Indoor football making progress

by Josh Stein
March 20, 2008 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)

Progress.

I've spoken of it for years. Though it may sound like it, I don't ask for perfection, because that's simply not possible. I want progress.

This is the eleventh year of indoor football. We have had eleven years of great indoor football action, but unfortunately we've also had eleven years of a whole boatload of problems. Players not getting paid, vendors getting stiffed...the list goes on and on. Even in 2008, it will probably continue somewhere.

Has the sport bottomed out? Usually, for something to be fixed for the long-term, there has to be an event that almost kills it. Have we had that in indoor football? Maybe.

No, there was no real risk of the entire sport folding up shop and going home. But look at the carcasses. If Ohio Valley, after winning 35 straight home games some time back, can go away without more than a whimper...it can happen to anyone in the sport.

After the 2007 season, things looked quite bleak throughout. The UIF lost the Greyhounds as well as a couple other teams (Rock River to the CIFL, Evansville to the land of the lost). The CIFL had just come off of one of the worst seasons known to the professional indoor ranks (sorry, NIFL). The AIFA convinced no one it was any different from the AIFL. The APFL still wasn't professional.

Are we seeing progress?

I come today to say "yes." Yes, there is progress being made. Things aren't perfect, but throughout the sport, they are better. Perhaps even FAR better.

The UIF only has eight teams, but the addition of former de-facto APFL squad Wichita has perhaps improved the league on-field. On the flip side, adding a team that was APFL two years ago has helped legitimize the APFL! Wichita is 0-2, yes, but they've been largely competitive in both. It could now be said that the best of the APFL *could* compete in the higher leagues, further making the APFL look stronger than it was. Sioux Falls has won 40 straight games, but the UIF is still stronger around it than it was last year.

The IFL has only gotten better, and it is proving that having multiple teams in Alaska (of all places) might actually be a success. Fairbanks, despite losing 88-12 in their first game, filled up their 4000-seat arena (and only lost 75-61). The other eight teams in the IFL continue to draw well, and the league continues to get stronger. That says nothing of the IFL-UIF Championship Game later this season, a step forward for the entire sport, even if it's only two leagues.

The CIFL has probably taken the biggest step forward so far this year. Granted, they had a long long way to go, but they've stepped it up. The league long known for blowouts has had four largely competitve games in five attempts (the fifth being a New Jersey Revolution team that for whatever reason continues trotting Kevin Hanratty out at quarterback even though every other team's backup can outplay him ten times over). The CIFL averted a potential disaster in Flint, and so far looks to be averting a potential disaster in Fort Wayne. The Chicago team that drew fleas in 2007 nearly filled out the five-figure Sears Centre in Week One. Kalamazoo and Muskegon both drew strong figures. Miami Valley had nearly 2000 fans, likely the best-attended game the Silverbacks have ever had. And Flint kicked off.

Yes, Flint kicked off. As bleak as the situation was there, they kicked off. That is a step forward for the CIFL. Now, the league needs to make sure they don't let people like Pete Norager own teams again...but getting Flint to where they can kick off was a big step.

Progress. We are finally seeing it in the sport. At least most of it. The AIFA still isn't making anyone forget the AIFL or Andrew Haines (in fact, Mink and Morris might be worse in a lot of ways), but four out of five isn't all that bad. There is a lot of work to be done in the sport, but we are seeing progress. Things are improving.

The key will be ensuring this progress continues.

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Continental Indoor Football League Stories from March 20, 2008

• Indoor football making progress - OSC Original by Josh Stein

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