It’s time to explain. It’s time to understand. It’s time to discuss a rule that every year plays a major factor in who hoists the United Bowl Trophy, and for some reason is never talked about. It’s time to explain the Indoor Football League’s “vet” rule.
WHAT IS THE RULE?
The IFL’s “vet” rule states that each team may only have seven player’s on their roster who have played four or more seasons of professional football in any league.
WHAT CONSTITUTES A SEASON?
Once a player has appeared in four games that constitutes a full season. This means that a player could potentially only appear in 16 career games before being considered a veteran by the league.
OPINION
The IFL was established the way all indoor leagues need to be, as a developmental league. When the IFL was established in 2009 there were many other places for players to jump, the NFL and CFL obviously, but the AFL as well as the now defunct UFL. Times have changed though, and it’s time for the IFL to change with them. The league is competing directly with the National Arena League to see who can become the fourth major football league behind the NFL, CFL, and XFL. The IFL should no longer be looked at as a developmental league alone, it needs to be looked at as a long-term option. Obviously the pay-structure must change but that’s a topic for a different time. It’s hard to make a career out of something if you only get four years to do it. Of course there have been exceptions who have made a career in the IFL, Lorenzo Brown and Ryan Balentine are the two current players who come to mind. The league has done an excellent job inserting itself into large markets such as San Diego and Oakland, now it’s time to take the next step and allow players to become the faces of their cities in the Spring, that step is to eliminate the veteran rule.
Full Credit for Map goes to the Indoor Football League
Each year the IFL does everything they can to try and improve the length of travel each team has to endure in an attempt to save money. With the West Coast of the IFL now put in action, it would appear travel costs will be cut down substantially for some teams this season. Unfortunately, some teams were luckier than others and will have a little more money leftover following the season. Today we’re going to calculate every team’s total distance traveled, who their farthest and shortest trips will be to, who they’re visiting most often, and more. Let’s get into it. Note that the calculations for total miles were made from one team’s arena to the other and back. We did this assuming teams would come home following the game and not stay on the road for consecutive weeks.
QUAD CITY: 7,192 Miles
Quad City will travel the least of any team in 2020. Their farthest trip will be out to face the Rattlers. That is the only trip the team will take over 1,000 miles. They are the only franchise that will not have to take multiple 1,000 mile trips this year. They also will tie Cedar Rapids for the shortest trip any team will take this season with a grand total of 88 miles. The Steamwheelers longest road trip will be two games.
SIOUX FALLS: 8,336 Miles
Sioux Falls will travel the second least in 2020, their longest road trip will be out to Spokane which will be a common theme in this article. The Storm will only make two trips of over 1,000 miles and will exit the Dakotas for their shortest trip of the season when they matchup with the Barnstormers in one of the most anticipated matchups of the year.
TUCSON: 9,082 Miles
Ownership took a risk last year placing a franchise on the West Coast of a league which until the Rattlers joined in 2017, dominated the Central United States. In year two that risk is already paid off as the ‘Skulls will travel the third least of any team in 2020. They will make two short drives to Gila River Arena to face off against the afformentioned Rattlers and two more drives of just over 400 miles to face the new look Strike Force. Their longest trip will be their first of the season when they travel 1,558 miles to face the River Kings. Tucson is the only team in the IFL that will face more than one opponent on the road on multiple occasions.
IOWA: 9,304 Miles
It pays to be in Iowa. At least in terms of travel costs, the Barnstormers travel only 127 miles for their shortest trek of the season against the River Kings. Iowa will make two 669 mile trips to Bismarck to take on the Bucks and will have to travel to Oakland as one of two trips of over 1,000 miles.
CEDAR RAPIDS: 9,988 Miles
The final team to crack the sub 10,000 mile mark will be the Cedar Rapids River Kings. Cedar Rapids is one of six teams who will spend three consecutive weeks on the road in 2020. Their longest trip will be out to face fellow Choi-owned franchise, the Oakland Panthers.
DUKE CITY: 11,122 Miles
Duke City got picked on a bit in their first year of being an IFL franchise. They’re just one of two franchises that will make three trips of over 1,000 miles this season, the longest being a 1,151 mile journey to Moline, Illinois to take on Quad City. Their shortest trip is almost 500 miles to Tucson.
