This week has been a huge clusterf*ck in indoor football and thanks to the National Arena League it’s been made even worse.
If you haven’t already heard the Carolina Cobras locker room was robbed last weekend during a game in Westchester, NY against the New York Streets. Valuables amounted to $3,000 worth of personal belongings including a NAL Championship ring.
Norling – IFW: A Snake bit the Cobras
The Cobras, who we’re up 46-0, ended the game and left due to their safety (completely understandable, more so if you’ve ever been robbed).
Nothing really big broke for most of the week until the suspect was caught, and they happened to be a Streets employee.
The NAL then decided, on the same day as the person was caught, to announce the punishment handed down. The league fined Cobras Head Coach Billy Back, suspended him for one game, and gave a forfeit victory to the Streets!
Yep that’s right the team who was down 46-0 at halftime and whose employee robbed the visiting team got a win out of the ordeal. ARE YOU F****** KIDDING ME NAL!? How does this make ANY sense!? Short answer it doesn’t and everyone with a brain knows it.
First off saying that the coach had no authority to end the game goes against every sport and league I’ve ever dealt with. Along with this my understanding is a league operations manual has never been given out to any player, coach, or team staff, which makes the NAL even worse. This league has had issues from second number 1 and it’s made it look bush league and penalizing a team who was ROBBED and WINNING is just stupid even makes the AAL look more professional.
To the NAL, congratulations, you have officially won the IFW F*ck Up of the Year award and supplanted Project Fanchise (gag) as the biggest joke in Indoor Football in recent years. I’d say don’t be stupid but you’ll manage something just as bad soon, may the Football Gods have mercy on your soul. But don’t count on that because they show no mercy, especially to stupid.
My good friend Adam Lamprecht also had some things to say, from a fan’s perspective.
When NAL Commissioner Chris Siegfried released the league’s statement, he took full responsibility for the situation, which he should, because if I recall, the league provides security for these games, and security basically f***ed up.
But then, the commissioner goes on to say that not only were the Streets fined, but also the Cobras and Coach Back, with Back being suspended one game for, and I quote, “conduct detrimental to the best interests of the league – for not finishing the game.”
To top it off, the league then stated that it would be a forfeit win for the New York Streets, despite them being down 46-0 at halftime, and while they could’ve pulled off a Buffalo Miracle, it probably wasn’t going to happen.
I’m sorry, but with that, the NAL has lost most, if not all, of their credibility. I understand league protocols and policies and all that crap, but Billy Back was looking out for the best interest for his players.
They were not going to be in the best frame of mind going into that second half. And who would blame them? I wouldn’t be thinking about the game, I’d be more worried about my stuff that was stolen, and if more of my stuff could be stolen.
If they’re not in the right frame of mind for a game, that could lead to injuries, fights, or worse. Back’s decision made me respect him a whole lot more than I already did, as I feel he’s one of the best coaches in the indoor world, right up there with Kurtiss Riggs, Kevin Guy, Dixie Wooten, Clint Dolezel, and a few others.
So Congratulations, Commissioner. You’ve turned your league into a LOLcow. You punished a team that was looking out for its players, and you didn’t really address the real issue: A team had prior burglaries and didn’t even report it to the local authorities before it happened a second time.
The Streets should be booted from the league, and you should issue a public apology to the Cobras Organization, and Coach Billy Back. But none of that will happen, because this is the world of indoor/arena football, where shady s*** is the norm for this business.
