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Our picks last week were average again, with me going 2-2. I hope to bring this up this week.
Season Record
5-7
Game of the Week
CBA(-4) @ LRK
Even though Columbia is on the road, I like them to win by a TD. LRk, although a great team, has been inconsistent offensively. This should be a great game, and I expect to personally attend the game this weekend.
OAK(-1) @ VER
Vermont is at home, and Virgil is ready to go. He'll cause the OAK D fits as he'll run for 1st downs when no one is open. I'll take Vermont
HOU @ STL(-7)
STL will win this game, but HOU will cover the 7pts. Trust me!
NEW @ ORL(-12)
ORL is a team that just wins. And they will win this one, but not cover the whopping 12pts!. NWK is the #1 rated D against the run, and ORL is the #2 rushing team. The D will show up despite the success Flynn has had against NWK
Vics Top 5
1.Orlando Pirates
2.Norfolk Vipers
3.Columbia Fire
4.Little Rock Toads
5.Oakland Assassins
Norfolk continues to impress me. They are playing terrific football right now. Orlando is also playing well. It will be interesting to see how Norfolk reacts to their first loss.
This week I travelled to the wonderful Salt Lake City to visit with the GM of the Stallions, Mr. Vito Stallion.
1. Talk a little about last season. Did you find it disappointing or exciting?
Finishing 9-7 last season was somewhat disappointing as it forced us to play one too many road games in our quest to capture the Imperial Title and we’ve not figured out how to play well on the road just yet. It is my hope that Coach Palmateer will finally figure that out this season.
While the record was an area of disappointment, the emergence of Nigel Booker and Grady Gomez was definitely a bright spot. It took the pressure off of James Tart and made us a more prolific offense. I think we scored 378 points last year and to my knowledge only the Fire have bested that.
Additionally what Nigel Booker did in the playoffs was absolutely phenomenal. I really think we would have got to and won the Imperial Bowl if we play that game against the Demons at home.
2. What are you impressions on this current season?
First off, I’m happy that Nigel Booker and Money Gomez have picked up where they left off. They are the hottest QB/WR duo in the league right now. I hope Coach Palmateer can keep that machine running.
Team wise, we’re currently 3-2 and while I’d prefer to be 4-1 or 5-0 right now, I’m happy with our record. Of course, 0-2 in the division is a concern but there is a lot of football left to be played. But we’re scoring over 28 points a game and I think the defense is beginning to play up to its potential.
Oakland is definitely setting the pace for the division. If we want to win it, we’ve got to steal one from them later this year and out play them coming out of this bye week. If we can return to the playoffs, I think our chances are a good as anybodies to bring home the trophy.
3. I've thought the Stallions to be a little inconsistent this year. What can be done about the leagues highest paid decoy, James Tart? In a perfect game plan, how many touches would you expect Tart to have?
Truthfully, I’d like to see us run the ball more but we’ve got to get stronger on defense to do so. JT can dominate a game when we turn him loose but it’s hard to do that when your defense gives up 19 points a game.
I don’t think we’ve been inconsistent. I think a lot of experts discounted how much the Assassins improved in the off-season. We lost to Oakland but look at the stats in that game. Both teams played great and it basically came down to who made more plays. As for that debacle against Vancouver, Booker had his worst day as a pro and they played balls-outs with the risk of going 0-4 on the line. Take away those 4 interceptions (six turnovers overall) and we dominate the Whales rather easily. I think how we performed against that very talented Phantom team, the Demons (with Loving---that rookie is horrible right now), and Voodoo is a true indication of our club.
As for touches, I think no other back touches the ball as much as Tart, he’s our primary runner, 2nd option in the passing game, and punt returnee. I think he’s got just under 900 career touches in through 36 starts (25/game).
As for game planning, we like to see him run it 18-20 times but we love to throw it to him 5-7 times also. I remember that game against Little Rock last year where he got us 109 (20 carries) yards rushing and 74 (7 catches) yards receiving and two TDs. That’s how we’d like to use him in every game.
4. The Stallions lost an estimated $46.1 million last year. How many years can you expect to lose that kind of money?
Yes, that is major area of concern and we’ll start to deal with that this off-season. Our new stadium will be completed soon and that will help immensely. We’ll also take a more conservative approach to acquiring talent as free agency is not going to be the way to get it done.
Thanks to Vito Stallion for his cooperation in this week's interview.
