Jon Gruden will be instructor at camp

Former Bucs coach Jon Gruden won’t just appear at Storm coach Tim Marcum’s football camp this weekend.

He’ll be coaching at it.

Not long after agreeing to be the camp’s guest speaker this Sunday, Gruden, recently named as a Monday Night Football host, told Marcum that since he’d already be there he wanted to provide instruction to the campers.

“We’re excited for the young athletes to have the opportunity to receive instruction from a Super Bowl champion coach,” Marcum said.

The non-contact camps will focus on skills, fundamentals and techniques inside the St. Pete Times Forum. Athletes will receive training from high school, college and professional coaches, along with current professional athletes. The list of those expected to coach include Robert Weiner, a two-time state championship coach at Plant, Orlando Predators coach Jay Gruden, Storm quarterback Brett Dietz and AFL legend Lawrence Samuels.

For more information, email staff@timmarcumfootballcamps.com or go online to www.timmarcumfootballcamps.com.

Jon Gruden to appear at Marcum football camps

There is one surefire way to enhance the status of a football camp.

Produce a big-name speaker.

In that regard, Tim Marcum has succeeded.

The Storm coach, who is trying to stay busy with the future of the Arena Football League in limbo, will host a series of camps in June. At one of the sessions, former Bucs coach Jon Gruden, who recently was named as a host of Monday Night Football, is expected to take part.

“That’s a big deal,” Marcum said.

The non-contact camps will focus on skills, fundamentals and techniques inside the St. Pete Times Forum.

“It should be fun,” Marcum said. “I’m looking forward to it. Where else can you get instruction inside with air-conditioning?”

Athletes will receive training from high school, college and professional coaches, along with current professional athletes. The list of those expected to coach people up includes Robert Weiner, a two-time state championship coach at Plant, Orlando Predators coach Jay Gruden, Storm quarterback Brett Dietz and AFL legend Lawrence Samuels.

Gruden, who led the Bucs to a Super Bowl title but was fired in January, will be the camp’s guest speaker June 7, Marcum said. He will give insight on how to become a successful athlete.

Here’s a camp breakdown:

• Camp I: June 6-7 -- 25 QBs, 25 WRs and 25 DBs (ages 15-18)
• Camp II: June 8-9 -- 25 QBs, 25 WRs and 25 DBs (ages 10-14)
• Camp III: June 10 -- All positions except QB, WR, DB and K (all ages)

Prices to attend vary. Parents and guests are welcome to attend all practices, film sessions, etc.

“I don’t care if you’re 40,” Marcum said. “If you pay, I’ll coach you up the best I can.”

For more information, email staff@timmarcumfootballcamps.com or go online to www.timmarcumfootballcamps.com.

Barnstormers coach joins ranks of injured reserve

Coaches can stand on the field during indoor football games.

Usually, that's not a problem.

But it was recently for John Gregory, coach of the af2 Iowa Barnstormers, who sustained a broken leg and torn knee ligament when he was crushed against the sideline boards by three Tulsa defenders. According to the Des Moines Register, Gregory faces probable knee surgery once the broken leg heals.

OUCH!!!

You can find the full story HERE.

Ex-Storm player again sentenced to 15 years in prison

 

TAMPA - Former NFL and Tampa Bay Storm linebacker Darion Conner was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for driving drunk and killing a bicyclist in September 2004.

It's the same sentence Conner received four years ago, before an appeals court overturned it and ordered a retrial for a mistake made during the original trial.

Conner, 41, has already served about four years behind bars. He will get credit toward his overall sentence for that time.

You can read the rest of Colleen Jenkins' story HERE.

O’Hara lands new gig

Last week, former Storm assistant Pat O’Hara got bad news. The L.A. Avengers, the team that hired him as head coach last year, was shutting down for good.

This week, there is good news for O’Hara.

He has been named the new coach of the Tri-Cities Fever of af2. He replaces Richard Davis, who was fired Saturday. Tri-Cities is 0-5 and off to its worst start in franchise history.

The team is based in Kennewick, Washington.

Avengers fold; ex-Storm coach in limbo

When ex-Storm assistant coach Pat O’Hara was named head coach of the Los Angeles Avengers last July, it was a dream come true.

The former USC quarterback and SoCal native was heading home.

Since then, things haven't exactly worked out.

First, the AFL suspended operations. And now this: The team is folding.

Here's what ESPN.com is reporting ...

Football fans in Los Angeles have only the college game to pin their rooting interest on after the Arena Football League's Avengers folded Sunday.

Four months after the league cancelled its 2009 season for a lack of funding, the 9-year-old Avengers joined the New Orleans VooDoo, which ended operations in October, leaving the league with 15 teams.

"It's disappointing, because I don't think it was necessary to get to this point," team owner Casey Wasserman said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Wasserman notified acting commissioner Jim Renacci on Saturday in an e-mail, the newspaper reported. Renacci owns the Columbus Destroyers.

On Monday morning, the team's Web site had been dismantled and featured only an Avengers logo and a statement.

"The LA Avengers has terminated its participation in the Arena Football League," the site said. "The entire Avengers organization extends heartfelt thanks to the fans who cheered on their team, it was their faithful support that kept the Avengers vibrant and energized for nearly a decade.

