Brigade blasts Gladiators

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To the Las Vegas Gladiators’ credit, their announced attendances this season have been fairly close to the actual number of fans in the stands.

They have not tried to hide the fact those numbers are falling, and after Sunday, it’s difficult to hide the fact their season — for all practical purposes — might be over.

A 65-31 loss to the Kansas City Brigade before 4,838 at the Orleans Arena was over early, offering no hope of better days ahead.

"There’s nothing I can sit here and tell you to sugarcoat it," Gladiators coach Danton Barto said. "It’s embarrassing. I’m more embarrassed the way we played. It’s not that we lost. That performance was horrendous.

"To their benefit, they probably could’ve beat us by 100, and they took their foot off the gas."

Kansas City (3-2) took advantage of two fumbles, a crazy bounce off the net and iron, and a failed fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak to build a 34-3 lead early in the second quarter. The Gladiators committed five turnovers for the game.

The Gladiators (1-5) lost for the 11th time in the past 12 games, dating to last season. Las Vegas travels to Georgia on Sunday.

Just what kind of team the Gladiators take east remains to be seen, because Barto said he would consider making major changes.

"I thought by now that we would be a lot better on both sides of the ball," Barto said. "It’s just not clicking. Sometimes that’s scheme. Sometimes that’s guys don’t like each other. That stuff happens in the locker room. We’ve got to find some guys that want to come in here and fight.

"I haven’t noticed (players disliking each other), but obviously this is not a tight team, because tight teams, when the going gets tough, they pull together and find a way to keep fighting and keep coming back. Today, I saw a lot of guys quit, I’ve got to be honest, and (the media) did, too, probably. You saw a lot of guys quit playing hard, and that’s a sign that you’ve got to make some changes, or we’re going right down the toilet."

Gladiators defensive back Earthwind Moreland agreed the team could be more tight-knit.

"I’ll be the first to say I played terrible, and I feel like I’ll be the first to go in there and say we’ve got to come together as a team," Moreland said. "Regardless of what the coaches say or what the coaches have us doing, if they have us doing it, they’re coaches for a reason. And we’ve got to go by what they’re saying, and we’ve got to do it — each person. You can’t worry about somebody else’s job. We’ve got to worry about our own jobs."

Even so, Gladiators quarterback Shaun King said too much is made of whether team unity exists.

"That’s all a crackpot," said King, who completed 24 of 49 passes for 253 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. "I’ve been on a team that won a Super Bowl. I’ve been on a team that went undefeated. Everybody’s not going to get along when you’ve got guys that come from as many different backgrounds as a football team. In the NFL, you don’t even see your teammates. When you leave that building, everybody has their own life."

The question is whether there is life left in this season.

Barto insisted there was, pointing to a similar situation with the af2’s Memphis Xplorers, who he once coached out of a big early-season hole.

"You can’t panic," Barto said. "That’s the worst thing you can do, because I think any player will tell you if you start panicking, then they can see it in your eyes."