AFL - Less than Impressive

We love our Arena Football.  We would love it more if the league set pay standards that would attract the better players who are not locked into another Professional Football team.  Prior to the collapse of the AFL in 2009, the average wage of an AFL player was around 85,000 a year.  That's nothing to sneeze at.  However, with the restructuring of the Arena Football League, and the 2010 failure of the newly formed AFL Player's Union, the average Arena Football Player only makes $400 per game.  On a 16 game schedule, that works out to a staggering ... wait for it ... $6,400 per year.  Wow, don't quit your day job.  No seriously, the League has even told them ... keep a day job.

Now I did find a resource that claimed that the top players in the League make around 50,000 per year.  The average income for a team player would depend on the number of higher paid stars and the Salary Cap for the league ... a cap that I've heard about, but can't find any information on.

The toothless Player's Union is not going to make matters any better any time soon.  In 2010, it was made clear by the Team Owners that they will use Union Breaking Tactics to prevent the Player's Union from gaining any real control.  When the Player's decided to boycott the games at the opening of the 2010 season, after the owners and league were not willing to come to terms with the Players Union, the owners locked out their players and brought in people who were willing to cross the line and play for a team that they had originally failed to make the roster for.  This caused the league's players to cross their own picket lines, breaking the attempt of the Player's Union to get back some of the five thousand dollars in "per game" salary cuts.

Now, the money stats are based on information available on the Internet.  The story of how the player's boycott was broken by the team owners was a story told by a team rep for the Spokane Shock during the television broadcast streamed via uStream.tv this past Monday night.  What should be a hint of how things are is the fact that he seemed proud of the event and how it turned out.

So, despite the banner that says "25 Years", this is not the Arena Football League that captured the hearts of  fans for over twenty years.  This is a new version, with less of a focus on the fans and more on making big money for the little men who are Arena Football team owners.

Command vs Sharks - Game One in Kansas City

Unless the Command have made some major changes to their team, unless they have put the problems of 2011 behind them, the Kansas City Command will open their 2012 Season with a loss at home against the Jacksonville Sharks.  Now, I know that there are going to be a lot of people who would want to disagree with me.  The Kansas City Command Fans really want this team to step up and have a winning season.  But history is working against them.  The Kansas City Command have not been able to put together a winning season since they moved from Kemper to the Sprint Center, and dwindling attendance makes it hard for the team to afford picking up the better players (as if the league was paying them much to begin with).

So, I am going to make two predictions:  Command will drop one to the Sharks, attendance will be its normal less than 9,500 in attendance, even with the specials they are running.

Barnstormers Beat Spokane in Overtime

The first half of the game was back and forth between the Iowa Barnstormers and the Spokane Shock.  But things seemed to change after half-time as the Spokane Shock seemed to be shooting themselves in the foot.  The Iowa Barnstormers took the lead, and at one point had extended their lead to 56-42, but that lead would dwindle and regulation time would run out with the score tied at 63.

Iowa won the coin toss for overtime and after deferring to Spokane.  On the third play of overtime, Iowa intercepted the ball and that set up the 35 yard pass from Raterink to Marco Thomas that would give Iowa the win.

Spokane didn't look good most of the game.  In fact, if it hadn't been for the vicious hit that took Spokane's Quarterback out of the game, the game would have likely ended with a much more decisive win by Iowa.  Meyer was just not putting it together.  Iowa also needs to take into consideration that incidents like the vicious hit that Mohring put on Spokane's Quarterback, that got him ejected from the game, is going to put a target on their backs and could work against them.  I mean, come on gentlemen, its not like you're out there defending a job that pays millions a year.  This is arena football, you're not making all that much, and with the past success of your player union, its not going to get much better.

So, what's next?

