Mar 17 2008
The Sky Won’t Snow and the Sun Won’t Shine
(NOTE: If the text doesn’t wrap around the thumbnail pics, then please force a refresh in your browser.)
How many sports encourage fan participation? I don’t mean doing the wave or catching a foul ball. I mean breaking up a play.
I attended such a game a couple weeks ago, and it has earned a spot in my ongoing “Firsts” series. And, not unlike at least one of its predecessors, this post features more than one “first.”
In fact, it’s a trifecta.
It all started when I had lunch at a local barbecue joint.
(click any pic to enlarge and sharpen)
I had packed my lunch, like I always do, and at about noon I unzipped my blue, padded lunch cooler to pull out everything I needed to put together my meal. Awaiting me inside were my plate, fork, can opener, and baby carrots. Back home were my can of albacore tuna and my sleeve of Zesta saltines.
Crap.
I ended up at Sugar Baby’s Barbecue, which was giving away tickets to the Dallas Desperados’ second game of the season. Season of what, you might ask? Why, the Arena Football League (AFL), of course. Duh.
I had heard that Arena Football was fun to watch, thanks in part to its funky rules, so I took four tickets. Some might think I called my old buddy Alvis to see if he would like to go to the game. I thought about it for about 0.237 seconds, then remembered that such an outing would only provide him with valuable time to read a novel. Sir J was another possibility, but I couldn’t remember our ever engaging in sports talk, so I quickly moved on to the natural choice.
Lucky winner? My new buddy and known sports fan, He B. It would be our first time to hang out without the families.
Married to She B, a woman Shannon met through a local mom’s club (not pictured), He B wears his love for LSU football on his sleeve. Consequently, he was the first person I called (because I was watching it with my brother) when the Razorbacks beat eventual national champions LSU in each team’s final regular-season game. Not long after that, we went to a Super Bowl party at the B’s house.
Turns out he had been to a few AFL games in Atlanta and still watched the league on television with a modicum of regularity. On our way downtown (my first time since we moved here in July 2005), he gave me a run-down of the rules.
This is not your father’s game of football. I can’t cover everything here, but a few items deserve mention.
The field is a little more than half the size of an NFL field, which allows each team’s eight players (as opposed to 11) to cover it just fine. While running plays are not unheard of, passes rule the day. A padded sideline wall prevents players from being counted out of bounds unless they are pushed into it or fall over it, and fans may reach over it to break up a pass. The goalposts span only nine feet and are abutted on each side by huge nets that can bounce the ball back into play. Most players participate on offense and defense (although apparently a 2007 rule change allows limitless substitutions, which fans worry will take away that unique aspect of the game). Instead of cheerleaders, there is a dance team, but they looked suspiciously similar.
Sound crazy? It kind of is, but if you love touchdowns and/or scantily clad women, it’s fun to watch.
We happened to be going to see the Desperados just one game after starting quarterback Clint Dolezel (best quarterback you’ve never heard of) was sidelined due to injury. I hoped that didn’t mean we were about to watch the home team lose.
We quickly found a parking spot, slowly found no restaurants that interested us, and with a little hesitation ordered food from one of the many concession stands. It was my first grilled chicken sandwich at a sporting event (and, at last count, that actually makes four firsts).
See? The freakiness just keeps on comin’.
Our seats were about nine rows down from the ceiling. Dizzy from the altitude, I carefully set down my camera bag and then went to work with my D100. The lighting allowed for just the right mix of unwanted blurriness and strange color reproduction. With a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, I sneaked down to a spot about 15 rows up from the field.
He B and I got to know each other better, enjoyed lots of laughs, and speculated that Arena Football might be a good place to take our sons.
And, however strange the AFL might sound to the uninitiated, we watched some good football. Oh yeah, and Dallas (3-0) defeated the defending champion Columbus Destroyers (0-3), who knocked Dallas out of the playoffs in the first round last season. Although the arena photo I took an hour before kick-off makes it look like a ghost town, about 12,500 fans showed up to cheer the Desperados to a grudge match victory.
