Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 17, 1991 TAG: 9103170182
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LONDON LENGTH: Medium
But what if that fan has never seen a football game? Or doesn't understand English? Or isn't used to measuring in yards?
These are among the challenges for the World League of American Football, which faces cultural and linguistic barriers when it becomes the first trans-Atlantic league starting next weekend.
With teams in five countries, the WLAF will be a multilingual league.
The Frankfurt Galaxy, which plays host to the London Monarchs in the league's first game March 23, will have public address announcements in German as well as English. French and English will be used in Montreal.
And in Barcelona, where the New York Knights play March 24 in the first trans-Atlantic game, announcements will be made in Catalan - the language of northeastern Spain.
In Frankfurt, general manager Oliver Luck is teaching a crew to flash "instructional blurbs" on the stadium scoreboards.
"They will be simple terms like `touchdown,' or `first down,' because we are starting from scratch to introduce the game to many of the people we expect to attend," said Galaxy spokesman Kent Olinger.
The Barcelona Dragons will use two public address announcers - one to explain the game and the other for entertainment. Fans will be given brochures, printed in Spanish, that will focus on football fundamentals.
"We really are in first grade there, we have to educate people," said WLAF European Coordinator Bruce Dworshak. "People may sit there like it's theater at first. We have to teach them how to be fans."
The league, which also has six teams in the United States, will seek to blend Americana with local flavor in each of its foreign cities.
Frankfurt fans will eat American hot dogs and German bratwurst, and fish and chips will be served for the game against London. Barcelona concession stands will offer beer, brandy and bocadillos - ham, sausage or cheese sandwiches on hard rolls.
The WLAF hopes some of its innovations will appeal to Europeans raised on soccer, in which play rarely stops. The league promises a wide-open, no-huddle style in which quarterbacks communicate with receivers via tiny microphones and earphones in helmets.
"It will be faster paced and we will eliminate huddles, probably the one thing Europeans don't understand," said WLAF Vice President Joe Bailey.
While it hopes foreign fans will adjust to a new game, the league also is prepared to adapt to European conditions - including the popularity of legal sports gambling.
"We realize it's a part of the culture here and we're an international league," Bailey said. "It will be interesting to see whether betting shops put a line on our games."
The WLAF may turn some soccer fans into football enthusiasts, but it does not expect to overshadow Europe's favorite sport. Even one of the Monarchs retains his loyalty to soccer.
"My father was a professional soccer player in Mexico," said Max Zendejas, a veteran of three NFL seasons who was drafted by the London team. "My father and I still enjoy watching soccer more than football."
by CNB