Clancy's Corner
Pat Clancy - Coach: Raleigh Lightning

Dateline- - - - Sept 12, 2007 – News from the Raleigh Lightning - - -

If you couldn’t tell, it’s a New Year for the Raleigh Lighting. A team that finished 9th in the standings and out of the playoffs last year is looking more like the team from 2005.

In 2005, the Lightning finished first in the regular season setting a league record in wins 12, and outscored every team in the playoffs except for one- the 2005 Champions – Mtnears. Placing fifth was not good enough and the team had high hopes of improving in 2006. Those dreams were quickly dashed due to poor draft picks and a defense that was lackluster. The Lightning struggled to consistently score points and although they had enough wins to make the playoffs, they did not have enough points to win the tiebreaker. This year the Lightning have returned to form and look like they are ready to Strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.

In their first game back the Lighting came out flashing with the week’s highest score- 140.40. This was in part to a surprisingly good day from Randy Moss and Tony Romo. Likewise, the dolphin twins – Taylor and Thomas, had good games as well. But not everything was sunny with the Raleigh squad – as they saw their second round draft pick get injured. Fortunately, they were able to pick up his replacement and there is much hope that the Jacobs will return to form in a few weeks.

Besides a new offense and an upgrade to their defense, the Lightning have also made one other significant change – the team headquarters is now in the greater Charlotte metro area. The owner and general manager were offered a deal to come to Charlotte and took it. “Yeah, the boss (NC DMV) came to me and said, you have to report to Charlotte tomorrow morning. It was either that or lose my job. I felt the deal was a no-brainer.”

With the move the Lightning are considering some other changes as well. – “We formed the team in Raleigh and always thought we would remain there. The move came after the team was registered so it wasn’t fair to our fans and corporate sponsor to move the stadium until next year. It’s our hope that by next year we will have completely moved our team, built a new stadium, entered into new contracts with our corporate sponsors and change our team name.”

Right now everyone is wondering what the corporate sponsor is thinking about this move. “Well, I have personally spoken to Sheik Abdullah and he is quite pleased with the choice. He thinks that this is a win-win situation, since his advertising market will grow now that he is in two markets and that the camels will be happy with the new climate. You know, it is hotter in Charlotte.” Abdullah’s Camels is the states largest camel dealership and has been the largest supporter of the Raleigh Lightning. “ You know that Lightning is very frightening. My camels are always scared of it, but I sell so many camels during the season. For my repeat customers I even put a harem in the stadium. Be sure to come to Abdullah’s Camel Store. We have the largest inventory in one hump and two hump camels with all the lowest prices. And if you come in this week you get your choice of $10,000 off the sticker price or free installation of your very own flat screen panel TV on each hump. We’re DEALIN!”

This Week the Lightning face the Ossian’s Ghost and for all intensive purposes this is a bye-week for the team. This is a good thing because the Lightening will be facing a serious competitor in week 3 with the PT Bruisers. The Lightning are 1-1 all-time against the Bruisers and barely escaped with a win last year. This should be an awesome showdown so keep your eyes on the scoreboard.

Patrick Clancy is a free lance writer and owner of the Raleigh Lightning.