VooDoo looking ahead to '07

Sunday, January 22, 2006
Jim Derry

Let's set the record straight.

The VooDoo has not moved to Kansas City, as was speculated on a local talk show a few weeks ago.

The team did allocate its 13 players to the Brigade after owner Tom Benson announced New Orleans was suspending operations for the 2006 season, but all 13 will be allowed to return to the VooDoo in 2007, if they so choose. That includes the three players who are under two-year contracts -- quarterback Andy Kelly and linemen B.J. Cohen and Mike Landry.

So what does the future look like for their possible return? Much better than it did about two months ago. General Manager Mickey Loomis said last month that the organization "thinks about the VooDoo every day," and Coach Mike Neu and assistant Junior Ili remain on staff.

Although it's hard to believe Loomis and the organization think about their Arena Football League team every day, it does appear the VooDoo will return. And well it should.

New Orleans was third in the AFL in attendance in both of its seasons, and the market was tops in television ratings for national Sunday games, even when the VooDoo wasn't playing. This is a market the league does not want to lose, and league officials have gone out of their way to make sure Benson is enticed to field a team next year.

Commissioner David Baker and the league's board of directors have promised an ArenaBowl to the city upon the VooDoo's return. Although the financial impact on the city is a fraction of Super Bowl revenues, it still could mean a nice boost for New Orleans in its time of recovery.

Meanwhile, as the league prepares to open its 20th season Friday in Austin, Texas, when the Wranglers meet the Las Vegas Gladiators, Neu already is preparing for the VooDoo's 2007 return. He has stayed in touch with his players, hoping they will return, and he plans to attend a game every week this season.

In a testament to how different the AFL is from the NFL, Georgia Force coach Doug Plank allowed Neu to visit practice for two days and attend team meetings last week. Neu also visited Philadelphia this week and spent time with the Soul.

Even if the Saints had not played this season, it would be hard to imagine the Atlanta Falcons offering to allow the staff from a division rival to observe practice and attend team meetings.

"How about that?" Neu said. "Well, I would do the same for him if the tables were turned. I mean (Plank) is someone that I admire and respect after last year (the Force lost on a last-second field goal in ArenaBowl XIX), and they've got a great setup in Georgia. . . . I'm excited, and I'm holding out hope. I'm working hard, starting in training camp, and when the season opens next weekend I'll be watching film every week, keeping an eye on guys who are not under contract."

He'll have to do that, because in a sense, the VooDoo will have to start over when it comes back, and this time it will be without the expansion tag. For Neu, it will be much like when he was first hired and spent 2003 off the sideline evaluating talent and scouting players, as he tried to sell the Crescent City on the AFL before the VooDoo began play the following season.

It will be just as tough this time. Assuming he gets half of his players back, Neu still would have to sign 15 to 20 free agents. It won't be easy, but he was successful the last time, going 11-5 in the VooDoo's initial season. And chances are, he'll be able to do it one more time.

It's something he never thought he would have to worry about. But still, he relishes the chance to coach again in New Orleans.

"I thought that would be my one year away from football," Neu said. "I'm having withdrawals right now, and I'm chomping at the bit. Being in Georgia and in Philly, you get excited and your blood starts pumping. It will be weird sitting up in the stands watching the game in Austin next weekend with my son from a spectator's point of view again."

ROAD TO ARENABOWL XX BEGINS: After the Austin-Las Vegas game Friday, there will be three contests Saturday, including the first game for the expansion Utah Blaze. There will be five games regionally televised next Sunday on NBC, including when Kelly, Cohen and Kansas City play the first game in franchise history, traveling to Dallas to face the Desperados.