AAFL 2008 Inaugural Draft Live Broadcast

[NYBamaFan]

I couldn't disagree more! The fact is that 99.9% of the players are coming from Alabama, Auburn, Jax State, UAB and other local schools and ALL of the players played D1 ball and many if not most were starters! Just because they didn't make (and some actually did) the NFL doesn't mean they aren't capable of playing good ball that can be entertaining.

I'll buy season tickets for a number of reasons. The main reason is that it will give me something to do between Recruiting and Summer practice!

Actually we just bought 4 season tickets between the 40's! We'll have a blast! Go Alabama!

LOL - we shall see...

 

[bayoutider]

LOL - we shall see...

The Birmingham Stallions of the old USFL were one of the best supported teams and the Birmingham Americans of the old WFL led the league in attendance.

 

[NYBamaFan]

The Birmingham Stallions of the old USFL were one of the best supported teams and the Birmingham Americans of the old WFL led the league in attendance.

You don't understand their model. They are not selling franchises. The entire league must make money, as a whole. There are teams in markets that have no chance of selling out a single game. Heck, I think most games, later in the season, will be played in front of hundreds of fans, not thousands - and most of those fans will be family and friends of the players/coaches/etc. They have also signed horrible deals with their venues, which will seriously cut into possible revenue. Finally, they have no real plan to sell tickets, and they have almost no sponsors.

At the end of the day, they will bleed money so fast that they will be forced to refinance next season or call it quits. The good news, they have enough money to get through the first season - so they have a shot.

As I said, we shall see...

 

[rolltideface]

Man, I honestly hope that this works out. I am going to the first game versus Texas. I think that it will be a good time. Besides, by the time April rolls around I am ready for some football anyway. What about mascots? Are we the Crimson Tide or some kind of variation?

 

[bamastan71]

I think it will be a fun lg I hope they do make it work. I have been trying to follow the draft on the internet this is what the Alabama team looks like so far.
Numbers 79 through 102 are the players that Alabama protected, the first four and the ones they had picked as of the last update I saw. Looks like they still need a QB.


AAFL TEAM ALABAMA
Draft # NAME POS SCHOOL
6 Josh Sewell OL Nebraska
7 Scott Scharff DL Stanford
18 Benjamin Brielmaler OL Princeton
19 Daryl Whittington DL Missouri
30
31
42
43
54
55
66
67
78
79 Reginald Myles DB Alabama
90 Saleem Rasheed LB Alabama
91 Freddie Milons WR Alabama
102 Marcus Spencer DB Alabama
103 Karibi Dede LB Auburn
114 Jeffrey Dukes DB Alabama
115 Tre Smith RB Auburn
126 Brian Balazik QB Southern Mississippi
127 Joel Babb WR Alabama
138 Eddie Strong LB Mississippi
139 Shamar Abrams DL Alabama Birmingham
150 Kody Bliss P Auburn
151 Gerald Dixon DB Alabama
162 Terry Jones Jr. TE Alabama
163 Ernest Respress DL Alabama Birmingham
174 Rob Austin OL Troy
175 Franklin Lloyd DL Troy
186 Joshua Chambers DL Alabama State
187 Kerry Johnson WR Mississippi
198 Darius Williams TE Georgia Tech
199 Cedric Norman WR Southern Mississippi
210 Clifford Carter WR Mississippi Valley State
211 Earthwind Moreland DB Georgia Southern
222 Dennis Davis DB Georgia Tech
223
234
235
246
247
258
259
270
271
282
283
294
295

 

[bamastan71]

Man, I honestly hope that this works out. I am going to the first game versus Texas. I think that it will be a good time. Besides, by the time April rolls around I am ready for some football anyway. What about mascots? Are we the Crimson Tide or some kind of variation?

They are talking about letting the fans vote on the mascots, I have heard a lot about Alabama being the CrimsonTigers. God I hate even saying that lol.

 

[bayoutider]

You don't understand their model. They are not selling franchises. The entire league must make money, as a whole. There are teams in markets that have no chance of selling out a single game. Heck, I think most games, later in the season, will be played in front of hundreds of fans, not thousands - and most of those fans will be family and friends of the players/coaches/etc. They have also signed horrible deals with their venues, which will seriously cut into possible revenue. Finally, they have no real plan to sell tickets, and they have almost no sponsors.

At the end of the day, they will bleed money so fast that they will be forced to refinance next season or call it quits. The good news, they have enough money to get through the first season - so they have a shot.

As I said, we shall see...

Gee whiz fella don't you think everyone has to make money to survive? If other teams succumb to money woes there will soon be no team for the last one standing to play. Doh! I was simply showing that Birmingham has supported past teams did you miss that?

 

[bamaslammer]

Are you offended by my post for some reason?

Offended no, but why dog the guys for trying, I love football and I have long held that there is a desperate need for an intermediary league between college football and pro football, and markets like Birmingham are well suited for that niche. I've seen many leagues come and go and anyone will tell you there's a good chance the AAFL will fail just like all the rest, but I'll give them the same chances I gave the rest and I see no point in running them down before it gets started.

 

[NYBamaFan]

Offended no, but why dog the guys for trying.

You are right, and I wish that I lived close enough to attend a few games. I will absolutely catch a few games in my travels this year. And I really hope that they don't name the team the Crimson Tigers (I have no insight into those plans). That just couldn't pass my lips...

 

[Crimson Cat]

You are right, and I wish that I lived close enough to attend a few games. I will absolutely catch a few games in my travels this year. And I really hope that they don't name the team the Crimson Tigers (I have no insight into those plans). That just couldn't pass my lips...

