Looking to build on Week 1 success
Albany back at MVP Thursday for game against Nashville
ALBANY — In their return, the Albany Firebirds won on the field.
Arguably more important, though, was how things started on a positive note for the Firebirds around the field.
Opening-night attendance for the Firebirds was 4,784, a figure that team president Jeff Levack said the franchise viewed as a success.
“Not upset about it, that’s for sure,” Levack said of Saturday night’s crowd at MVP Arena.
“They really came out and supported us, so we just want to say ‘Thank you,’ to the whole Capital Region,” said kicker Marc Orozco, who made the game-winning field goal in the Firebirds’ 62-59 overtime win this past Saturday against the Orlando Predators.
Before the season started, Levack said that a crowd in the range of 4,000 to 5,000 would represent a strong showing for the franchise, which relaunched the Firebirds brand that was a Capital Region fixture in the 1990s. Those original Firebirds memorably played in front of a crowd of 13,652 for the Arena Football League’s 1999 championship game against the Predators.
More recently, though, attendance for arena football in Albany has been much lower. In 2021, the Albany Empire averaged 3,161 fans for home games. That figure dropped approximately 1,000 in 2022, and similar crowds continued in 2023 before the Empire franchise folded after it was kicked out of the National Arena League midway through the season.
Firebirds head coach/general manager Damon Ware was one of the members of the Empire not to finish last year with the team amid all of the problems for the Antonio Brown-led franchise. After Saturday’s win, Ware said it had been “depressing” to be a part of 2023’s struggles, but that the start to the 2024 season had a much different feel to it.
“Obviously, sometimes, chaos brings good things,” Ware said.
Albany plays its second home game of the season this Thursday. That 8 p.m. game comes against the Nashville Kats, and the Firebirds are hopeful for another solid showing in the stands.
“We’ve said all along, we want to be the community’s team,” Ware said. “We want the (community) to feel like this is their team — and we’re going to be out there all year in the community. We’ll come out to anybody’s event, and we hope they come and support us, as well.”
Like the Firebirds, the Kats are 1-0.
Sticking with it
The Firebirds defense struggled through Saturday’s first three quarters.
Before the fourth quarter, the Predators had only run 18 offensive plays, but scored six touchdowns.
“We had people trying to do other people’s jobs,” Firebirds defensive coordinator Dwayne Hollis said. “We don’t do that. All I said was, ‘Just calm down, play your game. We’re in position to make plays.’”
Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Firebirds did just that. Orlando had to work a bit harder for its openingdrive TD in that period, and then didn’t score again. The Albany defense forced the Predators into an unsuccessful field goal attempt on their next possession, stopped Orlando’s
last-gasp attempt to win the game in regulation, then forced a Predators fumble in the suddendeath overtime.
“Ultimately, you’ve just got to hang in there. These games are
tough,” Ware said. “I tell our team all the time, ‘Both teams can go back and forth all night, and it just really comes down to just getting that one stop at a crucial time.’”
The Firebirds did that, but know they need to improve ahead of their Week 2 game.
“We’ve got a lot to fix,” Hollis said. “I love to fix it off of a win, though.”
Saturday scuffle
As of early Tuesday afternoon, Levack said the Firebirds had “no word yet from the league” regarding potential punishments from Saturday’s postgame fight involving the Firebirds and Predators.
Before the situation was quieted after a couple minutes, a few different altercations took place following the Firebirds’ season-opening win. Multiple punches were thrown, and a fan appeared to make it onto the playing surface during the episode.
Ware said after the game that he didn’t expect to be missing any players for this week’s game.