In this occasional series, staff writer Tod Leonard attends sporting events to provide a taste and feel of the teams and games that are played throughout San Diego County.

The team: San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football.

The venue: SDCCU Stadium, which suffers a lot of putdowns, but remains a perfectly decent venue to watch a football game.

The competition: In its inaugural season, the AAF has eight teams, six in markets that don’t have NFL teams (Atlanta and Arizona being the exceptions.) The season runs 10 weeks and the Fleet are 2-1 heading into Saturday’s game at 0-3 Memphis. Four teams will make the playoffs, with the league championship game to be played at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on April 27.


The ticket: Prices run from the very reasonable ($20) to the ridiculous ($155). With only about 10,000 people showing up for each game, there are plenty of the former available, including those for my favorite spot, in the field level behind the west end zone. Parking is $15.

The broadcast: The league’s opening night was televised on CBS, which also will carry the title game. For the rest of the season, NFL Network is showing two games per week, with CBS Sports Network and Bleacher Report Live each picking up one per weekend.

The vibe: Anything that gets a little overhyped makes me immediately skeptical, so when there was frothy praise on the local radio talk shows for how great the experience was at the Fleet’s first home game, the bogosity antenna went up. How fun could it be to watch minor-league pro football with 10,000 other desperate souls getting their football fix in late February?

The answer to that, after seeing the Fleet beat San Antonio 31-11 on Feb. 24, lies somewhere between the best and worst football experiences you’ve had. It wasn’t like watching a bad high school game on a rainy Friday night, and it certainly wasn’t the rocking Sunday afternoons when the Chargers were good and seemed to care about us.


It’s about what you’d expect: Basically, the Mountain West quality of football that San Diego State plays, with a bit more of a noisy edge in the stands because fans are either ticked off at Chargers owner Dean Spanos (yes, the derogatory chants returned for Home Game 2) or happy to be in person to see large, athletic men run into and tackle each other.

The reports of an enthusiastic crowd were absolutely true, with fans waving their free yellow pompoms often, even when the scoreboard wasn’t imploring them to MAKE NOISE. There is an especially fervent cheering section behind the west end zone that is reminiscent of Chargers days, and the chant of one syllables is easy enough: “Fleet! Fleet! Fleet!”

At least among this group, the Fleet seems to have scored in merchandise sales. Nearly everyone seemed to sport some garb of gray and yellow. (I’ve definitely warmed up to the colors and logo.) There’s a curious T-shirt for sale with the likeness of quarterback Philip Nelson, who only became the starter in Week 2. Maybe the marketing department knew something the coaches didn’t.

There is a striking difference from a Chargers crowd: far more kids of all ages, which you don’t see much in the NFL because who wants to spend $200 to take your kid to the snack bar or bathroom at least once per quarter?


Unfortunately, football attracts weekend warriors who drink too much and want to vent, so there are the usual idiotic and profane shout outs — “(Expletive) you! You’re not good enough to play in the NFL!” In the second half came the predictable fight in the field section that had to be broken up by the security in yellow jackets. Handcuffs were a good look for a couple of buffoons.

The play: When Nelson threw an interception on the game’s first play and San Antonio scored on the very next snap, it looked like it could get ugly for the Fleet. But San Diego’s quick defense dominated the rest of the way, Nelson found a groove, and the Fleet have a couple of fun backs to watch in the Darren Sproles-like Ja’Quan Gardner and bruiser Terrell Watson.

As good as Nelson was, you can’t help but wonder how much more exciting the team would be if former USD star Josh Johnson hadn’t been plucked away by the NFL

Aztecs pride: A big upside to AAF’s philosophy is to stock teams with players who have local ties, and the Fleet did an admirable job with a host of San Diego State alums. Former Cowboys tight end Gavin Escobar had a big game against San Antonio, and Terry Poole is a factor on the offensive line. Defensive lineman Alex Barrett is making his presence felt. Kameron Kelly started the season at receiver, but has moved back to his position in college, defensive back. Donny Hageman, now sporting a nice ’stache, was a star kicker at SDSU, and he’s been good in his only role — field goals, since there isn’t any other kicking other than punts.


The clock: Perhaps there is no better improvement from the NFL than the time it takes to get a game in. The San Antonio game clocked in at almost exactly 2½ hours. The TV timeouts were minimal, and the turnarounds after possession exchanges were stunning: less than a minute. There was only one replay challenge (it was successful), and it was handled quickly. The NFL has a lot to learn here.

Food and entertainment: The usual bad stadium fare. $6 for a slim hot dog. It’s nice to have food trucks there, but how good is it really when a hamburger is $13?

No cheerleaders, which can be debated forever about that being a good or bad thing. Plenty of eclectic music played and fans get frequent looks on the video board. The fog horn blowing after Fleet scores is a nice touch. Not as startling as cannon fire.

Complaint department: The lines at security getting into the game are slow because there are fewer entries open.


One and done or hooked? Neither. Would go again if there isn’t a good movie out, but might hold out to see if there’s a first pro playoff game in the stadium in 10 years.


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tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutleonard