Arena Football Kinda Sucks

06/23/2007 10:45 pm
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I went to a Tampa Bay Storm game tonight. Apparently they are an Arena Football team, and apparently they have won 5 Arena Bowl titles. Anyway, it was not a pleasant experience. I've always said that football was meant to be played outside, and this is my second indoor football game where I came away with an even stronger opinion. It was just so unbelievably loud. The pregame intros consisted of about 12 Harleys driving around revving their engines right before the players were introduced. What Harley's have to do with storms I wasn't sure, but the noise made everyone incapable of thought so no one has had the change to ponder the rediculousness it. Between every single play they felt the need to entertain the crowd either by playing a song at a deafening level, or having a sideline announcer shout into the microphone to announce the next fan giveaway, or have the stadium announcer scream for the crowd to make more noise ("LET'S GET BEHIND YOUR STOOOOOORM DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFENSE!!!!!!!!!", ok, my ears actually started bleeding that time). And trust me, the crowd didn't need any encouragement. Ok, so I can stand the crowd noise, but what really gets to me is the concept of fireworks indoors. In an open air stadium, the sound has somewhere to go. In a small arena (or any indoor place for that matter), the sound of the booming fireworks are just deafening, frightening, usually startling, and excessive. I've been to a couple NHL games, and at no time was I ever concerned about the loud annoying, non-game noises being too loud. It was clear that the game is not the reason why people attend AFL games.

So mixing in the announingly loud announcers and the insane idea of indoor fireworks, the game wasn't that interesting either. In arena football, teams don't not score. 4 posessions ended in turnovers, and 1 ended on downs. Every other posession ended in either a touchdown or a fieldgoal. The final score was 55-51. It might just be me, but I'd kinda like to see some defense every once in a while. Watching a game where you know the outcome is going to come down to who has the ball last just doesn't do it for me. In fact, offensive is so big that there were 2 onside kicks in the game. The fist was with about 1:00 left and the kicking team had a 7 point lead. That's right, the team with the lead kicked an onside kick. They didn't recover, the other team received the ball at about the 3 yard line, and 2 plays later tied the game. Then, with the score tied, they kicked another onside kick. Seriously, if defense is that impossible that you onside kick it when you have a lead then there is something a little bit weird about the game. Not that any of this mattered, because the stadium was doing everything it could to distract the crowd between plays that no really paid any attention to the game until the last 2 minutes.

All in all, I don't think I would recognize the difference between a WWF Wrestling show and an Arena Football game. There was just way to much glitz and sparkle and annoyingness that the actual game became secondary, or maybe tertiary. And what was worse is that nobody but me seemed to mind. What kind of sport is this? One that I won't ever see in person again. Oh, in case anyone wanted to know, I sat in about the 6 row for $10 per ticket and I bought the ticket at the gate. Man, I missed Lambeau's comfortable 15 degree confines.
scott.jpgScott - 6225 Posts
06/23/2007 @ 10:46:38 PM
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Ok, Jeremy, delete the other two blogs I created. Something crapped out on my for a second.
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fry6beeu9.jpgJeremy - Pie Racist
06/23/2007 @ 11:10:55 PM
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I just love the flawless logic that "fans get excited when their team scores, therefor 4 times the scoring is 4 times as exciting."

Any reasonable person in charge should have pointed out that NFL fans get so excited when their team scores because it IS a rare-ish event, not because we like to see larger numbers on the pretty boards then smaller ones.
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Jeremy messed with this at 06/23/2007 11:11:06 pm
avatar2345.jpgPackOne - "That's what I call gettin a piece of Pi"
06/24/2007 @ 08:46:06 PM
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Arena ball blows. So does the video game. And while I'm thinking of it I'll play Madden for cash with anyone.
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question_mark.gifJason (Guest)
09/12/2008 @ 04:33:11 PM
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well....there is one good thing about AFL...when was the last time you heard a player being arrested?....for ANYTHING?. How many NFL players been arrested since 2000?...how many shootings and death's since then?...the Bengals had what...8 or ten arrests in one season?. The AFL is not much different from WWF because it is full of glitz and showman ship?...the NFL is FULL of players that could be WWF types...very brash. I wonder how many players from the NFL could play both ways,iron man football. I bet MOST of those 350+ pounders in the NFL would not last...no way. It takes a DIFFERENT type of conditioning to play both ways..I know...i've been there. No WAY would the COWBOYS linemen make it...i don't think so.
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jeremy.jpgJeremy - The pig says "My wife is a slut?"
09/12/2008 @ 04:47:48 PM
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You don't hear about them being arrested because nobodies get arrested all the time without making headlines.
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newalex.jpgAlex - 3619 Posts
09/12/2008 @ 05:55:34 PM
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Jason Wrote - Today @ 04:33:11 PM
How many NFL players been arrested since 2000?

Non-issue when it comes to watching the games on Sunday. People from pretty much every possible organization of every type get arrested. It's not like people are being gunned down during games or something.

Jason Wrote - Today @ 04:33:11 PM
It takes a DIFFERENT type of conditioning to play both ways..I know...i've been there.

emoticon
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scott.jpgScott - Get Up! Get outta here! Gone!
09/12/2008 @ 06:00:48 PM
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Jason Wrote - Today @ 05:33:11 PM
well....there is one good thing about AFL...when was the last time you heard a player being arrested?....for ANYTHING?. How many NFL players been arrested since 2000?...how many shootings and death's since then?...the Bengals had what...8 or ten arrests in one season?. The AFL is not much different from WWF because it is full of glitz and showman ship?...the NFL is FULL of players that could be WWF types...very brash. I wonder how many players from the NFL could play both ways,iron man football. I bet MOST of those 350+ pounders in the NFL would not last...no way. It takes a DIFFERENT type of conditioning to play both ways..I know...i've been there. No WAY would the COWBOYS linemen make it...i don't think so.


