Over a Cup of Coffee

by Jerry Hewitt
April 6, 2010 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)

I want to take a look today at the CIFL and the SIFL. Getting any kind of picture here is more difficult since both leagues have barely started their seasons.

It appears over in the CIFL that the new Cincinnati Commandos at 3-0 has taken up where last year's undefeated Chicago team left off, so the battle here may be for second place. Wisconsin (1-0) looked shaky in beating the Miami Valley Silverbacks (0-2) who have lost 16 straight. Marion at 1-1 looked good in downing the new Chicago team this past week, 60-20, but in their opener fell hard to Cincinnati, 48-19. Then you are followed by the rest of the league which hasn't won a game. The CIFL season is still young, but is going to depend on which teams might improve enough to challenge the Commandos for the league title. Give this all another couple of weeks and the story should be much clearer.

The SIFL race is interesting to say the least. First off it appears Louisiana's dominance has come to an end. The main problem with looking at the SIFL is the replacement team factor. After Houston bailed at the last minute, teams from the semi-pro ranks have been brought in to fill gaps in the schedule. That does muddy the picture.

Louisiana opened the season with a blowout win over one of these replacements, then fell badly to Columbus who came over from the AIFA, making it look as if they may be the class of the SIFL, until they were taken out a week later by Albany. This all points to a very interesting SIFL second season. The first three weeks in the SIFL have left me scratching my head trying to make some sense of things.

After losing 33-88 to Columbus two weeks ago I wonder what changes the Swashbucklers could make going into this weekend's game against the 1-0 Greenville Force who beat the Lafayette Wildcatters last weekend 43-28. The outcome here could signal whether Louisiana will recover or be just a middle of the road team this year. Albany gets a replacement team this weekend, so nothing can be determined by the outcome there, and Columbus has a bye.

As with the CIFL, another couple of weeks should clear up the picture, but right now it appears Albany, Greenville and Columbus may be the ones to watch. If this is to be an Albany, Columbus race, Columbus may have the edge as they face Albany twice more late in the season with both games at home. Now if you figure in Greenville, they still have Columbus three times, but two of those are at home, and they will also battel Albany, twice on the road and only once at home. Where Greenville is concerned, their next two games may say if they are a contender or not with back to back contests against Louisiana, one at home, and the other on the road. If they can win both, I'd say this may be a three way race, but two losses or a split, and I feel it's a race between Columbus and Albany.

AFL kicks off

Wow, former af2 Tulsa stepped up big in beating one of the old AFL's best, the Tampa Bay Storm. Great opening for Talons fans. I am not an arena fan, but wanted to check in to see how their first weekend went. Plenty of news before and after the games, which I would expect, but what I was most interested in was how they did in the stat area as they are using the new Pointstreak system like the IFL uses. Well, six games and all seemed to be scored correctly. Funny how they can get it right in their opening weekend while the IFL in week seven still can't.

Arena to indoor

The IFL had four af2 teams come over in the off season and for the most part they seem to have made the transition to the indoor style well. Green Bay stands at 4-1 and leads its division by 1 1/2 games. Arkansas is also 4-1 and leads its division by a half game. Amarillo is 3-0 and again leads its division. Only the Tri-Cities Fever has disappointed so far at 0-3, but have turned in good performances including a four overtime classic at Fairbanks. Overall, the former af2 teams have an 11-5 record, bringing up the question of if the quality of teams maybe was better in af2. In my opinion, that's doubtful. The reason for their ealry success is more likely some smart coaches who have made the transition rather easily. Except in the case of Tri-Cities, I also think the success is due in part to these teams playing in the weaker divisions of the IFL. I doubt any would be leading their division if they were in the Central West or Pacific North.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I'll take a break from the playoff picture and do my regular look at the past week and preview of next weekend's action. I'll take a look at the IFL playoff picture Thursday.

This article and more archived at The Indoor Football Report located at www.IndoorFootballNetwork.com Comments about this article or suggestions can be made to indoorbowl@yahoo.com

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Southern Indoor Football League Stories from April 6, 2010

• Over a Cup of Coffee - OSC Original by Jerry Hewitt

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.