Post by Banana Cat on Jun 20, 2012 10:57:00 GMT -5
Good teams win on the road, so they have a ways to go yet.
Leading in attendance despite two years of having a losing record is a fantastic job though and speaks to great things for their future if they can keep it up.
www.theindependent.com/sports/danger/danger-improve-in-second-year/article_b4fe1926-ba79-11e1-af22-001a4bcf887a.html
Leading in attendance despite two years of having a losing record is a fantastic job though and speaks to great things for their future if they can keep it up.
www.theindependent.com/sports/danger/danger-improve-in-second-year/article_b4fe1926-ba79-11e1-af22-001a4bcf887a.html
Danger improve in second year
By Bob Hamar / theindependent.com
The second season for the Nebraska Danger is history.
The Danger finished the year 5-9 overall. That’s not as good as the organization had hoped, but it is a definite improvement over its 3-11 record in its first season.
“The main thing that sticks out are the five wins,” general manager Mike McCoy said. “We were 4-3 at home this year. Last year we were 2-5 so we drastically improved our home won-loss record. We were 1-6 on the road both seasons.”
And it’s hard not to play the what-if game.
What if the Danger wouldn’t have lost on the road in the closing seconds to Wichita? What if the Danger had gotten the ball across the goal line last week in the closing seconds to beat Cedar Rapids?
What if the Danger would have beaten Wyoming at the Heartland Events Center instead of dropping a 54-53 decision back in March?
The Danger even won three of four games at one point, but followed by losing three in a row to fall out of the playoff race.
One of those wins was at Colorado against a team that hadn‘t lost a game at home up until the Danger walked away with a 45-33 victory.
“To go beat that team the way we did up there was a huge win,” McCoy said. “But then we end up losing to Omaha there and then go to Wichita and lose a last-second game down there and lose at Cedar Rapids.
“The unpredictability of this growing process is extremely frustrating, but we knew that going in too. The highs were going to be very high and the lows were going to be very low. The product of a good franchise is those things even out and you expect to win more, which was the situation this year. We expected to win more and we were disappointed with five wins.”
Quarterback Rocky Hinds passed for 1,881 yards with 45 TDs but had 19 interceptions. Running back Daniel Libre set team records with 108 carries and 471 yards.
Receiver Kayne Farquharson, a player head coach Mike Davis said was the MVP of the team in his mind, had 67 catches for 840 yards and 25 touchdowns for a team-record 154 points. Farquharson was named to the second team All-IFL on Tuesday.
Defensive tackle Brandon Jenkins set the team record with seven sacks even though he missed the last two games because of injury.
The offense scored 664 points in 2012 compared to 617 last year. The defense gave up 788 points in 2011 and 719 this year.
“There are some really positive we can point to,” McCoy said. “I always look at the defense which I think is the backbone of any team. Giving up almost 70 points less is a huge indicator.
“Breaking the sack record is very good, and of course Brandon Jenkins didn’t play the last two games.”
The Danger also led the league in attendance for the second straight season with 5,152 fans per game, up slightly from last year with 5,114.
Part of the success at the gate can be traced back to the Danger making public appearance. From the middle of February to the end of the season, Danger players made 96 visits to schools and organizations around the area.
Former Danger center James Poynter, who retired at the end of this season after seven years in the IFL including five in Omaha, said things are different in Grand Island.
“We didn’t do a whole lot of things community-wise in Omaha, where here they’re doing something just about every day,” Poynter said. “They want that player-community interaction here. It’s a good way to build that bond between players and fans. It’s also a good way for networking as far as getting to know more fans in Grand Island.
“Another big thing is Grand Island is a smaller community. They rally around each other where in Omaha, it’s so big. You’ll talk to people who have never even heard of the Beef. This is one of the biggest events in this town.”
But player-fan interaction is just part of the equation. Another part is winning football games.
“As long as they continue to do that player-fan interaction, and obviously we have to start winning some ball games,” Poynter said. “That’s always a key to a successful program. I tell you what, I think every game we played this year came down to the last quarter as far as who was going to win. That’s the cheapest entertainment you can get in town.”
So the Danger certainly made some strides this season. In the fall of 2010, the organization started from scratch.
“We didn’t have a team name. We didn’t have a turf. We didn’t have a football. We didn’t have anything,” McCoy said. “The steps we took in year two were astronomical and I expect the same steps to happen in year three.”
McCoy isn’t the only one who expects the organization to take the next step in 2013. So does owner Charlie Bossleman.
“Our goal next year of course is to make the playoffs and advance as far as we can,” McCoy said. “Mr. Bosselman has let that be known to all involved. That’s our goal for next year.”
But McCoy said the Danger won’t cut corners. Management is determined to do things the right way.
“We’re building the backbone of this team the way it should be built,” he said. “ I know we’ll probably keep 12 to 15 players off this team. Last year we kept maybe two or three. We’re very excited about how much higher the talent level was this year opposed to last year.”
