IFL Championship Game in Des Moines tonight
- Thread starter nu2u
- Start date
Wild finish. Iowa wins 42-38 IFL Champions.
Iowa with go-ahead TD with 13 seconds left. SF WR appears to catch TD pass on final play but the players ended over the end boards amid a group of fans.... ref says no catch.
Iowa with go-ahead TD with 13 seconds left. SF WR appears to catch TD pass on final play but the players ended over the end boards amid a group of fans.... ref says no catch.
It was a bigger deal years ago. When Iowa was in the original Arena league, it was a legit professional league (meaning the players were paid halfway decent and there was a handful of NFL capably players in the league).
The league Iowa just won has 6 teams (Des Moines, 4 other/smaller midwestern cities and Phoenix) and the players supposedly make $2-300 per game. It is a semi-pro league full of players that are nowhere close to the NFL.
Indoor football seems to be a dying sport. Even the original AFL has been through bankruptcy and is down to 4 teams.
This is true - the IFL has gone through a number of re-alignments and is constantly in transition while looking to add new markets as less profitable (or insolvent) franchises drop out. The pay is also less. I would contend, however, that the caliber of athlete playing today is not a substantial drop off from the original Arena League.
Indoor football appears to thrive better in small city markets, cities distant enough from a major college or pro team with a big enough population base to support a franchise. Sioux Falls is a good example: population 185,00 (approx. 250,000 within 20 miles) with no major college or pro team within 100 miles.
I have been to several home games there over the year and they always draw large crowds.
Was at the game and shocked the last play was not reviewed. I'm not familiar with the review procedures but was shocked that in a league that lets you review penalties that WERE NOT CALLED, they didn't review that play. I had a good angle on it and it sure looked like that was a possible catch. It was a great atmosphere.
I'm not sure a replay would have shown anything definite. On TV, the SF receiver and 2 Barnstormer defenders ended up over the boards after what looked like a catch. However, they were immediately swarmed by fans. In an interview to local press, the SF WR claimed that a fan ripped the ball from him in the pile.
The coach's challenge on a holding penalty that was not called IS bizarre. They need to drop that rule. Coaches get two challenges. Given the circumstances, the SF coach had to use it there with 13 seconds left. The Des Moines kicker hit a clutch PAT from 40 something - credit due.
Do you know what the official attendance number was? Also, what did you pay for a ticket?
Not sure what the attendance was, but it was pretty full in the bottom and the middle section. We paid 18$ for tickets in one of the corners. They had the curtain down over the third level. Seemed like there might have been double the attendance of what we normally see at regular season games.
That's funny that the WR claimed it was ripped from him, because from our angle it looked like he had it as he went over the boards and disappeared from our view. And in my mind I was hoping like hell that those fans would help get it away from him. Was a hell of a game.
