What Football Fans Do in the Offseason

"Wait, what? Cincinnati Jungle Kats?" cries out the average John Q. Public. "I thought Cincinnati already had a football team!" cries the average Jane Doe.

Actually, she is right. Cincinnati does have a football team in the Cincinnati Bengals. But, they play in the NFL, who is in the middle of a somewhat subdued off season. The Jungle Kats are just one of hundreds of teams who believes in playing in buildings like theirs, US Bank Arena.

Mr. and Mrs. Public, welcome to Arena Football.

When the outdoor people who battle in the cold, rain, snow, mud, sun, clouds, heat, etc. are busy golfing and fishing and vacationing, thousands of unknowns are under the lights of arenas all over the country trying to get their name noticed, even by thousands.

It all started in 1981 during an indoor soccer game at Madison Square Garden. A man named Jim Foster came up with a field half the size of an NFL field, and found a way to fit it inside your average hockey rink. He left the arena that night with a standard list of rules for the game, including the use of rebound nets that are suspended above the field and act as goal posts. Contracts in hand, he was all set to debut a test game in 1983 and air it on NBC, but then came the United States Football League, and he abandoned the plan until 1986, when the USFL accepted a $1 antitrust award from the NFL and folded. That spring came the test, when the Rockford Metros played the Chicago Politicians in Rockford, a game won 30-18. The successful test led to the formation of four teams and a demonstration season in 1987, known as the "Arena Football League". The league gained popularity by the year, and arena football was born. Foster gained a patent for the rules and the game in 1990, the only time a sport was actually patented in the world. Under the rules of a patent, other indoor leagues must play under different rules and call it "indoor football". Since 1987, the AFL has been molded and shaped into a powerhouse for spring football, with teams in nineteen major cities throughout the country. And, since 2000, minor "indoor football" leagues have sprang up everywhere.

With the Arena Football League now in its 21st season, and a nearly sold out title game in July in New Orleans, the AFL is attracting millions everywhere in sold out arenas. Currently, the league plays on national television and is in the middle of a sixteen week season, a far cry from the early days when no television exposure made the AFL a very unknown sport, and the best thing the AFL could do was coverage on what is now Spike TV in 2000. Television exposure is now on a weekly basis for the league. After a four year relationship with NBC, ESPN bought a small stake in the league and is now the official broadcaster of the AFL with games every week on TV. The game is also helping put cities without professional teams on the map, and in the case of New Orleans, helping them get back on the map. Arena Bowl XXI, to be played in New Orleans Arena on July 29, comes at a time when New Orleans is still nowhere near recovered from Hurricane Katrina. This game marks the start of what is predicted to be a big financial boom for the city. You add this game, the unexpected success of the Saints, and the 2008 NBA All Star Game, plus the return of the Hornets full time, and you have what many predict will be the start of something big for the Bayou area.

Earlier, the Cincinnati Jungle Kats were mentioned. They play in another one of Foster's creations: Arena football2, created in 2000 with the help of current AFL commissioner, David Baker. AF2 is a minor version of AFL, is influentially governed by the AFL, and is played under the same rules as the AFL. While the Arena League boasts teams in major cities like New York City (known as the Dragons), Orlando (Predators), Dallas (Desperados), Phoenix (Arizona Rattlers), and so on, the teams that play are in the smaller, yet sometimes major, metropolitan cities without the benefit of another professional team, such as Louisville (Fire), Wilkes-Barre, PA (Pioneers), and Oklahoma City (Yard Dawgz). And even though the league does not enjoy the same exposure as their parent company, they enjoy the same support and backing of fans who come to see no name players shine, even if their accomplishments are known by too few people.

Arena Football is most definitely becoming what is on the motto of the Jungle Kats: "What football fans do in the off season", and all this would not have been possible for a piece of paper with a diagram of a hockey rink on it, the one piece of paper that has millions cheering.

The Rules

- The Field: The field is your standard hockey rink, with all the walls padded with foam rubber. In AFL and AF2, there is a goalpost, crossbar and all, surrounded by rebound nets that keep the ball in play in and are allowed to be involved in a play (example, a touchdown can be scored off a pass, even if the ball is deflected off the net).

- The Equipment: The official football is the same size and weight as the National Football League ball.

- The Players and Formations: AFL and AF2 teams have a 20-man active roster and a four man practice squad. Free substitutions can occur at any time as long as eight players are on the field at all times. Players also have the option of playing both offense and defense throughout the game.

- Each game has four 15 minute quarters with a 15-minute halftime. The clock stops for out-of-bounds plays or incomplete passes only in the last minute of each half or when the referee deems it necessary for penalties, injuries or timeouts. Each team is allowed three (3) time-outs per half.

- Movement of the Ball and Scoring is the same as the NFL.

- Kickoffs are from the goal line, and punting is illegal. On fourth down, a team may go for a first down, touchdown or field goal. The receiving team may field any kickoff or missed field goal that rebounds off the net. Any kickoff untouched which is out of bounds will be placed at the 20-yard line or the place where it went out of bounds, whichever is more advantageous to the receiving team.

- And, in overtime, periods are 15 minutes during the regular season and the playoffs. Each team gets one possession to score. If, after each team has had one possession and one team is ahead, that team wins. If the teams are tied after each has had a possession, the next team to score wins. The AFL abolished the tied-game in the 2006 season.Arena Football League teams

Central Division
Chicago Rush
Colorado Crush
Grand Rapids Rampage
Kansas City Brigade
Nashville Kats

Western Division
Arizona Rattlers
Las Vegas Gladiators
Los Angeles Avengers
San Jose Saber Cats
Utah Blaze (Salt Lake City)

Eastern Division
Columbus Destroyers
Dallas Desperados
New York Dragons
Philadelphia Soul

Southern Division
Austin Wranglers
Georgia Force (Atlanta)
New Orleans Voodoo
Orlando Predators
Tampa Bay Storm

AF2 Teams (For 2007 Season)

American Conference

East Division
Albany Conquest (Albany, NY)
Mahoning Valley Thunder (Youngstown, OH)
Manchester Wolves (Manchester, NH)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

Midwest Division
Cincinnati Jungle Kats (Cincinnati, OH)
Fort Wayne Fusion (Fort Wayne, IN
Green Bay Blizzard (Green Bay, WI
Louisville Fire (Louisville, KY)
Quad City Steamwheelers (Moline, IL)

West Division
Bakersfield Blitz (Bakersfield, CA)
Boise Burn (Boise, ID)
Central Valley Coyotes (Fresno, CA)
Everett Hawks (Everett, WA)
Spokane Shock (Spokane, WA)
Stockton Lightning (Stockton, CA)
Tri-Cities Fever (Pasco, WA)

National Conference
Central Division
Amarillo Dusters (Amarillo, TX)
Arkansas Twisters (Little Rock, AR)
Lubbock Renegades (Lubbock, TX)
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (Oklahoma City, OK)
Tulsa Talons (Tulsa, OK)

Southwest Division
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings (Shreveport, LA)
Corpus Christi Sharks (Corpus Christi, TX)
Laredo Lobos (Laredo, TX)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados (Hidalgo, TX)
Texas Copperheads (near Houston, TX)

South Division
Alabama Steeldogs (Birmingham, AL)
Florida Firecats (Fort Myers, FL)
South Georgia Wildcats (Albany, GA)
Tennessee Valley Vipers (Huntsville, AL)