When i first moved into my apartment, Jerry was allowing me to use his internet. Now, I never had the privilege of meeting Jerry; however, I'm sure he is a great man. About a week ago, I couldn't get on the internet because I could not find his connection. Unfortunately, I think Jerry moved. So, instead of buying internet, I have been using McDonald's free WiFi, which is where I'm at now.

Last weekend was our first game. We played at San Jose, and because I don't travel with the team, I got a few days off. Friday and Saturday were my first consecutive days off in approximately a month. Some interesting things had been happening up til the first game in Arena Football. The players were threatening to strike, and I was not allowed to talk about it. Since it has been in the news and is now over with, I feel comfortable talking about the news made public. Friday night, the Pittsburgh Power were playing in Florida against the Orlando Predators for the first game of the year. The rumor that was going around was that the players would strike right after the National Anthem. Since the owners did not want this, they decided to walk into each respective team meal and read a letter stating every player had been released from the team. Some of the players still wanted to play and didn't really care for the tactics of the players union, so they decided to re-sign with their team and play. Five players for one team and nine players for the other were all that chose to take that route. You are probably thinking that five isn't enough to play football. Well, you are correct. Since the teams weren't sure what would happen, they had been trying out "replacement players". Well, those "replacement players" played with the real players so the game could be played. The union realized that their tactics didn't work out too well, so they lifted the strike the next morning, on Saturday. Thankfully, our game was on Saturday night, and all of our players that were supposed to play- did. Unfortunately, however, the game did not go as I would have wanted. We were ranked #1 in the pre-season coaches poll, and the San Jose SaberCats were ranked #2. And if you think it would have been a great game, you thought right. We had been winning the whole night until midway through the fourth quarter when San Jose took the lead. In the final minute, we kicked a field goal to tie the game. As time was running out, San Jose missed a field goal for the win, sending the game into overtime. San Jose received the ball first and marched down the field for a touchdown and kicked the extra point. The Rattlers got a chance next. They drove down and scored a touchdown as well. Instead of kicking an extra point, we chose to go for the win with a two point conversion. San Jose played great defense on the attempt, and we failed to score, giving us the 71-70 loss. It is a sad way to start out a season; however, it just gives us motivation to finish the season 17-0.

I will definitely have more for you early next week, as I am going to Arizona State's Pro Day tomorrow and we have our first home game on Saturday. I hope you all have a great weekend.

Adam Conrad