At the end of March we attended our second Chicago Rush home game of the season.  This time around in Arena Football action it was against the recently-revived San Jose SaberCats, a team that was part of the "old" AFL.

Clark enjoys his first game

Clark enjoys his first game

As a fun change of pace, we were joined not only by my parents, but also one of the partners at the counseling practice Amy works at, Dr. Clark Barshinger.

Welcome San Jose back to the AFL

Welcome San Jose back to the AFL

He was curious about Arena Football and wanted to find out what it was all about, so he asked her if he could join us for a game sometime.

Hampster Ball races!

Hampster Ball races!

For the special occasion, and to provide the best visual experience, we got upper level sideline seats near where our season tickets were located back in 2008.

Rugby at halftime was fun

Rugby at halftime was fun

San Jose was one of the teams that didn't return with the rebooted AFL in 2010, but came back in this season, interestingly with the same ownership group as the first time around.  This makes them different from teams like Chicago which are returned in name alone, but have different owners.

East Endzone attendance check: 7,466 was the reported attendance

East Endzone attendance check: 7,466 was the reported attendance

Unlike the first home game of the season which was on NFL Network and had a lot of promotion to hit an 10,582 attendance mark, this game was pretty empty.

Not really sure what Steve & Dad are doing here

Not really sure what Steve & Dad are doing here

Reported attendance this time around was 7466… and our traditional East Endzone Attendance Check pretty much supports that number… though it probably was a lot less.

Chicago Rush win!

Chicago Rush win!

The game itself was rather boring through the first half. Not much action.  However, halftime featured a rugby match, which was pretty fun.  Things picked up in the second half with the Rush getting some stops and turnovers, which finally turned the tide and led to a close finish.  Rush win, 54-41!

It will be interesting to see what the attendance is like at the 3rd home game, because this isn't a good trend.  Then again, when you are only playing most of your players $400, you have to be making money even with less butts in the stands, right?

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