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Team begins initial interviews with potential draft choices

During the annual Senior Bowl, College football's version of an All-Star game, the Houston Gamblers' coaching organization began requesting initial interviews with player's agents whom they hope can improve their organization.

The Houston Organization, who already decide that they will seek a defensive player with their first round pick, #7 overall, held league mandated 10 minute interviews with several players of their choices.

Of course, the obvious choices, All-Americans LB Pastor from Southern Mississippi, DE Despres from Anderson, LB McMartin from Ohio State, and DT Lewis from Alabama were some of the first to be interviewed by the Houston Coaches. All of the coaches came away from the interviews pleased with the results of their questions, but less than confident that those players will be available for them when it is their time on the clock.

"The amount of defensive players in this year's draft is truly amazing," said Houston's Head Coach, Dan Collier. "No matter who is available when it its our turn to pick, we feel that we will be a better team because of the infusion of new talent."

Houston also held interviews with several Offensive Linemen after declaring that their #2 priority in this draft would be improving protection for their quarterback and opening holes for their non-existent running game.

"They might not be house-hold, big star names for fans, but the game is won and lost in the trenches," said Offensive Line Coach Kirk Kimble. "Line men are some of the hardest working and yet most unappreciated people in this sport."

The Gamblers also held interviews with several WR's and TE's at this year's Senior Bowl. "In no way should (TE) Lopez or (WR) Nelson feel threatened," said Tight end Coach Eric Conner. "But they do have to understand that they are getting older and they can't play this game forever. By holding these interviews, we are trying to find the NEXT Lopez and Nelson."

Houston Gambler’s 1977 Draft Report

1:7 CB Eugene Holland (5’11” -202) – UNLV Rebels (33/81)

"I'm amazed that he fell to #7. His upside is amazing. His ball skills are a true reality. Rarely gets called for pass interference even though he's young. ... I think that he could be a true shut down some years down the road." – Booger Nientosix
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Draft Analysis: Uses disruptive inside hand to slow the release and can punch out of his pedal. Patient from his press, utilizing well-timed opening to match the receiver. Plays with explosive hip flip that jump-starts him into top speed when forced to turn and run. Has balance and footwork to remain in phase with target throughout the route. Has electric, flat-footed closing burst. Can shadow a nine route from release to completion. Has twitch to drive hard toward the throw from his lateral shuffle. Plays with plus instincts. Targeted 35 times his Senior Season and credited with 14 passes defensed, including four interceptions. Has burst and instincts to make plays from any coverage asked of him. Forceful open-field tackler. Works through blockers to get to both wide receiver screens and running plays. Wrap-up hitter who sees what he hits. – Overall Grade (A)
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"I've studied the top cornerbacks coming out and he's the best I've seen. He's so athletic that he can just post up under the receiver's chin and shadow him all over the field. And he's tough, too. He'll be one of the top cornerbacks pretty quickly," said Houston’s Head Coach Dan Collier.
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Plans of Usage: Immediate starter at CB#2….rotating Mashburn to NB and Keely to SS. Slowly but surely Houston is addressing their Passing Defense problems.

2:5 RG Micah McEvoy (6’1” 311) – Minnesota Gophers (35/86)
“This is a mountain of a man. ... He's got length and an ability to play right tackle, play left tackle or end up inside. He can bend for a big man. My concern with him is he gets overextended. He struggles with inside movement especially. He's had some penalties on top of that. Probably why a top-15 talent dropped down to No. 37 in the draft." – Houston GM Dewey Cheatum

Draft Analysis: Fires into his target with a forceful pop generating early power and push. Can uproot defender and turn him out of hole as a drive blocker. Able to respond to power with power. Balance issues a concern. Struggles with active, high-motor defenders. At times he ducks head into his run blocks, losing sight of a moving target. Narrow in-line power base due to lack of bend and excessive leaning. Overall Grade: (A-)
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2:7 RDE Leo Thompson (6’3” 295) – Mississippi State Bulldogs
“You wanna talk about genetic freaks, folks. Step right up. I had a DC tell me when he's the first guy off the bus, he looks so good, he should be pick No. 0. But he's gonna be about a year away." – Houston DC Johnathan Rivera.
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2:15 CB Jessie Castillio (6’1” 198) – LSU
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2:31 RT James Presley (6’4” 321) – Kansas
"I don't know if I see him as a guard or a tackle yet, but I think he can play both. I like him because I think he could upgrade our pass protection inside if we did bump him to guard, but he's athletic enough to play right tackle, too." – Booger Nientosix
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Gambler's New Season Report

The Houston's Gamblers start their 1977 season against an upcoming and tough divisional rival, the Oklahoma Outlaws. Odds makers in Las Vegas already have the Gamblers as 4pt underdogs. In fact, Houston is only favored in one game this season

"I cannot imagine a more better way to start our season." stated Houston's owner, Booger Ninetwosix. "Going one on one with an up and coming team within our division. One team will be leading the Division and one team will be the bottom dweller citizen looking up on how to improve."

