Did you enjoy your AAF experience?

A funny thing happened this weekend. A new professional football league began its first week of play — and it was pretty damn good. The Alliance of American Football looks and feels like a success story right out of the gate, and just judging by my Twitter feed, it is on its way.

I have to admit though... I’ve always been a big fan of spring football. If it wasn’t for the USFL trying to openly challenge the NFL, we may have had over 30 years of seeing a successful spring league increase the popularity and evolution of the game right now (maybe).

At any rate, we have a new league now with the AAF, so let’s talk about it.

Here are just some of the random thoughts I have from what I saw over the weekend:

• It’s football. More than anything else, it was a pretty good product on the field. It will take a few weeks for the offenses to catch up to where the defenses are (unless you’re Steve Spurrier) so I’m not overly concerned with the scores. The hitting was ON POINT, and outlawed hits in the NFL appear to be legit in this league. The pace was excellent as their attempt to shorten the games worked well.
• It’s well done. They brought in smart and experienced people to get this thing off the ground, and it’s working. The partnership with CBS and the NFL Network is solid, and provide a professional production that’s on the same level as a college football weekend.
• I like the colors and the names of the teams (I mean... I’m cool with it) but the uniforms could use a little more team individuality. I wonder if this is because of having to use Starter as their apparel provider. Adidas or Under Armour didn’t want a piece of this? If the league succeeds into its third year, I bet there will be a change. I’m not sure what kind of contracts they have, but they need to get a better provider.

All in all, as I’ve said, it was a good start to the league. I’m looking forward to seeing how this all plays out this year, and what they might alter for the future. I’m enjoying football right now, and that’s the most important thing.

So what do you think? I’d love to hear any thoughts about the league in the comments below.