Peter "Woody'' Kern has surgery for aortic aneurysm

Longtime Tampa Bay Storm owner and current minority owner Peter "Woody" Kern, recently had surgery for an aortic aneurysm and is currently in critical condition at Memorial Herman Heart & Vascular Institute at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, according to a news release issued by the team.
 
“Woody is a great friend of mine and we are deeply concerned for his health and well-being,” said head coach and general manager Tim Marcum.  “We are keeping Woody in our thoughts and prayers.”
 
During a normal check-up, doctors diagnosed Kern with an aortic aneurysm and brought him for surgery Wednesday, March 25 at Memorial Herman Heart & Vascular Institute at the Texas Medical Center located in Houston.  The surgery lasted five hours as the doctors worked to fix the aneurysm and a second one discovered during the surgery.  He is currently in the intensive care unit in critical condition.
 
For those that know Woody, Marcum has asked for them to keep Kern in their prayers.
 
A native of Pilot Point, Texas, Kern purchased the Storm in September of 1994.  Under his watch the team won three championships and recorded an overall record of 138-85.  He is President and CEO of PCK management located in Denton, Texaas.  Kern married his wife, Sherri, in 1996 and has eight children; Jennifer, Cari, Ryan, Lindsay Jo, Blair, Bo and Kristen.

Storm great Sylvester Bembery earns induction into UCF Hall of Fame

The University of Central Florida has announced that former Tampa Bay Storm great Sylvester Bembery will be inducted into the UCF Athletics Hall of Fame.

“In my opinion Sylvester is the best overall lineman to play in the AFL," Storm coach/GM Tim Marcum said. "I have coached Sylvester and against him, and I can tell you I liked him much more when he was in our jersey.”

Here's some info from a UCF press release about Bembery:

Sylvester Bembery - Football - 1984-87:

Sylvester Bembery was a four-year standout for the Knights from 1984-87, playing under three head coaches Lou Saban and Red Anderson in 1984, then the first three years of the Gene McDowell era.  From 1985-87, the team would improve on its win total from the season prior, culminating with a 9-4 mark in 1987.  That year, the Fighting Knights advanced to the Division II Playoffs, knocking off Indiana (Pa.) in the first round, and then falling to perennial power and eventual National Champion Troy the following week.

Several early footnotes occurred during Bembery's tenure, including UCF's first game against an NCAA Division I opponent, at Louisville, in 1985 and the first big attendance game when 23,760 came to watch then 4-1 UCF take on Wofford for Homecoming at the Citrus Bowl in 1986.  That 1986 season's 6-5 mark was the first winning season for UCF since the inaugural 1979 campaign.  Bembery's 1987 squad was simply impressive, holding opponents to just 67 points all season, just over five points allowed per game.

He was subsequently named the team's Lineman of the Year.  Despite being an unstoppable force along the UCF defensive line, Bembery did not go onto to play in the NFL, rather to the fledgling Arena Football League.  Bembery quickly became a superstar in the new AFL, earning all-league six times.  His 11 seasons, from 1988-2001, led to such accolades as:  #7 among the 20 Greatest AFL Players in 2006; 2001 Second Team 15th Anniversary Team; 1999 All-ArenaBowl Team; 1996 Second Team All-Arena; 10th Anniversary Team; 1995 Second Team All-Arena; 1993 All Star Game; 1992 First Team All-Arena; 1991 First Team All-Arena; 1990 First Team All-Arena; 1988 Second Team All-Arena.

Bembery first played in with the New England Steamrollers in 1988 then went to the Albany Firebirds for four seasons, 1990-93.  Bembery would reclaim his local legend status spending six seasons with the Tampa Bay Storm, 1994-99.  The Storm would go onto win two ArenaBowl Championships during his tenure in 1995 and 1996.  He would play the 2000 season with the Buffalo Destroyers, before returning to the Storm in 2001.  His jersey was retired by the Storm in 2002.

AFL, union nearing agreement for changes in CBA?

An interesting item came recently from the Sports Business Journal. The headline tells the story. It reads simply, AFL, union nearing agreement for changes in CBA, Policy says

In the article, it says the AFL and and the AFL Players Association "may have an agreement in principle to make changes to their collective-bargaining agreement in the next few weeks, AFL acting Commissioner Ed Policy said last week."

Apparently, the agreement being negotiated isn't really a new CBA -- but a revised one.

The report says it takes into account the economic conditions that caused AFL owners to suspend operations for the 2009 AFL season last December.

“I think we are weeks away from some sort of agreement in principle to revise the current CBA,” Policy said in the story. He went on to add that the two sides are working on a plan “that would allow the league not only to survive but to thrive.”

We'll see.

Arenafan.com: Players Association Rejects Suspension

According to a report online at Arenafan.com, the AFL Players Association last night rejected the board of directors' move to suspend the 2009 season by voting against it.

Arenafan.com says a "team representative for the AFLPA told ArenaFan that the Executive Board for the AFLPA has not requested a revote of the owners. The source went on to state that the players are under belief that the vote for the Orlando Predators was not made by the majority owner, and that a minority owner gave their vote to a different team. The vote for suspending the season passed the Board of Directors by just one vote."

The report states the AFLPA will meet again today.

In an official AFL release Monday, the league wrote that the "Board of Directors will suspend the 2009 season subject to agreement and cooperation with the Arena Football League Players Association while the league works on developing a long-term plan to improve its economic model."

If there's no agreement or cooperation with the AFLPA, what will happen next? That's what everyone is trying to figure out right now.