Friday, March 11, 2011

Getting Pumped For The Big Game - OFFICIAL PUMP-UP POST

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WHERE WERE YOU?

August 1, 1987.

The Setting:

ArenaBowl I.

We all remember the feeling that fateful August day.

You woke up, poured yourself out of bed, took a shower, maybe had a cup of coffee.
You knew that it wasn't just any other day, though.
You knew that it was an historic day for the ages.

As you drove to work, you nervously flicked the radio between DVE and B94, trying desperately to get the latest injury update on Mike Hohenesee. Was he ready to play? Could the Gladiators stop the potent punch of the Denver Dynamite's offensive juggernaut?

You trudged through another miserable day at the office. Nobody was getting anything done. Not on this day. This day was special. It was the day of the first ArenaBowl. The Igloo. The Steel City -- ARENA FOOTBALL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

The roof was open at the Civic Arena as you pulled up to your customary parking spot on the Bluff at Duquesne University. It was in the air. It was everywhere that night. Energy. Hope. A capacity crowd of 13,232 of your brothers in arms, there for their coronation. The city of champions.

Then, it happened.

DL Phil Forte recovers a fumble in the Gladiators endzone for a 6-0 lead. The Dynamite never looked back. Before you knew it, it was the end of the third quarter, and the Glads are down 32-0.

I can remember it like it was yesterday. Hohenesee was public enemy number one that night, having failed to produce any meaningful offense in the biggest football game ever played in the history of the City of Pittsburgh. To this day, you still hear people in bars from the North Shore to Cannonsburg lamenting the name Mike Hohenesee for costing us our dream - a dream that so many people had worked so hard for.

Arena Football would die a shameful death in Pittsburgh after that night, as the national media lampooned this marquee matchup, carried live on national TV by ESPN, as a total joke. Fans poured into Market Square in the following years to make their voices heard. Petitions were signed. Dirty back room political deals were made. The Gladiators were headed to Tampa, where they would become the Tampa Bay Storm.


Our players. Gone. In a flash, it seems.

It was there that OUR players became the most successful and storied Arena Football League franchise in history. Everybody forgot about Pittsburgh, but.......

.... Today.... The Phoenix finally rises from the ashes. Pittsburgh finally has a football team to call our own.

It's only fitting that our first opponent, the Philadelphia Soul, are coached by none other than the man who killed Arena ball in Pittsburgh to begin with.

If you don't have a reason already to hate the Soul or to be absolutely house-rockingly pumped for this game, may I present to you the evidence in kind:


PHILADELPHIA SOUL HEAD COACH MICHAEL HOHENESEE

If that's not enough, I don't know what is.

It's time for revenge, boys.

GO BOLTS.

(Recap coming after we get home from the game sometime during the overnight period.)

14 comments:

Unknown said...

WOOOO so ready for some arena football here in pittsburgh

Perry said...

Thanks for visiting Jason. We're all extraordinarily pumped. One game at a time. And the BoltsBurgh Blog will be with you every step of the way providing in-depth cutting edge journalistic coverage of YOUR Power.

Matthieux said...

I am hoping that the Power will bring home the Championship that Boltsburgh deserves

Perry said...

We've been waiting almost fifteen years, Matt!

Unknown said...

I never really considered Pittsburgh a football town, but today...today is the the day that changes everything.

Perry said...

I couldn't agree more, Jacob. Pittsburgh deserves this, so much.

Unknown said...

Everybody knows that our long-standing tradition of quality niche indoor sports teams is what put Pittsburgh on the map.

Matthieux said...

52 Minutes until kick off!!!!

Anonymous said...

I thought the CW was supposed to cover games?

Matthieux said...

I am really impressed how Morris is showing that he is ready to lead this team.

Matthieux said...

Philadelphia Soul???? More like Philadelphia Donovan Morgans...

Matthieux said...

Could you ask for a better game?

Matthieux said...

Edinger shows that he is ready for the season

Perry said...

Heartbreak.