I have found the Arena league to be very exciting! Although my Colorado Crush have yet to win a game, I have fallen in love with this high action/high scoring game that usually comes down to the last second.

The Crush have been selling out their home games, so I know I can't be the only gay fan. Where is everyone?

PS- there are some real hotties in the arena league too!

Hey bud: You should see an article that I did about the Arena Football League on this site anyday now. It has been submitted and just waiting for Jim and Cyd to get it posted. I received an email from them yesterday saying it would be up this weekend so. Hopefully that article will get more people interested in the League, as it is a very entertaining game. And I love the way that the League tailor's the game to the fans. VERY DEFINITELY a FAN-ORIENTED league, which I think adds to the appeal.

David

Thanks for the article Exfballplayer. I would like to add a few words of my own without stepping on your toes. I hope you don't mind.

*AFL players play for the love of the game. Their salary range is 30,000 to 135,000 with the league average at 65,000.

*Too many people think the AFL is just an NFL farm league. Sure some players move on to the NFL, but many are happy with their AFL careers, and have played superstar roles in the AFL without the millions or attitudes you get in the NFL. (Example being Arizona's Hunkie Cooper)

*The NFL can be so slow at times, this game is super fast paced. All those high scores lead people to think that there is no "D" in Arena. Not true, every defensive stop is paramount or you'll fall behind quick.

*No punt fests! Punts are not allowed and you must either go for it on 4th down or kick a field goal. No stale mates here.

One last thing I saw a post by a fan on the Arena wedsite, where a guy was talking about his daughter. This is what he said:
I write a column on the Colorado Crush at http://www.allsports.com/arena

Check it out!
GO CRUSH!

DenverFan, I am supposed to go to the Denver Crush vs. Dallas Desperados on Friday night with some fellow Denver Broncos fans. We might find ourselves cheering for the Crush, since they're owned by Elway, who sits on the right hand of God.

LOL Theo, are you sure we aren't separated at birth? I could not have said it better. I hope the Crush can win in Dallas, but the Deserados are really tough.

[ March 05, 2003, 02:24 PM: Message edited by: Denver Fan ]

Denver, I went to the Dallas Desperados vs Colorado Crush game. It was actually very entertaining except for me overdosing on all the corporate sponsorships, e.g., "there is a flag on the play brought to you by Cingular Wireless" and "we have a Hooter's timeout on the field"; not to mention, I counted 6 different corporate logo's on the field itself.

The high point of my night was when I glanced over to the Crush's side and noticed John Elway sitting right behind them (there aren't any suites at the old Reunion Arena).

Part of the sponsorship is due to the fact this is still a growing sport. And rather than pass high costs on to the consumer, they would rather sell sponsorships that will keep the costs down and allow the game to continue to be a fan friendly experience.

A necessary evil.

In another thread, DestinyRules posted

Trying to gauge the interest... anyone else interested in Arena Football?

I actually have a fantasy arena football team that's currently 2-0. The Glenn Dale Grizzlies are playing their inaugural season. wink

There was a lot of hype about the Phila. Soul because Jon Bon Jovi is a co-owner. They sold out their first home game and had over 15,000 for their second. Whether it holds up, who knows? Particularly since they've only won once so far.

From what little I've watched, it's too bizarre a sport for me.

Storm fan here, I like the high scoring and real fan friendly orient to the games.

WOW, been almost a year since a post on this old thread. My Crush this year are a changed team at 4-1 they are doing quite well.

I even found a fantasy league for AFL. I know lots of NFL fans don't follow the Arena game, but I enjoy it, these guys have something to play for. They aren't millionaire attitudes. They love thier fans and are far more accessable.

I knew very little about the AFL until the Austin (TX) Wranglers did a ticket giveaway on my campus to promote their inaugural season. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to the game. Now I'm kicking myself in the butt because it was against the Carolina team, and the game ended up being decided in the final seconds 56-55. ARRGGGHHH!

I'm glad Arena is available locally now though. With Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio hogging all the pro teams, Austin and El Paso have to do with minor league hockey and baseball. At least we field fun teams.

Hey Denver Fan,

Another Arena fan here. Unfortunately, Snyder would rather waste money on the Redskins (no bigs, I'm not a Redskins fan anyway) than put money into an arena team I guess. The closest team to me is Philly. I watch every weekend because I like the fact they don't punt, they have to move the football in the last minute even if they're winning and basiclaly, it's a much more fun game to watch.

I have become a San Jose fan and just bought some stuff from their site. Greib is a "Lumberjack Cutie" and I think they have a great team (with cool logo).

By all means, if any guys out there want to go to a Philly game or something, I'll go. I'm getting better with the rules of the game and stuff, but this is the first year I've really been into it.

GOOOOOO SABERCATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pittkid

panthers, sabercats, OH MY!!!

If you're coming up to get some Soul wink let us know up here so we can put out a proper welcome, or even join you at the game. They've had a couple of sellouts already, though, so if you're serious about it you probably should check into tickets quickly.

Hey Joe in Philly,

That would be great. Tix aren't that much for arena games yet (unlike every other over-priced nose-bleeder seating sports).

I'll check the Soul's schedule and maybe we can work something out. I wonder if there's a game during the convention.... hmm.... evil ideas are stirring.... hee he heeee..

pittkid

Hey guys, thought I'd try and revive this thread by saying that I was in 2nd place overall for this week in my Arena Football fantasy game, and I won $300.00

I have been doing well, but this is way cool. Do any of you play fantasy sports?

I'm not sure this sport is working out in Charlotte. This is from a brief story in today's Phila. Daily News about the Soul's loss on Saturday night. Charlotte's Ron Selesky got a win in his first game as head coach.

I don't know what's worse, firing two coaches in the first 10 games or hiring Eddie Khayat. eek! And the crowd in Charlotte was just 5,412 according to the article.

In another thread, puckman1 posted

Help me out guys who have experienced arena football. The reason I ask is because word is that Spokane is going to get an arena football team by next spring. From what I read, its almost a certainty. I don't know what league we will be in, but we would be an expansion team, and I think the only team from the Northwest. All I hear is that its really exciting, because of the size of the field, only 50 yards. And I am told its intense. It sounds good. But, my only concern is that its going to affect attendance here from our other teams, namely my hockey club, the Spokane Chiefs. We also have a minor league baseball team, and a semi-pro soccer club as well. I know the Chiefs can't be to thrilled about it. I also hear that tickets would be pretty reasonable, starting at about $7.00-$8.00 and goin up. Will be interested in hearing what guys think about it.

Arena football is a fun game to watch. We had an AFL club in Buffalo for a few years before poor play resulting in poor attendance chased them out of town.

It's kinda like football in the backyard.....8 on 8, and everyone who isn't a lineman is going out for some pass, which is normally what happens since clubs don't run that much. Multiple players can run at once before the snap.

scores are higher because of the smaller field, and screens beyond the endzones are in play as kickoffs and missed fg/pats bounce off of them with regularity.

I miss it...it was kinda cool.

Spokane will probably be in Arena2, my old home region (Quad City) has a team in A2. As for the AFL, it's always been something else interesting to watch, which I used to when ESPN would have the late Saturday games. And you never know, someday some guy might hit it big, I remember when Kurt Warner was the Iowa Barnstormers QB.


Plus some big names are taking ownership of franchises. Arthur Blank (Georgia Force), John Elway (Colorado Crush), and Jon Bon Jovi (Philadelphia Soul) are among the owners of the league. And EA is coming out with an Arena FB game. So while it may never displace the NFL, I think Arena will carve it's own niche in the sports world.