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Houston's Got a New High-Powered Football Team

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Hall of Fame
Could be interesting, especially for a family outing.

the stallions!

no uniforms? No home? No losses

by jerome solomon
copyright 2011 houston chronicle
may 5, 2011, 6:23pm


the houston stallions, a professional indoor football team, had a simpler pecuniary concern entering their inaugural season.

uniforms.

a couple of days before their first scheduled game in the southern indoor football league, the stallions were faced with possibly having to play the game naked.

Ok, that's an exaggeration — and i am sure illegal in texas — but due to unstable ownership, the team's uniforms were ordered but not paid for. Worse yet, a few days before the expansion franchise's season opener at tsu's h&pe arena, the contract between the team and the university couldn't be finalized, and the stallions had nowhere to host the game.

This was not exactly the best way to jump-start a professional football franchise.

But in stepped joe kramer, a co-owner of league franchises in corpus christi and the rio grande valley, to foot the bill for the uniforms and cover the costs of moving the first game to corpus.

A couple weeks later, kramer, still waiting for reimbursement for that initial outlay, assumed ownership of the team. The stallions, who host the abilene ruff riders on sunday night at the merrill center in katy, haven't looked back.

Actually, they have looked good. Very good.

Coach gerald dockery's squad was hardly fazed by the ownership situation and won that first game 52-20.

"you could tell coach dockery had done a remarkable job keeping everything together through all the chaos of bad ownership," kramer said.

Dockery has taken a team that wasn't sure it would play to the top of the league standings.

At 7-0, the stallions have already clinched the southwest division title in the 16-team league, which has squads spread from abilene to trenton, n.j.

The stallions and the albany (pa.) panthers are the only teams without a loss.

"we're almost a team that didn't happen," said dockery, a houston native and former star receiver at eastern new mexico who spent time on the roster with doug flutie and jeff garcia on the 1995 grey cup finalist in calgary. "when you're almost a team that never was, you can come together or fall apart."

kent the team's rock

the stallions lead the league in total offense and average 66 points a game while allowing just 35.5 with a league-best turnover margin of plus-14.

Robert kent, a former quarterback at jackson state, leads the stallions' high-powered offense. He is tops in the sifl in passing efficiency, thanks in part to a ridiculous 35-4 touchdown-interception ratio.

The 6-5 kent, who left the swac as the conference's no. 3 all-time leading passer behind legends steve mcnair and willie totten, was the football double for the rock (dwayne johnson) in the game plan. Kent spent time with the tennessee titans before being released at the end of the 2004 preseason.

Kent's top targets are former arena football league star timon marshall and former yates wideout kenyada tatum, who are in the top five in the league in all-purpose yards.

Where else in houston can you see an exciting, first-place professional team? Did i mention most of the arena is general admission, with tickets priced at only $10?

"the worst seat at merrill center would be one of the most expensive seats at a texans game," kramer said. "it is up close and personal. You have a good number of seats that are right on the boards, almost on the field.

"you can literally reach out and touch somebody. You feel the emotions, you hear the game, the smashing of the pads, the grunting … it's all right there in front of you."

fans are also welcome to mingle with players and coaches on the field after games.

Crazy george, the unofficial oilers mascot and perhaps the most famous football fan in the city's history, is on hand for all games, and he will pump up the home crowd at sunday's game against abilene.

no muss, no fuss

no contract disputes, no salary-cap issues, no billionaire owner and millionaire players, just a family atmosphere of fun football at an affordable price.

"i think houston will be our best market," said kramer, who works in the environmental business and spent much of the past year doing cleanup from the bp oil spill.

And the stallions win, too. How can you beat that?

"i'm trying to put a championship here. That's why i coach," dockery said. "people want to see good football, and that's what we deliver."
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From the article (quote by Solomon):

Where else in houston can you see an exciting, first-place professional team? Did i mention most of the arena is general admission, with tickets priced at only $10?
Click to expand...

Zing.
 
I saw an arena game many years ago and really didn't like it. But, I was in full NFL mode, so I think I was expecting something different.

My son has been seeing arena football ads on NFLN for awhile and really wants to watch a game on tv. I think I will surprise him soon and take him to a Stallions game. To him, football is football, regardless if it's little league, HS, college, arena, or pro.
 
Unfortunately, it looks like they didn't pay their website hosting bill, either. I can't even find a schedule for team, much less a place to buy tickets.
 
Double Barrel said:
Unfortunately, it looks like they didn't pay their website hosting bill, either. I can't even find a schedule for team, much less a place to buy tickets.
Click to expand...

Well, so much for seeing an exciting, first-place professional team in Houston.
 
Rey said:
Doesn't look like a Broncos logo to me....????

Similar...But it looks a little different...
Click to expand...

tax8Z.jpg


DenverBroncos.jpg


Yeah, there are some notable differences, but the base design to me seems like a low-res version of the Broncos logo. Something like this: http://www.quakeconsulting.co.nz/Bronco Maroon.jpg probably would have looked better with the "H" background.
 
