Hold’s displeasure leads to kick

John Bassetti \ Thunder Insider

It doesn’t seem fair. Youngstown State is having spring practice starting at 7 a.m., while Mahoning Valley Thunder players don’t hit the field until 10 a.m. on practice days.

Plus, Thunder players are getting paid.

But would the Thunder trade its 1-1 record with the Penguins who are 0-0?

Probably not because teams can’t run from defeat, as Mahoning Valley found out following its 20-point loss to Milwaukee last Saturday.

Coach Mike Hold wasn’t pleased with his offensive unit during practice on Tuesday at the Chevy Centre when some X or 0 gone awry sent the usually mild-mannered Hold looking for something to kick.

He found the wall.

It happens to the best of us when the students don’t correctly grasp teacher’s instructions.

Lucky for Hold that he kicked the af2’s padded wall.

His belief that execution is utmost cannot be overstated as the Thunder looks to shake off a four-turnover game against the Iron, a 59-39 winner.

Mahoning Valley has its hands full this weekend against a Tulsa Talons team that won the 2007 ArenaCup.

Tulsa has the league’s No. 2 pass offense with 306.0 yards per game and the fourth-best total offense with 315.5 ypg.

Mahoning Valley’s rushing offense is also No. 2 ranked at 49.5 yards per game.

Tulsa is scoring 59.5 points per game, while the Thunder’s per game point output is substantially lower at 41.5.

Two of the three players named for af2 awards for Week 2 should be of interest to Thunder fans.

Tulsa wide receiver/defensive back Jeff Hughley and Milwaukee defensive back Lavar Stepter were named the JLS Ironman and Aaron’s Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.

Although Tulsa lost to unbeaten Iowa, 73-68, Hughley had 12 catches for 168 yards and five touchdowns. Stepter, meanwhile, had two interceptions against Mahoning Valley, including one returned for a touchdown.

Former Thunder player Kellen Driscoll was a factor in Milwaukee’s win.

The linebacker recovered QB Davon Vinson’s first fumble late in the first quarter, but then the 6-foot-5, 270-pound Driscoll was injured.

“I was running across the field when someone cut into my legs and took out my ankle,” Driscoll said. I rolled it or broke it.”

Driscoll came back for another couple series, then left again.

“It tightened up too much and they pulled me out,” Driscoll said. “We had a good lead, so they thought they’d rest me for the next game.”

Of the Iron’s win, Driscoll said: “We played as a team. Obviously, we didn’t beat ourselves tonight. The last game [loss to Iowa] we beat ourselves. We got turnovers tonight and that was the difference.

“I have a lot of respect for Mahoning Valley and Coach Hold is a great guy. But I moved on and I’m real happy for [owner/managing partner] Drew [Vallozzi] and all the Milwaukee people because we got the first win for them.”

Talons coach Mitch Allner is the first head coach in af2 history to have played and coached for an ArenaCup championship.

The 31-year-old Allner was a top-ranked player in his five years in the league with the Quad City Steamwheelers, Iowa Barnstormers and Tulsa, a team he eventually coached when the Talons won the af2’s 2007 crown.

The Thunder’s 18-hour bus trip to Oklahoma is just the beginning.

The team’s road games are reached by bus, including two 12-hour trips to Manchester, N.H. The team’s shortest trip is 51‚Ñ2 hours to Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Thunder media relations man Anthony Farris said that most trips average slightly more than 8 hours.

Farris also noted that last Saturday’s game marked the first time the Thunder had a visiting team bring a live television crew.

“It’s very rare because all games are broadcast live on the Nifty TV network through the internet,” Farris said. “But Milwaukee plans to broadcast all of its games this season both home and away.”

The Thunder has never had a live hometown broadcast, Farris said.

“In 2007, all of our home games were tape delayed, as they are this season. We have had ‘live shots’ during local newscasts, but not actual entire games.”

The Milwaukee station that covers all of the Iron’s games live is Time Warner Cable Sports32 — also called TWC Sports32.

XJohn Bassetti covers the Mahoning Valley Thunder for The Vindicator. E-mail him at bassetti@vindy.com