On Again Off Again, Arena Football League Make Up Your Mind!

Sure the Arena Football League has a fan or two, but for the rest of us it's like a security blanket. When March rolls around, times are pretty tough for football fans. The Super Bowl is a distant memory, and the draft is two months away.

But, then comes the AFL.

Arena Football is one of those things that you don't set out to watch, but there's nothing else on TV so you say, "ah, why not". It's like indoor soccer, kind of like the real thing, the rules are just a little different. Despite it's flaws, the AFL gives a football fan what they need, something to keep them going till September.

Sadly, there may not be any arena football this year. After a turbulent week, it's been on again off again for the AFL. The league has delayed the start of free agency, and is yet to release the 2009 schedule. There is no commissioner. David Baker, the long time lead dog, resigned abruptly two days before ArenaBowl XXII.

Times are tough, we all know that. If the NFL, the golden goose in American sports, had to lay off 150 employees can you imagine what it's like for everyone else?

Wednesday league officials came together to find a way to "un-suspend" the season, but players and coaches are skeptical.

"I'm still reluctant to get too happy," said Philadelphia Soul wide receiver Chris Jackson "There's still a lot to plan out. We need to figure out how many teams are going to be in it, the finances of it all, and a working financial model for the future. There's still a lot to be done."

Said the Soul's coach Bret Munsey, "we all know there are some things that need to be corrected, and that's what they're working on. They're working on the economic model, and it needs to be corrected."

Even if the league does fold, which is a totally possible, it will have still lasted longer than the American Football League, World League, USFL, and who could forget, the XFL combined.

Matt Leach for The Huddle