Revenge in Sweet Home Chicago
By Paul Celmer
April 5, 2007
They say that this season Bobby Sippio is playing like a man with a chip on
his shoulder. Well, from what I have seen, that chip is more like a 500 pound
Oak stump. Sippio has been a gold mine of fantasy points. Could fantasy owners
have predicted his superb numbers this year? The short answer is: Yes.
Bobby Sippio's amazing start to the 2007 season (45 catches for 641 yards and
21 TDs in only 5 games) should be no surprise to the astute fantasy owners who
drafted him Number 1 this year. For one reason, Sippio was already tearing
up the league at the end of last season after his trade from the Tampa Bay Storm
to the Chicago Rush, and he was one of the reasons the Rush were able to make a
late season push for the Arena Bowl championship. But that it is not the whole
story.
Sippio is 6'3" and 215 pounds, and at 27 years old is in the prime of his
career. From 2003 through 2006, however, Sippio averaged only between 1 and 2
touchdowns a game. But this year he is averaging over 4 touchdowns a game. His
physical attributes alone do not explain the doubling in his production this
year. There is another factor: Revenge.
During the first half of the 2006 season, Sippio was playing for the Tampa
Bay Storm. Rightly or wrongly, he had already earned a reputation as being a
tempermental and difficult player to have on one's team - the AFL version of Terrell Owens.
But we can see beneath the hype if we look at some key stats. At Tampa Bay, he
was nothing special; Sippio was averaging 12 yards per catch. But then Tampa Bay
decided to trade him away. And that was the spark that ignited Sippio. After the
trade, Sippio averaged over 17 yards per catch. This jump in production is
evidence not of new skills, but of willpower. Sippio simply fought harder for
each yard with his new team. And the change in attitude paid off for Fantasy
owners. This year, Sippio continues to prove that he should not have been traded. And last week, he exploded again, setting franchise record numbers for a Rush receiver. Sippio had an astounding 14 catches for 224 yards and 5 TDs. The revenge factor is the key to these numbers.
So, what is the moral to the Bobby Sippio story for fantasy owners? Besides
speed and skill, fantasy owners need to evaluate the personalities. Does the
player have the motivation required for elite production? Are they in a contract
year? Are they playing against a team that just traded them? (Like Matt Nagy did in his upset win against the previously undefeated
Georgia Force). What is the player relationship with the coaches and other
players? These are the intangibles that will give you the edge you need to win
your league.
Paul Celmer, aka The Philosopher of Arena Football, is a member of the Arena Football League Writers Association and a founding member of Arena Football Online. Contact Paul at pcelmer@arenafootballonline.com
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