Storm Post Season's First Victory
(May 5, 2000)

The last article on this web site about the Tampa Bay Storm was titled Time to Panic After Storm Opening Loss? After dropping two games on the road, and starting the season 0-3 for the first time in team history, head coach Tim Marcum stated "I'm not sure that panicking is not a bad idea. If it changes your behavior in doing something about it, then panic is good." The bleeding stopped with a 50-29 victory over the expansion Carolina Cobras at the Ice Palace Thursday night.

The season's first road game was at Florida. Harvey Middleton, pick up off the waiver wire during the week, had a impressive debut. The all time leading receiver at Georgia Tech caught ten passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. With Matt Huerkamp out with an injury sustained in the season opener, Jay Freely was signed to take over the kicking duties. Freely, a participant in the team's open tryout who played at Tampa Jesuit High School and the University of Michigan, would have a disastrous debut. He missed an extra point that would have tied the game at 31, then missed two 30 yard field goals in the final minute, one as the horn sounded. After a 31-30 loss, Freely was let go.

Justin Skinner, who played at The Citadel and with the Houston ThunderBears, became the Storm's new kicker. The team made another trade with New England for a quarterback, this time for John Kaleo. Out of the University of Maryland, the Storm was Kaleo's seventh AFL team over a seven year career. Defensive specialist Israel Byrd was also signed. Byrd went to Utah State, and played with the New Orleans Saints and in NFL Europe.

While the Storm had never lost to the Bobcats before, in thirteen previous meetings dating back to when the franchise was known as the Miami Hooters, things can always be worse. A trip to Albany to play the defending league champions proved that. The result was a 67-34 loss, the worst defeat in franchise history, an 0-3 record for the first time, the team's first four game losing streak (dating back to last season) and Harvey Middleton was lost to injury. Tim Marcum's frustration showed when a reporter asked if he ever thought the team would be in this position. "Well, the obvious answer is no. If I was Bobby Knight I would call you down on that one. That's a pretty stupid question."

That brings us to last night's game at the Ice Palace. Originally scheduled for Friday, the game was moved to accommodate the Storm's first appearance on The Nashville Network. With the team's performance, and an 8:30 Thursday night kickoff, the Storm management could see it coming. Using the inconvenience of switching the game date as the reason, letters went out to season ticket holders offering an additional four free tickets to the game. Even still, a respectable crowd of 10,546 did not look too impressive for TNN's national cablecast.

John Kaleo, who had replaced Thad Busby in the second quarter of the Albany game, got the start at QB in the first matchup against Carolina. Kaleo (23 of 28 for 296 yards) responded with a six touchdown, no interception performance. The defense stepped up and the Storm posted an impressive 50-29 victory. Tim Marcum said, "It sure feels good. It's been awhile since we won around here."

Next up is a game at Orlando on Friday. This will be a tougher assignment than the Carolina game. But, the Storm have stopped the bleeding.