So, why are you at the Swarm game?
Marc Viquez
Tuesday May 27, 2003
Of course I was there to cover the game for the very website you are reading, but what about the rest of the patrons in attendance for the afternoon’s match-up against the Swarm and the Hawaii Islanders? What had brought them out to the arena to witness this brand of football when there were other activities happening around the same time?
“We’re from Northern Kentucky and we wanted to see what it was like in person,” said David Waylon of Covington who was with his wife Anita. “We met the Hawaii Islanders last night at the Golden Coral while we were eating and had the chance to talk with them”
Aha, a chance meeting with the opposing team at a chain restaurant brought this couple to the game. How many other people were enjoying dinner at the Golden Coral the night before? What other terms of events brought out these folks to the game?
“These guys,” said Eric Ruff pointing to his two sons, another selling point. “We were at the Reds’ game last night and got some free tickets”
The classic case of the young son asking his dad to take him to see an arenafootball2 game, that works most of the time. I remember when my brother asked my father to take him to see a New York Yankees game quite a few years ago. My father called up Yankee Stadium and asked if they played baseball or football. Fast forward a decade later and my father accidentally walked into the dressing room of the New York Saints indoor lacrosse team at the Nassau Coliseum. Who were checking the credentials that day?
“I had been wanting to come out to a game for sometime, but never had the chance,” said Chris Dinger of Ft. Thomas, Ken. “I decided to come here in the afternoon and check out the Taste of Cincinnati later on tonight”
There you go, see the game in the afternoon and check out the food in the evening. The Swarm cleverly started their game at 2 P.M. instead of a later evening time. And why not be inside during the summer heat, well more like the springtime heat. Allergies would probably wreck havoc on you outside tasting all that food or watching the stunts perform on the half-pipe.
Chad and Shawna Hudson were visiting the city from Kirksville, MO to attend Taste and happened to pass by the arena and saw that a game was occurring. They decided to alter their plans and accommodate the game.
“We just happened to walk by the arena and saw that a game was going on,” added Mr. Hudson. “There is more physically play on the field that what I have seen on TV.”
Yes, the NBC contract has also helped out the teams in the af2. Many were aware of the differences between the two leagues, but it’s still the same field dimensions, rebound nets, wacky gimmicks, high scoring (although this one ended in a 35-28 Hawaii victory), and padded walls.
Also, the Swarm themselves have been stapling their name and logo across the area on billboards, covering almost every major highway from I-71 to the lateral, radio ads and commercials featuring a menacing swarm of bees buzzing around the city.
The funny this is that when I walked out of the arena, a line had formed for the upcoming Reds game not more than a few feet in front of me. Is there anywhere else in the country that baseball and arena football converge in such a fashion? Also, does any city have the luxury of its oldest sports franchise mingling with its newest franchise? It is hear in Cincinnati. What else would you expect from this city?
A fan of the sport since 1990 Marc has covered both the New Jersey Gladiators and Cincinnati Swarm (Af2) for Arenafan Online. Marc now resides in Indianapolis after graduating with a Masters in Sports Management from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. When not at a Firebirds game Marc can be found traveling the Midwest covering sports for various Internet and print publications.