The Iowa Barnstormers host the Utah Blaze on Saturday.  The Blaze lost their first game of the season against Arenabowl Champion Quarterback Aaron Garcia, and the San Antonio Talons who were only 8-10 for 2011.  Utah apparently had a rough game, penalties and miscues being a major part of their loss.  Iowa is normally efficient at home, and coming in with a Win against Spokane, I am going to give Iowa the nod in this match up.

Week Two Prediction:  Iowa over Utah.

Rush Run Over Tampa Bay

First game of the season, and the Chicago Rush are off to a great start.  With a team record eight towndown passes, and two returned interceptions, Russ Michna opened the season with a 70-48 WIN!

I really wanted to sit down and watch the game.  I found a free video feed from the stadium on Ustream TV, but life took me away from my computer and I didn't get back to the computer until after the game was over.  But I'm excited about the win!  Michna with eight touchdown passes, Kevin Morris with two great interceptions for touchdowns.  There is every reason to believe that the Rush have an excellent chance of making a serious bid for the 2012 Arenabowl.

So, what's next?  The Chicago Rush will take a bye in Week Two, then host the Orlando Predators in a Thursday night game for Week Three.  The Orlando Predators suffered a double digit loss in Week One against the Pittsburgh Power, (40-26), on the road, but in 2011 they finished the season with a record of 11-7, with a record of 5-4 (.555) on the road.  Chicago had a strong home record in 2011, and they are off to a great start in 2012.  My prediction for Week Three?  I think I'll take Chicago again.  Both Chicago and Pittsburgh will be coming back from a Bye Week.

Kansas City Tease (sigh)

Selling the players as Serious?
Looks more like Sex Sells
(taken from KC Tease on Facebook)

Okay, I'm starting to get a headache trying to figure this team out.  First they were going to be a part of the Leather and Lace Football League (LLFL), then I found something about the Sugar and Spice Football League a couple of months ago (SSFL), and now I find that they are a part of a new league allegedly formed by the female athletes called the Ladies Arena Football League (LAFL).  It seems like there has been a lot of confusion about where they are going to land especially with the talk being that their season was coming up soon.  Now they are in a league with only five total teams, according to LAFL website, and there is no schedule posted for the alleged 2012 Season.  Here is the information provided on the site:

Lady Arena Football League is formed by Female Athletes. We understand being female Athletes and not being appeciated for our talents. LAFL Staffs works hard at setting a platform for ladies to be beautiful on and off the feild. 

We are a 8 on 8 Full Contact Football League which play in Lingerie Style Uniforms. LAFL are of the same By Laws and Rules of the National Arena Football League. Ladies of the LAFL are not just Football Players, there are other opportunities under our unbrella.

Ladies of the LAFL will not just be Football Players but  Role Models to young women. Letting them know you  can compete in a "MAN Sport" and  embrace being a lady at the same time.

The Lady Arena Football League is in its active first season. The League consist of 5 Active teams: Lady Houston Panthers, New Orleans Lady Dollz, Los Angeles Riders, Kansas City Tease and St. Louis Sting.  (LAFL Web Site)

This is a football team?  I see two that I would be willing
to take seriously, the rest ... well ... I'm struggling
(taken from KC Tease on Facebook)

Interesting little tidbit that I picked up on Twitter about one of the teams in this league, the LA Riders is owned by Snoop Dog.  The Kansas City Tease is owned by Steve Hooks, a local entrepreneur in the local entertainment industry for the past 10 years.  The team is coached by Leonard Bulock who brings to the table a lengthy resume of High School Football Coaching positions, and apparently some experience in ladies Semi-Pro ball.

But it all still comes down to the fact that when you look at their Facebook page, you still see the promos that the team is going to be showing up at a club named Luna.  In all fairness, the sex sells attitude is exploited with the Lingerie Football League, and I really gave them a hard time until I started catching the games on MTV2, so I guess we will have to see what comes of this, especially after one reader has stated in a previous article that the ladies are actually running some real plays at practice.

