints coaches, players and front office personnel will serve as color analysts. Saints RB Fred McAfee will handle color for the upcoming game. Cox will air Inside VooDoo with Mike Neu, a 30-minute show, each week. Inside VooDoo with Mike Neu will air this week on Saturday, April 29 from 5:30-6 pm and will be replayed on Saturday, May 1 at 8:30 pm. The VooDoo-San Jose broadcast will be replayed on Cox Sports Television at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 2.



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 28, 2004


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