Page 26 - Fl Stats News Today

In case you haven't heard, there were a few things that happened on Friday in the Arena Football League.

As the 30th season of the Arena Football League approaches, I have been thinking a lot about what the league has meant to me over the years. It has been a really fun league to follow as a reporter and as a fan.

Shortly before Fan Fest, media members were given the opportunity to talk to new Blaze majority owner Kim Brown before the start of the new season. Brown recently bought a majority share of the team previously owned by Kristen Murdock.

No city should ever lose a sports franchise at any level. There's just too much invested in each franchise. Too many fans, too many players, too many coaches, too many guys who sell popcorn, too many interns who are just hoping to get a start in sports. When a team goes away at any level, all of that goes away, too.

Last weekend, the Cleveland Gladiators offense didn't look like an ArenaBowl unit. Fast forward one week as Cleveland quarterback Shane Austin appeared fully refreshed.

Has it really been a decade? Ten years ago tonight, the San Diego Riptide kicked off its four-year run as an arenafootball2 franchise. I was there as its Vice President of Communications for the first two seasons before leaving for the Grand Rapids Rampage.

The Arizona Rattlers enter the 2015 Arena Football League season in very familiar territory. Having become the benchmark AFL franchise for the past half-decade, the target is again squarely on the Rattlers' backs. And that's just the way they like it.

In 2009, the Spokane Shock went 15-1 in the regular season and rolled through the af2 playoffs to finish the campaign with 19 wins and the ArenaCup. That year, Nick Davila was the man under center for the Shock. On Friday night, Davila can lead the Arizona Rattlers to their 19th win of the season if he can get them past the Jacksonville Sharks in ArenaBowl XXIV.

Last Friday was a monumental day for the Columbus AFL team. They held a press conference to announce that their team nickname would, in fact, be the Destroyers. The memories from the previous years would carry over with the organization.

After a surprise bye week, the Washington Valor (0-1) hit the road again, this time up to the city of brotherly love to play against the Philadelphia Soul (2-0) inside of Wells Fargo Center at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday April 28th.