GREEN BAY: 12,178 Miles
Despite travelling only 302 miles to Cedar Rapids twice, Green Bay’s mileage in 2020 is a bit skewed thanks to their longest trip of the year, a 2,227 mile voyage to Oakland to take on the Panthers. The 2,000+ mile distance is the longest any team will have to travel in 2020 to play an opponent.
OAKLAND: 13,346
Remember how Green Bay’s numbers were skewed because of that long trip to Oakland? The Panthers weren’t spared of that trip, they’ll visit the Blizzard in late April for their longest trek of the year. The San Diego and Oakland rivalry has plenty of potential as the Panthers travel just 482 miles to meet the Strike Force in the Panthers’ shortest trip of the season.
BISMARCK: 13,572 Miles
We’re now in the top 5 and man, did Bismarck get the short end of the stick. Arguably the team that needed to save some money on travel the most winds up with the fifth highest mileage number of any team in the league in 2020. Their longest will be to Oakland (1,580) on May 2nd. The Dakota rivalry helps the indoor deer as they’ll enjoy a smooth 404 mile ride to Sioux Falls. Even with many regional opponents the Bucks will make three 1,000+ mile journeys in 2020.
ARIZONA: 14,104 Miles
Like we talked about with Tucson, the Rattlers have the luxury of only travelling a little over 100 miles to the Tucson Convention Center for their shortest trip of the year. Their longest trip of the season could be one of the most entertaining and intriguing games of the season, when they take on the Steamwheelers 1,586 miles away from home. The Rattlers are one of three teams who will travel over 1,000 miles four times.
SAN DIEGO: 14,568 Miles
The Strike Force struggled on and off the field in 2019 and will spend 2020 with the third most mileage of any team in the IFL. Even though both teams are on the West Coast, they’ll travel over 1,000 miles twice to play the Shock, make their longest trip of the year to Bismarck, and add another 1,000 mile trip to Frisco on top of that.
FRISCO: 16,036
Frisco could be a dangerous expansion team in 2020 but they’ll deal with some serious jet lag. Their closest opponent is over 600 miles away in the form of Duke City, while they’ll travel nearly 2,000 miles to take on the Shock in May. Fortunately they’ll get a little taste of everything the IFL has to offer as they won’t visit the same city twice in their inaugural IFL season.
SPOKANE: 19,442
Dear God, so much for that West Coast connection cutting down on travel. The numbers for Spokane are staggering. Their SHORTEST trip is 955 miles to Bismarck. Their other six road games (they only have seven) are all over 1,000 miles. Fortunately the longest road trip they’ll face is only two games but the Shock better download some good podcasts for the trip, may we suggest the IFL Network Podcast? Now available on Spotify, Apple Music, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.
The 2020 season is almost upon us, and with that comes a bunch of articles we’ll be writing to try to pass the time until the first kick of the IFL’s 11th season on the turf. The first, we’ll break down every team’s 2020 schedule. The way we’ll grade it will be based off how favorable it is for the team and their hopes of a 2020 United Bowl Title, not how entertaining the matchup may be.
ARIZONA RATTLERS: D-
The Rattlers are one of four teams who won’t play their first game until 14 days after the season begins. They then will play for TEN consecutive weeks before finally getting their third and final bye. But the grueling schedule isn’t the only thing the Rattlers should worry about. They have to go to Iowa, and Sioux Falls in their only match-ups with those two teams in 2020. They also have the misfortune of playing the Sugar Skulls in back-to-back weeks as part of a home and home series. Add all those reasons on top of not getting to play Bismarck or Cedar Rapids? Tough scene.
BISMARCK BUCKS: C-
The Bucks need all the help they can get in 2020 and they don’t get a lot of help initially as they’ll have to run through the gauntlet of San Diego, Sioux Falls, Spokane, and Iowa before finally facing off against expansion Frisco in Week 5. The Bucks do see their opponents ease a bit following those first four weeks but they’ll play 11 games in a row before getting their first bye week. Their final two byes take place consecutively to close out the regular season but at least they’ll be well rested for the offseason right?
