PhotoGuy
06-07-2011, 05:39 PM
The Decatur Rage will line up this Sunday for the 8FL League Championship against the Quincy Spartans looking to win their first championship in only the team's second year in the league.
The Rage are one of the most successful expansion teams in league history, rivaling the fast starts of both the Spartans and the Sangamon Seminoles (two squads that had instant success in the 8FL).
The Rage were 7-1 this year, with the only loss coming in a close, tightly contested game against the Spartans. In the team's first year of play, the Rage only two regular season losses and a loss in the playoffs, all three of the defeats at the hands of the Sangamon Seminoles (Quincy and Decatur were in different divisions and did not play each other in 2010).
The Rage's management, under the direction of owner/coach Nick Kime, started a huge retooling project the moment the season ended, bringing in a bunch of new players to improve the squad as well as tweaks to the Rage coaching staff.
"I started out my semi-pro coaching experience coaching under a man named Stan Mars," said Rage coach Kime. "Stan and I have had our differences and have parted ways, but I did learn a few things to do, along with things not to do, that have helped me along the way. One of the things that he used to always say was to surround yourself with good people. That has been my focus throught these last few years."
"I have been coaching with Clayton Kirksey (Assistant Head Coach) and Dave Williams (O and D Line Coach) for the last 3 seasons (09 with the Midwest Crush, 2010 and 2011 with the Rage) and started coaching with Jon Roe (Offensive Coordinator) with the Springfield Foxes in an 11 man league last summer," he continued. "After coaching with Jon, I knew he was the man we needed, the one last piece to the puzzle on our staff. He came aboard and I could not ask for a better staff. These men are as passionate as they come and would give you the shirt off their back to help out. They have dedicated many hours to the team and have been a huge part of who we are today."
The Rage held numerous off season tryouts, and were able to also develop relationships with some players from the Springfield Foxes including new Rage starting quarterback and 2011 8FL All-Star Dylan Ward. "Along with surrounding myself with great men as coaches, we put the right people on the roster to make it happen. These men were chosen for not only their talent, but their character as well. There have been a few let go throughout the season because we knew that they did not have the right mentality to be a champion. They wanted to take the lone road and that is not what we are about."
"We kept our focus all season and knew we had the talent to win it all, just needed to put it all together, put the pieces of the puzzle in the right order, and keep attitudes in check. These men have learned many lessons this season not only on the field, but for day to day life like facing adversity and a team mentality. These are things that I use every day in my job and things that I want to be able to teach others. You could call this my ministry. I have kept hope and not given up when a few times I felt like it because I believed in my players, that we would come together to be the TEAM I knew we could be," Kime said.
According to Kime, "The number one key to success in this game is going to be composure. We must compose ourselves on and off the field to be a champion. By keeping our composure, the other things come; patience, momentum, turnovers, big stops when needed, big plays, things like that. I preach composure all of the time, i believe it is the #1 thing that can make or break a team at this level. Without it, you beat yourselves."
"We feel the first time we met the Spartans this season is the reason we lost," he stated. "Not taking anything away from them at all, they are a great team and I have a lot of respect for them. We just feel that because of some other things going on in that game, not inside the lines, led to our loss. There were things that led up to this that happened throughout the season and it all seemed to come out that day. I, as the head coach and owner of the team, take blame for what happened that day. I saw the writing on the wall and waited to long to take care of the issues. They have been taken care of since that day and we havent looked back once. We have grown tremendously in the last month and have learned to compose ourselves."
After having success last year against every team the Rage played last year except the Sangamon Seminoles, Kime and the Rage knew they would have to find a way to get past the Seminoles to get to and have a chance to win the championship.
"Im not going to lie, knocking off the Seminoles was a personal goal of mine and most of the players from last season going into this season. But we tried our hardest not to let it break our focus throughout the year. I know that raw emotion can be just as deadly as it can help to a team in a big game. We knew that if we focused too hard on one target, we could see the whole thing fly right by, just like we did last season. We lost focus of the bigger picture and were to centered on one team. That was not going to work this year, playing every team in the league once. There were no division rivalries, we knew every game counted. So, we did the cliche saying, took one game at a time," he said.
