Japanese Players Try to Master Arena Game
Steve Robinson
Friday June 25, 2004
Now, two Japanese players are trying to master the Arena game.
Louisville Fire Quarterback Kenta Yagi, 33, and Wide Receiver/Defensive Back combo Takuya Furutani, 28, when not frustrating opponents for Louisville, play football of the 100-yard variety in Japan.
If you are shocked to learn that Japan has a football league, don’t worry. You are not alone. Probably not many Americans knew one existed, considering baseball is the sport of choice for many Japanese. But now, thanks partly to both men being in Louisville, the football secret is getting out.
Furutani 6 foot-1 and 205 pounds and Yagi, at 5 foot-9 and 185 pounds, found their way to Louisville through an international draft held by af2.
For Furutani, being in af2 has been statistical success. Louisville Fire public relations director Adam Luken said Furutani and Yagi caught on to the team’s system of play almost before they caught on to the English language. Now, neither is a problem. Furutani has rushed 9 times in six games for 18 yards, scoring one touchdown. He has caught 33 passes for 473 yards, scoring seven touchdowns, the longest from 45 yards out. He also has nine kickoff returns, averaging nearly 26 yards per return.
Luken explained that, under league rules, af2 teams are allowed to keep two international players and have it not exceed the team roster mandate of 19 players.
Initially, Furutani and Yagi were picked up and it was thought they would make it as practice squad members, not giving any thought of seeing game action. The Peoria-Louisville game is the first of three away games head coach Bruce Cowdrey’s troops have on the schedule, with a league-imposed bye week in-between, over the next four weeks.
Corporate Game: Dr. Paul Rusch, Ed.D., a Louisville native, helped to rebuild Japan with the help of missionaries after World War II. A foundation in place today helps keep the bond between the two countries cemented, and the X League, which is an acronym for the Japan American Football League Excellence, has been in place ever since. Rusch introduced and native Japanese have continued to pursue a love of American-style football. Rusch died in the mid-1970s.
In Japan, Luken said, the level of the game, by American standards, could be considered semi-pro, but treated the same way American companies might treat a softball team. But it has all the big-league trimmings – cheering crowds, bouncy cheerleaders, loud music and an enthusiastic public address announcer eliciting their enthusiasm between and during plays.
The difference, Luken said, is that the teams, although they have monikers such as Skylarks, Frontiers, Huskys, Deers, and Seagulls to endear fans to them, are, in a way, part of the players’ job. The players not only play on the team, they work for the company sponsoring the team.
And yes, two of the teams would resonate with central Illinois residents because they are named the Caterpillars and the Pirates. X League runs parallel to NFL, ending in an early January championship game. The championship winner is awarded a trophy named in Rusch’s honor.
International Exchange: The Fire played an exhibition game against a Japanese All-Star team called the All-Japan Samurai Warriors at Freedom Hall on March 21. The exhibition was a means of introducing other Japanese players to the walled-up version of the game as much as to introduce their two imports to their fans before the af2 season began. The Fire won the game, 36-26, in front of a crowd of 7,000.
Steve Robinson, a freelance writer since 1984, has written about the Peoria Pirates since the Pirates were members of Indoor Football League, beginning in 1999. He covers the Pirates currently for the Bloomington IL Pantagraph.