"All the teams in our division have a rough road to a Championship. All the teams within our Division play the League Champion Detroit Wheels as well as the National Conference Champions New Orleans Voodoo, and that is just the regular season. In fact, as a division, each of us play 8 teams who have made it to last season playoffs. And to be honest, I really do not like the Gambler's chances this season. I would like to win our division, but in reality I will consider a 6-10 record an accomplishment considering who we have to play this season."

"I am totally clueless on how to prepare for our upcoming divisional games. As a team, we drafted Defensively in hopes of slowing down San Antonio while hoping to maintain Oklahoma. Memphis, who I believe is on the same level as we are, even though they were the better team between us last season, is anyone's guess."

"I'm not even sure our OC Consultant, former hot-dog / warm beer stadium vendor, Arty Ficshal, is ready for what may come this season. However, whatever the result, this season will be fun," said Houston's Owner Booger926

Gambler's 1977 End of Season Report

The Houston Gamblers ended their 4th season in the league with another disappointing season, finishing 4-12 for the second time in a row. The winless season is their fourth in as many seasons, who are losing their fan base and interest in the team.

There has been some highlights through out the season. Defensively, the Gambler's allowed 437 points, or 27.3 points average per game, to be scored this season. That's a 16% increase from the previous season when they allowed 507 points to be scored, and 2.9% dip from their best season when they allowed 424 pts to be scored. This increase can be attributed to several factors. The addition of players CB's Eugene Holland and Jesse Castillo, DT Leo Thompson, and LDE Donald Barry thru the first 3 rounds of the previous draft are a factor.

Holland started 14 games as the right side CB where he had 73 tackles, 1 sack while sharing this season team lead in interceptions with Cory Vargas with a total of 6. Castillo played in 15 games primarily as the Nickle Back in passing situations where he was quite effective, allowing an amazing 29.5% of catches to be caught. Thompson had 18 tackles and 5 sacks in the 582 snaps he was a part of.

This combination helped the Gamblers decrease the passing yards/game of opponents to 332 from 364 the previous season. The new guys also assisted in lowering the passing yards /attempt, Passing TD/game, and Rushes per game. Overall, Houston's defense improved to 21st this season as opposed to 27th last season with allowing 432 yards per game as opposed to 485 the previous season.

Offensively, Houston averaged 21.75 points for the season, which is an 4% decrease in points from their previous season. While at first glance this is disappointing, the front office wants to point out the positives of their offense. The Gamblers were in the top ten in several statistical categories. Houston had the 8th ranked passing offense while rotating their two QB's thru the season. James Lightfoot, who was picked up off waivers, was 224/381 for 3,049 yards and 19 TD's while throwing 9 picks for the season. And with the addition of two OL thru the draft, Houston reduced the number of sacks allowed per game from 3.4 the previous season to 1.9 this season. They also threw a new team record of 34 TD's this season. They also had two WR with over 1,000 yards receiving, another team record.

And on another note, 2nd year K Daniel McCormack was 26/27 (96.3%) in field goals attempts.

Houston has the 5th overall pick in the draft due to their record and will be looking to either improve their running game or defensive line with their selection. The possibility of moving down to get more picks or to move up to get their dream player is still undecided by management.

Quarterly Report

The Houston Gamblers are 2 - 2 for the first time since 1975 after beating Divisional Rival San Antonio Gunslingers. Within the Southwest Division, Houston is 1 - 1 for the first time against Division Rivals this early in the season. They are also 2 - 2 within the American Conference, which at this time, puts them fifth in place for a Wild-Card Playoff Spot. During this run, Houston won 2 out of 3 games played at home, beating the Southern California Sun and, as mentioned, San Antonio, while losing to the Michigan Panthers. The Gambler's lost their only away game played during the quarter, losing to Divisional Rival Memphis Showboats by a score of 36 - 34.

The Houston Gambler's Offense has drastically improved from last season. They currently have the 3rd ranked Scoring Offense, averaging 35.75 points per game. They also have currently the 8th ranked Total Offense, averaging 466 yards per game. The Total Offense is bolstered by also having the 8th highest Passing Offense at 354.5 yards per game and the 11th ranked Rushing Offense where they average 111.7 yards per game on the ground. Houston is also 3rd in passing yards per attempt (9.9), 7th in rushing yards per carry (4.5), and is proud to have the 2nd highest completion percentage (67.8%) within the league.

As good as the Offense is, the Defensive side of the ball needs some work. The Defense is 29th in Points Allowed giving up 33.75 points a game. Houston has the 30th Ranked total Defense where they allow 511.3 yards per game. Their Pass Defense is ranked last in the league where opposing QBs throw 428.5 yards per game. The Defense against the Run has improved and currently stands at being ranked 17th within the league where they are allowing 82.8 yards per game on the ground.

