TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Tim Marcum gestured toward the championship banners hanging from the rafters and spoke in a calm, deliberate voice devoid of emotion, yet oozing with confidence.
''There are four of them up there. But the last one was in '96,'' the coach of the Tampa Bay Storm said. ''That's a long time. It's time to put another one up there.''
Marcum is the most successful coach in Arena Football League history, winning six championships with three different teams, including two titles with Tampa Bay. He goes for another one Sunday when the Storm face the Arizona Rattlers in the ArenaBowl.
And while Marcum likes the Storm's chances of making Tampa the first city to call itself home to Super Bowl and Arena League champions in the same year, he's hardly in a position to take anything for granted.
Arizona, a two-time ArenaBowl winner under coach Danny White, has won nine of its last 10 games six of them on the road en route to its second straight appearance in the championship game.
The Rattlers (13-6) beat defending champion San Jose in the playoff semifinals two weeks ago and launched a season-saving turnaround following a team meeting veteran players called in the wake of a 68-39 loss to Tampa Bay (14-4) that dropped Arizona's record to 4-5.
White was a catalyst, too, challenging stars Sherdrick Bonner, Hunkie Cooper and Randy Gatewood to exert their leadership.
''Guys took it to heart,'' Bonner, the Rattlers' quarterback, said.
''When you get called out, you can do one of two things. You can look in the mirror and say: `I'm going to respond.' Or you can point your finger back and start being negative. The leaders we have on the team looked right in the mirror and said it starts with us.''
Marcum said the earlier game between the teams was a lot more competitive than the final score suggests. Arizona led by four at the half, then was outscored 40-7 in the third and fourth quarters.
Since the loss to the Storm, Arizona has outscored opponents 657-508. Bonner finished with 88 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions during the regular season, while Gatewood had 69 receptions for 779 yards and 32 touchdowns on his way to becoming Ironman of the Year.
White has the Rattlers in the ArenaBowl for the fourth time. They won the championship in 1994 and 1997, then lost to San Jose 52-14 in last season's title game.
''I don't know that we're doing anything different,'' said White, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback in his 12th season as Arizona's coach and general manager. ''We're just doing better.''
Marcum won four of the first six AFL titles in Denver (1987) and Detroit (1988, 1989, 1992) and has won twice as coach of the Storm in 1995 and 1996. Tampa Bay stumbled in its most recent appearance in the ArenaBowl, losing at home to Orlando in 1998.
One of the league's most consistent teams all season, the Storm has won 13 of their last 15 games.
White is the only coach besides Marcum with more than 100 AFL wins, but there's no debate over who has set the standard for others to follow. After all, this is Marcum's 10th ArenaBowl appearance in the league's 17-year history.
''He helped develop this league, developed the game. He knows more about it than anybody who's ever coached it,'' White said. ''There's no better way to measure yourself than by going against the best.''
A sellout crowd of more than 20,000 is expected for the nationally televised game that concludes a season in which AFL commissioner David Baker said attendance increased 15 percent and the league began to reap the benefits of additional exposure created by its affiliation with NBC.
Expansion is imminent, too, with talk of adding as many as six teams over the next three years.
''Every health indicator of the Arena Football League is up,'' Baker said. ''Clearly it was our best season ever.''
http://therxforum.com/6/ubb.x?a=prply&s=100090022&f=988094022&m=19410741
''There are four of them up there. But the last one was in '96,'' the coach of the Tampa Bay Storm said. ''That's a long time. It's time to put another one up there.''
Marcum is the most successful coach in Arena Football League history, winning six championships with three different teams, including two titles with Tampa Bay. He goes for another one Sunday when the Storm face the Arizona Rattlers in the ArenaBowl.
And while Marcum likes the Storm's chances of making Tampa the first city to call itself home to Super Bowl and Arena League champions in the same year, he's hardly in a position to take anything for granted.
Arizona, a two-time ArenaBowl winner under coach Danny White, has won nine of its last 10 games six of them on the road en route to its second straight appearance in the championship game.
The Rattlers (13-6) beat defending champion San Jose in the playoff semifinals two weeks ago and launched a season-saving turnaround following a team meeting veteran players called in the wake of a 68-39 loss to Tampa Bay (14-4) that dropped Arizona's record to 4-5.
White was a catalyst, too, challenging stars Sherdrick Bonner, Hunkie Cooper and Randy Gatewood to exert their leadership.
''Guys took it to heart,'' Bonner, the Rattlers' quarterback, said.
''When you get called out, you can do one of two things. You can look in the mirror and say: `I'm going to respond.' Or you can point your finger back and start being negative. The leaders we have on the team looked right in the mirror and said it starts with us.''
Marcum said the earlier game between the teams was a lot more competitive than the final score suggests. Arizona led by four at the half, then was outscored 40-7 in the third and fourth quarters.
Since the loss to the Storm, Arizona has outscored opponents 657-508. Bonner finished with 88 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions during the regular season, while Gatewood had 69 receptions for 779 yards and 32 touchdowns on his way to becoming Ironman of the Year.
White has the Rattlers in the ArenaBowl for the fourth time. They won the championship in 1994 and 1997, then lost to San Jose 52-14 in last season's title game.
''I don't know that we're doing anything different,'' said White, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback in his 12th season as Arizona's coach and general manager. ''We're just doing better.''
Marcum won four of the first six AFL titles in Denver (1987) and Detroit (1988, 1989, 1992) and has won twice as coach of the Storm in 1995 and 1996. Tampa Bay stumbled in its most recent appearance in the ArenaBowl, losing at home to Orlando in 1998.
One of the league's most consistent teams all season, the Storm has won 13 of their last 15 games.
White is the only coach besides Marcum with more than 100 AFL wins, but there's no debate over who has set the standard for others to follow. After all, this is Marcum's 10th ArenaBowl appearance in the league's 17-year history.
''He helped develop this league, developed the game. He knows more about it than anybody who's ever coached it,'' White said. ''There's no better way to measure yourself than by going against the best.''
A sellout crowd of more than 20,000 is expected for the nationally televised game that concludes a season in which AFL commissioner David Baker said attendance increased 15 percent and the league began to reap the benefits of additional exposure created by its affiliation with NBC.
Expansion is imminent, too, with talk of adding as many as six teams over the next three years.
''Every health indicator of the Arena Football League is up,'' Baker said. ''Clearly it was our best season ever.''
http://therxforum.com/6/ubb.x?a=prply&s=100090022&f=988094022&m=19410741
