Arena Football Week 1

[ljc_267]

Just some random thoughts I will throw out there for whoever is reading.

Arena football is a great sport to make money in if you limit your plays and actually watch the games. The lines may get a little tighter due to the fact that ESPN has become a major player. I think that the more popular the league becomes the tougher it will be to bet into.

It seems like many believe San Jose is the top dog this year. They say that every year, so take it with a grain of salt. Followed by Georgia, Dallas, Arizona, and Orlando. Dallas may have lost their starting QB but they will be strong offensively.

I think some teams that are on the up and up will be KC and Grand Rapids who were the door mats of the league last year. They have improved significantly at almost every position. Also, look out for New Orleans, remember the NFL this year.

Offensively Austin, Dallas, and San Jose are tops.

Defensively I would say TB, Chicago, and Arizona are the leagues best.

I wouldn't bet LV for a while. They have a whole new team with a lot of NFL players, including QB Shaun King. Now you might think that the more NFL players the better. Not always. Believe me this game is completely different than the NFL. It's like comparing ping pong to tennis.

I won't be making that many plays the first few weeks. I like to get a feel for how things are going and I also like to see how the teams play. It's best to have a first hand knowledge of how AFL teams play, because stats can be deceptive in this league.

I tend to bet against common opinion so sometimes my plays are unpopular. Anyway thats my 2 cents.

Here is to a good year.

 

[Santacapper]

MOved it to Pro Football LJ

GL this Arean season man

 

[ljc_267]

Sorry about that.

I made a mistake in my 1st post. It was not Dallas who lost their QB. Georgia, in fact, traded QB Matt Nagy to Columbus.

 

[trainwreck42]

Is there any preview magazines out. I want to get in this a little more

 

[ljc_267]

None that I know of, but ESPN2 is doing a season preview Tuesday. Also, you can google the Arena home page and there are quite a few other sites with great info.

The best advice I could give you is to watch the games. This league is unique, because of the high player turnover. That is why it is very difficult evaluate teams in the preseason.

gl..

 

[Dead Presidents]

Just checkin

aviator

 

[claycourtlesson]

You all follow NFL Europe?

I can't get in to Arena Ball. It just isn't anything like real football, at all. It's like basketball. And it seems like no defense is able to be played, and whoever has the ball last usually wins, even if the team has 10 seconds to go length of field.....they do.

I wish the XFL were still around. I liked that stuff. It was real football, and it was on during the week-ends.

 

[CollegeKingRex]

Thanks for the heads up. Will be following the AFL throughout the season as we are dealing it, and yes, with ESPN involved, the lines should probably be a bit more tougher to bet into...

GL...

 

[rufus1966]

looking forward to another money making season this year also........

 

[ljc_267]

Just a quick note: For those of you who do not know there was a major change to the rules this year. This new substitution rule allows for 8 players on each side of the ball to be specialists. This is a big deal, because prior to this you were allowed 2 per side. That meant everyone else had to play ironman football.
I believe this will lead to lower total scores as the D will be more rested. Just want to throw that out there so everyone knew of the change.

 

[ljc_267]

Thursdays play. Going against the grain on this one. Many articles I have read lean to a Kats win and cover. I disagree.

Last year Columbus made tremendous strides at the end of the season after starting off poorly and managed to finish 8-8. That may not sound spectacular, but that was their best finish in team history. They have added a very solid QB in Matt Nagy who they aquired from Georgia. That coupled with the addition of Groce and Bush at Wideout will help the Destroyers offense tremendously.
The Kats are a tough defensive team and are great at rushing the passer. I believe they have led the league the past two year in sacks. The Kats will have trouble on offense. Stoerner became very inconsistant at the end of last season and their team struggled because of it. In the end both teams will find it difficult to score and the rule changes mentioned above should add to the reduction of points scored. Really think Columbus will be better than most anticipate. Look for them to keep it close and possibly spring a mild upset.

Columbus (+3.5) 44 Nashville 42. Lean to under 92

gl all..:cheers: And don't forget to check out the fine additions to Thong Thursday by Santa and myself.

 

[ljc_267]

This is amazing. About 8 years ago I told my Dad that investing in Arena football would be a good idea. He told me I was nuts. Well I was in my early 20's without a pot to piss in so I couldn't put any money into it.

I just read today that in 1996 you could have purchased a team for $400,000. Today any team out there is worth 20 million. Pretty nice percentage on that investment, huh.

 

[ljc_267]

O/U dropped 2.5 pts in the past 2 hours.

 

[ljc_267]

Off to a good start. Columbus wins it straight up. 1-0

 

[ljc_267]

I see there are not many Arena fans here. I really thought there would be more. Anyway, got a good win yesterday with Col. winning it straight up.

Last year TB was absolutely embarrassed by Orlando, scoring only 13pts. That's like an NBA team scoring 50. These two teams are conference rivals and don't like each other very much. In fact they are bitter rivals, and TB will be looking to exact some revenge. I like Tampa catching points at home.

Tampa Bay Storm +1.5

gl...:cheers:

 

[ljc_267]

New Orleans +9.5
Arizona +3.5 Wasn't going to play this one but Zona is atough home team.
Zona/Georgia over 97

gl all...

 

[ljc_267]

2-1 on my plays. Should have been 3-0 but Zona missed a extra point.

 

[tru]

tough beat on zona, great day though. keep it up

 

[ljc_267]

thanks Tru.

I hate laying points and hate it even more when I'm doing it on the road, but I see no way for NY to stay in this game. Garcia is out for NY and he is their offense. I see only two possible scenerios in this game.

One, Dallas flat out runs over NY in a blowout in which Dallas covers and a good chance at the over. This is the most like of the two IMO.
Two, it is a shootout in which it sails over.
I can't see losing both but it's gambling and anything is possible. I like my chances.
Dallas -7
Over 102

 

[ljc_267]

Halftime Dallas 33 NY 0 I have never seen a team get shutout for a half. Either Dallas is tremendous on D or NY is that bad.

 

[ljc_267]

Well Dallas laid the smackdown on NY 60-7

 

[ljc_267]

Final play of the LA Avengers +7

 

[E.T.G.]

I saw highlights on ESPN today. Is Dallas that good and NY that bad? Is NY a solid fadE?

 

[ljc_267]

Ended up 4-4 on the week. Obviously I would of liked to finish + money, but as I said earlier, it is tough to cap these teams early on, bcause of the high player turnover rate. Not to mention the new rule changes.

Green asked a good question, and the answer, I think, is a little bit of both. No way Dallas does that week in week out, but they are for real. NY isn't that bad, the absence of their QB hurt bad.

On to this week. gl all...