Kiss Playoff Hopes Goodbye

Kansas City really needed a win against Milwaukee on Saturday night.  Unfortunately, the offense failed the team, the defense couldn't hold, and the Command, unless the rest of the conference falls apart, are out of the hunt for a wildcard slot in the AFL 2011 Playoffs.

The Command needs to develop its talent.  It needs to acquire more talent.  The sports fans of Kansas City are not supporting the team that well now, and it will only get worse as Arena Football tries to re-establish itself after the one season collapse of the AFL, and the added one season exclusion from the new league.

How bad can it be?  Well, take into consideration the plight of the Kansas City Royals.  The Baseball strike did a lot of damage to baseball in Kansas City.  Attendance is still down from the numbers prior to the strike, and with the team having less than successful seasons, the matter is taking a long time to heal.  But KC is a baseball town, and the Kansas City Royals are working hard to get the fans back into the seats.  People like Royals Stadium, and the owners of the team and the stadium are working hard to make it better, more appealing to the fans.

The Command are trying to make their comeback in an arena that many AFL fans do not like.  The people at the Sprint Center believe that in a couple of years that the old Brigade fans will come around and they will be back to the 9,000+ attendance level.  There have been some improvements ... parking around the stadium for Command games has apparently dropped.  There is a small lot in which tailgating can take place, right across the street from the Oak Street entrance to the Sprint Center.  Ticket prices seem to be comparable to other arenas in the region, but the team is losing and as I have said ... a lot of fans don't like Sprint Arena.

But the biggest killer for the team at this time is the fact that their record is currently 4-9, and people are not talking about how exciting the games are.  If the Command are going to make it in Kansas City, they NEED to win back their old Brigade fans.  They need to win back the fans that they lost when the moved from Kemper Arena to the Sprint Center.  They need to find a way to bring excitement back into their game, and they need to create some promotions that the large groups in Kansas City will support instead of trying to work around them like they did with the Scouting event they held this year.

Here's what's left for 2011:

Cleveland Gladiators

@Utah Blaze

@Iowa Barnstormers

Jacksonville Sharks

Tulsa Talons

The teams that I have in bold are pretty much a given to win against the Command, based on their records.  I am tempted to take the Iowa Barnstormers against KC, since the Barnstormers will be at home and they've made some changes that will hopefully get their team up and running for next year.  Tulsa has a slightly better record than KC, but being here in KC there is a chance that the Command could win.  So, my prediction for the rest of the season is a final record of 5-13.  That's right, I figure at best, they will win one more game, and that's being hopeful on my part.  I am willing to bet that KC has already won their last game of the season.