April 1, 2007

AFL to Baltimore?

So it's been impossible not to catch some highlights of the Arena Football League (yes, that AFL, not the Samuel Gompers-founded American Federation of Labor) since the league sold their soul to ESPN and now they get more highlights on an average Sportscenter than the NHL. I will admit though that the highlight from last weekend where the fan in Orlando who leaned over the boards to try to catch the pass coming towards him and then got pancaked by the DB was pretty damn cool. But I digress...

Baltimore NEEDS an AFL team. Peter Angelos' reign of terror and Orioles losing seasons since 1998 have caused Baltimore to revert completely to a football town, like it was back in the early 60s. Going through the tollbooths at the Fort McHenry tunnel yesterday, two days before the first Orioles game of the season, and four months before the start of Ravens preseason, the various tollbooths were all decorated in Ravens stuff, and there was a big Ravens banner hanging over the center of the toll plaza.

You've got First Mariner Arena which sits largely vacant except for the Baltimore Blast, the tractor shows, the circus, and the odd country concert. It's rundown as hell, but maybe an AFL team would give them a reason to put some work into it. You've got a huge football fanbase that would definitely come out for 10 games a year, for tickets that are priced in the $10-$40 range. And you've got a city that is bereft of sports from January to August, because in reality, nobody gives two craps about the Orioles average home game anymore. Baltimore would be a perfect AFL city.

2 Responses:

J-Red said...

We have an indoor team, the Baltimore Blackbirds. They're currently 0-4 in their inaugural season, losing by an average score of 16-69.

This reminds me of a good factoid. Did you know that Daniel Snyder registered the trademark for the Washington Warriors? He intended to make that the D.C. AFL team if his Redskins bid fell through. In the alternative, he has an alternate name should the public ever pull its head out its ass long enough to recognize how racist the franchise name is.

Jeremy said...

I forgot that Baltimore had an AFL2 team... I had seen the short three-column stories on them in the Sun. But I think that Baltimore would really come out and support a legit AFL team. One that gets decent talent in there and isn't the equivalent of the old semi-pro teams. There are some great Maryland alums playing in the AFL currently. Hell, if Columbus can support an AFL team, of course Baltimore can.

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