The Fascinating Game of Arena Football

As a fan of regular football I never had any desire to watch Arena Football. It seemed to me like it was football re-tooled to appeal to people who prefer basketball: fast paced back and forth scoring, simpler plays, and defense that aims to slow down scoring rather than halt it all together. And after Saturday night I can confirm that it is all those things, but it is so much more.
Here are some of the things I noticed
1. During pre-game warmups players and fans actually talk to each other on the sidelines, and players will pose for photos with kids.
2. Coaches and the TV crew stand in the middle of the field about 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
3. Plays happen FAST.
4. There are commercial breaks in the middle of the game. Not just for people watching on TV, actual 30 second commercials are played a few times a game on the jumbotron.
5. The strategy is a lot like playing Madden on XBOX live. Where else would you see a quarterback with 5 rushing touchdowns and 2 throwing TDs in a game? Or both teams going for it on every single 4th down of the game? Or an onside kick by the team with the lead with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game?

With all that said, here's what I got from the season opener. Hopefully it will not be the last Tampa Bay Storm game for me this season.

Logan Ward, 7, of St. Petersburg gets his hair painted with the Tampa Bay Storm logo.

Joseph Hills Jr., 6, of Bradenton plays with his dad's helmet during pre-game warmups.

Receiver Greg Ellingson is tackled against the wall.

Tampa Bay Storm head coach Dave Ewart standing in the middle of the field. Why do you need a headset when you can just walk over to the players and talk to them?

Tampa Bay Storm quarterback Adrian McPherson scoring one of his 5 rushing touchdowns.