Will return of Indoor Football be successful here?

FROM KEITH GROLLER

I never had the pleasure of covering the Lehigh Valley Outlawz during their time at Stabler Arena.

My only contact with the team was when their owner, a guy named Jim DePaul, was in the pressbox at Northampton for the Catty-Northampton Thanksgiving Day game one year and he had some leftover Outlawz cheerleader calendars he was eager to give away.

He gave me one. I was pumped. It was for the year that was just about to end and not for the coming year, but I don't think anyone who gets cheerleader calendars really wants them to mark down coming birthdays and anniversaries, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, while DePaul was a nice guy, I got the feeling that the Outlawz weren't exactly a smooth-sailing ship. That was proven later when they left in a cloud of allegations about unpaid bills.

Now, two years or so after the Outlawz vanished in darkness the way the Colts once left Baltimore, here comes a new franchise and some people aren't showing much interest, expecting a second coming of the Outlawz.

I've covered three introductory events now with this team and league and at the very least I can tell you is that these are smart, business-savvy guys. These are not the Outlawz. There is no hint of sleeze here.

The fact that an established team like the Reading Express, which has survived five years at the Sovereign Center in downtown Reading and has evidently carved a niche in that competitive sports town, is coming to the IFL speaks well for the league.

Again, these appear to be mart business guys.

Will the Lehigh Valley team, which will be named next week, make it here? Will there be enough sponsorship dollars to go around in this tough economy?

I don't know the answers, but I have an inclination to say yes.

It would have a better chance in a downtown arena closer to people, like the one being talked about for the Allentown river front.

For whatever reason, people -- including Lehigh students -- just don't like going to Stabler Arena. We've been going there for years -- for graduations, for concerts ranging from Barney to Billy Joel, and for the occasional Lehigh basketball game. I remember when the high school basketball playoffs were there and people liked the big-time setting.

Eagles football fans certainly know where it is because many of them park aside of Stabler when they go to Eagles training camp.

But will Stabler be a destination of choice for the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, Blast, Vipers or whatever the name team is called?

I don't know.

I do believe that this is going to be a better product than people think. And arena football is still something you don't see every day. Even if you get enough from the NFL, college and high school scene, this brand of football offers a different style, a different tempo.

Every time I see a game on TV, I stop, just for the curiosity of seeing guys play on what looks like a miniature field.

And remember, this franchise will be asking for a five-game commitment from fans, not 72 games like the IronPigs. And in March when the weather around here is still iffy, people may be looking for something to do on a Saturday night. I don't think 3,000 - 4,000 people for five nights is undoable, if the prices are kept down.

We'll see. I definitely intend to see the new team play and see what this style of football is all about, especially if they put some Lehigh and Lafayette guys, and maybe even some Penn Staters, on the roster.