No Need to 'Bue' This Week Off

Published on June 18, 2003 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


DAVENPORT, Iowa – After 11 grueling games over the span of two and a half months, the banged up Quad City Steamwheelers will take a much-needed week off. The bye week comes at the most opportune time for the ‘Wheelers, who will not practice at all this week.

Most other teams would "buy" a bye week like this. It comes two thirds of the way through the season, when players' bodies are hurting the most. Many of the ‘Wheelers are just sore for the most part and will use the week away to freshen their bodies up, but others don't have that luxury.

OS Ira Gooch is battling ankle and hand injuries, WR/DB Tim Dodge is recovering from a hip flexor, K Paul Savich is resting a strained quadriceps muscle, WR/DB Jeff Hewitt and OL/DL Damon Williams are nursing broken fingers, OL/DL Corey Brown is coming off a knee sprain, and OL/DL Justin Thies is still battling knee problems.

The week off also benefits the players on the Long-Term injured reserve list, as they will not be missing any game time to recover. DS Matt Forbes is rehabbing a minor tear of his MCL and DS Lee Wiggins is still battling a hamstring injury.

All of that adds up to nine players who are battling serious injuries. That's not even counting the minor injuries that other players are playing through.

"This week is perfect for us," head coach Rich Ingold said. "It could not of came at a better time, we need some guys to get healthy, that's why I gave the guys this week off.

Ingold has headed back home to Pittsburgh, Penn., to take some "time off," but he knows that the only difference in this week is that he is in Pittsburgh.

"It's tough for me to take a vacation during the season, just ask my wife," Ingold said. "I am on the phone constantly. Sometimes I will turn my (cell) phone off for two hours, but then I get nervous and turn my phone back on and there are 15 messages there, so I am on the phone for the next few hours.

QB Tony Zimmerman also is back home in Trafford, Penn., not far from Pittsburgh and Ingold and the two will travel back to the Quad Cities together on Friday. The entire team will come together this Saturday night at 5 p.m. for practice.

"Our practice schedule will be a little different this week since we leave for Hawaii on Thursday," Ingold said.

Ingold plans on practicing Saturday through Wednesday throughout the Quad City area as there are numerous concerts taking place at the teams' home arena, The MARK of the Quad Cities.

"I love to practice outside, so we are looking at a few places in the area that we could utilize," Ingold said.

Those practices will mark the start of preparation for the ‘Wheelers bout with the Hawaiian Islanders, next Saturday night at Neil Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, HI. The game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. local time and at 12:30 a.m. Quad City (CDT) time.

After the ‘Wheelers return home from Hawaii, they will then travel to Green Bay, Wis. to take on the Blizzard at brand new Resch Center at 7:30 p.m.

The ‘Wheelers will return home for their last two home games of the regular season on July 12th and 19th. On the 12th, they will take on the San Diego Riptide at 7:30 p.m. Then, what could be the biggest game in the af2 regular season, the ‘Wheelers will take on the (currently) unbeaten Tennessee Valley Vipers at 7: 30 p.m. Both games are at The MARK of the Quad Cities.

Good tickets are still available and can be purchased at The MARK box office or through TicketMaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 563.326.1111.

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