Remembering ArenaCup 2000, Four 'Wheelers Look Back
July 16, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa â For four Quad City Steamwheelers players, ArenaCup 2000 is a memory they will never forget. Well, at least three of them won't want to forget it. WR/DB Danny Thomas, who played with the Tennessee Valley Vipers team that finished runner-up to the champion Steamwheelers, would like to forget that game if he could.
"What I would really like to forget is that we lost," Thomas said. For three other âWheelers, they will say otherwise. OL/DL Corey Brown, OL/DL Damon Williams and (despite not playing in the championship game due to a broken ankle) FB/LB Josh Fourdyce all were apart of the 2000 team that went a perfect 19-0 including a defeat of the Vipers 68-59 in ArenaCup 2000.
"It was a really good game, we only had been tested twice that year," Fourdyce said. "We won that championship on one of the last series and that is what leads you to what you see now in this rivalry.
"It is always tough to beat a team three times in one season, but every time we played them we came out and got the job done," Williams added.
"Every game has been competitive, we have always fought to the end," Brown added. "Even some of the players know each other off the field, so there is a mutual respect once we get on the field."
Playing in a game of that magnitude in the leagues first season meant a lot to all four players whether they came out champions or runners up.
"It actually showed the team how much adversity you can overcome and the team chemistry that you have because a lot of those games (that first year) we were blowing teams out," Brown said. "But that championship game we got ahead, they battled back, we actually had to come back late in the fourth quarter to win that game.
"That first season meant a lot," Thomas reluctantly admitted. "We had a good team and we came here to play for the championship and unfortunately we lost to a better team."
Ever since that first season, the rivalry between the two teams has grown to be the biggest rivalry in the four-year history of the af2. Brown feels he might have a good idea why.
"We have a lot of history with these guys with as much as we have played them and all," Brown said. "Each year it just gets bigger and bigger.
"It's always a good game because both teams are both good," Fourdyce also said. "It really is tough to say who is better.
"There is always a great group of guys on both teams, with good coaches and good game plans and the best team always wins," Williams said. Four years later Fourdyce, Brown and Williams are all still together as Steamwheelers and have welcomed a former Viper onto the team this season.
Now that Thomas is on the other side of the ball, things are a little different this time around. When he was looking to get back into the game, the first person he called was Steamwheelers head coach Rich Ingold.
"After that first season with Tennessee Valley I was picked up by the New Jersey Gladiators (where Ingold was the Defensive Coordinator) and I spent half of the year with them," Thomas said. "Coach Ingold is a good guy and when things didn't work out for me this season, I noticed that he was coaching here and doing a great job, so I gave him a call."
Thomas caught five passes for 58 yards in that inaugural championship game. Danny has since made stops at the Gladiators (AFL), Dallas Desperados (AFL) practice squad and with the AFL expansion Colorado Crush.
"I started the last seven games and went into the playoffs with Dallas, then was drafted by the Crush in the expansion draft," Thomas said. "I then tore my hamstring with the Crush before coming here."
Now that Thomas has played on both sides of the ball, which team is better to play for?
"At this point in time I am definitely going to say that the Quad Cities is where I want to be," Thomas said. The fans in both markets have been considered some of the best in the af2 and Thomas seems to think that both crowds are very hostile.
"The fans in Tennessee Valley follow the Vipers religiously, and then you come to The MARK and they have some hostile fans," Thomas said. "The MARK is the place to play, coming in here that first year was amazing and it really got me pumped up for the game. Now I am playing in front of them for the right team.
"The fans are always rowdy and it makes the game that much more fun," Fourdyce said. As for the rivalry, Thomas has seen both sides of it, so what's it like going against Tennessee Valley rather than Quad City?
"It's a little messed up, and to be here in this situation with Quad City and having the chance to stop the Vipers from being 16-0 is ironic," Thomas said. "I really don't want to have two teams go undefeated and have myself be on the wrong side of it."
The showdown is set for this weekend when the Vipers travel the 672 miles to the Quad Cities to take on the Steamwheelers at The MARK of the Quad Cities, 7:30 p.m. Saturday night, when another chapter is added to the storied history of these two teams.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased at The MARK box office or through TicketMaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling them at 563.326.1111. and fans are encouraged to wear red.
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