CEDAR RAPIDS RIVER KINGS: A
Don’t know which schedule maker was paid off here but the River Kings might as well hold a parade now for how favorable their schedule is. No Arizona, no Sioux Falls, no Spokane, and no Oakland. Plus, they’re bye weeks will take place after playing 3 games, 4 games, and 2 games with a stretch of 5 games to close out the regular season. The only reason this isnt an A+ is because of three straight games away from home toward the back end of the schedule as this team could sneak into the playoffs.
DUKE CITY GLADIATORS: B-
There’s a little bit of everything there for Duke City, usually matchups against Arizona and Sioux Falls will hurt you but if there’s a team ready for that challenge it is this Gladiator team which is as big a wild card as any heading into 2020. They won’t play at home until Week 5 but five of their last six games will be played at home.
FRISCO FIGHTERS: C
When you’re the new kid people pick on you. That’s kind of what happened to Frisco in their inaugural schedule release. Their first and third bye weeks will take place in week 1 and week 17. So the team has essentially only one week off all regular season. You match that with having to play consecutive road games everytime they leave the lone-star state and things look tough. Fortunately, they’ll get Duke City and Cedar Rapids twice.
GREEN BAY BLIZZARD: B
The opponents are incredibly favorable for Green Bay in 2020, unfortunately the Blizzard will join three other franchises who won’t touch the field until Week 3. The Blizzard won’t have to deal with the Rattlers or the Shock in 2020 and have a great shot to get hot in the back-end of the schedule with the Storm being the only playoff team the squad will face in their last 5 contests.
IOWA BARNSTORMERS: B-
Unlike Green Bay, Iowa won’t have to wait until week 3 to play. They will have to wait until week 2 and then get their second bye week in week 3. Despite having only one week off in their final 14, the team doesnt have to play the Shock, and only has consecutive road games once on their schedule. They’ll also get three games against Bismarck to add to their win totals.
OAKLAND PANTHERS: C-
Oakland’s front office has done everything in their power to put together a championship roster in year one, their schedule will do everything to try and keep that from happening. The Panthers will use two of their three bye weeks up by week 5 and will endure brutal stretches on the road as they’ll play three in a row on the road prior to their final bye, and finish the season with three road games in their last four contests. On the bright side, the Indoor Cats will avoid Sioux Falls in year one.
QUAD CITY STEAMWHEELERS: B-
In their first IFL season, Quad City played well at home, they have a great support system in Moline and they’ll get to play most of their tougher opponents at home at least once. Sioux Falls and Arizona will each make trips there before QC returns the favor. The team will play the Barnstormers on the road both times but will only have to make one trip to the West Coast, to face the Rattlers.
SAN DIEGO STRIKE FORCE: B
Arguably the most improved team in 2020 has a schedule which will allow them to accomplish just that. They’re one of the few teams in the league that will get all three of their bye weeks in the regular season. They also will get to play their final three games at home. plenty of home games at the end does mean plenty of road games at the beginning though, as the team will not play a down of football in San Diego from March 15th all the way until April 18th.
SIOUX FALLS STORM: A
It’s not like that defending United Bowl Champs needed any help, but they got it anyway. They won’t have to face Arizona once during the regular season, they also won’t have to face potential problem San Diego. The team will get two chances to beat up on Bismarck, two matchups against Duke City, and will also entertain expansion Frisco. One of their two matchups against Iowa will take place in the final week of the regular season with seeds most likely already decided. The only reason this schedule doesn’t get an A+ is the way the bye weeks turn out for the club, they’ll play every weekend from March 29th all the way until May 29th, a full two months without a break.
SPOKANE SHOCK: D
It doesn’t get much more challenging that what lies ahead of the Spokane Shock. Two dates with Arizona, two with Sioux Falls, two with Tucson, and they’ll also have a date on the road in a hostile environment against Quad City. Take this unfavorable schedule and add in two of the three bye weeks before week 3 even kicks off. Billy Back has his work cut out for him.
TUCSON SUGAR SKULLS: C-
When you look at the front of the Sugar Skull schedule matchups with Cedar Rapids and Duke City may fool you into thinking Tucson has an easy schedule, but that’s where the intensity increases for the second year franchise. They’ll play rival Arizona three times, Spokane twice, and will only play consecutive home games once in 2020. The team will avoid Sioux Falls during the regular season.
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