January 24, 2001
Coach Gerry DiNardo was pleased with the effort, if not totally
pleased by the results as the Birmingham Thunderbolts closed
training camp by scrimmaging the Chicago Enforcers Wednesday
at Showalter Field.
The joint session with Chicago was the last practice for the
Bolts before returning to Birmingham for a Monday workout.
DiNardo and his staff will meet with the team Tuesday morning
before officially breaking camp.
Today was good in that we played hard. I didnt think we
did that last time out, DiNardo said. Obviously, you would
like to win, but I was happy with the effort.
XFL League Office policy prohibits individual teams from making
public scores or stats from any preseason scrimmage, so DiNardo
and his staff used the game-type setup to take one final look
at some players who may be on the bubble to make the final
squad. The roster has to be cut to 38 active and seven practice
squad players by Sunday.
The tough part is coming up. We have to get down to our numbers
now, DiNardo said. From what Ive seen, and Ive only seen
the four teams here in person and tape from Las Vegas, I would
say this is going to be a balanced league. You better come
to play every week.
Casey Weldon and Jay Barker got all the repetitions at quarterback
during Wednesdays scrimmage. Weldon played the entire first
half and the first series of the third quarter. Barker finished
the game.
Both posted decent numbers, but league policy prohibits those
from being published. Weldon connected with Quincy Jackson
for a score and both threw an interception.
The Thunderbolts begin game week preparations Monday in Birmingham.
The team will report to Legion Field for meetings and practice
that day. Coach Gerry DiNardo will hold his first in-season
press conference as Birminghams coach Tuesday. The Bolts
host the Memphis Maniax Feb. 4 at Legion Field. Kickoff is
3 p.m. CST.
Season tickets and tickets for the season opener against Memphis
are on sale by calling Ticketmaster at (205) 715-6000 or 1-800-277-1700.
You can also call the Bolts office ticket line at 205-252-4XFL
for season tickets or groups of 20 or more for the season
opener. |
