Chris Townsend

Arena/Indoor football has been back in the bay area for the past ten weeks.  However, it's back not in the same way.  In my last posting, discussing the Arena Football League (AFL) and some of the other leagues, I had mentioned that the former team associated with the AFL has not returned.  Instead, a new team, owner, and league has emerged in the bay area.  The team is the San Jose Wolves, who are playing this season's home games in the Cow Palace in Daly City, a 40-45 minute drive north of San Jose.  The owner, Ryan Peterson, who also owns technology company, OCZ Technology Group of San Jose, has put forth efforts to bring back the championship ways of arena/indoor football.  The league the San Jose Wolves belong to is the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA).

The AFL was the main league (major league) for arena football.  Member teams of the AFL played in full sports arenas.  The bay area team that was a member of the AFL was the San Jose SaberCats.  Now due to the league folding for financial reasons, the San Jose SaberCats were then forced to cease operations.  After one year without any arena fotball in the bay area, a rumor came forth of a new team forming.  This team became known as the San Jose Wolves.  However, due to financial and scheduling limitations, and the participating in a smaller league, the Wolves will not be able to play in the HP Pavilion at San Jose, as did the San Jose SaberCats.  Instead, the San Jose Wolves made a tough decision to play in the much smaller and older Cow Palace in Daly City.

The new league coming to the bay would take over as now the oldest league in indoor pro-football, four years.  This new league is the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA).  The old AFL had been in existence for 22 years before filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.  The AIFA has teams in much smaller markets and teams who, instead of playing in full sports arenas, play in smaller indoor facilities (i.e. civic centers, event centers, small arenas).  So for the San Jose Wolves to bear the name of the 10th largest city in the United States and play in the 4th largest television market, San Jose Bay Area,  the pressure is certainly on for any kind of success.

The San Jose Bay Area is a extremely tough market to become a success.  Other sports franchises have come and gone, even in as little as only one season played.  These teams include the San Jose Rhinos (indoor roller hockey), San Jose Grizzlies (indoor soccer), San Jose Lasers (women's pro-basketball), San Jose/San Francisco Demons (XFL), and the latest California Redwoods (UFL-relocated to Sacramento).

At this point, the San Jose Wolves indoor football team has played 8 of their 14 regular season games, with one pre-season game.  The Wolves are nearly perfect with just one lost coming to the Wyoming Cavalry, who play their home games in the Casper Events Center in Casper, Wyoming.  So thus far into their debut season, the Wolves are being a dominant force in the Western Conference of the AIFA.  As for the Eastern Conference of the AIFA, the Wolves have yet to play anyone.  This is due to the league's play format.  Teams play within their conference during the regular season.  The only time one conference plays another is in the AIFA Championship game.  So to be a truly champion caliber team, as expected by the bay area fans, the Wolves need to play the Eastern Conference team for the championship and bring the title home to San Jose.  Then consistency in this level of play for more than just one season could probably begin to win the bay area fans over.

The San Jose Wolves have only two home games remaining this regular season, with the possibility to host the Western Conference title game if they finish first in the conference.  For more information on the AIFA, or American Indoor Football Association, check their web site out at http://aifaprofootball.com.