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.

Adam J Locascio over at ArenaFan Online has the info on the logo change undertaken by the Tampa Bay Storm.

It looks like the Storm has disappeared.

Well, from their helmets, anyway.

The Tampa Bay Storm will sport a slightly new look when they take the field March 1 in Kansas City to take on the Brigade. Gone from their helmets will be the familiar “Tampa Bay Storm” text logo with the familiar hurricane swirl replacing the “O” in Storm.

The Storm’s helmet will instead feature an oversized blue swirl with no text on the sides. The color scheme will remain the same as the helmet will continue to be the familiar metallic gold with a royal blue “storm” swirl.

Thank goodness. The Storm helmets were B-list at best last season. The swirl was the only redeeming part of any of the team's logo, and it should be the focus of the 2008 helmets. I haven't found an images yet of the new Tampa Bay Storm logo, but I'll post a screenshot once one is available. Thanks for the update, Adam!