What a game! We had great seats in the upper part of the lower section, right on the 25 yard line.

The Soul had pushed a lead out to 22 points, but a late rush by the Force in the 4th quarter left the home team with the win. They managed a successful onside kick, followed soon thereafter by a TD and 2-pt conversion with only seconds to go. The Soul missed a midrange FG at the buzzer to seal the comeback win for the Force.

Georgia knocked off the first-place Soul, handing Philly only the second loss on the season. We really enjoyed the game, and can't wait to go back for another!

Tickets for individual games for the Georgia Force just went on sale yesterday, and I picked up 4 for the May 12 game against the Philadelphia Soul. We're gonna be in the upper part of the lower concourse, so should be excellent seats. My wife and I will be joining one of my closest high school friends Jack and his wife. Looking forward to it!

A brief post-by on a friday night to hit a couple of news items:

• * AF2's Austin Wranglers have filed for bankruptcy. According to the team, this will not affect season operations and the team will play as normal during the 2008 arenafootball2 season.
• * The Philadelphia Soul signed WR Chris Horn on Thursday. Horn previously played in the AFL with Arizona, and has NFL and NFL Europe experience as well.

Justin Wilkie, over at Bleacher Report, has offered his 2008 Arena Football League preseason rankings, and like a lot of us, has Chicago topping the list. They return strong from last season, and had the top free agent signing group bar none. His top 8 (visit the article for the complete list):

1-Chicago Rush(Central Division, 2007 record 12-4)

2-Philadelphia Soul(Eastern Division, 8-8)

3-Cleveland Gladiators(Eastern Division, Former L.V.Gladiators 2-14, in Western Div.)

4-New Orleans VooDoo(Southern Division, 5-11)

5-San Jose Sabercats(Western Dvision, 13-3, 2007 ArenaBowl Champs)

6-Los Angeles Avengers(Western Division, 9-7)

8-Arizona Rattlers(Western Division, 4-12)

I'm becoming convinced that LA is underranked across the board. Granted, they do have, debatedly, the toughest division in the AFL. I like the way the team worked in the offseason, and I expect great things from this group. I'd put them at #2.

Justin is putting a lot of faith in the building going on in Cleveland. The team has put out a ton of effort during the offseason to get things going in its new Ohio home, whether this will yield a top 5 return is likewise debateable.

Be sure to check out Justin's 2008 Arena Football League team preview series, which just kicked off with the Chicago Rush preview.

The Spokane Shock of AF2 are beaming with their signing of smooth WR Mutsumi Takahashi, formerly of the New York Dragons. Takahashi was the first Japanese-born player to play in the AFL. From OurSportsCentral.com:

Takahashi made his AFL debut for the Dragons on May 16th against the Dallas Desperados, amassing 164 all-purpose yards. Prior to his experience with the Dragons, Takahashi played for the Cincinnati Swarm in the af2 under Coach Shackleford.

"We feel like we got the best international player available," Shackleford said. "The fact that he wants to continue his Arena Football career in Spokane really says a lot about the organization. He is a special player that our fans are really going to enjoy watching."

I wish my wife would attend the sort of event the Chicago Rush are hosting February 28th. Pinot and Pigskin: Arena Football 101 for Women is a great means of the sport reaching out to women, who are becoming eager supporters of Arena Football. From the Chicago Rush press release:

The Chicago Rush will host “Pinot and Pigskin: Arena Football 101 for Women,” on Thursday, February 28, at Gibsons Restaurant in Rosemont, the team announced today.

The event, which will run from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, is designed to educate women on the fundamentals of Arena Football in a fun and comfortable environment prior to the start of the 2008 Arena Football League season.
...
To purchase tickets to “Pinot and Pigskin,” please call Laura Visin, Rush community relations manager, at (773) 243-3439 or mail a check or money order for $65 per ticket to the Chicago Rush at 1011 E. Touhy Avenue, Suite 400, Des Plaines, IL 60018.

Proceeds will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Here's a cool montage of the 2007 season for the AF2 Green Bay Blizzard. This video is courtesy BM Publishing and posted on Youtube:

Doing my daily check for posts and stories about Arena Football, I came across a blog that had recently returned from blog limbo: the BM Publishing blog. After an 18 month haitus, they returned with a couple of interesting posts, including one added today with a picture of Jim Foster's original Arena Football League sketches on the back of a manilla envelope. Foster's notes, now housed in the Arena Football wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, include a very rough drawing of the field and some technical notes about game play. Visit the BM Publishing site for a full resolution / full size image of this HOF artefact from Arena Football history.

Georgia Force fans have a bit of preseason fun in store next week with the Season Ticket Select-A-Seat event on January 23, 2008. The new home of the Force is the Gwinnet Center, and from 6-9pm on the 23rd, fans can select their choice season ticket seat location. The 2008 Georgia Force cheerleaders will also be there in force with their first appearance of the 2008 season. Help welcome the Force to their new arena and get yourself a prime spot for all the home games.

Here is a quick roundup of Arena Football news from the middle of January in anticipation of the season kickoff at the end of February:

• The Tampa Bay Storm signed AF2 Alabama Steeldogs quarterback Mitch Tanner to a contract after his strong play last season. Tanner was also an assistant coach with Monmouth, but will be resigning to play for the Storm in 2008.
• Elex Reed has signed with the Cleveland Gladiators for the 2008 season. Reed was the AF2 lineman of the year in 2007 for the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings and a former start of the Mexia Black Cats.
• Brett Elliott, quarterback, was signed this week by the San Jose SaberCats.
• Defensive End Ryan Riddle will be part of the 2008 Los Angeles Avengers squad. Riddle played for the NFL Raiders and Jets a couple years ago, and is known as an aggressive pass rusher.
• The Columbus Destroyers have announced their 2008 coaching lineup. Visit the link to oursportscentral.com for the complete rundown.