Management has set the following goals for the Houston Gamblers Defense for the next four games.
1) Allow an average of 28 points per game
2) Reduce the Total Yards allowed by 10%
3) Reduce Yards against the Pass by 15%
4) Continue to improve the Run Defense and keep it below 75 yards a game.
5) Get more Sacks and put more pressure on opposing QB's. The Gambler's did not get their first sack until the third game of the season.

New All-Time Leader

Houston has a new All-Time Catagory Leader.

QB James Lightfoot passed Houston's initial first round pick Chester Dougherty as All-Time Passing TD with his two TDs tossed against the Memphis Showboats. His performance brought his TD tossed total to 50 to Dougherty's 48. Lightfoot also is just 44 yards away from passing Dougherty as All-Time Passing Yardage Leader.

You picked him up off waivers? After he lasted until the 32nd round of the allocation draft and then was released by Orlando? If Lightfoot's intelligence were a little higher, he would be unstoppable. His QBR is currently 113 as it is.

78 Season 2nd Quarterly Report

The Houston Gamblers went 0-4 in the Second Quarter of the Season, bringing their season total to 2-6. Houston lost to divisional rival Memphis Showboats 20-24, the Orlando Renegades 16-17, the Tampa Bay Bandits 13-48, and the Honolulu Hawaiians by a score 26-28. Houston is now 0-10 lifetime against Memphis.

In the first quarter of the season, the Gamblers defense allowed an average of 33.75 points per game, which at the time was the 29th ranking in that category. In the second Quarter, Houston allowed an average of 29.25 points to be scored which currently is the 27th ranking in that category. Although the Gamblers improved, they did not meet the goal set by management of 28 points or below per game.

In the first quarter of the season, Houston's defense gave up an average of 511.3 yards per game, which at the time was the 30th ranking in that league. In the second quarter, the Gamblers gave up an average of 420.5 yards per game. This help improve the stat line in the category from 511.3 to 472.6, but it is still the 30th league's ranking. Management set the goal of reducing total yardage by 10% and this goal was met.

In the first quarter of the season, Houston's defense gave up an average of 428.5 yards thru the air in the passing game, which at the time was the worst in the league. In the second quarter, the Gamblers gave up an average of 313.5 passing yards which currently helped Houston improve to 31st in that category. Management set the goal of a 15% reduction in passing yards allowed from the first quarter and again this goal was met.

In the first quarter of the season, the Gambler's defense gave up an average of 82.8 yards per game on the ground. In the second quarter, Houston gave up an average of 107 Rushing yards per game, which dropped them from their previous ranking of 17th to their current ranking of 19th. Management set the goal of 75 yards per game and this goal was not met.

The Gamblers got 5 sacks in the last four games.

Houston starts the second half of the season with 2 home games and 6 away games still looking for their 20th Franchise win. Currently, odds-makers have them favored in 3 of the remaining 8 games ( -4 against the Bulls in Jacksonville, -11 against the Blazers in Houston, and -1 against the Gold in Denver)

Can Houston resign LB Carver?
Houston is in a cap space dilemma. With 11 players in their final year of contract, and a cap space of $23.6 million, Houston is trying to figure out a way to sign their best player, SLB Roderick Carver , who is asking for a $19 million signing bonus. With the league's regular minimum salary of $154,000 and , the combined salary with bonus comes into the $26 minimum range.

"We (Houston) would love to resign Carver to a long term contract," said the Gambler's owner Booger Ninetwosix, "and we will do everything possible to make it happen. But we have to look at what is also best for the team. There will be some players who, much to this organization's regret, will walk and test the FA market at the end of the season."

QB Lightfoot Threatens Hold Out

Houston's starting Quarterback, James Lightfoot , who is in the final year of his contract is threatening to hold out until he gets the deal he wants. Lightfoot, who was originally drafted by Orlando in 1974 and then picked up by Houston in 75 after his release, started eight games for the Gamblers in the 1979 season. He became the team's All-time leader at the position in passing yards, completion percentage, and touchdowns while in his third year playing with the team. His career best 62.4% of passes completed was fourth in the league last season and his QB rating of 102.37 was third best among the league's starting Quarterbacks. He threw 17 TDs with 5 INTs last season while being sacked 24 times.

"I just want to be shown the respect I believe I deserve from this team," Lightfoot, who is scheduled to make just under $450,000 with bonuses included in the final year of his contract, said to KRAP reporter Brad Cast. "I do not think 15 million guaranteed over 4 years is an unreasonable asking price for the position I play at the level I play."

Owner Booger Ninetosuex had no comment at the time on the subject, stating that it is the company's policy to not talk about renegotiations until after training camp. "Currently our focus is on making this team better thru our long term future investment opportunities via Free Agency and the Draft,"