None of what you said changes the fact that I went to an Arena football game. There was not one redeeming quality from a fan perspective, in my opinion anyway.
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matt.jpgMatt - 3905 Posts
09/12/2008 @ 09:28:38 PM
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Jason Wrote - Today @ 04:33:11 PM
I wonder how many players from the NFL could play both ways,iron man football. I bet MOST of those 350+ pounders in the NFL would not last...no way. It takes a DIFFERENT type of conditioning to play both ways..I know...i've been there. No WAY would the COWBOYS linemen make it...i don't think so.


I think most NFL players could play both ways, at least as well as anyone playing in the AFL. The reason we don't see it, however, is not because they lack the ability or the will to condition themselves for it, but because it is inefficient. It's also the same reason why cars are made on an assembly line, and why most pitchers aren't good hitters. It's better to specialize in the area where you are best (technically where you have an comparative advantage) and let others specialize in the areas they are best at. This means that the Offensive Lineman will spend his time focusing on being the best blocker he can (and as a result will grow to 350+ lbs.), while ignoring anything he could do to make himself a better pass rusher. The Defensive lineman will do the opposite, and the team as a whole will be better off, just as GM is better off using an assembly line instead of having all their employees each make a car by themselves, and baseball teams are better off having a dominant pitcher who can't hit rather than a mediocre pitcher who can.

Sorry for going on about something that is, at least on some level, obvious to most of you, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to mix sports and economics.
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matt.jpgMatt - Nutcan.com's MBL
09/12/2008 @ 09:38:32 PM
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I should add that if the NFL restricted rosters like Arena does, then it might start to make sense for some players to play both ways (likewise if MLB cut down their roster sizes, players who could both hit/play defense and pitch would be more valuable), but they don't, so it's not real helpful to compare player usage between the two leagues and their different rules.
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fry6beeu9.jpgJeremy - 9506 Posts
09/12/2008 @ 10:48:30 PM
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Well, I think we can all agree that there wasn't a valid point in there. Or, at least a relevant point. The closest he came was stating NFL players are more like WWF personal than Arena League players are, which maybe a valid point, if Scott was trying to make the opposite point, which he wasn't.

Though I think it's fair to point out there is a lot of hoopla during "down time" at major sporting events as well. I would be willing to believe it's more overblown in the Arena League, but perhaps you just noticed it more because you weren't into the game as much.

Also, there are lots of indoor NFL teams that do fireworks, including the Vikings and Colts (though they now have a retractable roof). In years past the Vikings would score so often it would get hazy in the Dome. Luckily the Vikings have found a way to alleviate that nuisance. Though shooting off fireworks in a building made for hockey would be pretty crazy.
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scott.jpgScott - On your mark...get set...Terrible!
09/13/2008 @ 03:02:02 PM
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It was an almost every down-event where the announcer would lean into the mic, turn up the volume and yell something like "it's time for some DEEEEEFENSE!" (it was quite ear-peircing, and quite ironic because there is NO defense in the AFL). I will admit that the hoopla was much more noticeble and annoying partly because the gameplay was soo uninteresting. But, I was at a game at the Metrodome for a Packers-Vikings game, and I don't remember there being so much hoopla that it bothered me. And trust, me, I would have been looking for reasons to complain about the Vikings stadium.

The fireworks in the Metrodome weren't quite as bad as in a hockey arena. The size of the building I guess has something to do with that. The Metrodome (and Miller Park for that matter, because they shoot of fireworks even when the roof is closed) aren't THAT loud that you feel like the building is going to collapse. Plus, in a building that size, the sound has somewhere to go, which I'm sure is part of the reason that they don't seem to be that loud.
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vignette.bmpCarlos44ec - 2079 Posts
09/14/2008 @ 01:17:30 PM
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I dislike Arena ball unless it's all that's on.
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scott.jpgScott - If you aren't enough without it, you'll never be enough with it.
09/14/2008 @ 06:36:50 PM
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Carlos44ec Wrote - Today @ 02:17:30 PM
I dislike Arena ball unless it's all that's on.


If it's all that is on I'll find something on Lifetime.
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fry6beeu9.jpgJeremy - 9506 Posts
09/14/2008 @ 06:44:17 PM
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Lifetime, television for women. Yet for some reason women are always getting beaten on that channel. In a Lifetime original, Meredith Baxter Birney gets beaten with a rod, in a Lifetime original "Rod".
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avatar2345.jpgPackOne - Well use me, use me, 'caus you ain't that average groupie.
09/17/2008 @ 11:07:48 PM
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Nevermind.
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question_mark.gifSaintsfan (Guest)
05/27/2010 @ 11:58:08 AM
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Arena football gently caressin' suck
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face.bmpCarlos44ec - 2079 Posts
05/28/2010 @ 12:23:45 PM
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Not only Caressin', but gently caressin?
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question_mark.gifDrew (Guest)
07/06/2012 @ 11:47:58 PM
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Went to my first AFL game tonight. This five-year-old blog post was almost exactly my experience, even down to the two nonsensical onside kicks that resulted in touchdowns by the receiving team.
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question_mark.gifAnon. Nut Can Fan (Guest)
07/08/2012 @ 10:27:11 PM
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AFL is thge best soprt ever. you all doumb.
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