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| Chad meets Paul Stanley |
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter
I was inducted into the KISSArmy at the age of 5. About a year ago, I sat down at my computer at work
and saw the headline, “KISS TO BRING FOOTBALL BACK TO LOS ANGELES.” Being a fan
of both football and KISS, I was intrigued. Clicking on the article revealed by
“football” the headline meant Arena Football and “Los Angeles” meant
Anaheim. The article made mention
of season tickets going on sale that morning. Since I have a tendency to make
questionable impulse decisions, as soon as tickets went on sale I submitted a
request for two field level tickets. Before that day my only knowledge of arena
football was 1) it was played on a smaller field than the NFL, 2) the AFL had
shut down recently for one season and 3) Jon Bon Jovi was part owner of the
Philadelphia Soul team. Point
three is one of the most important reasons for my purchasing tickets. I wanted
a rivalry to be born between the Soul and KISS. Who wouldn’t want to see Paul
Stanley, Gene Simmons and Jon Bon Jovi trash talking each other and making
public bets on the game? If the Soul wins, KISS has to cover “Livin’ on a
Prayer” in concert. If KISS wins, Jon has to wear KISS style makeup during a
concert. I have weird reasons for making decisions.
When I ordered my tickets,
the AFL had yet to announce the schedule for the 2014 season. Unfortunately for
me, the game makers failed to consult me in the decision making process. Once
the schedule was announced, I found out due to my travel plans for the months
of April and May, I was going to miss three out of the first four home games. This was disappointing but there were
seven other games that I would be able to see.
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| The fans! |
Again, because I make
questionable impulse decisions, my season tickets were six rows off the field.
At the time of order, my thinking being close to the field would be most
exciting. Between ordering the tickets and attending my first game, I embarked
on my trip of hockey fandom and got accustomed to sitting in the upper levels
of arenas where I could see the entire field. Attending my first LA KISS game,
I was excited to be near the field but also felt my view was hindered by being
to the left side of the LA KISS bench, which blocked my view of plays on the
near side of the field beyond the 25 yard line. Also, I was seated next to a season ticket couple that spent
the majority of the first quarter telling me how upset they were with how small
the seats were and how they wouldn’t be renewing their tickets. Needless to
say, the first impression of the environment left a bit to be desired.
Once the game started,
however, any negative thoughts were quelled. Now, I’m not going to sit here and
pretend LA KISS were a great team this season. They finished the season with a
3-15 record. I don’t think any fan expected them to be great. They were an
expansion team playing their season. Barring some type of miracle this was
going to be a learning season. The true test will be the next 2-3 seasons to
see how they improve on the foundation that was laid this season.
As stated earlier, I wasn’t
too familiar with AFL before becoming a KISS ticket holder and I failed to
really expand my knowledge during the season. Part of that is due to a lack of
coverage the AFL gets in mainstream coverage. By that I mean Yahoo sports and
the ESPN score app doesn’t list scores or news. I am also a sports fan that
doesn’t focus much on stats. My basic following of sports is, “did the team I
like win” and “did the team I don’t like lose.” I am trying to become a knowledgeable fan. It just hasn’t
happened yet.
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| Paul Stanley |
With the regular season of
the AFL finished and LA KISS missing the playoffs, it’s time to look toward next season. It’s pretty clear the standout player for the KISS this season was
the 2008 Rookie of the Year, Donovan “Captain” Morgan. I would like to see KISS get behind
Morgan and promote him as the franchise player. Or at the very least, market a jersey with his name and
number.
From my untrained eye, the
two areas that need the most work in the offense are Quarterback and Pass
Defense. After starting the season
2-8, KISS traded Quarterback J.J. Raterink and acquired 18-year AFL veteran
Aaron Garcia. Towards the end of the season, Garcia suffered a shoulder injury
and was replaced by rookie, Kenny Guiton. While Garcia is an AFL legend, if I’m
the one in charge of a new team, I would look towards the future and go with a
younger QB who can be molded and have a team built around his strengths.
Since arena football is
mostly passing plays, pass defense is a key part to the game. At the last few
home games, there were way too many times where the receivers for the visiting
team were pretty much standing alone on the field. The field is about half as
wide as an NFL field so when a receiver has no one around him, there’s a
problem. I’m not going to sit here
and armchair quarterback how to fix this problem because I would sound even
more like an idiot than normal. I
trust the coaching staff does know how to address this issue and will take the
necessary steps during the offseason to try and rectify the lack of coverage.
The best thing I can say
about the games is they were fun.
After the first game, the people sitting next to me never returned.
Instead, fans that were into the game and into the team surrounded me. Even
when the team wasn’t doing well, the fans were there to offer support. No one
left before the end of the game no matter the score. They cheered the team even
after a bad play or two. Most of
all, I was thrilled there were no annoying belligerent fans in my area. The
positivity and fun atmosphere made me rethink my decision to get tickets in the
upper deck next season. Instead, I
renewed my tickets for the same seats.
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| Paul Stanley & Schuyler Hoversten |
LA KISS management needs to
be commended for their dedication to the team. I may be naïve, but hearing Paul
Stanley speak to the fans during halftime (not to mention actually sitting in
seats near the field instead of in a luxury box) and team President Schuyler Hoversten addressing the
crowd at the final home game, you can tell this is management that cares about
it’s team, about it’s fans and wants to put the best team on the field.
As of now I don’t have any
major travel plans on the calendar so when the schedule is announced, I should
be at every game proudly wearing my LA KISS “Stanley” jersey (unless they start
selling a “Morgan” jersey) and rooting on the team to victory. It’s exciting to get a chance to
support a team from their beginning. Now if I can just learn more about the
team so I can talk about them in more context of did they win or lose.