So, let's find a home already.  Don't tell me to take you seriously when all I have to go by are pictures like the two shown here.  Someone needs to tell those who would like to see if this can be taken seriously or not, when and where are they going to be playing here in Kansas City, and how much is this ... game ... going to cost me to check the team out?

I'd like to be a fan, but I'm having a hard time taking this all seriously.

Chicago Rush 43 - Iowa Barnstormers 22

Rush vs Barnstormers at iWireless Arena in Moline Illinois

While it doesn't really count, it should be taken as a sign of things to come.  The exhibition game between the Chicago Rush and the Iowa Barnstormers is in the books and Chicago walks away with it.

Like a lot of people who didn't make the game, I had to watch Twitter and the Chicago Rush Facebook page for updates for the game, and from what was being shared, it was a good game.  To get things started, the Defense sacked the Barnstormer's quarterback, then scored on a Barnstormer's fumble.  The Barnstormers came back with a TD, but missed the extra point.  They would not score again in the first half of the game and at half-time the Rush had a commanding 26 to 6 lead.

The second half of the game show a little life from the Barnstormers.  The Barnstormers managed to block a field goal attempt and return it for a TD.  The Barnstormers would score another nine points in the second half, but it would not come close to being enough to take the game.  The final score was Chicago 43, Iowa 22.

But as I said, this was only an exhibition game.

AFL: Week One Preview - Chicago over Tampa, Iowa loses to Spokane?

Its almost Arena Football Season once again, and once again I am going to be tracking three teams.  Once again I am going to be tracking the local underdogs, the Kansas City Command and the Iowa Barnstormers.  But my team for 2012 will once again be the Chicago Rush, if you haven't figured that out from the new header on my Blog.

Tomorrow (February 25th) is actually the first game of the AFL Season for me ... an exhibition game between the Chicago Rush and the Iowa Barnstormers, which does not show up on any schedule, and is reported to be taking place at the I Wireless arena in Moline Illinois.  Unfortunately, I have yet to find any hint that the game will be televised for those who would like to see it, but can't really make the trip to Moline.  I stand by my prediction that as long as Chicago takes the game seriously, they will win.

I know its early, but let's take an early look at Week One:

Let's start off with the Chicago Rush.  Week One they will be taking on the Tampa Bay Storm in Chicago.  These two teams did not meet in Inter-Conference play in 2011, but they will meet on March 10th.  

Tampa Bay finished the 2011 Season with a record of 7 wins 11 loses.  They were 4-7 in Conference play, but they were in a strong conference, which included the AFL Champs Jacksonville Sharks.  But they only averaged 44 points per game during 2011 while allowing their opponents to average 56 points per game..

Chicago finished 2011 with a record of 13-5, and finished in Second Place in their conference, losing to the Arizona Rattlers in their final playoff bid to return to the Arenabowl.  They came out of the 2011 season with an average of 53 points per game and only allowed their opponents to average 46 points per game.  So, I'm going to go with history, and Chicago has a strong AFL history, I am going to call this one for the Chicago Rush.

The Iowa Barnstormers will be taking on the Spokane Shock in Spokane.  These two teams only met once in 2011 with Iowa hosting.  The result of the game was a one point win by Iowa as the home team.

In 2011 the Spokane Shock made it to the first round of the playoffs where their season was ended by the Arizona Rattlers.  Spokane finished 2011 with a regular season record of 9 wins and 9 loses, averaging almost 58 points per game while allowing their opponents to average 57 points.  They were 6-5 in their own Conference, but the interesting little piece of information here is that they were only 2-7 when playing away.

Iowa finished 2011 with a record of 5-13 with a home record of 4-5.  They averaged 51 points per game, but allowed their opponents to average 62 points.  Looking at the two teams stats, I find it hard to believe that Iowa is going to beat Spokane in Spokane.  If it was the other way around, if Iowa was at home, then I could see giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I have to call this one for Spokane.

So, Week One:  Chicago over Tampa Bay - Spokane over Iowa.

Oh, Kansas City has a bye Week One.