Arena Football: Conquest looking forward to first season in Albany

Twelve years ago, the Albany Firebirds became a member of the then-four team Arena Football League.

For eleven seasons, the Firebirds entertained the crowds of the Knickerbocker, now Pepsi, Arena, lighting up the scoreboard Friday and Saturday nights during the hot summers in downtown Albany, New York.

In 1999, the franchise won their first and only Arena Bowl. I remember it well because, first, it was the day after my 22nd birthday and second, because I was seated in the end zone in section 112 -- myself and my friends Bill and Jeff, all behind the goalposts. It was the loudest that I had ever heard the Pepsi Arena outside of a music concert. The honeymoon was over quickly, however. Before the 2000 season, the players and owners came to a midnight hour collective bargaining agreement and the season started one week behind schedule.

Then came the announcement that Firebirds star Eddie Brown retired after the first game of the season when he tied a league record seven touchdown receptions in a game against Nashville.

The Firebirds struggled during the course of the season, but finished 9-5 and atop of the Eastern Division.

A month after their disappointing loss to Arizona in the Arena Bowl quarterfinals, owner Glen Mazula announced that he couldn't keep up with the increasing finances of the league and sold the team to a group in Indiana, who later moved the franchise. On June 20, 2001, Arena Football's spinoff league, af2, announced that Arena Football was coming back to Albany.

The city of Albany and former Firebirds owner Mazula scored an af2 franchise that will begin play during the 2002 season.

On September 11, the franchise was to announce the new name of the franchise as the Warbirds, but because of the tragic events that had ensued, it was back to the drawing board. Three months later, the franchise announced the new name of the team would be the Conquest. Before the logo name, the Conquest added their first ever head coach, Ron Selesky.

Selesky had been the coach of af2's Louisville Fire in 2001, which finished 6-10. He also had been an assistant with the AFL's Carolina Cobras and Tampa Bay Storm, and won a ring with the Storm under head coach Tim Marcum in 1997 before becoming the Fire, and now Conquest, head coach.

A few weeks after Selesky became coach, the team announced they had traded for Louisville's starting quarterback, Jon Krueger, who passed for 1,212 yards and nineteen touchdowns in 2001.

The Conquest also signed two former Firebirds: kicker Chris Drennan, who played with the Firebirds in 1993 and 1997, and Pete Porcelli, who was a two-way lineman from 1990-1993. Porcelli will act as defensive coordinator for the Conquest. Since the beginning of the calendar year, the Conquest have been very active in the community.

On Super Bowl Weekend, the players and the new dance team hosted a Super Bowl party at Jillian's of downtown Albany and signed autographs at the Capital District Home Show. They played host to 10,000 of the Capital District's football fans, getting the word out that Arena Football was back in town.

Rodney Smith, the Conquest's Alumni Affairs Director and former Firebird, along with dance captain Jamie King, spoke at the Ballston Spa Pop Warner banquet, encouraging kids and parents by speaking to them about the importance of education and community.

In addition, the Conquest also recently announced a new program for kids in grades 4-6 called the Quest Kids Program. The program emphasizes and encourages physical fitness through a series of fun, non-contact drills and skills, which ended with a touchdown dance contest. The first home game for the Conquest isn't until April 20th, but the franchise is getting the word out positively. As a season ticket holder, let me be one of the first to say good luck to a successful inaugural season!