2012 Danger SeasonJune 19, 2012
March 4 Tri-Cities 38-23 L
March 12 Omaha 48-34 W
March 23 Wyoming 54-53 L
March 31 at Allen 86-57 L
April 5 at Everett 52-35 L
April 14 Wichita 42-27 W
April 21 at Sioux Falls 76-49 L
April 27 Everett 68-59 W
May 5 at Colorado 45-33 W
May 12 at Omaha 68-54 L
May 19 at Wichita 57-50 L
June 2 Allen 71-62 L
June 9 Omaha 50-34 W
June 16 at Cedar Rapids 42-38 L
By Bob Hamar / theindependent.com
The second season for the Nebraska Danger is history.
The Danger finished the year 5-9 overall. That’s not as good as the organization had hoped, but it is a definite improvement over its 3-11 record in its first season.
“The main thing that sticks out are the five wins,” general manager Mike McCoy said. “We were 4-3 at home this year. Last year we were 2-5 so we drastically improved our home won-loss record. We were 1-6 on the road both seasons.”
And it’s hard not to play the what-if game.
What if the Danger wouldn’t have lost on the road in the closing seconds to Wichita? What if the Danger had gotten the ball across the goal line last week in the closing seconds to beat Cedar Rapids?
What if the Danger would have beaten Wyoming at the Heartland Events Center instead of dropping a 54-53 decision back in March?
The Danger even won three of four games at one point, but followed by losing three in a row to fall out of the playoff race.
One of those wins was at Colorado against a team that hadn‘t lost a game at home up until the Danger walked away with a 45-33 victory.
“To go beat that team the way we did up there was a huge win,” McCoy said. “But then we end up losing to Omaha there and then go to Wichita and lose a last-second game down there and lose at Cedar Rapids.
“The unpredictability of this growing process is extremely frustrating, but we knew that going in too. The highs were going to be very high and the lows were going to be very low. The product of a good franchise is those things even out and you expect to win more, which was the situation this year. We expected to win more and we were disappointed with five wins.”
Quarterback Rocky Hinds passed for 1,881 yards with 45 TDs but had 19 interceptions. Running back Daniel Libre set team records with 108 carries and 471 yards.
Receiver Kayne Farquharson, a player head coach Mike Davis said was the MVP of the team in his mind, had 67 catches for 840 yards and 25 touchdowns for a team-record 154 points. Farquharson was named to the second team All-IFL on Tuesday.
Defensive tackle Brandon Jenkins set the team record with seven sacks even though he missed the last two games because of injury.
The offense scored 664 points in 2012 compared to 617 last year. The defense gave up 788 points in 2011 and 719 this year.
“There are some really positive we can point to,” McCoy said. “I always look at the defense which I think is the backbone of any team. Giving up almost 70 points less is a huge indicator.
“Breaking the sack record is very good, and of course Brandon Jenkins didn’t play the last two games.”
The Danger also led the league in attendance for the second straight season with 5,152 fans per game, up slightly from last year with 5,114.
Part of the success at the gate can be traced back to the Danger making public appearance. From the middle of February to the end of the season, Danger players made 96 visits to schools and organizations around the area.
Former Danger center James Poynter, who retired at the end of this season after seven years in the IFL including five in Omaha, said things are different in Grand Island.
“We didn’t do a whole lot of things community-wise in Omaha, where here they’re doing something just about every day,” Poynter said. “They want that player-community interaction here. It’s a good way to build that bond between players and fans. It’s also a good way for networking as far as getting to know more fans in Grand Island.
“Another big thing is Grand Island is a smaller community. They rally around each other where in Omaha, it’s so big. You’ll talk to people who have never even heard of the Beef. This is one of the biggest events in this town.”
But player-fan interaction is just part of the equation. Another part is winning football games.
“As long as they continue to do that player-fan interaction, and obviously we have to start winning some ball games,” Poynter said. “That’s always a key to a successful program. I tell you what, I think every game we played this year came down to the last quarter as far as who was going to win. That’s the cheapest entertainment you can get in town.”
So the Danger certainly made some strides this season. In the fall of 2010, the organization started from scratch.
“We didn’t have a team name. We didn’t have a turf. We didn’t have a football. We didn’t have anything,” McCoy said. “The steps we took in year two were astronomical and I expect the same steps to happen in year three.”
McCoy isn’t the only one who expects the organization to take the next step in 2013. So does owner Charlie Bossleman.
“Our goal next year of course is to make the playoffs and advance as far as we can,” McCoy said. “Mr. Bosselman has let that be known to all involved. That’s our goal for next year.”
But McCoy said the Danger won’t cut corners. Management is determined to do things the right way.
“We’re building the backbone of this team the way it should be built,” he said. “ I know we’ll probably keep 12 to 15 players off this team. Last year we kept maybe two or three. We’re very excited about how much higher the talent level was this year opposed to last year.”