Richard Obert

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN:
INSIDE THE AFL ON ITS WAY

Dear Members,

Mark Anderson and I are excited to announce plans for Inside the AFL, a magazine that we hope to launch in January. It will start out as a monthly with hopes that we can make it a weekly publication, depending on the response we receive.

Our intent is to put the money made off the magazine into the Arena Football League Writers Association, so that it can grow. With the AFL in existence since 1987 and continually growing, we believe it is time to keep up with the demands and the hunger readers have. The best way to do that is to produce a quality magazine for the Arena Football die-hard that would also appeal to the general sports fan with probing, in-depth issue stories and human-interests articles.

We will stay away from the public-relations type of stories and go for a harder edge. We will probe into issues, such as collective bargaining, NBC, the NFL and how the game has evolved on the field and in business. We will look at historical pieces, how the league changed, the colorful coaches and characters who make the game what it is.

Our first issue will be a preseason issue with an in-depth look at each team. We'll seek the best writers and photographers to help make this a major success.

We are considering a rotating editor with Mark and I overseeing the production. We will look for top writers and not go into this project half-hearted.

If anybody has any suggestions, you are welcome to respond.

Richard Obert is the AFLWA's first president. He also covers the Rattlers for the Arizona Republic.

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