AAFL On the Outs?

[Batman]

The most recognizable name in the league was Sherman Williams, the former Alabama RB who had a cup of coffee in the NFL as Emmitt Smith's backup with the Cowboys.

The league lasted one season. The biggest crowds were 7,000 or 8,000 people, and most probably numbered in the hundreds. Management and financial backing counts for a lot, but when I heard about the AAFL I couldn't help but think it was a rehash of the RFL with better publicists.

"Hundreds" may be generous. I was living around Mobile at the time and I remember seeing game highlights on TV. Stadium was damn near empty.

I covered a few games for the Jackson team. The crowds there weren't bad, maybe a couple thousand. Not bad for a league like that. Of course, when you're in a 60,000 seat stadium like most of the teams in that league were, and drawing 7,000, you might as well pipe in chirping crickets over the PA.

 

[slappy4428]

I applied for a job with the AAFL and never got a call back. That's like not getting a call back from the local grocery store.

Depends what your time in the 40 is...

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

How come all these leagues with American or United States in the name fail? ABA, USFL, AAFC, NASL, AFL. Only the American League survives!

 

[Mystery_Meat]

Oh well, that means more time for this.

 

[mediaguy]

Anybody else get fake e-mails from the league that are made to look like e-mails from "fans" in your area? I've gotten quite a few ...

 

[pseudo]

How come all these leagues with American or United States in the name fail? ABA, USFL, AAFC, NASL, AFL. Only the American League survives!

AFL? Fail? Depends on the definition, I suppose.

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Basically the AAFL needs a TV deal and today (or tomorrow) is the deadline. I guess they were banking on the NFL Network saving them but it doesn't look like it's happening.

I'm not sure how many tickets they sold here in Florida, but I know they had the offer to play the Florida home opener right after the Gator spring game in hopes of keep the spring game crowd and they would take a percentage of concessions in lieu of ticket sales, but they turned it down.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Anybody else get fake e-mails from the league that are made to look like e-mails from "fans" in your area? I've gotten quite a few ...

Yes, I got a couple of those. It was poorly done.

 

[mike311gd]

How come all these leagues with American or United States in the name fail? ABA, USFL, AAFC, NASL, AFL. Only the American League survives!

AFL? Fail? Depends on the definition, I suppose.

The American League sucks. NL all the way, baby.

 

[forever_town]

Yeah. Pitchers should hit for themselves, dammit!

 

[Flash]

 

[Mystery_Meat]

PROTIP: If they're putting a team in Birmingham, it's going to fail hard.

 

[sportshack06]

Anybody else get fake e-mails from the league that are made to look like e-mails from "fans" in your area? I've gotten quite a few ...

Didnt get that, but we got emails from a "freelance journalist" who did a piece on the local team.

We also got an email, supposedly from a former QB of the college team asking us to hype and cover the team and call him anytime. The # was correct for the player, but the syntax and style was very similar to the initial email from the "freelance" person.

 

[mustangj17]

I applied for a job with the AAFL and never got a call back. That's like not getting a call back from the local grocery store.

Depends what your time in the 40 is...

drinking a 40 or running a 40?

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Basically the AAFL needs a TV deal and today (or tomorrow) is the deadline. I guess they were banking on the NFL Network saving them but it doesn't look like it's happening.

I'm not sure how many tickets they sold here in Florida, but I know they had the offer to play the Florida home opener right after the Gator spring game in hopes of keep the spring game crowd and they would take a percentage of concessions in lieu of ticket sales, but they turned it down.

Well that makes no sense ...

 

[Starman]

There had to be some kind of weird deal that the AAFL was trying to actually affiliate with the universities -- maybe play in their stadiums, maybe appear on regional networks like the Big Ten Network, etc etc. Thus, I suppose, the otherwise completely idiotic, moronic rule that all players in the league must be college graduates, which right off the top eliminates about 60% of your potential player pool (and probably 80% of the guys who are actually any good at playing football).

 

[dixiehack]

All over but the shoutin'

http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2008/03/06/all-american-football-league-expected-to-fold-2/

 

[BNWriter]

All over but the shoutin'

http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2008/03/06/all-american-football-league-expected-to-fold-2/

Apparently, the memo about folding hasn't reached Alabama yet:

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/03/officials_of_team_alabama_the.html

 

[Steak Snabler]

The most recognizable name in the league was Sherman Williams, the former Alabama RB who had a cup of coffee in the NFL as Emmitt Smith's backup with the Cowboys.

The league lasted one season. The biggest crowds were 7,000 or 8,000 people, and most probably numbered in the hundreds. Management and financial backing counts for a lot, but when I heard about the AAFL I couldn't help but think it was a rehash of the RFL with better publicists.

"Hundreds" may be generous. I was living around Mobile at the time and I remember seeing game highlights on TV. Stadium was damn near empty.

I covered a few games for the Jackson team. The crowds there weren't bad, maybe a couple thousand. Not bad for a league like that. Of course, when you're in a 60,000 seat stadium like most of the teams in that league were, and drawing 7,000, you might as well pipe in chirping crickets over the PA.

The biggest news the Mobile team ever made was when the players refused to come out of the locker room before a game because they hadn't been paid yet. By the way, their head coach was Tom Walsh, the guy who quit running a bed and breakfast to become Raiders OC under Art Shell (Mobile was his last head-coaching job before that).

I don't understand why these leagues keep forming, thinking they're somehow going to get a piece of the NFL and college football pie. I've said it many times, people just aren't going to pay to watch a mediocre brand of football.

 

[GB-Hack]

All over but the shoutin'

http://news.jacksonville.com/justin/2008/03/06/all-american-football-league-expected-to-fold-2/

Maybe, although this says they may just postpone the opening season and try again in 2009.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=3279907