A View From NFL Europe: AFL Announcing
Lee Zakow
Tuesday July 18, 2000
Two weeks ago, in watching the Los Angeles – San Jose game, I was struck by the honesty of the announcers, who said things like the refs had been calling every little infraction, thus interrupting the ebb and flow of the game. One of them went on to say that too many times, the game has “gone down the toilet” as a result of the flag-happy people. I couldn’t agree more, and I can point out a number of instances where it seemed like the last minute of the game was indeed the time span between the Knights franchise and now. Kudos to them for telling it like it is.
But there was plenty of stuff I disagreed with. For example, they said that Stan Brock deserved plenty of recognition for the job he did after L. A. started 0 for 7. Well, why did they start 0-7? Sure, there is the self-distruction factor, which means the season could have gone down in flames had it not been for Brock keeping the team focused. O.K. He earns points for that.
And they couldn’t say enough about Steve Papin, one of the best players the league has seen, at least from my point of view. To me, he is the AFL’s version of Kevin Drake, the former do-it-all player on the Rhein Fire who was a former QB at UAB. He is speedy, like Papin; is all-purpose, like Papin; and was used in a number of ways.
 Steve Papin is a talented player for any league Image courtesy of Jeff Marshall |
Take Berlin. The Thunder had eight players in double figures in receiving. Eight!!! Papin would probably be used out of the slot or as the “bubble” receiver, the outside receiver who catches quick 3-4 yard screens, which is every bit as effective as a running play. But with his abilities – especially in the tight confines of Arena Ball, he could probably break a few. I’ve gotten to know Berlin coach Peter Vaas, and it seems his philosophy is “let’s all have fun”. Papin would certainly add that element to the Berlin offense.
And speaking of coaching, they bypassed a popular theme – that San Jose coach Darren Arbet deserves a chance at the big time, if that’s what he wants. With Dick Curl having left Frankfurt for the Kansas City Chiefs, he would be one name on my short list to take over Frankfurt. Why? His offenses simply destroy opponents, and he seems to me like a no-nonsense type of person, someone who will have everyone on the same page. I’m not saying discipline lacked last year in Frankfurt, but there was one game where Amsterdam led 31-7 at the half, and the Galaxy packed it in. Would San Jose ever do that?
Another thing the announcers touched on, but could have gotten more in depth with was that Los Angeles’ marketing department did as marvelous a job as possible. Awesome is how I would put it, and it goes with the leadership of Casey Wasserman. He energized this franchise, and I think Los Angeles will be one of the favorites of the league to not only contend for the playoffs, but be sent overseas as an AFL representative in the seven game test preseason schedule that David Baker is talking about. And, if I was the NFL E, I’d hire Wasserman’s entire staff immediately and put them right to work in, say, Barcelona selling the community on the Dragons.
In the end though, at least we had some independent thinking on this telecast, and boy oh boy, that beats the usual shill stuff we hear. No matter, what fellas, keep up the good work!
Lee Zakow was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