Until next week,
Vic
Season Record
5-7
Game of the Week
CBA(-4) @ LRK
Even though Columbia is on the road, I like them to win by a TD. LRk, although a great team, has been inconsistent offensively. This should be a great game, and I expect to personally attend the game this weekend.
OAK(-1) @ VER
Vermont is at home, and Virgil is ready to go. He'll cause the OAK D fits as he'll run for 1st downs when no one is open. I'll take Vermont
HOU @ STL(-7)
STL will win this game, but HOU will cover the 7pts. Trust me!
NEW @ ORL(-12)
ORL is a team that just wins. And they will win this one, but not cover the whopping 12pts!. NWK is the #1 rated D against the run, and ORL is the #2 rushing team. The D will show up despite the success Flynn has had against NWK
Vics Top 5
1.Orlando Pirates
2.Norfolk Vipers
3.Columbia Fire
4.Little Rock Toads
5.Oakland Assassins
Norfolk continues to impress me. They are playing terrific football right now. Orlando is also playing well. It will be interesting to see how Norfolk reacts to their first loss.
This week I travelled to the wonderful Salt Lake City to visit with the GM of the Stallions, Mr. Vito Stallion.
1. Talk a little about last season. Did you find it disappointing or exciting?
Finishing 9-7 last season was somewhat disappointing as it forced us to play one too many road games in our quest to capture the Imperial Title and we’ve not figured out how to play well on the road just yet. It is my hope that Coach Palmateer will finally figure that out this season.
While the record was an area of disappointment, the emergence of Nigel Booker and Grady Gomez was definitely a bright spot. It took the pressure off of James Tart and made us a more prolific offense. I think we scored 378 points last year and to my knowledge only the Fire have bested that.
Additionally what Nigel Booker did in the playoffs was absolutely phenomenal. I really think we would have got to and won the Imperial Bowl if we play that game against the Demons at home.
2. What are you impressions on this current season?
First off, I’m happy that Nigel Booker and Money Gomez have picked up where they left off. They are the hottest QB/WR duo in the league right now. I hope Coach Palmateer can keep that machine running.
Team wise, we’re currently 3-2 and while I’d prefer to be 4-1 or 5-0 right now, I’m happy with our record. Of course, 0-2 in the division is a concern but there is a lot of football left to be played. But we’re scoring over 28 points a game and I think the defense is beginning to play up to its potential.
Oakland is definitely setting the pace for the division. If we want to win it, we’ve got to steal one from them later this year and out play them coming out of this bye week. If we can return to the playoffs, I think our chances are a good as anybodies to bring home the trophy.
3. I've thought the Stallions to be a little inconsistent this year. What can be done about the leagues highest paid decoy, James Tart? In a perfect game plan, how many touches would you expect Tart to have?
Truthfully, I’d like to see us run the ball more but we’ve got to get stronger on defense to do so. JT can dominate a game when we turn him loose but it’s hard to do that when your defense gives up 19 points a game.
I don’t think we’ve been inconsistent. I think a lot of experts discounted how much the Assassins improved in the off-season. We lost to Oakland but look at the stats in that game. Both teams played great and it basically came down to who made more plays. As for that debacle against Vancouver, Booker had his worst day as a pro and they played balls-outs with the risk of going 0-4 on the line. Take away those 4 interceptions (six turnovers overall) and we dominate the Whales rather easily. I think how we performed against that very talented Phantom team, the Demons (with Loving---that rookie is horrible right now), and Voodoo is a true indication of our club.
As for touches, I think no other back touches the ball as much as Tart, he’s our primary runner, 2nd option in the passing game, and punt returnee. I think he’s got just under 900 career touches in through 36 starts (25/game).
As for game planning, we like to see him run it 18-20 times but we love to throw it to him 5-7 times also. I remember that game against Little Rock last year where he got us 109 (20 carries) yards rushing and 74 (7 catches) yards receiving and two TDs. That’s how we’d like to use him in every game.
4. The Stallions lost an estimated $46.1 million last year. How many years can you expect to lose that kind of money?
Yes, that is major area of concern and we’ll start to deal with that this off-season. Our new stadium will be completed soon and that will help immensely. We’ll also take a more conservative approach to acquiring talent as free agency is not going to be the way to get it done.
Thanks to Vito Stallion for his cooperation in this week's interview.
Until next week,
Vic
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