By: Andrew Gardner
It's been 346 days since I last wrote this article titled, 'A Historic Streak in Pro Sports is on the Line' and it's now been 2,580 days since the Detroit Mechanix have tallied one in the 'win' column.
Earlier this year, Zack Davis, a writer for Ultiworld, covered the Detroit Mechanix and owner Brent Steepe titled 'One Must Imagine the Detroit Mechanix Happy'. Davis would interview Steepe who spoke in-depth about the Mechanix losing streak, saying “We’re over breaking the streak. We are and have committed to being about the system that allows for the growth. When that system reaches critical mass, that’s when our win happens. And then from there, if the system is right and well tested, the games are either close or a victory moving forward.”
On Friday, May 24th, Detroit will once again make the trip into Pittsburgh at Highmark Stadium, where they are 0-21 all-time against the Thunderbirds, unperturbed by the shadow cast by the ominous 'streak'.
Instead of highlighting the surface level story-line, the bigger question that sometimes goes unasked is how it affects the teams who match-up against the Mechanix. While it can be argued that the Mechanix have all the pressure on a week-to-week basis to claim victory, the equal argument can be made that there is identical pressure on teams to keep the streak in-tact.
For Pittsburgh, it's business as usual. After completing a monumental UFA upset against the Minnesota Wind Chill just a week prior, the Thunderbirds know that any team at any time could win in this League. That's motivation enough.
With a rare back-to-back home and away double-header for the Thunderbirds (they travel to Toronto on Saturday, May 25th), discussions of resting players or 'taking it easy' weren't on the table.
On Friday, you'll see the familiar faces of Max Sheppard, Jon Mast, Anson Reppermund, Jimmy Towle, Charlie Vukovic, Carl Johnson among other top line players for the Thunderbirds.
"[The coaching staff is] preparing for [Detroit] like any other opponent," said Thunderbirds Assistant Coach Nick Bozich. "We have watched film on all of their games independently, analyzed their lines, and game planned against their throwing patterns as well as discussed player matchups based on how they distribute their touches and spacing on the field."
In addition, Hudson Powell, Pittsburgh's Data Scientist, has been compiling throwing heat maps at the direction of the coaching staff.
"We’re going to break the streak when we prove to be the better team on that day,” said Steepe in Davis' Ultiworld article.
The Thunderbirds organization is doing everything in their power to make sure that doesn't happen on Friday.
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The Pittsburgh Thunderbirds take on the Detroit Mechanix on Friday, May 24th at Highmark Stadium. First pull is at 7:00PM EDT.
Tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE.
Single game tickets are $15 online and may increase at the gate! $10 for groups of 10 or more, and all youth 8 and under will receive free admission.
E-mail Andrew Gardner at agardner@pghthunderbirds for group information.
