Kiss’ and Vince Neil’s Arena Football Teams Set to Battle This Weekend
The quest for rock supremacy is often fought in arenas, but on April 11, that battle will also include wearing helmets and shoulder pads. The L.A. Kiss will take on Vince Neil's Las Vegas Outlaws at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
It's a West Division showdown, with the Outlaws riding high after scoring their first-ever win, a 70-53 victory over the Arizona Rattlers, last week. It was the shock of the young season -- the expansion Outlaws were 19-point underdogs against the three-time defending champions -- but they pulled it out thanks to strong performances by quarterback J.J. Raterink and receivers LaDon Hudson and Gerald Young, who returned two missed field goals for touchdowns.
The win thrilled Neil, who said after the game, “Was that amazing? I’m freaked out. Our first win. That’s bad-ass. I’m so proud of those guys. They just hung in there and did what they had to do. I’m losing my voice. And I never lose my voice.”
As for the team owned in part by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the L.A. Kiss will be looking to turn around their fortunes. Launched to much fanfare -- and a reality show to go with it -- in 2014, the team promised something “cool, edgy and powerful.” But after winning its inaugural game and two of its first three match-ups, the L.A. Kiss won only one of their next 14 games to finish 3-15 for the season.
So far, the Kiss have lost the first two games of the new season, scoring a league-low 65 points while being tied for the lead with 26 penalties. But they're undoubtedly glad to be playing their home opener this weekend. Despite their poor performance, they averaged attendance of 10,945, which was the second-best in the league last year. Meanwhile, the Outlaws have struggled at the gate, averaging only 4,948 fans in their two games.
But even if their owners might not possess the football acumen to put winning teams on the field, there's one aspect of the game-day experience where their day-job knowledge will come in handy: the cheerleaders. Simmons described the L.A. Kiss Girls by saying, “We wanted to have girls who are not the girl next door, but the girl you wish was next door.”
Neil wasn't nearly as subdued as Simmons when telling the press what he was looking for in his cheerleaders. “We are going to have the 10 hottest, sexiest girls in Las Vegas leading the team -- the best beauties in the league,” he said in January. “The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, who once made headlines around the world, will pale by comparison to what we assemble.”
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 10PM ET.
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