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.

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."

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.

The San Jose SaberCats organizations are celebrating the resigning of superstar QB Mark Grieb according to the San Jose Mercury News. Grieb blazed to the top last year with stellar passing numbers.

"Those three championship banners that are hanging in our arena are in large part due to Mark Grieb," coach and general manager Darren Arbet said in a statement. "His dedication and sacrifice to this organization has been a catalyst to our success."

Last season, Grieb became the only passer in Arena Football League history to throw for more than 4,000 yards in four consecutive seasons. He threw for 100 touchdowns last season and finished second in the league in completion percentage (71.0), third in passer rating (125.4) and yards (4,608), and fourth in passing yards per game (288.0). Grieb has started 91 consecutive games dating to 2003.

ArenaFootball.com has combiled a handy Free Agent Tracker to help fans keep up with all the offseason player movement. Some of the big names they chose to highlight:

The Central Division Champion Chicago Rush introduced their newest additions in 14-year veteran QB SHERDRICK BONNER, formerly of the Arizona Rattlers, and two-time Offensive Player of the Year (2005, 2006) WR DAMIAN HARRELL, who spent the past five seasons with Central Division rival Colorado.

If Bonner can stay healthy, having Harrell to sling to can only make the Rush stronger in 2008 than they were in the championship 2007 season.

Rising rookie star Derrick lewis was another great free agent signing:

The New Orleans VooDoo have signed WR DERRICK LEWIS, who in 2006 amassed the second-most rookie receiving yards in a single-season with 1,411 while leading the Austin Wranglers to a 10-6 record and the teams only playoff appearance.

I'm expecting the VooDoo to be much improved this season, and will be well positioned for a playoff berth.

The Los Angeles Avengers stay active in the signing market during the lead up to the start of the Arena League 2008 season, which begins Februrary 29th. The Avengers welcomed Justin Hickman, an All-American defensive MVP, who will add versatility to the defensive trenches with his quickness and pursuit.

LOS ANGELES -- Justin Hickman, who was a consensus All-America selection during his collegiate career at UCLA, signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Avengers on Friday.
...
Hickman (6-foot-2, 265 pounds) led the Pacific 10 Conference with 19 tackles for losses and 12.5 quarterback sacks as a senior in 2006, earning the Bruins' Red Sanders Award for most valuable defensive player and the Kenneth S. Washington Award for outstanding senior. Hickman also was a finalist for the Ted Hendricks National Defensive End of the Year Award.

According to the Los Angeles Wave newspaper, the Los Angeles Avengers have signed a new quarterback to their roster.

Occidental College quarterback Andy Collins has signed a three-year contract with the L.A. Avengers of the Arena Football League.

Collins was a three-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference offensive player of the year and an NCAA Division III All-American in 2006. He averaged 273.1 yards in total offense per game as a senior.

He participated in the New York Giants mini-camp in May as an unsigned free agent.

It isn't clear yet how much playing time Collins might receive behind Sonny Cumbie (who isn't signed yet for the 2008 season as far as I know) and Tim Hicks.

The Spokane Shock announced today that DB Nygel Rogers has re-signed with the team for the 2008 season. Rogers, 6'1 210, is the eighth member of the 2007 Western Division Champions to re-sign with the team.

In his rookie season of Arena Football, Rogers finished second on the team with 8 interceptions (returned for 78 yards) and 17 pass break-ups and third in total tackles (69). In week 13, he was selected as the af2's ADT Defensive Player of the week after recording 5.5 tackles and 2 interceptions against the Boise Burn.