Post by Banana Cat on Dec 5, 2011 6:11:00 GMT -5
www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/briefs/beast-wants-to-be-a-bandit/article_33db732f-aabf-5dca-9e86-8f26e2babdf8.html
'Beast' wants to be a Bandit
By Earl Horlyk / siouxcityjournal.com
December 4, 2011
Photo of Levi 'Beast' Owen by Earl Horlyk: bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/siouxcityjournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/86/58645d59-1e69-56ad-ae59-fc5b2270d217/4edbf48816e60.preview-300.jpg
Levi Owen, a running back for the Morningside College Mustangs, strikes a pose Sunday during tryouts for the Sioux City Bandits professional indoor football beam. Owen, whose nickname is "Beast," was one of nearly two dozen athletes who showed up for tryouts at Long Lines Family Rec Center.
SIOUX CITY -- Hitting the scales at a solid 205 pounds, Levi Owen is known simply as "Beast."
A running back with the Morningside College Mustangs, the Scottsdale, Ariz., native hopes to also be called another name: Bandit.
Owen was one of nearly two dozen athletes who tried out Sunday at Long Lines Family Rec Center for spots on the 2012 Sioux City Bandits professional indoor football team.
Coming off a banner year as champions of the American Professional Football League, the Bandits offensive/defensive line coach, Erv Strohbeen, said open tryouts are a great way to tap new talent.
"We have a great team mostly made up of returning players," he explained. "Tryouts give us the chance to fill in the spots that will make the team even better."
Strohbeen said many of the athletes trying out already have experience playing football for Morningside, Briar Cliff University and Wayne, Neb.'s Wayne State College.
But he said indoor arena football is very different from football played outdoors.
"The pace of the game is much faster," Strohbeen said, "so the players must also be faster."
Bandits receiver Damon Mothershead described it as "playing football in a shoebox."
"I've been in their shoes before," Mothershead, who joined the team after a tryout four years ago, said of the current crop of hopefuls. "You're scared, but you're also very excited."
That's true of Owen, who wants to parlay success on the Bandits team into a future in the National Football League.
"It happened before," said Owen, recalling former Bandits Fred Jackson joining the Buffalo Bills in 2006. "And it can happen again."
By Earl Horlyk / siouxcityjournal.com
December 4, 2011
Photo of Levi 'Beast' Owen by Earl Horlyk: bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/siouxcityjournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/86/58645d59-1e69-56ad-ae59-fc5b2270d217/4edbf48816e60.preview-300.jpg
Levi Owen, a running back for the Morningside College Mustangs, strikes a pose Sunday during tryouts for the Sioux City Bandits professional indoor football beam. Owen, whose nickname is "Beast," was one of nearly two dozen athletes who showed up for tryouts at Long Lines Family Rec Center.
SIOUX CITY -- Hitting the scales at a solid 205 pounds, Levi Owen is known simply as "Beast."
A running back with the Morningside College Mustangs, the Scottsdale, Ariz., native hopes to also be called another name: Bandit.
Owen was one of nearly two dozen athletes who tried out Sunday at Long Lines Family Rec Center for spots on the 2012 Sioux City Bandits professional indoor football team.
Coming off a banner year as champions of the American Professional Football League, the Bandits offensive/defensive line coach, Erv Strohbeen, said open tryouts are a great way to tap new talent.
"We have a great team mostly made up of returning players," he explained. "Tryouts give us the chance to fill in the spots that will make the team even better."
Strohbeen said many of the athletes trying out already have experience playing football for Morningside, Briar Cliff University and Wayne, Neb.'s Wayne State College.
But he said indoor arena football is very different from football played outdoors.
"The pace of the game is much faster," Strohbeen said, "so the players must also be faster."
Bandits receiver Damon Mothershead described it as "playing football in a shoebox."
"I've been in their shoes before," Mothershead, who joined the team after a tryout four years ago, said of the current crop of hopefuls. "You're scared, but you're also very excited."
That's true of Owen, who wants to parlay success on the Bandits team into a future in the National Football League.
"It happened before," said Owen, recalling former Bandits Fred Jackson joining the Buffalo Bills in 2006. "And it can happen again."