American West Football Conference has added another franchise, bringing in the Sacramento Spartans. 

The addition of Sacramento moves the AWFC to five teams for the league's inaugural season. The Spartans will join the Idaho Horsemen, the Reno Express, the Tri-Cities Fire and the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks in the Pacific Northwest-focus league.

Sacramento has struggled in the last few years, mainly due to lack of nearby opponents and a reliable venue. The team announced on their website that they will be working with the Jackson Sports Academy to make those facilities ready for play. With the stability provided by the AWFC, Sacramento looks to celebrate football again.

The Spartans are owned by Meselech Adamu and Rodney Bryant. Arnold Laws, Jr. is their head coach.

Today is the day after Thanksgiving, but AFT Buzz will be on the air in its usual time slot. 

Joining the show this week is Mark Lozano, Head Coach of Tampico Gators of the IAFL. He talks about how the team has evolved over time as one of the first indoor football franchises in Mexico, the nation's strength in the sport and what we can expect on the field this season. 

Other guests on the show are AFT President Derek Harper discussing the new San Diego Strike Force and writer RJ Ciancio. Host Brice Burge also previews his upcoming article about which true rookies to indoor football will exceed expectations this upcoming season.

AFT Buzz presented by Arena Football Talk airs Fridays at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time on the 920 WON: The Apple out of Brooklyn, New York City. Fans can listen around the world live at www.live365.com/station/a09178 or through the Live365 app. Shows are available after release at https://www.mixcloud.com/AFTBuzz/.

By RJ Ciancio

With the San Diego Strike Force going the Indoor Football League for the 2019 campaign, Arena Football Talk thought it would be a good time to look at the history of arena/indoor football in the city.


San Diego got its first taste of arena football back in 2001 in Arena Football 2 (Af2) with the San Diego Riptide. The team’s first season ended in by falling to the Peoria Pirates in the Northern Conference Semifinals after a 7-9 season. The team took a bit of a dive in the 2002 season missing the playoffs with a 6-10 record. By 2003 the Riptide achieved their best record with an 8-8 campaign. However, San Diego still missed the playoffs. The 2005 season was rock bottom for the team as they went 5-11, missing the playoffs and never played again.


America’s Finest City got an expansion team with the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) putting the Shockwave in town. The Shockwave went 10-1 winning the NIFL championship. The team folded in the offseason, going out on top.


With over a decade of waiting, San Diego finally has a team to call their own. With the Chargers bolting to Los Angeles and the Fleet coming to town in the Alliance of American Football, the Strike Force are filling a football void left by the Spanos family. ​

In a riveting interview, Gulf Coast Fire Quarterback Collin Saring shares with AFT Buzz his life and how football has come and gone and come back again. 

Saring recalls his recovery from a two-week-long coma before his junior year of college, the challenges of staying close to home to find a place to play and the mental approach and good breaks needed to put him at the helm of this expansion A-League franchise.

Also on the show, Professional Arena Football was unable to get their league off the ground, leaving the name brand threat of the West Virginia Roughriders without a home. Host Brice Burge and AFT President Derek Harper discuss the implications of the PAF fold. AFT Beat Writer Chris Mabry joins the show to talk about IFL free agency.

AFT Buzz presented by Arena Football Talk airs Fridays at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time on the 920 WON: The Apple out of Brooklyn, New York City. Fans can listen around the world live at www.live365.com/station/a09178 or through the Live365 app. Shows are available after release at https://www.mixcloud.com/AFTBuzz/.

The rebranding of the Cedar Rapids IFL franchise is almost complete.

The team will be revealing their new logo on Thursday, November 8 through social media and the team's website. 

Designing the logo was Brian Gundell, a freelance sports-centric graphic designer out of Portland, Ore.. Gundell worked previously in indoor football on the Spokane Empire rebrand, but has also worked with collegiate football programs, Major and Minor League Baseball, clothing companies and more. 

Gundell spoke with AFT Buzz describing in depth the styling decisions involved, the connection between aspects of the brand direction as a whole and working with Cedar Rapids GM Ryan Eucker on the "why" of the new logo. 

"A lot of the design direction was driven by (Eucker)," Gundell said in the interview. "Ryan and I both tend to think on these kinds of lines. I find that when you have this deeper meaning and deeper connection to the locale, people tend to latch on in such a more meaningful and more significant way."

Gundell's full interview will be on AFT Buzz, airing Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern on 920 WON from Brooklyn, New York. 

Schedule releases are some of the most fun fans can have in the offseason. The crazy rematches from last season, the rivalry matchups, the planning of road trips and trying to predict how every team can make it to the championship game are something every fan dives into while waiting for that first game.

But the offseason struggles continue for Champions Indoor Football, as a basic analysis of the schedule shows major holes in the schedule.  It's worse for some teams than others, but from the league this creates an issue. Here are the five biggest problems for the CIF schedule this year.

Teams were lost this offseason for the CIF as Quad Cities and Bismarck made the jump to the IFL. League jumping at this level isn't unheard of but it did create some positive momentum for the CIF when Omaha and Sioux City stated that they were staying. 
However no official word came from the KC Phantoms as the team eventually folded with little fanfare. A large market right in the heart of the CIF's geographic footprint, Kansas City was a great travel partner for all teams in the league and provided good regional media coverage.
Idaho was another potential team with the Horsemen front office saying that they were investigating joining the league. But that statement came as part of a larger press release announcing the American West Football Conference.
The West Michigan Ironmen was supposed to play in the league last year but didn't after costly and messy legal action involving them and the Bloomington Edge. West Michigan spent last year in a smaller league, was trying to find a new part-owner and has been rumored to join Professional Arena Football this upcoming season.
However the CIF announced that West Michigan would be the first expansion team for the 2019 season. The press release was removed from the CIF website, but still pops up on search engine results. 

Sioux Falls Storm Quarterback Lorenzo Brown joins this week's episode of AFT Buzz presented by Arena Football Talk.

A veteran of the indoor game, Brown returned to the Storm this offseason after being named second team all IFL. He opens up about returning to the team and to the game in general, overcoming struggles and who else on the team makes Sioux Falls the group to beat.

Texas Revolution Beat Writer Chris Mabry also joins the show to talk about the CIF schedule release and Host Brice Burge discusses why the hierarchy of indoor football clout shouldn't be led by the AFL anymore.
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AFT Buzz presented by Arena Football Talk airs Fridays at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time on the 920 WON: The Apple out of Brooklyn, New York City. Fans can listen around the world live at www.live365.com/station/a09178 or through the Live365 app. Shows are available after release at https://www.mixcloud.com/AFTBuzz/.