One more trip to the West Coast — their third of the season in a hastily rescheduled game this week in a reshuffled Arena Football One — proved to be one too many for the Kentucky Barrels, who had won in their first two ventures to the Pacific Time Zone.
But the Barrels’ 47-42 loss to the Washington Wolfpack in the Angel of the Winds Arena in the Seattle suburb of Everett late Saturday night left them, at 7-3 with two road games left, still in third place.
But their chances of catching either of the top two teams have lessened a bit, despite the fact that those teams — Albany and Nashville – played one another Saturday with 8-1 Nashville surviving a 78-69 shootout leaving Albany 8-2.
The Barrels inflicted the lone loss on Nashville this season and if the teams tie, Kentucky would own the tiebreaker. But with Albany losing, they have the tiebreaker with the Barrels, who will get no chance to play either of the teams ahead of them with this week’s Albany game cancelled in the league’s reshuffling.
Interestingly, the Nashville Kats, from the home of Arena Football One although playing their games in Clarksville’s F&M Bank Arena, have yet to make a trip to the West Coast and have had twice as many home games – six – as road games – three. The Kats will have to go to Washington next week and finish up at Albany in the season finale July 11. Albany did play a two-game road trip to the West Coast early in the season.
So there’s still a chance for Barrels to catch the Kats should the Barrels win their final two – at Minnesota for a second time this season, and at Beaumont, if the Kats stumble in Albany.
And that matters since the top two teams in the league earn a first-round playoff bye and a home game in the second round. Finish third or fourth and a team gets a home playoff game in Week 1.
But that wouldn’t come until the weekend of July 18-19. And for Kentucky Barrels’ fans, that’s eight-weeks away from home for the Barrels, who haven’t played a game at NKU’s Truist Arena since May 17. That’s five road games to five scheduled home games thus far in the season, although one of those five at home was a forfeit when Oregon failed to show and no game was played.
Nashville, meanwhile, will have seven home games while finishing with five road games. Albany will finish the year with six home games, six on the road.
Speaking of road games, we wish we could give you more details of the Barrels’ 47-42 loss Saturday, other than that the Barrels went into the second half leading 30-21 and still led 30-27 after a scoreless third and led 36-33 in the fourth before giving up a pair of TDs. Only no stats from either ream had been posted by either team on the official league website late Sunday afternoon.
The Barrels will head off to Duluth, Minn., for the second time in a month after getting clobbered, 69-32, in a May 30 game that Coach Cedric Walker said his team failed to show up for. And they finish up in Beaumont, Tex. But with just one game against the Nashville, Kats, just a bus ride away.
As to the absolutely unfavorable schedule that has the Barrels the only team from the East traveling three times to the West Coast or the only team traveling to Minnesota twice in a month, here’s Walker’s interpretation of how Arena Football One handles the schedule.
“They put all the information in – like who has what dates available at their arenas — and the schedule comes out,” Walker said. And the schedule said: “Barrels, you’re the league’s road team.” Like the Washington Generals were for the Harlem Globetrotters back in the day.
Which might be a thought. How about calling them the Kentucky Globetrotters with this schedule.
BOX SCORE
Kentucky Barrels 7 23 0 12—42
Washington Wolfpack 0 21 6 20—47
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X @dweber3440.