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With the league's announcement of the All-af2 teams came honors for four members of the Spokane Shock.

Defensive back Rob Keefe was named to the first team for the second straight year and wide receiver Antwone Savage earned his first All-af2 honors.

Veteran lineman Rico Ochoa and defensive lineman Devon Parks picked up second team honors.

For a complete list of selections, click here.

These awards are still TBA:

Kicker of the Year - Aug. 14
International Player of the Year - Aug. 15
Lineman of the Year - Aug. 16
Rookie of the Year - Aug. 17
Asst. Coach & Head Coach of the Year - Aug. 18
Playmaker of the Year – Aug. 19
Defensive Player of the Year - Aug. 20
Offensive Player of the Year - Aug. 21
Ironman of the Year - Aug. 22

After the second round of arenafootball2 playoff action, the conference championship pairings for this weekend are set.

Tulsa will host Bossier-Shreveport in the National conference title game and in the American conference, Green Bay will travel to face Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in hopes of a second consecutive trip to the ArenaCup.

The Shock stole Green Bay's title hopes last season, defeating the Blizzard 57-34 in Puerto Rico.

Here's a look at some top performers in the second round.

Here we go: Shocked in Spokane. In the end, it really was just surprising.

The 2007 season is over for the defending ArenaCup champions after a painful 62-35 loss to the Louisville Fire in the opening round of the arenafootball2 playoffs Saturday night at the Arena.

As mentioned in my game story, rarely is the sequel as good as the original. The Shock had a tough task - and it was obvious that many fairweather fans weren't prepared to support the team when things went awry.

Some of the top performances in the opening playoff round came from Shock quarterback Andrico Hines and receiver Kelvin Dickens. Raul Vijil and Alex Teems are also listed.

Here are a couple of things that I am curious about:

-- How do fans view a 12-5 record as a bad thing? Dissapointing, yes. But you can't win the title every season, and two-straight playoff appearances with one title is a big accomplishment.

-- How did the playoff game end up the only game of the season to not sell out at the Arena?

Elsewhere in the opening round of the playoffs...

-- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Rich Ingold passed former Shock coach Chris Siegfried on the af2 all-time coaching victories list when the Pioneers defeated the Tri-Cities Fever.

-- The second-round matchups are: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton vs. Central Valley; Louisville vs. Green Bay; Rio Grande Valley vs. Bossier-Shreveport; Tulsa vs. South Georgia.

THE af2 PLAYOFFS are underway!

The Green Bay Blizzard - who the Shock defeated last year for the ArenaCup in Puerto Rico - won the opening game of the 2007 arenafootball2 playoffs with a 39-34 win over the Quad City Steamwheelers.

The Blizzard will face the winner of tonight's game between Spokane and the Louisville Fire at the Arena.

If the Shock win, the Blizzard will travel to Spokane next Saturday. If Louisville wins, Green Bay would be the higher seed and would have home-field advantage over the Fire.

-- This week the Blizzard mourned the loss of assistant coach Kerry Brown, who died in a single-vehicle accident in Green Bay late Monday evening. For more on this tragedy, click here.

-- In the other playoff opener, visiting Central Valley scored a last-second field goal to upset the fourth-seeded Manchester Wolves.

With the victory, the Coyotes will await the winner of today's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton game against the visiting Tri-Cities Fever, who recently lost quarterback Brian Baker to a season-ending - possibly career-ending - injury.

Here's a Tri-City Herald story link about the hard times fallen on the expansion Fever down the stretch.

If W-B/S wins tonight, coach Rich Ingold will pass former Spokane Shock coach Chris Siegfried on the all-time wins list.

For more league notes, click here.

-- As of Friday evening, 2,600 tickets still remained for today's playoff game at the Arena.

If you missed John Blanchette's column in today's paper, check it out.

Rob Keefe weighs in on why he thinks this year's team is better than last year's championship team.

The ArenaCup champs begin their title defense Saturday night, and it couldn’t be a more fitting first matchup for Spokane Shock coach Adam Shackleford.

Head-to-head with a good friend, former boss, and tonight – a friendly foe.

For three years Shackleford called the offense for the Louisville Fire. Just last year Fire head coach Tommy Johnson stood in Shackleford’s wedding.

