posted March 7, 2008 at 18:48 EST in Other Articles

Utah Blaze vs. Cleveland Gladiators

The AFL kicked off in fine fashion last week in Cleveland when the franchise won its first game of the season over the NY Dragons in a game that saw 17,000+ pack the Quicken Loans Center to get a glimpse of Cleveland icon Bernie Kosar’s new team. The Gladiators franchise came over from Las Vegas where they turned into one of the worst franchises in the league the last couple seasons. Kosar wanted experienced vets to lead his team in its first year of existence in Cleveland, and that’s exactly what he got. He couldn’t have made a better choice at the QB position when he decided to bring in Raymond Philyaw who had a monster season in KC last year to help lead the Brigade to the post-season in just the franchises second year of existence. He also stacked the D-Line with AFL vets Silas Demary and Joe Minucci who made names for themselves while playing for Los Angeles and Nashville.

The Gladiators proved to be more of a smashmouth team last week when they gained 308 yards overall, but gained 68 of them on the ground. FB/LB Marlion Jackson set the pace on the ground, while QB Philyaw kept the Dragons defense honest by completing 18-of-23 passes for 248 yards and 5 TDs with 1 INT. They won the turnover battle 3:2 and outscored NY 21-14 to pull away for the 61-49 home win and cover.

Head coach Danny White’s Utah Blaze were one of the more entertaining teams to watch in the league last season. Their offense was simply sensational led by QB Joe Germaine who passed for a league record 5,005 yards last season. He picked right back where he left off last week against Arizona when he completed 19-of-31 passes for 236 yards and 5 TDs with 1 INT. The Blaze lost however by a 63-62 final count when K Steve Videtich’s last second FG attempt sailed wide left.

Oddsmakers installed the Gladiators as short 1-point home favorites, but the betting public has bought into Kosar’s team and the line now sits at (-3.5) with the ‘total’ set at 109. BetUS.com members can get down on both the side and ‘total’ at these exact numbers right now!!! Utah failed to cover the spread in both of their meetings with the Gladiators last season. They won by a 57-47 final tally in “Sin City” as 10.5-point road chalks, and shockingly lost SU to the Glads at home in the rematch as 17-point favorites. The Under has cashed in 4 of Utah’s L/5 road games, and it’s also cashed in 6 of the Gladiators L/9 home games. Look for Cleveland to look to the control the clock with its ground attack while keeping the potent Blaze offense on the sideline in the process. The ‘Under’ looks to be an awfully tasty proposition.

Philadelphia Soul vs. Chicago Rush

The season couldn’t have kicked off any better for both the Soul and the Rush last week. Philly trounced the Orlando Predators for the 3rd straight time to improve their series mark against the Southern Division members to 4-2 SU and ATS, while the Rush avenged last years American Conference Finals loss to San Jose to improve their series mark against San Jose to 5-5 SU & 6-4 ATS.

A healthy Tony Graziani brought a smile to Jon Bon Jovi and the rest of the “Soul Nation” Saturday night since many believed the shoulder injury he suffered early on in ’07 prevented the franchise from winning its first ever ArenaBowl Title. “Graz” didn’t throw many passes (only 22 in all), but he passed for 257 yards and a whopping 9 TDs to earn himself offensive player of the week honors. The Soul easily covered the 6-point spread in their 77-56 defeat of the Predators.

The Rush took the field with its new look offense Monday night, and wasted no time in letting it be known a changing of the guard in Chicago has arrived. Newly acquired QB Sherdrick Bonner’s first play from scrimmage went for a 29-yard TD pass to former offensive player of the year Damian Harrell who took the roster spot of the departed Bobbi Sippio. Chicago’s defense also got in on the action as well when Ironman DeJuan Alfonzo returned two fumbles to the house for scores. Chicago held a 1-point lead at the half (28-27), but outscored the Sabercats 42-20 the rest of the way to secure the decisive home win and cover.

Oddsmakers opened the Rush up as 3-point home favorites, but an influx of Philly money now has the Soul sitting as 1-point road chalks at the time of this writing. The ‘total’ opened up at 108 points, but now sits at 107. You can get down at these lines at BetUS.com right now!!! Both these teams have alternated wins and losses throughout their four game history. Each club is 2-2 SU and ATS against one another. Chicago got the best of the Soul last year in the All State Arena when they upended them by a 54-43 final count, but failed to cover as 14-point chalks. Three of their L/4 meetings also went Over the posted ‘total’ including last year’s match-up that crawled Over the 95-point plateau. The Soul are 4-1 SU their L/5 overall, but they’re also 1-5 SU their L/6 road games and sport a 1-6 ATS mark their L/7 as a visitor. On the other hand, Chicago is 5-1 SU & ATS its L/6 games, and 12-1 SU its L/13 at home overall.

This same scenario presented itself last week when Chicago opened up as favorites and closed as underdogs. They went on to smash San Jose. Will the same outcome occur here this afternoon, or will Philly finally get the job done in the “Windy City”. Tune your HDTV sets to ESPN2 at 1:00 ET and find out!

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