Sean Brackett: From Capitol Zero to Central Massachusetts Hero

Last year, Massachusetts Pirates quarterback Sean Brackett was mediocre.

After taking over the Washington Valor in the wake of Erik Meyer’s season ending injury, Brackett was the leader of a Valor team that lost 10 in a row before finishing with three wins Im

He got an offer from the Massachusetts Pirates on Jan. 24, a team based in Worcester, MA. Ironically, Brackett had been living  in Hyannis, MA, just two hours from Worcestor.

The pirates made their debut against the high-quality Maine Mammoths on April, which included star veterans Jonathon Bane and Devin Wilson. Brackett and the Pirates routed them, 51-24, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the DCU center.

The next week, while the local ECHL team, the railers, were playing in the playoffs, the Pirates headed down to sunny Florida to take on the defending NAL champions, the Jacksonville Sharks. Brackett played spectacular again, and the Pirates would turn a Jacksonville field goal into a touchdown to win, 63-56.

Two weeks later, when Brackett returned from a mini camp with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League (CFL), he returned to action, and the Pirates rebounded from a loss against the Carolina Cobras to beat the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, 72-24.

This would be the largest margin of victory in team history for the moment, but the Pirates play the team from Allentown three more times – June 23, July 7, and Aug. 4.

Brackett hopes to keep the momentum rolling against Mason Espinosa and the undefeated Columbus lions this Sunday, May 6, during family night at the DCU center. Kickoff is at 4:25 pm ET.

 

Main Photo Credit: Azari Images

Maine Mammoths 2018 Season Preview

Finally, Maine has an arena football team.

Portland, ME, for the first time since the AHL pirates moved to Springfield, MA and became the thunderbirds in 2016, has a team to cheer on at the Cross Insurance Arena.

This one being a first for the state: arena football. The Mammoths are set to play their first home in two weeks at the aforementioned arena, about seven months before the ECHL Mariners open at the same venue.

However, unlike the Danny briere-led hockey team, this team is focused on the field.

Enter quarterback Jonathan Bane, the team’s first signing. He has a a great deal of arena experience to his name, which includes one season with the Tampa bay Storm. He will be the Mammoths starting quarterback in 2018.

Also joining the Mammoths is former Jacksonville Sharks wide receiver Devin Wilson. He only recorded 18 receptions for 174 yards and three touchdowns, but he was also the team’s fourth receiver behind Thyron Lewis, Mo Williams and Darryl Thompson.

In Maine, he will be the top receiver. Pairing him up with Bane makes these two look like the best quarterback-wide receiver duo in the NAL. Fans should definitely pack the house to witness what these two can do together.

They kick off their season on Saturday when they travel to the DCU Center in Worcestor, MA to take on the Massachusetts Pirates.

Massachusetts Pirates 2018 Season Preview

There is a lot of hype going around the city of Worcester, MA.

The Massachusetts Pirates, one of three new teams in the National Arena League, open up their season a week from today. Most of this hype revolves around season tickets, which start at $90, but they’ll look to outprove that when they hit the field.

This team is the first arena team to play in the New England area in nearly a decade. The last being the New England surge of the CIFL, so there is a lot of hype there, too.

The season opens with a regional rival. They open April 7 in Worcester against the Maine mammoths. Then the challenge starts on April 14, when they face the defending NAL champion Jacksonville Sharks in Jacksonville. Then they go to the Triad on April 21, against the Carolina Cobras and to Allentown, PA on April 28 in  against the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks.

They then face the Columbus lions in a matinee May 6 with a 4:30 p.m. ET kickoff. The pirates face most of the other opponents again in Worcester and away after that.

Pirates quarterback Sean Brackett looks to rebound off a dissapointing season last year. London Crawford, a a star wide receiver for Massachusetts, just came off a great season in Nuevo León with the Monterrey Steel. Both are looking to be great for tom brady land.

Single game tickets for the Massachusetts Pirates home games at the DCU Center in Worcestor, MA begin at just $7, so the city should begin filling the arena come gameday this Saturday!

Making a case for the NAL in New Hampshire

Two of the newest franchises in the National Arena League -the Massachusetts Pirates and Maine Mammoths – are respectively in Worcester, MA and Portland, ME. Having a team in Manchester, NH would be a great addition to the league for many reasons.

Triple Gem

New Hampshire is the missing link to create a regional rivalry, like what is going to start with the ECHL teams in the area: the Worcester Railers, the Manchester Monarchs and the Maine Mariners.

It would also resemble one of the most well known regional rivalries in sports; Duke, UNC and NC State. The three schools are a geographical triangle from one another.  The same could [almost] be said for the three New England NAL teams.

Bring Back Our Team

New Hampshire has had their history of arena football. The Manchester wolves played from 2004 until 2009. More recently, the New Hampshire Brigade played in the Can-Am Indoor Football League up until last season. They suspended operations mid-season after the owner went broke.

Perhaps if a team were to come back to New Hampshire, fans would pack the house. They would also have the perfect arena to fill up.

Stack the SNHU Arena

The SNHU arena in downtown Manchester is the largest in northern New England. It has 9,000 seats, which if filled by an NAL team would be the biggest attendance in the league -yes, even bigger than the Jacksonville Sharks. Not only that, but the arena is usually vacant during the summer, except for, in this year’s case, a Tim McGraw concert.