4th and Loud

              Originally I watched the show 4^th and Loud out of curiosity.  Football is not my sport, so having a show about arena football is not going to entice me all on its own.  What I was interested in was what goes on behind the scenes of a professional sports team.  All the time there are stories about how this or that person was traded or went to free agency or opted out of their contract.  It does not make any sense to me.  I’m used to tennis.  Either you play, or you don’t.  There isn’t any team politics and deals involved.  Team sports, however, do not work this way.  There are so many people involved in how well a team does and whether or not a player or coach gets to stay with their team.  I wanted to know how this all works which is a big part of why I started watching 4^th and Loud.

                The other reason I watched the show is because I wanted to see why in the world Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the rock group Kiss decided to own an arena football team.  I read about this happening before the team ever had their first season, but I never knew why.  What would make someone leap from the music industry to the athletic?  I know they are not the first to do so as Jon Bon Jovi was an owner of the Philadelphia Soul, but what led him to go in that direction as well?  These are things I do not know and I was hoping that by watching 4^th and Loud I would be able to figure it out.

                I must say, watching this show has been truly educational.  The series follows the first season of the Arena Football League team the L.A. Kiss.  From deciding who should be on the team to how the entertainment is planned, the viewers get a behind the scenes look at what it takes to run an arena football team.  It is not easy, especially when there is a group of people who do not agree on how things should be done.  All this does is cause problems both on field and off.  To be honest, I don’t know how anything gets done with all these conflicting points of view.  I will talk more about that later.  Instead, I want to talk about the very first thing I learned watching this show.  Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are not sole owners of the L.A. Kiss.

                That’s right; Mr. Simmons and Mr. Stanley are part of a group of people that own this team.  To my understanding it’s not a big group, maybe four people, but it is not these two men alone.  Everything I saw and read made it seem as though Mr. Simmons and Mr. Stanley were going to own this team all by themselves.  Now because of this show I know that is not true.  This made me even more curious as to why these men would want to be involved.  If they had complete control over the team it would make a little more sense, but they don’t.  So I’m not sure why they decided to go in on this endeavor and watching the show has not cleared that up.  Maybe I missed the explanation when I was doing my usual two or three things at once or maybe it was never fully explained.  I don’t know.  However, I will say that Mr. Simmons’ and Mr. Stanley’s ownership seems to be a huge asset to the team.  They don’t look at the team as just a business with little playing pieces to move around.  Both men make an effort to interact with the team and players on a personal level.  They visit players who have been injured and let the players on the field know they have faith in them.  Sometimes this is exactly what the players need in order to move forward and do their best.  Yes, this is a business for these two men, but they do not forget there is a personal side too.                 

                Another thing I have learned is how unstable these players’ lives are.  Every single one is truly playing for the love of the game even though it could all be pulled out from under them at any moment.  None of them have million dollar contracts.  I don’t think any even making $1,000 a week.  Some hold down a second job so they can support their families and their lifestyles which are not lavish by any means.  They play because it is who they are.  Unfortunately, if the team loses a game, anyone can easily be traded or cut completely.  If this happens, the player could possibly lose everything he has worked for.  Now, something I do not understand about cutting players, or even making different ones sit out, is how does a team ever figure out how to work together and become a unit when the roster is constantly changing?  How is continuously changing the team personnel a benefit?  I would think it would be a hindrance, especially when it is done so often, as it seems to be the case with this team.

                Back to my point earlier about everyone not agreeing on what should be done; this show definitely proves there can be far too many cooks in the kitchen.  So far in the show’s season the L.A. Kiss have won only two games.  They have lost at least eight.  This is not good.  Yes, something needs to change, but no one agrees on what that is.  Instead the upper management does things without telling the coaches or the players.  The coaches don’t talk to the upper management about what is going on with the players during practice and on the field.  Everyone thinks they know what is best but they will not listen or work together to do what really is best.  The only exceptions are Mr. Simmons and Mr. Stanley.  They wisely step back when actual operations of the team are being debated and discussed.  While they are informed of what is going on and their opinions are sought, they do not claim to have the answers.  Both men freely admit that the business side of a sports team is not their area of expertise and instead let the experts handle things.  It would be great if all of the people involved did this.  Instead everyone puts their two cents in and performs actions in places where they do not have experience.  One person was traded and another was almost fired because people reacted before getting all the facts.  The proper people were not spoken to in order to get the best solution and instead everything ended up fractured.  No wonder the team has a hard time coming together and winning games.  With so many people at odds it’s hard to figure anything that is going on.

                As I said earlier, so far in the show the L.A. Kiss are not doing well. This does not mean the season is over. They still have a chance to pull everything together and win the championship. I don’t know if they do or not as I am waiting to see what the show reveals instead of looking it up ahead of time. It’s more exciting that way to not know what is going to happen. That doesn’t mean I look forward to every part of the show. There are scenes I find hard to watch, and I’m not talking about just the injuries. Whenever I see the coaches in such despair I feel so badly for them, especially the one who left his cat behind to come be a part of this team. They are all trying their best but are getting beaten up at every turn. No matter what they do it is somehow wrong. Then there are changes and plans made at the top that they are not made aware of and they get in trouble again for operating on what they do know. It makes them question everything which does not help anything. Everyone put their lives on hold so they could run this team and I hate to see them look so discouraged. I don’t know how many episodes are left, but I hope by the end everything will work out and everyone is able to walk away with as few regrets as possible.