Home » Sports » Arena Football » ArenaBowl 13

ArenaBowl 13

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

August 21, 1999 Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York:

ArenaBowl 13 was played before a sell out crowd and a national audience on ABC. It was the second time in a row that the championship of Arena Football was broadcast on a major network. It was also the second time in a row that the Orlando Predators were the visiting underdogs. The Albany Firebirds, with their explosive combination of QB Mike Pawlawski and OS (Offensive Specialist) Eddie Brown won the right to host the leagues big game by virtue of being the highest remaining seed left at #3. So how did the #3 team become the highest remaining seed? Because the #8 seeded Orlando Predators defeated the #1 team in the first round and then went on to defeat the #2 seed in the second.

The Firebird's explosive, high-scoring offense against the Predator's stingy defense. Conventional wisdom says that while offense wins games, defense wins championships. But Arena Football isn't conventional football and conventional wisdom doesn't always hold sway there. The indoor game is geared in favor of offense to result in lots of action and scoring. This years Arena Championship game was all of that.

In all there was 15 touchdowns scored, 646 yards of passing, 45 1st downs, and 4 interceptions. All that on a field that's a little more than one quarter of an NFL field. In the end the Predator's hopes to repeat as Champions died with an on-sides kick attempt with 25 seconds left in which Albany's Eddie Brown, who was making big plays all night, recovered the ball.

Last year, it was the Orlando Predators winning the title for the first time, this year is the first ring for the Albany Firebirds. The oldest franchise still playing, this is their first time even being in the title game.

Congratulations to the World Champion Albany Firebirds!

For a statistical look back at past ArenaBowls go to: http://www.arenafootball.com/arenabowl.c...

The copyright of the article ArenaBowl 13 in Arena Football is owned by John L. Hoh, Jr.. Permission to republish ArenaBowl 13 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.