It was a joke of a game, and it was a joke that Commissioner Baker decided that he was going to resign his post during ArenaBowl week. Glad to see that things have only become more and more of a joke since that point.

 

There used to be a time where I wouldn't miss an AFL game for my life. If it was on, I was watching it. If I wasn't watching it live, I was watching the replay of it on AFL Net (remember that blast from the past?). I used to go to every single Orlando Predators home game. Now I attend more Tampa Bay Storm games than anything else, and if I miss a game, I could not really care less.

 

Then again... I used to bash the you-know-what out of John Elway, Jon Bon Jovi, the departed C. David Baker, and all of his cronies in the league office.

 

God help me for saying it, but right now, I miss the AF El-way.

 

In 2006, 2007, and 2008, I grew to loathe the changes that this league went through. I hated when the Ironman disappeared. I despised how free agency took fan favorites away from their teams. I couldn't stand the neutral site ArenaBowl.

 

However, as we're finding out now, there were a lot of positives out of that as well. Players made more money. The talent level was as good as it has ever been in this league. Games were televised locally as well as nationally. In 2008, all but two arenas (Grand Rapids and New York) averaged at least 10,300 fans per game. This year, there wasn't a team outside of the state of Florida that cracked 10,300 per game.

 

From 2006-2008, there were a grand total of zero playoff games that had fewer than 10,000 fans in attendance, and each ArenaBowl had at least 13,000 fans. Almost all of those playoff games were televised nationally, and the ones that weren't were all picked up locally and available on DirecTV. Each and every last one of them.

 

Last season, only the ArenaBowl had more than 10,100 fans in attendance, and there wasn't a single playoff game with more than the 11,017 in Spokane for the ArenaBowl.

 

Before 2010, there was never an issue of where playoff games were going to be played. Sure, teams like the Florida Bobcats and the Houston ThunderBears were jokes that needed to play basically all of their games on the road or in "neutral sites," but there was nary a playoff game that needed to change venues. Last season, it was fairly public knowledge that the Milwaukee Iron were going to try sell their home playoff game to the Arizona Rattlers for the National Conference Championship Game if that's what it came down to. Fortunately, Arizona was beaten by Spokane, leaving the conference title game at Spokane Arena.

 

This season, could the Dallas Vigilantes be in the same spot if they're taking on the Shock in the National Conference Championship Game? The circus is in town in Dallas, and who knows whether there will be an alternate venue for the Vigilantes to play in.

 

While we're talking about a cluster-you-know-what of a circus and clowns, we may as well talk about the NFL Network.

 

If you haven't heard by now, the NFL Network is tape delaying Friday night's Jacksonville Sharks vs. Orlando Predators first round playoff game in favor of discussion about free agency in the NFL. As if it wasn't bad enough, there are no other games that are allowed to be covered on any sort of television at the same time as an NFL Network game, so who knows why the league decided to have three games on Friday night. But now, there won't even be live coverage of any of those games.

 

UPDATE: The Arena Football League announced on Wednesday night that the Orlando/Jacksonville game would be broadcast live on nfl.com, and the Arizona/Spokane game will be shown live on KSKN in Spokane.

 

This writer understands that the NFL is god in this crazy sports world that we live in, and that it isn't the AFL's fault that the NFL had a lockout, solved its lockout issues this week, and will have its free agency period start just hours before our playoff game is scheduled to be televised.

 

However, I'm sick and tired of hearing about all that's good about the NFL Network. The NFL Network, for lack of better terms, can kiss off. Anyone who has Brighthouse Networks as their cable provider, which includes everyone in Orlando and most in Tampa Bay, can't get the NFL Network because the two sides never did get together and strike a deal about carrying NFLN on Brighthouse.

 

And unfortunately, thanks to the bridges that were burned by canceling the 2009 season and the fact that the league doesn't have nearly the same type of legitimacy that it had before, networks like ESPN, ABC, Fox, CBS, etc. aren't going to be stepping up to the plate to show our games in the future. Still, I would rather see Commissioner Kurz tell the NFL Network to stick it next season. The NFL Network once had aspirations of buying into the AFL, but since there is no money coming back to the league in this instance, there's no reason to continue the partnership when this is the way that we are going to be treated in return.

 

Simply put, the AFL has to be able to do better than this. Here in AFL, we aren't allowed to sign players out of the SIFL or the AIFA until their seasons are complete. However, there's nothing stopping our players from signing contracts in the CFL, UFL, or any other league even though they're under contract. We saw it with dozens of players this year, many of which were true superstars to their teams. Fortunately, most have returned in time for the playoffs, and we know that the AFL dodged a major, major bullet thanks to the potential demise of the UFL.

 

Lord knows that I hated the AF El-way for taking the AFL away from the fans and trying to use it as more of a marketing tool and a tool to showcase the high profile ownerships. Now, the fans are the last things on the minds of the owners, the teams, the players, the league office, or the NFL Network.

 

I'd say, "See you all for the Jacksonville/Orlando game on Friday night," but unfortunately only the approximately 10,000 fans in attendance will be able to see it.

Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.