Community Corner

LA KISS Promises No More Glitches at its Home Games in O.C.

The second home game is tonight, and unlike last time, fans will have something to look at during the breaks, the team's president says.

LA KISS team president Schuyler Hoversten is promising "no down time" for the Arena Football League team's second home game, tonight at Honda Center against the Cleveland Gladiators.

"You will not see players standing around during a time out and not see anything running" on the scoreboard's video screens or "something going on in the stands," Hoversten said.

Feedback from fans for the presentation of the team's first home game last Saturday against the Portland Thunder was "overwhelmingly positive," even though the KISS "didn't have some content that we had generated  loaded into" the video system in time, Hoversten said.

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"There were some breaks in the game where it basically could have just been an intermission like other sports... because nothing was going on, there was nothing for people to look at," Hoversten said. "That's the exact opposite of what we want."

KISS quarterback J.J. Raterink called the 44-34 victory one of the longest regulation games in his nine years in the league. Hoversten said time outs to accommodate commercials for the CBS Sports Network telecast and the absence of entertainment during some stoppages of play contributed to the perception that the game was long.

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The opening game included go-go dancers suspended in separate pods above the silver-colored field throughout the game. During breaks in play, the team's dance squads performed, BMX bicyclists did backflips and videos were shown on the scoreboard.

There will be "subtle changes" to the entertainment elements from the opener for tonight's game, but "you're going to notice just as much of a spectacle and a show as Game 1," Hoversten said.

"We're not turning down the volume at all," Hoversten said. "We're going to figure out each week (how to) give our fans something new."

The KISS plans on having a band playing before the game, at halftime and once or twice during breaks in play for each of its nine home games. The blues rock band Vintage Trouble will perform at tonight's game.

Hoversten predicted a crowd of between 10,000 and 11,000 for the matchup between the 2-1 KISS and 3-0 Gladiators which will be telecast by KCAL-TV Channel 9. The announced attendance for the home opener was 12,045.

--City News Service


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