This Week in the CPIFL (America's Hobbyist Football League)

First and foremost, the idea of calling the players in this league Professionals is an insult to the people playing in the league.  Every indication is that the players in the CPIFL are paid so little that they can't even afford to take time off from their jobs during the season to train or compete.  A ball park figure for the player salaries, which is under a League set Salary Cap, is around $250 per game.  Which means, if they are putting in anything more than 32 hours a week into this hobby, they are making less than minimum wage.  So, let's call it what it is, a hobby league, and let's stop lying to the fans that they are paying to attend a serious professional football event.  To be frank, this is probably only going to be a one year wonder for many of the teams that are in the league.  Looking at Wichita's stats, they are only bringing in less than three thousand fans per game, and no telling how many of those tickets are being comp'd.  And Kansas City has never reported the attendance for their games at Kemper Arena, but a guess by looking at the live streams of the game, they are barely breaking two thousand fans, if they are doing that.

Update:  I have recently heard a news report that the Renegades made an offer to a former NFL Football Player (do I really need to say the name?).  What amazed me was that the reporter commented that they offered him the same deal as the other teams in the league ... $75.00 per game.  That low?  Could that information be correct?  If that is the came, then the league is even more "hobbyist" than I originally suspected and it answers a lot of questions about the quality of play on the field.

Wichita is on top of the standings again this week, carrying an overall record of 6-1.  Interesting is the fact that the team that beat them was Kansas City, who started off 0-2 and has now won their last four games in a row.  If this was the "old" AFL, I would be excited, but this is the CPIFL, and the last game I watched reminded me more of a High School football game than a Professional or even Semi-Pro game.

Anyway, Kansas City did win it's fourth game in a row, beating 0-5 Mid-Mo in Sedalia Missouri.  That's right, little Sedalia has a professional football team.  The week before, they beat another powerhouse in the league, the Kansas Koyotes (based out of Topeka Kansas), who's only win was against ... Mid-Mo.  This coming weekend, the Renegades will take on the Salina Bombers (3-2).  After that, they take on their first real challenge in several weeks, the Sioux City Bandits (4-1), who's only loss is against the Omaha Beef (4-1).  The only two teams that seem to have a chance handing KC another loss are Sioux City and Omaha, who have both already beaten KC in their first two games.  So it comes down to whether or not KC actually resolved its problems on the field, or if the competition is just that pitiful.