Arena League Football

For the second time in as many weekends, “The Grandeur” made it to a new sporting event for the first time. Arena League football was the flavor this time.
The Kansas City Brigade were hosting the Colorado Crush in K.C.’s first ever playoff game in just their second season. They lost 49-42 as their last pass fell incomplete in the endzone to end an exiting game.
And if nothing else, the Arena League is an exciting game. With only eight players per team playing on a field only 50 by 25 yards with lots of passing, there is rarely a dull moment. This will mark the 21st year of the Arena Bowl and the league looks to growing every year. It has found its way on to ESPN regularly and it’s a way for the football junkies to get their fix before the fall.
But what should really help the AFL is the disbandment of the Euro League. With six teams at over 50 players apiece, that’s 300 guys coming back to the States looking for a job. While many AFLer’s will lose their, the level of talent will definitely increase.
Now onto the game itself. There is not much of running game, so linebackers have a very small role in the game. As do defensive linemen. The passing is so quick that rarely does the quarterback get touched taking those big boys out of the game. Therefore the game basically turns into a showdown between the receivers and the defensive backs.
And the showdown is much more calculated than it looks. With the field being so small, it becomes a talent equalizer. Guys with blazing speed aren’t always the best. There is simply not enough room to make things happen. Instead, great route running becomes an absolute necessity. The player who can find an inch of space with a precision route then catch the ball in traffic will excel. That and guys who are really tall and can simply out jump everyone else.
The problem with the Arena League is that objective it is designed to achieve will be the thing that will keep it from becoming big. It is a farm system for the NFL. People will always want to see the best players, which the AFL will never have. And when the AFL does get an NFL-worthy player, they’re gone. It’s like good baseball players in small-markets. As soon as they become big enough when the fans love them, they’re sold to a bigger market. It’s a Catch-22.
But who cares when there are guys catching, tackling and into bashing into the wall. We get to watch football during the NFL offseason. It’s like getting to eat buffalo wings in the spring and summer before we get to eat steak in the fall.