Ialways have a hard time dealing with sports in the summer. Once the NBA Finals are finished and the Stanley Cup is awarded, I kind of find myself empty- handed. I have to be honest, I like the Brewers, but baseball really isn't my cup of tea. Unless I'm at Miller Park grilling out and having a few beers on a sunny afternoon before making my way to the gates with a ticket in my hand, it's hard for me to get excited about a baseball game.
The problem is that my options are limited. Come July, high school and college sports are nonexistent, three out of the four major professional sports are in the offseason, and pro soccer is pretty hard to find on TV or radio. With all due respect to NASCAR and the MLB, unless you're into racing or baseball, sports fans really haven't got a lot of avenues to head down.
That is, unless you're willing to give the small town sports a try. Growing up outside of Green Bay, the summertime sportscasts on the local news station always had scores from the last Green Bay Blizzard (or Bombers back in the '90s) game.
The Blizzard is part of the Arena Football League 2, which always sounded to me like an uncreative name for a sub-par league of D-III football players who never stood a chance of landing a big-time contract. I used to think it would be a waste of time and money to watch something that could be emulated in someone's backyard. But last summer, bored of backyard ballgames and tired of spending $30 for one night at the movies, I decided to give the Blizzard a try.
And after that one game, I was ashamed for ever thinking those guys were anything close to sub-par. The game was exciting and entertaining. There was plenty of hard-hitting, fast-paced, gritty football out on that 50-yard field, and there's no question as to why. Players in the AF2 earn $250 a week. You can make more money than that flipping burgers full time at McDonald's—which means these guys are not in it for money. They don't make national headlines when they win their league championship, which means they're not in it for the glory.
They are out there for the love of the game. They play for pride, and it shows. The best part is that in a small town, you have fans who understand. They come out and fill the stands for the love of the game. They cheer for pride, and it shows. It's not just the third-tier football teams that give sports-starved fans this feeling, either. It's the junior hockey leagues, small circuit baseball leagues and indoor soccer leagues as well.
Small town sports are often overlooked because they don't get much exposure and names like ""AF2"" downplay the true ability level—or at least, the intensity level—at which the athletes perform. They don't have much for a budget and can't draw the big names or fan base that the big leagues do. Local-market advertising, small-time corporate promotions, and word-of-mouth are all that keep them going.
Ironically and quite fortunately, these very same things that seem to leave small-town teams at a disadvantage make the game better for those who invest their time, money, and interest in them.
To put people in seats, the cost of a ticket stays as low as teams can keep them, which means the fans get their money's worth. The game is raw because a great season doesn't amount to an increase in salary for anyone, it only improves your chances of even making a roster next year. The squalor of contract negotiations and business logistics are rarely a public affair, and locker room disputes are never reported—if they even exist. It is the quintessential sporting experience.
Best of all, it gives fans who are hundreds of miles away from the nearest big-league sporting arena something to call their own. Without small-town sports to support in the summer, the folks in Iowa and Montana and Mississippi and Wyoming all have to cross state lines to back their favorite teams. Instead, the success of the small-town team gives people the satisfaction of knowing that investing themselves in it was worth it. It gives them something to rally behind and be proud of, and it's right in their backyard.
So again, no disrespect to the diamond disciples out there, but when the dog days of summer arrive and baseball isn't cutting it for you, look into small-town sporting leagues. They are not a dismissive bunch of rag-tag ball players. They are serious athletes who play for all the right reasons. Best of all, they make you remember why we play in the first place: it's a game, and boy, is it fun to watch.
Are you a big fan of AF2 powerhouses like the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz? Tell Andy about it at avansistine@wisc.edu
