The Men Actually in the Arena

Nah, the topic is not Teddy Roosevelt, the topic is football... Arena Football. That's right baby, the indoor game is back!

Now I understand that Arena Football is not everyone's cup of tea, since it is so different than regular American football. For one thing, it's played indoors, and I don't mean in giant domed stadiums. My local team plays at the Staples Center, the same place the Lakers, Clippers and Kings all play. Not that big of a place, but big enough for Arena football as the field is only 50 yards long, with 8-yard end zones, and 85 feet wide. Fits nicely in about the same space as a hockey rink. The field is wrapped in 48-inch high sideline barriers of high-density foam rubber and directly beyond them are your seats!

The goal posts are nine feet wide with a crossbar height of 15 feet (NFL goal posts are 18-1/2 feet wide with the crossbar at 10 feet). On both sides of the goal posts are 30 feet wide rebound nets which are 32 feet high. Balls kicked off these nets, missed field goals or kick-offs (there are no punts) are live balls and really good kickers aim for the angle-iron surrounding the nets to create unexpected rebounds. I've seen many a touchdown scored by the kicking team after a ball careens oddly off the nets.

As you might by now guess, I love the Arena game. It is fast, high-scoring and fun. It is also iron-man football with normally only two of the eight players on the field changing between offense and defense. On offense one man can be in forward motion, so the long bomb is always a real threat. All of the rules can be found at AFL 101.

I have Los Angeles Avenger season tickets and have been going to games for years. We have some great players including the best kicker in the league. I may from time to time gripe or hopefully cheer about the fate of my team.

The season starts tonight and the televised season starts tomorrow on ESPN and on through the weekend on ESPN and ABC. My first game is Sunday night at the Staples Center. Go Avengers!