"I have much respect for the Seminoles and are happy for their success throughout the years. They always give their opponent a great game and we are always up to play them. But we did not put too much focus on them this season, we had a bigger picture in mind," Kime stated.
In the off season, when the Rage retooled, "We decided that focus needed improved the most," Kime said. "As I said in the previous answer, we didnt put too much focus into one opponent, we were going after them all. Last season we lost sight of our overall goal, our focus, and I knew as a head coach, i needed to keep that focus strong this season and learn from last years mistakes."
Another area that the team worked on was trust. "Trust would have to be the next thing that needed improved. Trust from players to coaches and vice versa. We were very one dimensional last season and that led to our demise."
Decatur set many league passing records with the electric combination of passing of quarterback Ryan McShea to elite receiver Steve Daniel. Even though the Rage also featured one of the league's best running back in Akeem Topps.
"I needed to make sure we had the right guys on the field that trusted the guy next to them, to be there to make the tackle if they missed, to catch the pass, to block downfield, and to trust the coaches calls. It was a struggle sometimes throughout the season, but I feel we are at the point now that we are a family, a chain that can not be broken, and play and coach for each other. We care about one another and that is a huge part at this level of football. We dont have paychecks to look forward to every week, wont see our names on the front page of the newspaper or our highlights on ESPN. We do this for the love of the game and must be unselfish and play for each other, unconditionally, with trust and focus on our goal."
The Rage players are preparing for the championship game with excitement and expectations, but Kime wants to keep the team and himself, and what the team has accomplished so far, in persepctive.
"We have had many ups and downs this season, im sure every team does. There was even a point in the season when I almost turned my back on the team and just walked away. But there is something that keeps you coming back every week. The guys who deserve it. At this point of the season, there isnt a guy on our team that doesnt deserve my best to them. I may not be the best coach there is, may not be the most qualified for the position im in, but I give it all I have and do all I can for the guys. We have eliminated the distractions and have moved on. These men that are left are champions. Regardless the score on Sunday, we will leave it all out there and leave with no regrets. We will be champions with or without the trophy. Trophies collect dust, but lessons learned and memories last forever."
http://tristatefans.zenfolio.com/img/v22/p615253123-2.jpg
Steve Daniel, widely considered the best receiver in the 8FL
The Rage are one of the most successful expansion teams in league history, rivaling the fast starts of both the Spartans and the Sangamon Seminoles (two squads that had instant success in the 8FL).
The Rage were 7-1 this year, with the only loss coming in a close, tightly contested game against the Spartans. In the team's first year of play, the Rage only two regular season losses and a loss in the playoffs, all three of the defeats at the hands of the Sangamon Seminoles (Quincy and Decatur were in different divisions and did not play each other in 2010).
The Rage's management, under the direction of owner/coach Nick Kime, started a huge retooling project the moment the season ended, bringing in a bunch of new players to improve the squad as well as tweaks to the Rage coaching staff.
"I started out my semi-pro coaching experience coaching under a man named Stan Mars," said Rage coach Kime. "Stan and I have had our differences and have parted ways, but I did learn a few things to do, along with things not to do, that have helped me along the way. One of the things that he used to always say was to surround yourself with good people. That has been my focus throught these last few years."
"I have been coaching with Clayton Kirksey (Assistant Head Coach) and Dave Williams (O and D Line Coach) for the last 3 seasons (09 with the Midwest Crush, 2010 and 2011 with the Rage) and started coaching with Jon Roe (Offensive Coordinator) with the Springfield Foxes in an 11 man league last summer," he continued. "After coaching with Jon, I knew he was the man we needed, the one last piece to the puzzle on our staff. He came aboard and I could not ask for a better staff. These men are as passionate as they come and would give you the shirt off their back to help out. They have dedicated many hours to the team and have been a huge part of who we are today."
The Rage held numerous off season tryouts, and were able to also develop relationships with some players from the Springfield Foxes including new Rage starting quarterback and 2011 8FL All-Star Dylan Ward. "Along with surrounding myself with great men as coaches, we put the right people on the roster to make it happen. These men were chosen for not only their talent, but their character as well. There have been a few let go throughout the season because we knew that they did not have the right mentality to be a champion. They wanted to take the lone road and that is not what we are about."