Off the football field, the two remain very close friends. Tomorrow, though, it’s business.

Shackleford and the Spokane Shock host the Fire in the opening round of the arenafootball2 playoffs at the Arena in a game that features two teams that are virtually even, statistically speaking.

It's a small world, especially in the world of arena football.

Kelvin Morris received a phone call on a Saturday in mid-March that left him a little confused. His cousin, Nygel Rogers, and "some other guy" were trying to convince him to come to Washington for an arenafootball2 tryout with the Spokane Shock.

Rogers and the "other guy" – who turned out to be starting quarterback Andrico Hines – talked him into making the trip. A few days later, Morris found himself "on the opposite end of the earth."

"When (Nygel) said Washington, I thought he meant Washington D.C., close to home," the Timmonsville, S.C., native said. "Then I got my plane ticket, and it said Spokane, Washington, on it – I was like, 'I don't know where this is, but it's not D.C.' "

So Morris, who was tired of waiting to hear back from Green Bay after an NFL workout, came to Spokane. Now, alongside fellow af2 rookie Jermaine Harris, he's making the most of his experience with the Shock on one of the top defenses in the league.

It may not have meant anything as far as playoffs go, but this one is sure to give the Spokane Shock momentum heading into next week's playoff opener.

Shock receiver Chico Mackey caught three touchdown passes and ran for three more and backup quarterback Justin Rummell was 22 for 26 and threw five TD passes as the Shock defeated Everett 65-38 in the final regular-season game.

The Hawks (6-10) season is over.

The Shock host their first-round playoff game next Saturday at the Arena. Tickets are still available through TicketsWest (www.ticketswest.com; 325-SEAT).

Below is a copy of the box score.

This is among the quick hitters on the league website, but there were some highlights I wanted to point out.

One thing I didn't have room to mention in the game advance was about Everett receiver Josh Richey.

Richey's af2-record streak of 10 straight 100-yard receiving games was stopped Saturday in the team’s home win against Tri-Cities. The second-year player from Northeastern State University (Okla.) caught 10 passes for 64 yards against the Fever to fall 36 yards shy of the 100-yard mark.

Richey’s 10-game streak began on May 6 with seven catches for 112 yards and a pair of scores in Everett's 2007 home debut, a 43-41 victory over Central Valley.

He currently leads the af2 in receiving yards (1,776) and receiving touchdowns (42).

There was also a note mentioning former Spokane Shock coach Chris Siegfried ...

To say the Spokane Shock’s game tomorrow night is meaningless is mostly true.

For Spokane, it’s a week to rest starting quarterback Andrico Hines and top receiver Antwone Savage before the defending ArenaCup champion Shock begin their second postseason run next Saturday.

For Everett, which was eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago, the game means ending their season on a winning note.

Click on the link below for the rest of my game advance. I also have a couple of links for you from around the state.

-- Everett Herald writer Bob Mortenson had some notes on the Hawks searching for a first victory against Spokane and more on the Bakersfield rape case and an article about Everett's late-season turnaround.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers topped the coaches poll for the 14th straight week and the Western Division champion Spokane Shock grabbed the fifth spot with 324 votes.

View the entire poll here.

For the league's top performers last week, click on this link. You'll see some familiar names.

Players of the week will be announced Wednesday along with the coaches poll.

After claiming their second consecutive division title, the Spokane Shock came home a little battered and bruised.

“It wouldn’t seem the same if we didn’t have some adversity,” Shock coach Adam Shackleford said Tuesday.

With their 55-19 win last Saturday over the Amarillo Dusters, the Shock claimed the Western Division crown and secured themselves the second seed in the American Conference and a home-field advantage for at least one game in the playoffs.

The first-round game will be Saturday, Aug. 4 at the Arena. If the Shock win, they will host their second-round contest as well, on Aug. 11.

If the af2 regular seson ended today, the Spokane Shock - who clinched the Western Division title and the second overall seed in the American Conference with a win over Amarillo last weekend - would face Louisville, a team that dropped in the overall standings courtesy of a Green Bay victory over the Fire last weekend.

Here's a playoff story posted on the Shock's website and here's how things look right now...

The Spokane Shock announced today that playoff tickets will go on sale to the general public starting Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Playoff tickets can be purchased through TicketsWest by phone (325-SEAT), in person, or on the web at www.ticketswest.com

ALMOST!