Yawn. Arena football failed miserably here. They were literally giving away tickets before Longhorns games to get people to come out and see the team. I personally don't get it.

Now the LFL would probably work here.
 
Hookem Horns said:
Yawn. Arena football failed miserably here. They were literally giving away tickets before Longhorns games to get people to come out and see the team. I personally don't get it.

Now the LFL would probably work here.
Click to expand...

I know who would be in the Fan Hall of Fame, too.

LOL.
 
TheIronDuke said:
Here ya go DB.

http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=SIFLSTALLIONS&t=c&s=football&p=home
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Thanks, man! Looks like we have one home game left this Sunday. I'm going to try to make it with my boy. You can't beat $10 seats.

Hookem Horns said:
Yawn. Arena football failed miserably here. They were literally giving away tickets before Longhorns games to get people to come out and see the team. I personally don't get it.

Now the LFL would probably work here.
Click to expand...

To hardcore NFL fans like us, yeah, it's a watered down product. I feel the same way about NCAA football. Watching UT trounce some small school is boring football.

That being said, to a 9 yo football fan, this is an event worthy of looking forward to. He's begging me to take him, and from his perspective, all football is good, especially in spring under the dark cloud of an NFL lockout that threatens a season.
 
Double Barrel said:
To hardcore NFL fans like us, yeah, it's a watered down product. I feel the same way about NCAA football. Watching UT trounce some small school is boring football.
Click to expand...

I agree with you even as a Horns fan. I rarely get excited on Saturdays. I don't think that will change unless a playoff system comes into play.

So are you taking your 9 yo to an AFL game or LFL game? If it's the latter then I totally understand the begging.
 
Hookem Horns said:
I agree with you even as a Horns fan. I rarely get excited on Saturdays. I don't think that will change unless a playoff system comes into play.

So are you taking your 9 yo to an AFL game or LFL game? If it's the latter then I totally understand the begging.
Click to expand...

lol! He's turned into a Madden freak. He's completely ignored the Wii he got for Christmas and every chance he gets on weekends to play my 360, it is always Madden. I mention this because he's turned down the difficulty so he can win blowout games, scores like 90-3. I'm not sure what he finds fun about it, but that's the mind of a 9 yo.

So when he saw a box score of a recent Stallions game that was 89-27, he immediately wanted to check it out. Sounds like all offense all the time.

And yeah, from a fan standpoint, I'll probably be a little bored by the game. But since I'm there with him, and hey the cheerleaders aren't ugly, I'll enjoy it anyway. ;)
 
We had a blast last night! :thumbup

The Stallions are still undefeated! It was a close game, though. While I would never argue that it's a product close to NFL caliber football, I can say that I had more fun at last night's game than I did the entire 2005 season of the Texans *cough*2-14*cough*. These players are not doing it for the money. They all have day jobs. But they play because they love football, even 8-on-8 indoor on a short field.

Lots of offense, high scores, cheerleaders, lots of giveaways, Krazy George!, a fat guy in a horse costume, great seats (your pick), fans got to go on the field after the game (big thrill for my kids) to meet players/cheerleaders, a dude juggling chainsaws on a unicycle at halftime, and and cheap concession prices. REAL cheap.

For instances, I bought:

3 hot dogs
1 nachos
2 bottled waters
2 Powerade bottles
2 M&M candies

for $20!! That would have been a $75+ bill at Reliant.

I'm taking my boy back with his buddy for a playoff game. For good fun at reasonable prices, you can't go wrong with it. And hey, any football is better than no football at all. :D
 
Double Barrel said:
We had a blast last night! :thumbup

The Stallions are still undefeated! It was a close game, though. While I would never argue that it's a product close to NFL caliber football, I can say that I had more fun at last night's game than I did the entire 2005 season of the Texans *cough*2-14*cough*. These players are not doing it for the money. They all have day jobs. But they play because they love football, even 8-on-8 indoor on a short field.

Lots of offense, high scores, cheerleaders, lots of giveaways, Krazy George!, a fat guy in a horse costume, great seats (your pick), fans got to go on the field after the game (big thrill for my kids) to meet players/cheerleaders, a dude juggling chainsaws on a unicycle at halftime, and and cheap concession prices. REAL cheap.

For instances, I bought:

3 hot dogs
1 nachos
2 bottled waters
2 Powerade bottles
2 M&M candies

for $20!! That would have been a $75+ bill at Reliant.

I'm taking my boy back with his buddy for a playoff game. For good fun at reasonable prices, you can't go wrong with it. And hey, any football is better than no football at all. :D
Click to expand...

Glad you and your son had a good time. It was a friend of mine who originally gave me a heads up on the Stallions............his impressions and experience matched yours. I, too, will have to try and and make one of the games.
 
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