Utah Blaze unplugged: Franchise hopes for return after canceled season

Steve Videtich voiced what hundreds of Arena Football League players had to be thinking on Monday upon hearing the news that their league won't play games in 2009.

"This isn't exactly the kind of Christmas present you want to get," said Videtich, the Utah Blaze's record-setting kicker.

Videtich and other players, coaches and AFL employees had heard the rumblings and rumors for months about the league's economic struggles. So Monday morning's official announcement following Sunday night's vote of the board of directors was not a huge shock.

Still, it hurts.

"We're disappointed that we're not going to be playing in 2009," said new Blaze head coach Ron James, who was promoted from an assistant coaching position following the 2008 season. "Every coach and every player wants to play. We've been gearing up to play. We've been working very hard this offseason as coaches to get the talent lined up and to be able to give the Blaze fans something special to cheer about. It's disappointing that we're not going to be able to show that."

The AFL's board was split last Wednesday when the majority of the league's 16 teams voted to suspend the 2009 season, but not the two-thirds majority needed. Several teams wanted to continue playing, even if it meant with fewer clubs fielding teams, rather than calling the entire season off. Sources say the Blaze, owned by local auto dealers John and Robert Garff, were with the majority that wanted to call the season off while the league restructures with the goal of playing in 2010.

By Sunday night's conference call, however, the league had their two-thirds majority and the season was suspended.

"Every owner in the AFL is strongly committed to the league, the game and, most importantly, the fans," said acting commissioner Ed Policy in the press release announcing the suspension. "Owners, however, recognize that, especially in light of the current unprecedented economic climate, the AFL, as a business enterprise, needs to be restructured if it is to continue to provide its unique brand of this affordable, fan-friendly sport."

Blaze president Jason Jones agrees.

"The decision (to suspend the season) is not an indictment of our franchise," Jones said. "These are issues that are impacting the entire league, and it's a combination of an economic model that exists in the league that needs to be restructured and the very tumultuous economic environment that we are all in right now. It kind of created the perfect storm, if you will, that made it prudent to suspend the season for now in order to go back to the drawing board and make the changes necessary to provide a great product in the future."