"We kept our focus all season and knew we had the talent to win it all, just needed to put it all together, put the pieces of the puzzle in the right order, and keep attitudes in check. These men have learned many lessons this season not only on the field, but for day to day life like facing adversity and a team mentality. These are things that I use every day in my job and things that I want to be able to teach others. You could call this my ministry. I have kept hope and not given up when a few times I felt like it because I believed in my players, that we would come together to be the TEAM I knew we could be," Kime said.
According to Kime, "The number one key to success in this game is going to be composure. We must compose ourselves on and off the field to be a champion. By keeping our composure, the other things come; patience, momentum, turnovers, big stops when needed, big plays, things like that. I preach composure all of the time, i believe it is the #1 thing that can make or break a team at this level. Without it, you beat yourselves."
"We feel the first time we met the Spartans this season is the reason we lost," he stated. "Not taking anything away from them at all, they are a great team and I have a lot of respect for them. We just feel that because of some other things going on in that game, not inside the lines, led to our loss. There were things that led up to this that happened throughout the season and it all seemed to come out that day. I, as the head coach and owner of the team, take blame for what happened that day. I saw the writing on the wall and waited to long to take care of the issues. They have been taken care of since that day and we havent looked back once. We have grown tremendously in the last month and have learned to compose ourselves."
After having success last year against every team the Rage played last year except the Sangamon Seminoles, Kime and the Rage knew they would have to find a way to get past the Seminoles to get to and have a chance to win the championship.
"Im not going to lie, knocking off the Seminoles was a personal goal of mine and most of the players from last season going into this season. But we tried our hardest not to let it break our focus throughout the year. I know that raw emotion can be just as deadly as it can help to a team in a big game. We knew that if we focused too hard on one target, we could see the whole thing fly right by, just like we did last season. We lost focus of the bigger picture and were to centered on one team. That was not going to work this year, playing every team in the league once. There were no division rivalries, we knew every game counted. So, we did the cliche saying, took one game at a time," he said.
"I have much respect for the Seminoles and are happy for their success throughout the years. They always give their opponent a great game and we are always up to play them. But we did not put too much focus on them this season, we had a bigger picture in mind," Kime stated.
In the off season, when the Rage retooled, "We decided that focus needed improved the most," Kime said. "As I said in the previous answer, we didnt put too much focus into one opponent, we were going after them all. Last season we lost sight of our overall goal, our focus, and I knew as a head coach, i needed to keep that focus strong this season and learn from last years mistakes."
Another area that the team worked on was trust. "Trust would have to be the next thing that needed improved. Trust from players to coaches and vice versa. We were very one dimensional last season and that led to our demise."
Decatur set many league passing records with the electric combination of passing of quarterback Ryan McShea to elite receiver Steve Daniel. Even though the Rage also featured one of the league's best running back in Akeem Topps.
"I needed to make sure we had the right guys on the field that trusted the guy next to them, to be there to make the tackle if they missed, to catch the pass, to block downfield, and to trust the coaches calls. It was a struggle sometimes throughout the season, but I feel we are at the point now that we are a family, a chain that can not be broken, and play and coach for each other. We care about one another and that is a huge part at this level of football. We dont have paychecks to look forward to every week, wont see our names on the front page of the newspaper or our highlights on ESPN. We do this for the love of the game and must be unselfish and play for each other, unconditionally, with trust and focus on our goal."
The Rage players are preparing for the championship game with excitement and expectations, but Kime wants to keep the team and himself, and what the team has accomplished so far, in persepctive.
"We have had many ups and downs this season, im sure every team does. There was even a point in the season when I almost turned my back on the team and just walked away. But there is something that keeps you coming back every week. The guys who deserve it. At this point of the season, there isnt a guy on our team that doesnt deserve my best to them. I may not be the best coach there is, may not be the most qualified for the position im in, but I give it all I have and do all I can for the guys. We have eliminated the distractions and have moved on. These men that are left are champions. Regardless the score on Sunday, we will leave it all out there and leave with no regrets. We will be champions with or without the trophy. Trophies collect dust, but lessons learned and memories last forever."
http://tristatefans.zenfolio.com/img/v22/p615253123-2.jpg
Steve Daniel, widely considered the best receiver in the 8FL