kc brigade.

today i was fortunate enough to attend my first ever Arena Football League game: the kansas city brigade versus the arizona rattlers.

the brigade got completely tossed. 73-34.

i went with 4 high school fellas. none of them had been to a game before either so none of us really knew what to expect. it was a the sprint center in downtown kcmo. i didn't really expect the brigade to pack the place out - and they didn't - but i was surprised at the level of commitment shown by some fans.

one of the first things the four of us witnessed as we walked in the door were two obviously avid brigade fans. they both had on their #90 jerseys*. and their bald heads were completely painted brigade-light-blue with the brigade logo (seen above) drawn on the back of their skulls. as best as i could observe they were father and son - but when two people cover all of their facial features with the exact same shade of paint they're bound to look related. it was like seeing a light skinned member of the Blue Man Group and his offspring. but these were the only individuals we ever witnessed with any sort of skin alterations (except for the woman in section 115 with an obnoxious tribal tattoo on her lower back.)

section 116 row 17 got a little old after a bit, so we decided to pursue seats around section 117 row 2. success. however, i'm confident we landed in the season ticket holder "section". they were extremely enthusiastic about the brigade. they knew players names, the coaches' typical schemes, team records and history as well as the current afl standings. however, when the game turned south for kansas city (around 9 minutes left in the first quarter) the die hard fans began to express their frustrations at rather extreme volumes. they threw out lines like "that play never works (insert coach's name here)!" or "there go your season ticket sales!" or "we're not a running team!" or "pit-i-ful!!!" their jeers were pretty much audible to the entire arena seeing that the rest of the building wasn't necessarily saying much. and being indoors helps too. i wanted to turn around and say something to the effect of "are we serious?" or "what season ticket holders?" but i didnt want to offend anyone. i just couldn't believe there were people that cared that much about the kc brigade...the chiefs aren't THAT bad.

i'm glad to say that i've been to a game, but i don't plan on ever going back. unless we play the Columbus Destroyers. they're the only team equally as bad as the Brigade apparently. but not likely you'll pull me to that one either.

a quality learning experience. hilariously strange.

-ap.

* - former chiefs allstar Neil Smith owns the team. he was number 90. maybe he should pull a michael jordan/washington wizards/2001 and come out of retirement to help a pitifully sad team.