Over a Cup of Coffee

by Jerry Hewitt
September 17, 2010 - Indoor Football League (IFL)

There are times when leagues are too quiet and you can feel the tension in the air as you wait for some big news to hit. There are times leagues talk big, but in the end there are no bombshells, only smoke. There are also times a league should be making noise, yet we get no bombshells, no smoke, not even the faint whiff of a firecracker.

Right now fans wait in the offseason to see what our league of choice is up to. First we have the IFL that has recently come out of its league meetings. There should be plenty of news, but all we got was some meaningless press release that pretty much said stayed tuned, then another filler on where IFL players are in the big leagues. The IFL meetings in Chicago this year were major ones where a number of issues were on the table and yet we get silence. Oh sure, a couple of teams have spoke out on new additions and even a little on the realignment of divisions. Yes, there was an announcement of who has been elected to the Executive Committee, but overall nothing of substance. And while I'm on the subject of league meeting news, I want to tip my hat to new IFL member Reading for their video coverage of the meetings. Although there wasn't that much content, they were a welcome addition to things.

I can understand the quiet over in the CIFL camp as they've never been ones to say much of anything until they get all their ducks in a row, so most likely no huge news is waiting to be dropped over there and certainly no smoke. When they are ready they will let us in on their 2011 plans.

Down south, the SIFL may still be smarting from not picking up any more of the IFL Texas teams as I feel they were counting on more defections. All we get from them is a backdoor announcement of Mobile getting a team and a rumor of another Houston start up, but isn't Houston always on their preseason list and usually the first to drop off? The SIFL should be talking more, yet they may be so used to sticking their foot in their mouth now they may be too hesitant to say much of anything.

The UIFL is playing it cool, with a quiet announcement of their final team for 2011 in Saginaw and an even quieter unveiling of their first season's schedule. Are they being too quiet or just playing it cool? In my opinion they are playing things just right. There's just enough hype to keep things interesting and not so much that anyone gets overly excited. The UIFL unveiled their game plan early on and they are sticking to it. That is a comfort of sorts, as usually new leagues blast the airways with everything except the kitchen sink and in the end much of what was hyped is just smoke. The UIFL hasn't done this and in many respects is a welcome relief as opposed to the usual thunder. I saw their game plan as to how they were going to handle the media and then for some unknown reason hired a media consultant. From what I've seen he added nothing nor changed anything in their already good media plan.

The AIFA seems to be about nothing but smoke these days. This league has all but lost any credibility with me. Their same old story is just that: old and even tiresome. Seemingly every year nearly half the league's teams fold or leave, only to be replaced. This year, the AIFA will apparently repeat the process, but instead of losing just the weak franchises, the league also lost its strongest members this offseason. I realize the UIFL has some credibility issues with Andrew Haines' involvement in the league, but I tend to believe more of what he and the UIFL say these days as opposed to anything from the AIFA or its teams. I'm sorry, AIFA, but your credibility is history. The more the AIFA speaks, the more of the NIFL I see in it.

So the big news of the past week is the Tucson ThunderKats going to the AIFA; big news if you didn't see that one coming. Still trying to light a fire where there's just smoke is the Baltimore Mariners website, still up as if nothing has happened there, although most know that team is history. I'm surprised the AIFA isn't telling us that Reading, Wyoming and Wenatchee aren't still in their league, though the latter still hasn't been removed from the website. Maybe the biggest news I've heard is is that at least one current AIFA team may still be looking to get out of the failing league.

Other big news is Mobile, Alabama getting a team in the SIFL, which is good news for fans down that way and a good addition for the league. If Houston is more than a rumor, I wish the SIFL good luck on that as nobody has ever been able to crack that market successfully.

I'm still waiting on confirmation that the IFL may end up landing another big fish from a competing league. I think this is more than just a rumor, but there may be too many hoops to jump through for this to happen. We're also awaiting the final fate of West Michigan which I reported had been given more time to get their finances in order. My guess is they won't and will be dropped from the IFL, but I'm not sure that they will land in the CIFL. My best guess is they will just fold up shop, which is preferred rather than screw up that market even more by their poor business practices.

I expect something from the CIFL on their 2011 plans within a couple weeks, but they may be only waiting to see if another team comes over or not before giving us the final line up.

The next I expect to hear from the UIFL is a release on their league meetings. I'm doubting there will be any surprises from that group as they've been pretty much an open book to this point. It is interesting though that they've invited their fan advisory board to attend those meetings. That's certainly a step toward transparency.

Indoor Football League Stories from September 17, 2010

• Spartans Acquire Dibbles From Sioux Falls - La Crosse Spartans
• Outlaws Release Dixon - Billings Outlaws
• 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.