ESPN Magazine A-11 Article

[Forksref]

Originally Posted by Ref Ump Welsch

Then you wouldn't enjoy 6-man football at the high school level. Of course, then, some 8-man games would offend you perhaps?

Try 9-man where last year I worked two dome-games in one day and there were over 200 pts. scored in those 2 games. It's not that much fun when you are a wing.

I prefer to watch a low-scoring game where one play can make the difference. However, I find that arena ball is entertaining, just not the optimum format for me. For arena ball, I just have to accept that it is not real football.

Originally Posted by Forksref

Try 9-man where last year I worked two dome-games in one day and there were over 200 pts. scored in those 2 games. It's not that much fun when you are a wing.

I prefer to watch a low-scoring game where one play can make the difference. However, I find that arena ball is entertaining, just not the optimum format for me. For arena ball, I just have to accept that it is not real football.

I can relate, being a wing in 8-man ball sucks big time some of the time. It all depends on what kind of teams you have out there. If you have two explosive offenses, then it's a long day. If you have two really sucky defenses, can be a long day. If you have two solid offenses and two solid defenses, then it's a good day.

We had one weekend last year (Friday night and Saturday afternoon) where the two 8-man games we had combined for over 250 points, maybe almost 275. Yes, you read that right. Final score Friday night was like 60something-50something, while Saturday afternoon's final was 80something-70something.

A buddy of mine coached 6-man ball one year, and he had a great offense, fair defense. His team almost broke the state scoring record on offense, and almost gave up the most points ever on defense and yet came in 2nd in the state.