The 2005 season sees new changes in the playoff format. In the past, divisions and conferences meant nothing as the top 8 (or 12) teams made post-season play. Seeding was based on record, regardless of whether a team won a division or not. And last year a divisional winner-the New York Dragons-did not make the playoffs!
This year the conferences will each offer a champion to battle in ArenaBowl XIX (19 if you didn't take Latin in high school). And even the ArenaBowl is different. In the past the team remaining with the highest seed (read, best record) hosted the ArenaBowl. Of course one week doesn't give teams, the league, and (very important) sponsors time to book hotels and flights and prepare for anything outside the game. This year the first of three neutral games will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Other changes to the game include the loss of three franchises-Carolina Cobras, Detroit Fury, and the Indiana (nee Albany) Firebirds. Carolina entered the league when a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) came into play and it is likely the owners hadn't planned on the dramatic shift in Arenaball economics. The Detroit franchise mimicked the Pittsburgh Steelers with a logo on only one side of the helmet. The team was co-owned Bill Davidson, whose teams won the Stanley Cup (Tampa Bay Lightning), NBA (Detroit Pistons), and WNBA (Detroit Shock), and William Clay Ford, who owns the perennially woeful Lions. Sadly, the Fury would have had less competition for fans this year with the Red Wings not playing due to the lockout.
The Firebirds were the real loss. They had been in the league for almost the life of the league. They had a rabid following in Albany until the move to Indianapolis. In Indy, whenever I visited my sisters, I noticed the Firebirds would receive front page coverage and they advertised. One would think the denizens of Indianapolis would enjoy indoor, high-scoring football. In ignomy the team was put up for sale on eBay, but no suitable buyer was secured in time for the season. Former Green Bay Packer linebacker (and af2 Green Bay Blizzard coach) Brian Noble even sought to buy the Firebirds and move them to Milwaukee. We'll see if the franchise returns in some form next season.