Me either. Crimson Tigers = PLEASE, NO!!!
Surely there can be a better name out there than that...anyway I thought it was supposed to be representative of the STATE school?

 

[NYBamaFan]

Me either. Crimson Tigers = PLEASE, NO!!!
Surely there can be a better name out there than that...anyway I thought it was supposed to be representative of the STATE school?

That was the original plan, but they don't have enough (fill in the blank, because they need more of a lot of things that can only come with time) to field the required number of teams - so the teams will be more of a regional representation. If the league is a success, you may see it morph into more of the model that was originally proposed as it grows...

 

[GoBamaJags]

That niche between college and pro, consider it the AFL. I've been spoiled to college pagentry, the campus and less purely business surroundings. I went to several of the old Jacksonville Tomcats games. No it wasn't great football, it was AFL2 league. But it was very entertaining. The fact that this AAFL is atleast regional to begin with will be it's only hope of survival, but ya'll try it before you bury it.

 

[Ldlane]

I would like to see it succeed, however I don't see it.

IMO....

A best case scenario for such leagues has been like "platforms" for Third Parties in American politics. That is, their ideas are co-opted by one of the two major parties. For this league that means that one or two teams would be absorbed by the NFL.

 

[BamaEyeDoc]

Here is the complete draft results for the Alabama team:
Name Round Pos. College
Sewell, Josh 1 OLC Nebraska
Scharff, Scott 2 DLE Stanford
Brielmaier, Benjamin 3 DLT Princeton
Whittington, Daryl 4 DLE Missouri
Obomese, Alex 5 LB Texas-El Paso
Smith, Nicholas 6 OLG San Jose State
Steen, Grant 7 LB Iowa
Carter, Antwaun 8 RB Boise State
Robinson, Terrence 9 LB Oklahoma State
Bennett, Nathan 10 OLT Clemson
Newberry, Jared 11 LB Stanford
Manigan, Travis 12 DLT Fayetteville State
Ortiz, Robert 13 WR San Diego State
Myles, Reginald 14 DBC Alabama :BigA:
Rasheed, Saleem 15 LB Alabama :BigA:
Milons, Freddie 16 WR Alabama :BigA:
Spencer, Marcus 17 DBC Alabama :BigA:
Dede, Karibi 18 LB Auburn
Dukes, Jeffrey 19 DBS Alabama :BigA:
Smith, Tre 20 RB Auburn
Balazik, Brian 21 QB Southern Mississippi
Babb, Joel 22 WR Alabama :BigA:
Strong, Eddie 23 LB Mississippi
Abrams, Shamar 24 DLT UAB
Bliss, Kody 25 P Auburn
Dixon, Gerald 26 DBC Alabama :BigA:
Jones Jr., Terry 27 TE Alabama :BigA:
Respress, Ernest 28 DLE UAB
Austin, Rob 29 OLT Troy
Lloyd, Franklin 30 DLT Troy
Chambers, Joshua 31 DLE Alabama State
Johnson, Kerry 32 WR Mississippi
Williams, Darius 33 TE Georgia Tech
Norman, Cedric 34 WR Southern Mississippi
Carter, Clifford 35 WR Mississippi Valley
Moreland, Earthwind 36 DBS Georgia Southern
Davis, Dennis 37 DBC Georgia Tech
Russell, Jeremiah 38 WR Louisville
Austin, Reginald 39 DBC Wake Forest
Niklos, John 40 RB Western Illinois
Howard, Abdul 41 DBS Florida State
Smith, E.Z. 42 OLC Penn State
Helms, Gabriel 43 DBC N.W. Missouri
Townes, Marvin 44 RB East Carolina
Willis, Keith 45 TE Virginia Tech
Reese, Rico 46 DLE Western Carolina
Anelli, Mark 47 TE Wisconsin
Eakin, Kevin 48 QB Fordham
Thomas, Marcus 49 OLT Western Carolina
Harris, Jermaine 50 LB South Carolina

 

[AlabamaSooner]

I hope the team does well, but I have one disclaimer....I can't cheer for Tre Smith to score a touchdown. That's just too hard for me to do. Maybe he'll do a flip into the endzone.

 

[OreBama]

I hope the team does well, but I have one disclaimer....I can't cheer for Tre Smith to score a touchdown. That's just too hard for me to do. Maybe he'll do a flip into the endzone.

I agree. I remember him as being a punk, although I forget the specifics. He's was the white rb right?

Anywho, I'd like to see this league be successful. I actually liked the XFL as it had former Bama players, even Jay Barker who did well as I recall.

Are the games going to be televised for us stranded on the West Coast?

 

[crimsonaudio]

It's a d@mn shame these posts aren't dated February 2000.

Post of the day.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Freddie Milons is BACK!!!!!

 

[BigEasyTider]

I agree. I remember him as being a punk, although I forget the specifics. He's was the white rb right?

Tre Smith was the scrawny little tailback -- yes, the white one -- who had a big game against us in 2002. Naturally the Barners made him out to be a great running back, but he was never anything special, it was just that we were wholly unprepared. After all, hard for us to win games with Texas A&M's coaching staff.

Naturally he was nothing special, so he rode the pine for the next three years with injuries and the underlying problem that he was never anything more than a slow, scrawny white kid.

Anywho, he finally got lucky as hell when the Florida punter muffed the snap, some other Barners blocked the ball and he happened to be in the right place in the right time to scoop it up and score.

As for the flip, personally I figure he was so shocked that he was actually getting to touch the football in a real game that he crapped himself and that powered an involuntary flip into the end zone.

 

[AdamMc2003]

well as history stands, Smith owned us and we will never get a rematch...