(Note: My most recent method of posting photos, by linking them to my Gallery, broke when my hosting provider changed a setting. I’m back to the old way, but viewing should be about the same.)
Welby that sounds like fun. I’ve been to several Arkansas Twisters games (Arena II league) and they’re a blast to watch. Lots of music, fan participation, and action from the game itself. I definitely plan to take LC to a game or two this season. I have no doubt the little guys would enjoy it. They have a remote controlled mini-blimp that would be a big hit too.
I think Clint Stoerner played for the Desperados for a few years. He is back in Arkansas and was going to play for some already defunct Pro football league that folded before the first game!! I’m not sure if he’ll give it another try, or hang up the cleats.
Sounds like you both had a lot of fun!!! Glad to hear it.
Though I’ve never seen an AFL game, I wouldn’t mind it. I think there’s one here in Hartford.
On that last picture, it looks (by the blur) like the football is coming TOWARDS the kicker! *LOL*
Nice shots Mark…
My… that middle cheerlea…er, “dancer”, has a very nice smile. A very nice smile indeed. Heck, it made me smile!
And the game sounds like it was a lot of fun. Did you guys go right after work or something? Is that why you were there an hour before kickoff? Or did you just want to get there early to take in all the atmosphere for your first game?
We don’t have anything of the sort up here. Our local lacrosse team plays indoors, but that’s about as close as it gets. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing one of those games for the sheer novelty of it, and it sounds like it’s a pretty action-packed game.
Echoing Dave, that’s a very nice point-after shot you got there, too.
I’ve never been to an arena football game. We had a team that played near us, but I stayed clear. They were the “Show-Me Believers.” They had, prior to my moving to the area, been the River City Rage…but had then been purchased by a born again millionaire. The team actually rushed the feild then kneeled to pray. I’m not against praying per se…but it takes a bit away from the fearsome image of the linebackers when they have a part football/part Jesus fish on their helmets. They have since been sold and went back to the rage…but promptly moved their venue away from the arena next to my house and to the downtown St Louis arena….so I’ve still yet to see them. Alas.
I went to a soccer match in Minneapolis with my buddy Taltap last fall. These smaller team sports really do allow the fans to shine. The furvor they have for their team is no less, but the crowds are thin enough that you can really feel their passion.
Charles - You had mentioned The Twisters. If you take LC, let me know how it goes. I’m pretty sure we could take enough stuff to keep Benjamin entertained in case the game and activities surrounding it don’t.
Stoerner set records his rookie year with the Desperados. He didn’t last a lot longer in the league, but that might have been by choice. Not sure.
Dave - It was a lot of fun. You should try a Hartford game sometime. I’m sure with ESPN right there in Bristol you could get some cool swag (or not, but I like to use “swag.”).
Simon - Hilarious that you mentioned her “smile,” because in the game’s program she was “Smile of the Week.”
We got there early because we wanted to have dinner at a restaurant near the arena. It wasn’t to be, and it was a bit cold and windy, so we just went on in.
After point shots are about all I can get in limited time because I know exactly where and when the ball’s going to go. Also, my camera and lenses aren’t speedy enough (in more ways than one on the lenses) to do indoor sports photography.
Moksha - That story about the hyper-religious AFL team is so bizarre it sounds like fiction. Fervor is a good word for the fans at these “b” league games. They go because they want to see football and they love the team, not because they’re rich and want to impress somebody. Dallas Cowboys tickets are going to be almost completely unaffordable for the average Joe once the new stadium opens, and I think some fans already are making the transition.
Are you flooded there?
Anna - We got about four inches as of 10 p.m., and an inch or two more on the way tonight. Places just 20 or 30 miles south of here got about six to nearly seven inches. Very quickly. Major flash flooding. Not usually consumers of TV news, we watched it tonight just to see the results and to see how much rain we got.
On the way home from work, I saw an entire golf fairway and green submerged in flash flood water — I’d say a good three feet deep. I tried to get pictures, but as soon as I unzipped my laptop backpack, I realized I didn’t have my camera. Curses!! Handy point-and-shoots are useless sitting on the computer desk at home.