The truth about the Arena league

Yoni Bain
Issue date: 2/27/08 Page 1 of 1
Media Credit: www.newyorkdragons.com

USE YOUR DOME | The New York Dragons and the rest of the AFL deserve your attention.


Hello, I'd like to talk to you today about arena football.

What? You're already trying to slam the door in my face? But you don't even know anything about the sport! Just give me a minute, I promise I won't take long. I'll give you the rundown on the Arena Football League, some of the things that set it apart and then leave you in peace to read the stories about basketball and baseball. What harm can it do?

The AFL was founded in 1987, and its premise was to offer a brand of football previously unseen: By playing games on a smaller field, scoring was sure to increase. An obsession with points has Americans preferring basketball to soccer, so why wouldn't it work for a more high-scoring football game? Combined with the added benefit of being in a climate-controlled indoor venue, doesn't this sound like an enjoyable alternative to "Pittsburgh 3, Miami 0," especially in person?

At first, watching a game of football played indoors can be a bit jarring, but eventually you get used to it. The basic format of a football game is kept in place, but it doesn't hurt to have rules that allow for a faster tempo, a scoring boost and more fun. The 50-yard field means more drives that result in points, and the constantly moving clock keeps games from slowing down too much.

Only eight players per team are on the field at one time, and most offenses use them for passing plays instead of a grind-it-out running attack. Other innovations include narrower uprights and bans on punting and kneeling. Football fans know the rest - four quarters and four downs, punishing hits and penalties and kicks and picks and, most importantly, points.

That's the bottom line here: points. Lots of them. If you enjoy stagnant offenses and defensive slugfests, this is not the league for you. But if you like shootouts and offensive wizardry, I remind you that the Greatest Show on Turf never put 99 on the scoreboard. And though the AFL has its share of dominant teams, its focus on offense means that any team can go for 70 and topple an arena league powerhouse.

In addition to these rules that improve - or at least modify, if you're a football purist - the game, you should know that the AFL is also more fan-friendly than the NFL. Fans get to keep balls that go into the stands, which is not an infrequent occurrence, and though the players are required to stay on the field to sign autographs after the game, most do so with smiles on their faces. Maybe arena games don't match the intensity of the RCA Dome or Arrowhead Stadium, but they do pack a sizable audience punch, and the league average of 12,000 fans per game is rising steadily.

Why am I telling you this now? Well, the season kicks off this Friday, with the New Orleans VooDoo visiting the Los Angeles Avengers. As a Los Angeles native, I've been following the team since its inception in 2000, but attending school here makes it hard to go to games. This semester, to get my fill, I plan on going to see the local team, the New York Dragons. I'd like to think that somebody reading this article will give the AFL the old college try, adopt the Dragons as his team and make the trek to Long Island to take in a game, just to see what it's like.

If you look carefully, you might spot me in the crowd.

Yoni Bain is a columnist. E-mail him at sports@nyunews.com.