Kansas City Tease - Close the Book?

It seems like forever since I started tracking the development of a female arena football team for the Kansas City sports market.  At first it was going to be the Sugar and Spice League, then later it was the development of a new league called the Ladies Arena Football League.  But the LAFL season schedule is up and there are only four teams on the schedule, none of which are from Kansas City.

I've caught a lot of flack about the the promise of the Kansas City Tease.  I have looked at the available information and quickly found myself thinking that this team would not come together.  Club appearances, the photographs were more a "sex sells" approach and "wanna be celebrity" presentation than that of a group of women who were serious about playing football.  I have no doubt that there were a few ladies involved in the Tease that wanted to play football, but most of them looked like they should be dancing at one of the top level strip clubs here in KC.  In fact, the people behind the team were coming back as having a past in the entertainment business not the sports business.

Well, its likely over.  Check their website and there is no indication that the team is any closer to competing than they were a year ago.  Their calendar ends with one practice entry in June, and then nothing.  Facebook, no posts since January.  All indications are that the Kansas City Tease have fallen apart.

Now, I would love to see a respectable Ladies Arena Football Team come to Kansas City.  The problem is that whoever leads this endeavor has to be serious about Arena Football, not using the ladies to draw men, and  certain ladies, into a group of clubs that the promoters and owners are connected with.  The Lingerie Football League has gained enough respect to get themselves broadcast on MTV2 in the past, and when I first saw the talk of a ladies team, hoped that it was a LFL team.  But there is this little problem with support for teams like this.  Kansas City just isn't an Arena Football town, especially with the history of the Kansas City Brigade, the complaints that arose when the team moved to the new Sprint Center, and now the far from impressive Kansas City Command.

So, I am closing the book on the Kansas City Tease.  It was a nice idea, but all appearances are that it's over.

Kansas City Tease - A Tease?

Finally, the Lady Arena Football League has posted their 2012 game schedule.  Problem is, the Kansas City Tease are not on it.  In fact, the LAFL has only four teams playing in 2012 according to the schedule that they have posted on their official website (http://www.ladyarenafootballleague.com).  When you go to the Kansas City Tease Facebook Page, well, no one is really talking, its like the team has gone back into hibernation.  Their official Web Site (http://www.kctease.com) offers NOTHING in any information for this team.  So, what is it?

I had a man come in and say that he has watched them practicing.  I see on their facebook page that one other person "misses" seeing them practice.  So there was an attempt to start a team in Kansas City, but after two years of 'trying' to start a team, if they haven't figured it out yet, then maybe someone else needs to try.  So much for my dismay with the KC Tease.

What of the LAFL?  There are four teams scheduled to start competing on May 19.  Are they going to stream their games via Ustream or another service?  I would love to see a really good Female Football game, I have seen hope in the LFL, break a little further away from the pubescent wet dream sales pitch and get down to real Arena football and you would have a die hard fan here.  But let's quick teasing and let's get this going, because the Arena Football League is actually losing fans due to their ... lack of real talent and entertainment value.

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.

Kansas City Tease? Apparently just that, a tease.

I guess we're saying goodbye to the Leather and Lace Football League and hello to the Sugar and Spice Football League?  Don't ask me what happened, all I know is that neither league, the LLFL or the SSFL seem to have much than a cheap, thin web presence and a facebook page that says little to nothing about the league, the teams, or their schedule.

The Kansas City Tease is no better.  I've been to their Facebook page and what I'm seeing is a threat that the League is going to kick off in May, but its surrounded by a lot of "come see the girls at a club call Luna.  I also took a moment and researched the Sugar and Spice Football League, which the KC Tease is now supposed to be a member of, and there is absolutely NOTHING about the league other than a page that shows the league logo, and several teams, none of which are the KC Tease.

Let's be real.  Its going to take a lot of work for the ladies to prove that this isn't some prick-tease in regards to Arena Football.  We've been watching for sometime, waiting for some real information about the team, about where they are going to play, about when their season begins.  When we find information about the league that the KC Tease is looking to be a part of, you find yourself sitting back shaking your head thinking that this is the Junior Varsity High School Team if the Lingerie Football League was the Pros.  At least the girls in the LFL can play football, and until the KC Tease actually do something other than show up at some club as eye-candy, I am not going to take them seriously.  So, no more about this ... tease.