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Here we go again.  For the second time in the three year history of the Spokane Shock, we are getting ready for an appearance in the Arena Cup.  This league is set up to avoid this.  It is set up to be completely fair across the board so every team can compete.  So why have the Shock been so dominate in their short stint as a member of the af2?  The only answer I can come up with is because the Shock do things the right way.

I remember covering the press conference about four years ago when Brady Nelson announced that Spokane would have an arena football team.  I remember meeting Brady that morning and discovering that one of his closest friends was a teammate of mine in college.  I instantly began to pull for him, though I must admit I was very skeptical not having ever heard of the af2.  Well we all saw how well things went winning the whole thing in the first year, and making it to the playoffs last year. 

Now in their third year the shock are sitting at 18-1 and are getting ready to host the Arena Cup next Monday night.  I think back over the last three years and now that we can see the whole picture I realize how well this organization is ran.  First off the press conference.  Not only did the ownership group announce that they are going to bring arena football to spokane, they already had a team name, logo, colors, and a coach.  They were already ahead of the game.  Take a look at the “Seattle Sonics” in Oklahoma City.  They have known they would have a basketball team this season in O.C. for a month or two now, and they still don’t have a logo or colors.  Next the coach.   The shock hired one of the most experienced coaches in the history of the league who came in with a plan, and knowledge of the indoor game.  That was a great hire, and it was proven by a championship.  Then coach Siegfried left for the Arena League to be an offensive coordinator.  The next hire was critical.  Who could step in a take over a championship team with championship expectations.  The Shock front office again made a great hire in coach Shackleford.  He is a man that know’s the indoor game as well as anyone, and has the right personality and drive to keep the Shock at the top of the league.  He took a lot of heat for losing in the first round last year, but as we see now, he’s the right man for the job. 

I think the biggest reason the Spokane Shock have been so successful is because they have the right approach with players.  Obviously every player on the team would rather be in another league, wether its the AFL or the NFL, all of these players want to move up.  The Shock embrace this I think better than any other team in the league.  They understand that the players want to move up, and so does the organization.  The more players that move up, the more attractive this team looks to players next season.  With the NFL Europe league, and the All-American football league both folding last year, the only place a player looking to make it to the NFL to go, is the af2.  We’ve seen the talent level go up every year in this league, and the Shock have excelled at convincing those players to play in the league.

All year long this team has preached the “take it one game at a time” approach.  Well there’s only one game left, the Arena Cup.  If the Shock are fortunate enough to win this game, I think we can call them a Dynasty.  Two titles in the first three years of your existence would make that hard to argue with.

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