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Billings Outlaws: New Year, New Opportunities

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Billings Outlaws: New Year, New Opportunities ARTS &ENTERTAINVENT Billings Outlaws: New Year, New Opportunities Michael Schrage at the MetraPark. The Retort This home opener, billed "Night of Champions." will feature the Billings Billings' Best Kept Skyview choir sing- Secret ing the National Anthem, 2006 The date was June 28, 2006, and NIFL champion- the place was the MetraPark Arena. Mid- ship ring presenta- way through the fourth quarter of Indoor tion to the Outlaws Bowl VI, the Billings Outlaws were well players, and it on their way to their first ever professional marks the first time football championship, as the visitors, the defending NIFL Fayetteville (NC) Guard, felt their Na- and UIF champions tional Indoor Football League champion- will squared off. ship rings slip through their fingers with After averag- each ensuing Outlaws possession. One ing 6.8 tackles a Fayetteville player slammed his helmet game for the Out- to the turf in frustration, as if that one act laws in 2006 (sec- of aggression would either silence the ond overall in the 9,000 in attendance or slow the Outlaws' league), defensive progress. It did neither. As the final gun All-Pro standout sounded, the victorious Outlaw players Travis Salter re- gathered in the middle of the field to raise turns to anchor the the NIFL trophy amidst falling confetti defense in 2007. and screaming fans, as the demoralized Nicknamed "The and dejected Guard walked off the field, King" after he their dreams of a championship dashed stepped out onto the by the final score of 55-49. It had been a MetraPark turf dur- long season, but as the smoke cleared, one ing pre-game intro- thing was certain: finally, the Outlaws ductions to Indoor were champions. Bowl VI last July Now, Billings' best kept Friday wearing a cape and night secret returns for another cam- crown, the former paign. For those of you not familiar with three-time All- the high-scoring supercharged game of American line- indoor football: the rules are simple. The backer from Rocky field is just 50 yards long, with teams Mountain College fielding eight players at a time. Punting looks to bring a is not allowed, and the rules are geared little undeniable de- to exploit a team's offensive capabilities, fensive presence to with teams often scoring in excess of the high-scoring in- seventy points in the standard four fif- door game, and not Photo courtesy of Billings Outlaws. teen minute quarters. The game provides just sound bites and Travis Salter, "The King," lead the Outlaws in tackles in 2006. an intimate atmosphere for fans, be- pageantry. cause, unlike professional and even col- who accepted the Head Coaching posi- thing like 250 bucks a game," and ex- lege games, the players are real and fairly "The King" Will Lead tion with the NIFL's expansion, San presses the exuberance and youthful en- accessible, not just faint images on a Diego Shockwave, after spending 2006 thusiasm of an athlete just happy to jumbotron, as is the case at most profes- in 2007 as the Outlaws' Offensive Coordinator buckle a chinstrap before laying out an sional and college programs. The ticket "I've been in this game a long time; and semi-starting quarterback, taking opposing receiver (like he did numerous prices are ridiculously reasonable, with I'm not a rookie anymore." Salter says the snaps as Chris Dixon pursued op- times during the week fourteen 109-6 general admission running $10, and matter-of-factly, when questioned about portunities in Arena Football2 and the demolition of the Tennessee lower deck seating only slightly more. the upcoming season. "It's going to be Canadian Football League. Riversharks) regardless of the final 2006 Champions [tougher competition], and we aren't "I've got a lot on my plate right score. There is a reason, after all, why overlooking anyone despite our suc- now," Salter says, referring to his day Salter is on the cover of the 2007 media Set to Face-Off cess... We've got a great core of play- job, his family, and other day-to-day ob- guide. ers, and Coach [O'Neal] has really been ligations. "But when it's time for that I cannot stress the level of enjoy- In late 2006, the Outlaws aban- an asset to [the team] and the owners doned the often chaotic and troubled first game, all the laughing and joking ment one derives from an Outlaws game and front office are top notch... We in the locker room stops," he says when at the MetraPark. This is how football NIFL, a league plagued with game for- aren't going to be denied." feitures, organizations folding mid-sea- commenting on the Outlaws first game was meant to be played: simple, hard- Salter should know. With confi- in Fort Collins, Colorado against the nosed, with the fans and the love of the son, financial difficulties, owner corrup- dence and enthusiasm bordering on ar- tion, and overall gross executive mis- Colorado Ice, the one true expansion game taking center stage. "Keep the sup- rogance to the untrained eye, the five- team in the U1F. port up," Salter says to the Outlaws fans. management. Their new home will be year veteran of the Outlaws joins fel- in the much more stable and reputable " We're a good team, but it takes real loW All-Pros quarterback Chris Dixon fan support to be [successful]." I could United Indoor Football (UIF), an eleven and wide receiver Robert Reed (who Indoor Football is team league whose corporate offices are not agree more. lead the NIFL in passing yards and re- For information about ticket prices located in Omaha, Nebraska. The Out- ceiving yards respectively) under the All About Fun laws open up their 2007 inaugural UIF or an internship (an internship that while tutelage of Head Coach Heron O'Neal, The indoor game's greatest asset is not a paid position, nets you two sea- campaign on the road, but come March a former defensive back with Western is that unlike the NFL, players are play- 31, Billings will be hosting the two-time son tickets and a pair of Oakley sun- Michigan, and later with the NFL's Chi- ing not for the notoriety or the fat pay- glasses), contact Bethany at the Outlaws reigning and defending UIF champions, cago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars. checks, but for the love of football. Salter the Sioux Falls (Idaho) Storm at 7 p.m. front office at 406-254 6287, or visit Notably absent this season is Bob Bees, describes the average payday as "some- www.billingsoutlaws.com . •THE RETORT .
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