Post by Banana Cat on Jan 2, 2013 5:29:59 GMT -5
siouxcityjournal.com/special-section/visitors-guide/bandits-roll-into-tough-new-league/article_20df7dff-1f1a-5c7d-b71c-fb877a1eac91.html
Bandits roll into tough new league
January 01, 2013
JOHN QUINLAN / siouxcityjournal.com
Perfection may be a bit tougher to find this year for the Sioux City Bandits, the indoor football juggernaut that has won its last 28 games and back-to-back American Professional Football League championships. But nobody’s complaining in the Bandit camp.
Managing partner Bob Scott announced in August that the Bandits have joined the budding Champions Professional Indoor Football League that includes a few of the better APFL teams and some talented newcomers.
The CPIFL consists of 10 teams: the Bloomington Edge, Kansas City Renegades, Kansas Koyotes, Lincoln Haymakers, Mid-Missouri Outlaws, Oklahoma Defenders, Salina Bombers, Wichita Wild, Omaha Beef and the Bandits.
"It's going to be a good league. It's going to be more competitive for our team," said Mark Carley, the Bandits' assistant general manager for sales and operations.
“The teams that are coming into our league, we’ve played them in the past in the IFL, and I think the level of talent that you see them bring in is probably going to be much better than the past couple of years,” said Bandits Coach Erv Strohbeen who played for the Bandits for nine years and took over the head coaching reins last year. He has always been with the team in some capacity.
“It gives us a much more competitive atmosphere, and that’s something that the players and the coaches all welcome,” said Strohbeen, who is still hoping for the blowouts that dominated Bandit play the last two years but is less likely in the 2013 season. “As a team, you want to be challenged each week. That’s going to require us to work a little bit harder.”
Next season opens with the Bandits on the road against Bloomington on March 15 before they return to the Tyson Events Center the next week to face Kansas City. Four of the teams’ first five games are on the road, but they do close with four of their final five games in Sioux City, with game time at 7:05 p.m.
Strohbeen explained that the old league was run by Ralph Adams, who also owned the Kansas Koyotes, which was a bit of a conflict of interest.
“So Bob Scott and some of the other owners got together and formed a new league, which has a commissioner (James Bain) and an executive committee,” Strohbeen said. “So we think it will be more professionally run.”
Bain also has considerable indoor football experience, most recently as the Wichita Wild’s assistant general manager. Prior to that, he served as director of media and public relations for the Sioux Falls Storm.
With the Bandits’ schedule set, there will no more new teams added to the league this year, Strohbeen said. “For this year, all our teams are set. We’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll,” he said.
The Bandits are bringing back many of the same players from the championship teams of the past two years, which is promising news, he noted. An open tryout was also held in December and a second planned for January.
“We’re constantly recruiting and trying to add to the guys we have and upgrade some positions and just find the best guys we can put out there on Saturday,” he said.
Among the top returners is quarterback Scott Jensen.
“He’s been with us for at least four years now. He was MVP of our league the last few years in the APFL. So that’s a big plus for us,” Strohbeen said.
“And Spetler Tonga is going to be back. He’s our returning middle linebacker and he’s been around since 2004. He’s probably the best defensive guy in the league,” he said. “So we like to think we’ve got a good solid nucleus with the best offensive guy in the league and the best defensive guy in the league.”
But two guys can’t do it all on their own, hence the need for more recruits and tryouts. And they’ve lost a few key players, leaving some voids in the receiver corps and the on the lines.
“We’re always looking for offensive and defensive linemen. Those seem to be the hardest to find. We’re always looking to provide competition for these guys and make sure we have the best players,” Strohbeen said.
The Bandits will be playing in their biggest venue yet when they take on the Kansas City team in the Kuemper Arena. But the Tyson Event Center matches up more than favorably with the arenas in Wichita, Kan., Bloomington, Ind., and the other league cities, the coach said.
As for the Bandit fans, they’re “the best in indoor football,” he said. ”I mean there’s not a whole lot of teams that we go and play in front of that average 4,000 to 5,000 fans a game. So they support us wholeheartedly and we appreciate that.
“I think we’re going into this league not knowing what our competition’s going to be, but obviously knowing that it’s going to be better than it’s been. Our goal is still to win a third championship, but taking it one week at a time.”
