The HSBC Arena is located on the banks of the Erie on a city block much like the Pepsi Arena in Albany (expect the Pepsi isn’t on the Erie, duh). There were the beginnings of a block party being set up on in front of the HSBC, but it never really materialized. We donned the traditional Ike’s Army Helmet Heads, Gladiator garb and really noisy things then began to mingle. The fans here were great and stunned that New Jersey had any followers that would trek to the cold terrain of Buffalo to see a team that was 2-12 last year. But here we were and it was twenty-minutes to kick-off. We took the Arena singing The Who's "Imminent Front" as loudly as we could.

After a lengthy restroom break (uhhh… the wings had run their gastrointestinal course), an usher named Paul showed us our corner end-zone seats. The arena was about one-third full which would impress any Gladiator fan (see: New Jersey attendance). Wilky Bazille, Otis Moore and Coach Haege acknowledged our presence in the stands (or at least took note of the indecipherable, unhuman yelps coming from Motel Larry). And it was kickoff time.

You’ve probably read the reports how Jay McDonagh started over Glenn Foley and his one INT cost the team the game, right? Well Ol’ Scoop is here to tell you I saw the game (unlike those reporters how sat home and read the stats for their reports) and those accounts are not accurate. The turning point of the game was the kickoff. Ray Bentley’s Destroyers came out fired up while the Glads looked like a guy that’s all tuxedoed up for the high school prom, but still has to meet his dates’ father when picking her up at home. (I'll give you a second or two to visualize that one).

The Destroyers took the opening kickoff inside the New Jersey 15-yard line and scored easily on a 3-yard TD run by Lamont Cooper. Don't blink, the score was 7-0. Now it was time for the special teams of New Jersey to show how they can set their team up, but they couldn’t get a return past their own 10-yard line. After a blistering assault by the Buffalo front three on Jay McD, New Jersey kicked the ball away after gaining only four yards. Buffalo returned the ball almost all the way back to the original line of scrimmage. A few seconds later it was a 3-yard toss from Fred “Don’t Call Me Steve” McNair to Carlos James… score 14-0. On their next ‘drive’, New Jersey managed a first down and a 27-yard field goal, but had to kickoff. The result? Another return inside New Jersey territory. This time it took Fred “My Brother Is Steve” McNair just one flick of the wrist to toss a 16-yarder to Kevin Mason in the back of the end zone. Score 21-3, end of the 1st quarter.

So please, my friends, don’t pin this loss on one Jay McDonagh INT. He was not on the not-so-special teams that let Buffalo set up shop for three quick ‘n easy scores. And despite his quick footwork and release, Mickey D didn’t ask for the Destroyers defense to hold a team meeting on his body every time he touched the ball. But McDonagh held tough and rally the team back with four TD strikes to James Bowden, George Williams, twice to Mike Horacek. He could have had a fifth but Alvin Ashley dropped a wide open pass in the end zone that Motel Larry could have caught. Here’s something else that the box score doesn’t tell a reporter. Mike Horacek is awesome. I still can’t decide which of his second quarter TDs were the most impressive. On his first TD as a Gladiator, Horacek caught an 11-yard bullet at the back of the end-zone with his fingernails BY THE BACK OF THE BALL! On his second score, the 6’2” Nebraska born WR made a split-second, mid-air adjustment and tracked a deflected pass into his hands. Truly amazing. Those catches were worth another round of beers, thanks Mike.

Kudos also have to go to the New Jersey defense. Although they never got a turnover, they held Buffalo to one touchdown in the second quarter and one TD in the third. New Jersey’s big break came late in the third quarter when Destroyer kicker Steve McLaughlin, who had been dead-on with his kicks, allowed Ike’s Army to get into his head. With our cries of “WIDE RIGHT” and “NORWOOD” ringing in his helmet, McLaughlin pinged one of the right post and New Jersey had a chance to take the lead. Please note that it take a certain combination of guts, liquor and stupidity to have the huevos to chant “Norwood” in the City of Buffalo.

With 9:38 left in the third quarter, the Gladiators did capitalize on a 1-yard smash-mouth TD dive by McDonagh to go up 38-34 for the first time in the game. Then came the see-saw scoring session as Buffalo and New Jersey traded TDs. McNair hit Cooper to pass Mike “I’ll Sue You” Pawlawski on the AFL career passing yards list. Horacek hauled in his third TD from Mickey D to put the Glads back up 45-41. McNair came right back with a 28-yard strike to Carlos James, but McLaughlin let Ike and the boys rattle him again as he botched the PAT. New Jersey had the chance they needed only trailing by two points. Then came the pass...

How much of this can be pinned on McDonagh? Yeah he threw the pick, but if you look closely at the play (and we did), there was a blown assignment as the lineman who flared out on the screen play (we didn’t catch his number), missed the block on Eddie Brown who stepped in front of NJ’s George Williams and raced 23-yards to the Glads 5-yard line where McDonagh made the tackle. The next play was a non-factor, but Ike’s Army thought it was a blunder that Buffalo coach Ray Bentley got away with. Up by eight points after the TD, Bentley had the chance to kick the PAT and take a nine-point lead making it a two-possession game. However, Bentley opted for the two pointer which McNair missed. This gave New Jersey one last chance and McDonagh almost cashed in. Coach Haege managed the clock well using his time-outs to give his team time for one more drive. Mickey D hit a relatively quiet Alvin Ashley for his first TD catch of the game to bring the Glads back within two points. On the conversion, the right side of the line collapsed and McDonagh rolled left. He saw Mike Horacek who was streaking from the right side to the left along the back of the end zone. Any QB will tell you that it’s tough to throw against your body on the run, but McDonagh tried and the ball sailed about four-inches over Horacek’s finger tips. No miraculous grab, no two points and no win in Buffalo. The Destroyers took possession, kneeled on the ball, ran out the clock and held on to win 53-51.

Yeah, New Jersey had a chance to steal one from a divisional foe in emeny territory. They came up short, but don’t pin it on McDonagh. The guy was 30-47 (with his WRs dropping at least three catchable balls) and threw for 300 yards (compared to game MVP McNair’s 191 yards). He came up from the AF2, didn’t know if he’d start over former Jet Glenn “Just Get Me To The NFL” Foley and tossed five TDs and pounded in another with his legs after the special teams dug the Glads an 18-point hole. From Scoop’s end-zone seats, McDonagh looked like the real deal, Haege coached a great game and Mike Horacek made my eyes pop out. On the flip side, the special teams were pretty bad. Kicker Steve Videtich hit all of his extra points and only missed one long FG but the tackling on the kickoffs were shabby at best and poor special teams play put New Jersey behind from the get-go. The offensive line was shaky at first, but rallied nicely. Alvin needs to show more. Four returns for 81 yards is not bad, but it doesn’t look too impressive when Lamont Cooper returns six for 147 yards. Ashley was almost a non-factor on defense and his dropped TD was very… well un-Alvin like.