| TOPEKA TROPICS 2022 SCHEDULE
3/12 Topeka Tropics @ Omaha Beef, Ralston Arena
3/19 Salina Liberty @ Topeka Tropics, Stormont Vail Event Center 3/26 Kansas City @ Topeka Tropics, Stormont Vail Event Center 4/2 Topeka Tropics @ Rapid City Marshals, Monument Arena 4/9 Southwest Kansas Storm @ Topeka Tropics, Stormont Vail 4/23 Wyoming Mustangs @ Topeka Tropics, Stormont Vail 4/30 Topeka Tropics @ Southwest Kansas Storm, United Wireless 5/7 Omaha Beef @ Topeka Tropics, Stormont Vail Event Center 5/21 illings Outlaws @ Topeka Tropics, Stormont Vail Event Center 5/28 Topeka Tropics @ Salina Liberty, Tony's Pizza Events Center 6/4 Topeka Tropics @ Omaha Beef, Liberty First Credit Union Arena Read More
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Don’t adjust that dial--
Unlike your former favorite radio station, we have not flipped formats to become a sports-betting site. Even though “music” is (literally) in our name, we occasionally will get out beyond those boundaries and cover things considered “pop culture” – sporting events, cultural gatherings, e-sports and weekend gaming, Broadway shows, comic book conventions, and more.
So, why not see what Northeast Kansas has to offer in terms of professional sports, by attending the first-ever home game by the area’s newest franchise, the Topeka Tropics of the CIF- Champion Indoor Football League.
The league, mostly Midwest-based, was formed in 2014 primarily from a merger of two previous leagues and currently has eight teams competing, in a season that runs from March until June. Indoor football, as the name states, is played inside with several differences between their rules and the NFL games we’ve come to know so well:
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CIF |
NFL |
| The Field | 85 feet wide, 50 yards long | 160 feet wide, 100 yards long |
| Goal Posts | Nine feet wide with a 15-foot high crossbar | 18 1/2 feet wide with a 10-foot high crossbar |
| The Roster | 20-man rosters; eight men on the field | 53-man roster; 11 on the field |
| Scoring | Mostly same but a successful drop kick earns two points... | ...on the extra point and four points as a field goal |
| Rebound Nets | Kicks and passing plays that bounce off nets are still in play | none |
| Passing | Receivers only need one foot in bounds | Both feet in bounds |
| Punting | Not allowed, illegal! | Three-and-out means punt |
| Overtime (15min) | one guaranteed possession for each team | Score a TD- win, score a FG, other team gets a try |
Receivers also get a five-yard running start before the ball is snapped, to run downfield.
(fun fact: the area’s previous indoor team, the Kansas Koyotes employed female kicker Abby Vestal in 2007, making her the first woman to ever score points in a professional men’s football game).
As for the out-of-the-ordinary team name, a write-in campaign was held shortly after the franchise was announced, with the winning entry being the “Tropics”, keeping in the spirit of unpredictable fun that so many minor league teams of all sports, have depended on.
This extends to the team’s teal, orange, and white uniforms (which look very similar to the Miami Dolphins) and Tropics logo (which looks identical to the Flint Tropics logo, the team Will Farrell played on in 2008 film, Semi-Pro.
As for the fan experience on game day, there was a small tailgating area in the parking lot, and fan contests on the field between breaks. Halftime found the crowd throwing groups of tennis balls onto the field, trying to land inside a ring with prizes or plastic bin at mid-field for the grand prize. After the game, players were easily accessible for pictures and autographs.
Hopefully, the “fun factor” will ramp up and be fine-tuned as the season rolls on (for example, the St Paul Saints baseball team [co-owned by actor Bill Murray] has a pig that brings out extra baseballs, a nun that cuts hair in the stands, and numerous extreme character hype men that help rouse up the fans).
NFL Super Bowl MVP quarterback Kurt Warner recently had his life documented in the film American Underdog- released on Christmas Day, it showed his rise from an undrafted free agent, to time spent in the Indoor league’s Iowa Barnstormers, to then becoming the NFL’s most valuable player not once, but twice.
While the odds are very slim to witness a player of that caliber at this level again, indoor football and the Topeka Tropics can provide three hours of entertainment for the price of a takeout pizza, so it’s hard to complain (...much).
Team website: The Topeka Tropics (gotropics.fun)
(click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
Topeka Tropics vs Salina Liberty at Landon Arena, Topeka, KS (2022-03-19) |
| john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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