Not a Total Loss

Only the world’s most poorly updated football (American-style) blog would have its’ first post in months be, on the day of the BCS Championship Game and a couple days before Round Two of the NFL playoffs, about the Arena Football League.

So middle of last month the Arena Football League announced the 2009 season would be suspended. The backstory was that the owners couldn’t agree on bringing in an additional investment group for the league. If I would dig around some, like maybe in the comment boards at Arena Fan or something, I’d try to find out what’s going on, at least in the fan rumor mill. It was fishy when long-time commissioner David Baker resigned a couple days before the Arena Bowl in July of 2008. I doubt it was so he could concentrate on negotiating a contract for his son Sam, a first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons.

I’m quite annoyed by this development. I’ve just moved to New York and was looking forward to spending the odd Spring weekend riding the LIRR out to Uniondale and watching the New York Dragons. However, things aren’t a total loss. The Arena League’s developmental league, af2, is still in business! Hard to believe the penny-ante league originally built out of the corpses of the original Xtreme Football League (not to be confused with the sadly departed XFL) and the Indoor Football League, running in mid-to-small-sized American cities would keep going while it’s parent shut down. Then again costs are a lot lower for them. I just need to see which one of my friends I can convince to go to Albany with me to catch the “rebranded” Firebirds, nee’ Conquest.

Less Than Epic Fail… and Stamps win.

I really hoped to blog about the obscure football (compared to the NFL and NCAA I-A/Bowl Championship Watchamahooseits Subdivision) leagues that I followed. Unfortunately, well for this blog, I’m no longer a twenty-something goober willing to invest far too much time to watch the Division III Playoffs or keep track of goings on in the Arena League. The fact that I used to do such things, and remember it, has some limited value as a party trick and as I result I know more than the average American football fan on the street. However, I’m not up to that task anymore, not without money, and no one is likely to pay me to stay up to speed on whether the Tennessee Valley Vipers are getting a new arena. Note: that was a hypothetical. I’m not paying any attention to the Vipers, I have no idea if there is anything happening with their playing home. Though I see they won the Arena Cup (af2 Championship) this past summer.

Barring some weird change where I care about obscure football again enough to check in on it more than every couple of months, the best I can do is look back and issue a “oh hey, how about that?”

So here’s my first mea cupla, coming from the “I like you, I just don’t love you” Canadian Football League. The 2008 Grey Cup was a week ago, 23 November in Montreal. The West Division champion Calgary Stampeders, beat the hometown Alouettes representing the CFL’s East Division, 22-14. Stampeders QB Henry Burris, not quite six years removed from his pathetic appearance as a late season emergency starter for the NFL’s Chicago Bears, was the game MVP.

I only watched the game highlights and it’s hard to say much from them. Burris looked excellent; he’s had six years to get better and is going against the CFLs not quite as ferocious talent. This was the first time I’ve seen longtime CFL QB Anthony Calvillo. Maybe he’s playing hurt, but his arm strength looked bad in this game. Apparently the game had the second highest attendance ever for a Grey Cup at 66,308. Jermeaine Copeland, who I thought would develop into a good NFL receiver, but has instead bounced around NFL Europe, the XFL and finally in the CFL, had a respectable 7 catches for 53 yards for the Stampeders. And there we go….

Ugggh.

Good thing I don’t do this for a living. In the intervening weeks between my snarky Cedric Benson – Eric Steinbach Boating While Intoxicated post, all kinds of bloggable football stories came out, as well as some stuff from before that I didn’t get around to blogging.  If I were serious about this, I’d blog it in nearly real-time, but really, this is just an excuse to keep my writing skills busy for my own enjoyment.

NFL

The Patriots Spygate came and went. Former team video assistant Matt Walsh met with NFL Commisioner Robert Goodell and turned over his videos of various other team’s signals. The Boston Herald retracted its’ earlier story with the insinuations that there was footage of the Rams pre-Super Bowl XXXVI walk-through. Goodell declared that the NFL done enough and would levy no further penalties on the Patriots. The Patriots insisted they got no extra benefit from the illegal footage. Walsh, interviewed by the New York Times and HBO: Real Sports insists the team did get an advantage from the footage. Senator Arlen Spector (PA) wants an independent investigation. I hope nobody’s taxpayer dollars go into that.

Adam “Pac-Man” Jones got traded from the Titans to the Cowboys and a number of pointless stories, including idle speculation about letting him play some WR emerges.

The NFL owners opted out of the current labor agreement with the NFLPA, opening the possibility of 2010 being an salary-cap free year or a lockout year if no new deal is inked. Details here.

The various mini-camps and (Not That) Optional Team Activities are in process. A variety of guys miss part or all of these to protest various contract and job related things. Most amusingly, Redskins rookie TE Fred Davis oversleeps and misses the Sunday portion of mini-camp.

Former Panthers LB Dan Morgan retired. Former Bucs’ RB Michael Pittman signs with the Broncos for a shot at being the 2008 1K Bronco RB. Overhyped Boston College QB Matt Ryan signs bizarrely early for the top QB and number three overall pick with the Falcons.

Saints DE Charles Grant is indicted for involuntary manslaughter after a February bar fight. Grant was stabbed in the neck during the fight.  The Bengals released long-time knucklehead LB Odell Thurman. It seems a bit unfair, supposedly he missed mini-camp to be at his grandmother’s funeral, but he should be able to find work elsewhere.

The Dolphins and Jason Taylor are surly with each other. Taylor finishes, I think second, on Dancing with the Stars.  The Redskins trade a conditional seventh round pick to the Vikings for DE Erasmus James.

Former Bucs OL Tom McHale, who last played with them in 1992, the year I arbitrarily chose Tampa Bay as my ‘B’ team, dies after using Xanax and cocaine.  Steelers rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall gets mugged in Chicago.

Indianapolis gets the Super Bowl XLVI (46).

College

The BCS quietly passed on a limited playoff system.  Yawn.

Clemson gives Terry Bowden a new contract good through 2014.

The West Virginia – Rich Rodriguez legal war goes to mediation.  Should that fail, the case returns to the judge on November 10.

The NCAA approved applications for two badly needed bowl games to take up late December air-time on ESPNU.  They take place in the homes (but not stadiums) of my two favorite NFL teams: The St. Petersburg Bowl (Big East vs. C-USA) at Tropicana Field, home of MLB’s Rays and the Congressional Bowl (Navy vs. ACC), at either RFK Stadium or Nationals Park.

I didn’t think such a thing was possible, but the NCAA actually rejected an application for a bowl in Salt Lake City.

CFL

Marcus Allen’s younger brother, QB Damon Allen, who had been playing in the CFL for like 800 years, announced his retirement.  Much like Steve DeBerg in the NFL, I think Allen played for most teams in the CFL and probably a couple that have gone out of business.

Arena

Huey Lewis and the News are your Saturday Night entertainment for the Arena Bowl XXII.  The league used pink-striped footballs on Mother’s Day, I guess like MLB used pink bats to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research.

In an odd game I actually watched back on like May 1, Philadelphia Soul DB Eddie Moten intercepted Dallas Desperadoes QB/OC Clint Dolezel three times.  Moten’s previous three INT game was also against Dolezel, back in 2006.  IIRC the broadcasters said Moten has eight career INTs against Dolezel.  Dallas should try to trade for Moten.

The Chicago Rush have filmed a This is SportsCenter commercial for their “parent” company, ESPN.  There have actually been a lot of ads featuring Arena League players, only shown during AFL games of course.  It’s like all the African-American only cast ads I see when I watch the Bayou Classic.

af2

Somehow the af2′s National Conference, Southwest Division has become a pool of mediocrity.  That or the teams are really good and killing each other in division play.  The Corpus Christi Sharks (had some 400 lbs. OL on the roster) and Rio Grande Valley Dorados are tied for first place at 4-4, trailed by the Bossier-Shreveport Battlewings (best af2 team name) and Austin Wranglers (which I think used to be an AFL franchise) both at 3-5.  Dreadfully bringing up the rear of the division are the Texas Copperheads at 1-8.  Good work at having played one more game than the rest of the division and losing it anyway.

Random Note from the St. Patrick’s Day ESPN2 Game.

I caught a couple of minutes the Dallas Desperados 51-40 victory over the Colorado Crush on ESPN2. So Jerry Jones’ team beats John Elway and Pat Bowlen’s team. For some reason the Verizon FioS TV preview of said I should expect a three hour episode of the NFL Live, but I’ve learned not to take that too seriously.

Anyway, would be perpetual Desperados QB Clint Dolezel suffered a shoulder injury all the way back in week one, resulting in Chris “not Aggie, not Buckeye” Sanders taking over the QB job while Dolezel spends his minimum four weeks on injured reserve. This Sanders (from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, T.O.’s old school) is short, even for an Arena QB, 5′ 11″, so he might actually be like 5’9″. Dolezel still calls the play as Desperados offensive coordinator. Marcus Nash, flaming first round bust pick for the Broncos back in 1998, caught a modest 6-62 yards. He’s actually had an excellent Arena League career; most high picks who flop out of the NFL don’t even try the Arena League. His teammate, Arena League lifer Will Pettis, caught a Ricky Sanders-like three TDs in the third quarter (not historic, merely a good game in the pass-skewed Arena League stats) to pull the game out for Dallas. Colorado QB John Dutton apparently hit his first eleven passes. The nominal RB for the Crush (he had 1 carry for 1 yard and a TD) is Robert Thomas, former Cowboy FB.

The af2 season starts next week. af2 is the Arena League’s official minor league affiliate and even I haven’t heard of any of the players. However, I have heard of some of the coaches, often former players building up experience. I’m going to have to do a sweep of af2 and all 89 of its franchises to see who turns up. Former Broncos and Dolphins RB Bobby Humphrey was a head coach for a while in af2, I think for the Birmingham Steel Dawgs or something.