Steamwheelers Weekly Report

Published on July 26, 2004 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


Recap: The Quad City Steamwheelers are coming off their much needed "bye" week, allowing for countless players to heal up injuries and to visit their family and friends back home. The players took most of last week off, and returned to practice on Friday and Saturday, and then took Sunday off for one final day of rest before the final week of the regular season.

Next Up: In what is probably the biggest regular season game in Steamwheelers history, the Steamwheelers are hosting the Louisville Fire in the final regular season game of the season. Both teams bring 9-6 records and are both tied with Peoria for the lead in the Midwest Division. If Quad City wins, they win the division, would be the number three seed and host a first round playoff game. If Louisville wins, they would need Peoria to lose in order to win the division, the number three seed and a home playoff game. Peoria holds the tiebreaker over Louisville as they have beaten them twice.

In order for Peoria to win the division, the number three seed and a home playoff game, they would need to defeat Green Bay at home and have Louisville knock off the Steamwheelers.

Last Time: In a classic Arena Football game, the Fire and Steamwheelers battled back and forth all the way to the end with the Fire prevailing 63-62 as Steamwheelers kicker Ryan Geisler just missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired. The attempt was dead center but fell just short of the cross bar. The win was the first time in history that the Fire had defeated the Steamwheelers.

10 Wins and You're In: After breaking down countless playoff scenarios, there is one easy solution to get into the National Conference playoffs – win 10 games. There are three teams (Quad City, Louisville and Peoria) who all have a shot at this. With Quad City and Louisville playing each other, that means that only two of the teams have a shot at reaching the 10 wins plateau. There are three playoff spots already spoken for with Tulsa already locking up the top seed and Bakersfield clinching the West Division. Oklahoma City has clinched one of the three wild card spots. Of the three remaining spots, one will go to Quad City, Louisville or Peoria as the winner of the Midwest Division. Of the remaining two spots, five will have a shot at making it.

Who Would They Play???: If the Steamwheelers were to win and clinch the number three seed, that would guarantee them a first round home playoff game as the top two seeds receive a first round "bye." Who would the Steamwheelers opponent be? Take your pick. You would almost be better off flipping a coin. With five teams fighting for the final two spots, it could be almost any of them. The one thing that they know for sure is that it won' t be a 10-6 team. The sixth seed, the team that the three seed hosts, at best could be 9-7. That means that it could be any one of the following teams: Louisville, Peoria, Hawaii, San Diego, or Wichita.

White Out: The Louisville Fire will have more than just the eight men on the field on Saturday night. They will also have to deal with the "Ninth Man." In hopes of making The MARK of the Quad Cities the most impossible place to play in, the Steamwheelers are asking their fans to wear white and "White Out" the Fire. The Steamwheelers will also be shooting white t-shirts into the stands during the game.

Upcoming Steamwheelers Appearances: With the Steamwheelers back in action this week, they will also have two appearances. On Monday and Wednesday from 10-noon and on Tuesday and Thursday from 3-5 p.m., the DeckMate Cheerleaders will be at the Friendly House for the Davenport Parks and Recreation Dance Camp. Then on Tuesday at the Swing of the Quad Cities game at noon, Steamwheeler Willie will be entertaining fans at Kid's Day at John O'Donnell Stadium.

Practice Times: After taking Sunday off, the Steamwheelers will return to practice on Monday with just the skill players (everyone but the linemen and fullback/linebackers) taking in a brief practice to fine tune a few things. The full team will then return to practice on Tuesday through Friday. All practices will start at 5 p.m. beginning with a short film session, which runs 20-30 minutes. Practice then runs for anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. Monday and Friday's sessions will be shorter in length with Tuesday through Thursday's sessions running slightly longer. Players begin to arrive at practice around 4:30 p.m. and are usually around afterwards for about 20 minutes. The best time to interview players is before or after practice. If there are any problems, contact Steamwheelers Media Relations Manager Ryan Holtmann.

Travel Plans: The Steamwheelers are home for the final regular season game and only a short trip over the I-74 Bridge to worry about. The last regular season home game will be held at The MARK of the Quad Cities.

On the Air: "In the Boiler Room" will air tonight just as it does every Monday night. "Voice of the Steam" Jim Albracht is on vacation and will be replaced by Steamwheelers Media Relations Manager Ryan Holtmann. The show will air as usual on FOX Sports Radio AM 1230 at 7 p.m.

You can also listen in to Q106.5's Dwyer and Michaels every morning as they discuss the ‘Wheelers periodically on the "Mornings with Dwyer and Michaels" show that runs from 5:30 a.m. – 10 a.m.

Also, the "Voice of the Steam" Jim Albracht also hosts "Albracht in the AM" from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on WOC 1420 AM. Throughout the show he discusses a variety of topics as well as the Steamwheelers.

Every Sunday night on NBC affiliate KWQC-TV6, following the 10 p.m. news, sports director Thom Cornelis hosts ‘Wheeler Watch" which features highlights of the previous weekend's game and a discussion with head coach Rich Ingold.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



arenafootball2 Stories from July 26, 2004


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.

OurSports Central