The Bandits organization has seen six different leagues, starting in 2000 as the Sioux City Attack in the National Indoor Football League. The team's most successful graduate, Fred Jackson out of Coe College, played for the Bandits before being signed by the NFL's Buffalo Bills in 2006.
January 01, 2013
JOHN QUINLAN / siouxcityjournal.com
Perfection may be a bit tougher to find this year for the Sioux City Bandits, the indoor football juggernaut that has won its last 28 games and back-to-back American Professional Football League championships. But nobody’s complaining in the Bandit camp.
Managing partner Bob Scott announced in August that the Bandits have joined the budding Champions Professional Indoor Football League that includes a few of the better APFL teams and some talented newcomers.
The CPIFL consists of 10 teams: the Bloomington Edge, Kansas City Renegades, Kansas Koyotes, Lincoln Haymakers, Mid-Missouri Outlaws, Oklahoma Defenders, Salina Bombers, Wichita Wild, Omaha Beef and the Bandits.
"It's going to be a good league. It's going to be more competitive for our team," said Mark Carley, the Bandits' assistant general manager for sales and operations.
“The teams that are coming into our league, we’ve played them in the past in the IFL, and I think the level of talent that you see them bring in is probably going to be much better than the past couple of years,” said Bandits Coach Erv Strohbeen who played for the Bandits for nine years and took over the head coaching reins last year. He has always been with the team in some capacity.
“It gives us a much more competitive atmosphere, and that’s something that the players and the coaches all welcome,” said Strohbeen, who is still hoping for the blowouts that dominated Bandit play the last two years but is less likely in the 2013 season. “As a team, you want to be challenged each week. That’s going to require us to work a little bit harder.”
Next season opens with the Bandits on the road against Bloomington on March 15 before they return to the Tyson Events Center the next week to face Kansas City. Four of the teams’ first five games are on the road, but they do close with four of their final five games in Sioux City, with game time at 7:05 p.m.
Strohbeen explained that the old league was run by Ralph Adams, who also owned the Kansas Koyotes, which was a bit of a conflict of interest.
“So Bob Scott and some of the other owners got together and formed a new league, which has a commissioner (James Bain) and an executive committee,” Strohbeen said. “So we think it will be more professionally run.”
Bain also has considerable indoor football experience, most recently as the Wichita Wild’s assistant general manager. Prior to that, he served as director of media and public relations for the Sioux Falls Storm.
With the Bandits’ schedule set, there will no more new teams added to the league this year, Strohbeen said. “For this year, all our teams are set. We’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll,” he said.
The Bandits are bringing back many of the same players from the championship teams of the past two years, which is promising news, he noted. An open tryout was also held in December and a second planned for January.
“We’re constantly recruiting and trying to add to the guys we have and upgrade some positions and just find the best guys we can put out there on Saturday,” he said.
Among the top returners is quarterback Scott Jensen.
“He’s been with us for at least four years now. He was MVP of our league the last few years in the APFL. So that’s a big plus for us,” Strohbeen said.
“And Spetler Tonga is going to be back. He’s our returning middle linebacker and he’s been around since 2004. He’s probably the best defensive guy in the league,” he said. “So we like to think we’ve got a good solid nucleus with the best offensive guy in the league and the best defensive guy in the league.”
But two guys can’t do it all on their own, hence the need for more recruits and tryouts. And they’ve lost a few key players, leaving some voids in the receiver corps and the on the lines.
“We’re always looking for offensive and defensive linemen. Those seem to be the hardest to find. We’re always looking to provide competition for these guys and make sure we have the best players,” Strohbeen said.
The Bandits will be playing in their biggest venue yet when they take on the Kansas City team in the Kuemper Arena. But the Tyson Event Center matches up more than favorably with the arenas in Wichita, Kan., Bloomington, Ind., and the other league cities, the coach said.
As for the Bandit fans, they’re “the best in indoor football,” he said. ”I mean there’s not a whole lot of teams that we go and play in front of that average 4,000 to 5,000 fans a game. So they support us wholeheartedly and we appreciate that.
“I think we’re going into this league not knowing what our competition’s going to be, but obviously knowing that it’s going to be better than it’s been. Our goal is still to win a third championship, but taking it one week at a time.”
The Bandits organization has seen six different leagues, starting in 2000 as the Sioux City Attack in the National Indoor Football League. The team's most successful graduate, Fred Jackson out of Coe College, played for the Bandits before being signed by the NFL's Buffalo Bills in 2006.