Post-game interviews wrap up title night
July 31, 2005 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
Tri-Cities Fever News Release
KENNEWICK, Wash. - It took Tri-Cities Fever radio announcer Michael McDonnal more than a couple of interviews following the NIFL championship game to get one of the Fever players to answer the question: "Where are you going to go now?"
Finally, after several unsuccessful accounts that included, "I'm going to kick back and enjoy this," to, "I just guess I'll be getting back to work at my regular job," McDonnal got the answer he was seeking.
"I'm going to Disneyland," said elated running back Paris Moore as 3 huge sacks of balloons in the rafters of Three Rivers Coliseum came raining down Saturday night.
"That's the answer I've been looking for," said McDonnal, who had left his KONA (610AM) broadcast position to go down on the field after the Fever (13-5) had held off the Rome Renegades (10-8) for a 47-31 win in Indoor Bowl V.
Wearing their championship camps, the Fever mingled among the fans after the NIFL president Carolyn Shiver had presented the Fever owners - Randy Schillinger, Teri Carr, Annette Schillinger and JR Carr - and head coach Dan Whitsett the championship trophy.
On the field the interviews continued as jubilance and Fever pitch excitement abounded.
"There is nothing like this," said defensive back Thomas Ford, who had won an NAIA national championship at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, a few years ago. "On defense, we were told to hit someone on the short stuff (passes).
"They were a tough team, but I think we were a team of destiny," Ford said.
Moore also admitted the difference was the defense and the play of the offense in the last two minutes.
Coach Whitsett got into the interview act and exclaimed "it was a heck of a football game.
"Rome made some great adjustments and they were worthy of being here," he complimented the Renegades and head coach David Humphreys. "We made some mistakes and then made some good adjustments. That helped us come away with the title and finish in the right way.
"This will all hit me later," said Whitsett, who came on to become the head coach after the third game of the season.
With a sellout crowd of 5,746 in the Coliseum, and 83 degree weather outside ( it was 100 the day before), the air conditioning worked just fine, according to McDonnal, but near the end of the game it heated up, literally, inside but what would someone expect from a crowd with Fever.
Despite shooting themselves in the foot in the first half (Rome trailed 33-17 at halftime) but came back in the 3rd and 4th quarters to close the gap to 33-31 with 13:52 left in the final stanza.
• Discuss this story on the National Indoor Football League message board...
National Indoor Football League Stories from July 31, 2005
- Post-game interviews wrap up title night - Tri-Cities Fever
- Defense, Coleman lead Fever to Indoor Bowl V win - Tri-Cities Fever
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.
