Rock N Roll City Embraces AFL

The newly christened Cleveland Gladiators (tickets) have taken the city of Cleveland by storm as they have gotten off to a 3-0 start and join such Arena League luminaries like Dallas, Philly and Colorado as undefeated after 3 weeks of play. Trust me this is big news in C-town, as the city rarely embraces it's minor league sports. Over the past 10 years, this city has seen two hockey teams and a championship participant in indoor soccer fold, and now has yet another minor hockey team. This wouldn't even be the cities first dalliance with the 50 yard indoor war. The city saw the old Thunderbolts for 3 years before they also folded. But now they have a winning team, crowds of over 15000, including an impressive 15000 plus the afternoon after the city had over 3 feet of snow and people needed to dig out of their driveways and streets to move around. Trust me when I say this is really amazing, and I must admit I'm very surprised.

Yes, the old Thunderbolts era started in the same fashion, but they were nowhere near the excitement level this current team has. Other than the two field invasions by the fans after the Bolt's first two victories, and I know as I was one of those running on the field, the crowds never reached more than 9,000. Heck there were nights were I was armed with 20 some free tickets I had from a friend and I could not even give them all away. Now there is no such thing as freebies for the Gladiators and the crowd loves the game. Opening night, other than the expected standing ovation for co-owner Bernie Kosar, the crowd was loud and proud for their boys in red and black. The player were overwhelmed by the response and mingled with the crowd, even high-fiveing them in between plays. There even was a decent number who traveled to see their team in the Battle of Ohio in Columbus. This is huge for a minor sport franchise in Cleveland, as traveling is exclusive to the big three of the Cavs, Indians and Browns. Merchandise even reflected this on opening night as most of the concession stands had hardly anything left on the shelves, and even local retailers are running short on t-shirts.

Why is this happening you may ask? When let's first not discount the Bernie factor. The native son is perhaps the biggest sports figure this city will ever see. He may have never won a championship, but due to his local roots and that fact he played for the most popular team in the city, in the Browns, makes his standing legendary. As long as he stays as a visible owner there will always be that desire to show up to games and see Bernie. Plus I know many may not openly admit it, but this city really wants to win a championship involving Bernie. Yes, many were happy when he won it with the Cowboys, but really it's not the same. The Arena Bowl may not be as sweet as a Super Bowl for the beloved Brown's led by Bernie, but it will bring tons of pride in this championship starved city.

Also when push comes to shove in this town it always comes back to pig skin as being the favorite. Regardless of how bad the Browns were, even when they announced they were moving to Baltimore, they at least had half the old Cleveland Stadium filled. That cannot be said for either the Cavs or Indians. With these two they need to be winning before they can even imagine decent crowds. If you need further proof just look at the amount of high school football coverage in this city and large high school fields like Lakewood and Byers Field in Parma that will sell out for playoff games. Strongsville even sold PSL's for their new stadium. Let's face it folks Cleveland loves its football.

Combine these two factors together and add the legitimacy the AFL now has, unlike when the Bolts were around, and you have a winning recipe. As long as the Gladiators are winners, ticket prices remain reasonable and the players love the fans, this team will succeed. And where other minor teams have failed in the past, the Gladiators have struck a TV deal for their remaining road games. This helps in a major way as the team has long periods when they are away from home. By televising the games fans now can keep up with the action and get to know the team even better. Things are looking up for this team and it does not look like the momentum will be stopping any time soon. And trust me, if this team wins the Arena Bowl, it will be a big to do. Maybe not as big as if one of the big 3 won, but it will be more of a celebration then when the old indoor soccer team the Force/Crunch ever had when they won their championships. And when it does happen this city will finally be able to share that championship with home town hero, Bernie Kosar.