Back to Business for Avengers

It has been a long break--10 days to be exact--since the Los Angeles Avengers trudged off the Staples Center floor after a 58-50 loss to fellow Arena Football League expansion team Carolina.

During the break the Avengers filled out their playbook and made several roster moves.

Getting waived were defensive specialist Shawn Parnell, receivers/defensive backs Aman Abye and Lance Thomas, fullback/linebacker John Clark and lineman Cedric Johnson. Newly signed are linemen Ron Lewis and Dan Greer.

Activated to the 24-man roster were receiver/defensive back Ken Haslip, who missed the first two games while extricating himself from a contract dispute between the Avengers and the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos, and receiver/linebacker Jason Fletcher, who has recovered from injury.

“I know they’ve been looking for more physical play out of the cornerbacks,” said Haslip, the first player signed by Los Angeles. “I try to bring that. We want to jam up the [opponent’s] receivers more, not give them an easy route to catch the ball.”

If the defense needed shoring up--Los Angeles is one of six teams to have already given up 100 points--the offense needed tuning up. Offensive coordinator Terry Karg said the Avengers have been “very vanilla” when they’ve had the ball, and now that they’ve installed the rest of the playbook he expects the team to be less predictable and more difficult to defend.

“The past few days we have gotten much further into our offensive package,” Karg said. “And it looks like the guys have gotten more comfortable with that progression.”

But Los Angeles, 0-2 and last in the Western Division, has only one thing on its mind: getting victory No. 1.

They have picked a tough week to do it, playing the same team--the Oklahoma Wranglers--twice in five days. Tonight’s game is at Staples Center; the teams meet again Friday at Oklahoma City.

These two games are a bit more personal than the other 12 on the Avenger schedule. Avenger Coach Stan Brock coached Oklahoma last season when the franchise was located in Portland, Ore. and was known as the Forest Dragons. Wrangler Coach Bob Cortese, whose team is 2-0 and tied for first with Arizona in the Western Division, was Brock’s offensive coordinator in Portland. Cortese was also the running backs coach at Colorado when Brock was a sophomore offensive lineman in 1977.

Three weeks ago, Los Angeles won the preseason game between the teams, 54-48, and that’s the last time the Avengers won anything. If they don’t manage at least a split of the two games this week, the forecast for the rest of the season is gloomy.

Brock said there’s a simple solution.

“We’ve got to get better at all aspects of what we do,” he said. “We have to protect the quarterback better and get more pressure on the [opponent’s] quarterback. Our defensive backs have to provide better coverage. And we can’t give the ball away, like three fumbles we had against Carolina.

“In the Arena game you have to score at least 75% of the time to be able to compete. Give three balls away like we did, and you don’t give yourself a chance.”