The newly crowned Western Division champions will be arriving in Spokane tomorrow night. Fans and members of the media are invited to welcome them back to Spokane.

Where: Spokane International Airport on Flight #1232 from Seattle at 5:45 p.m.

QUESTION: Anyone thinking of going out to welcome the defending ArenaCup champions back?

The Shock defeated Amarillo 55-19 tonight, but some bad things happened along the way ...

-- Starting quarterback Andrico Hines went down in the first quarter with a lower back strain. There is more information on this below, with coach Adam Shackleford saying he will be back next week. I have reason to doubt this - I can't see risking a further injury with the looming playoffs.

Let the message board banter over who should start from now on begin!

-- WR Antwone Savage also went down in the first quarter - after scoring two touchdowns - with an injured toe. He also reportedly has a viral infection. Shackleford said he will be a game-time decision next week.

I have a feeling both Hines and Savage will rest due to the fact that next week's game is basically meaningless. Both those guys are absolutely critical for the playoffs.

-- On a positive note, DB Nygel Rogers had three picks tonight and the Shock will host a playoff game on August 4th. Tickets go on sale Tuesday and range from $7-$51 through TicketsWest (www.ticketswest.com; 325-SEAT or at the Arena box office).

There was a stringer that covered the game (I know, I wish I could have been there too - his story will run tomorrow and I will link to it then). You can read more about the game below in the story that is on the Shock's website.

As Spokane Shock coach Adam Shackleford will tell you, looks can be deceiving.

The Spokane Shock play their first non-division game since April 21st when they meet the Amarillo Dusters – a team the Shock defeated twice last season – tomorrow night at Cal Farley Coliseum with a chance to lock up the Western Division crown.

The Shock announced today that defensive lineman Odell Willis has been assigned to their roster by the League Office.

Willis, 6-foot-2, 252 pounds, attended West Georgia University where he was a teammate of LB Kelvin Morris.

His best season at West Georgia came in 2005. That year, Willis was selected 1st Team all Gulf-South and recorded 34 total tackles, including 12.5 for a loss, four pass break-ups, seven QB hurries, and 10 sacks. Over his four-year career at West Georgia, he compiled 126 total tackles and 20.5 sacks.

Just to get you started in thinking about this week's opponent, here's an article where Amarillo Dusters general manager Warren McCarty had this to say:

"What I'd like to see Saturday night is the defending champs (Spokane), who sell out every game and play in front of 11,000, get knocked off by us ... "

Okay, there is a little more to the quote than that. Just trying to stir the pot a little, can you blame me?

I'll have more on the Dusters today, and I will post my game advance Friday.

UPDATE:
Apparently you have to register to view the article I linked to above. So I'm pasting a copy below.

Here is the link to my feature on Spokane Shock veteran Katon Bethay, whose story might - gasp - Shock some of you.

Don't let the bearded lineman fool you - he's got an interesting road to Spokane.

Bethay was accepted at Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Brown and Georgetown before picking Wofford (S.C.) where he was a standout athlete in football and track, not to mention his success in the classroom.

QUESTION: After last week's performance by the offense, do you agree with the Shock's decision to release Ben Brown and start Bethay at fullback?

If you are interested in reading more about the Bakersfield Blitz arrests or the firing of their coaching staff, here are some informative stories that ran in the Bakersfield Californian.

To read more about the arrests, click here and for more on the Blitz cleaning house, read this.

The Blitz were eliminated from the playoffs when they lost last week to Everett.

Shock fans, I just handed in my feature on the Polar Bear Katon Bethay that is running in tomorrow's S-R. I know he's got a lot of fans, so check it out.

The Spokane Shock moved up one spot in this week's coaches poll, earning the No. 7 spot with 302 votes.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which lost its first game of the season last week, held on to the top spot for the 13th straight week.

In other news...

-- I'm trying to find out what happened, but Bakersfield's issues seem to only be getting worse. It started two weeks ago when two players were arrested when the Blitz traveled to Boise. Now, without explanation, they have an interim coach. I've got some calls out to find out, check back.

-- A check for $21,370 was presented to representatives of the Children’s Miracle Network during a timeout in the third quarter of last week's game at the Arena. Read more here.