Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009 | 2:12 p.m.
NOW
The Buick Open and the Buick Invitational have joined the Buick LeSabre in going away. So, apparently, after a year in mothballs, has the Arena Football League.
My take on this is that I can't see Tiger Woods, heretofore a major proponent of pro golf tournaments with "Buick" in their name, switching his allegiance to the John Deere Classic, or whatever they call the Quad Cities Open these days. Nothing against Iowa or the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, but Tiger just doesn't seem like a Quad Cities kind of guy (although he did play there as a rookie in 1996).
Michael Nunn, the former boxer, was a Quad Cities kind of guy. He was born in Davenport, Iowa. Nunn won't be attending the John Deere Classic either, as he is doing 24 years on a cocaine distribution rap.
The Buick Open(s) will probably return with new sponsorships, although those are getting increasingly hard to come by,
As for the Arena Football League folding, I'm sure Bon Jovi will survive. If not, he can always invest in af2's Quad City Steamrollers.
THEN
The best thing about the Arena Football League was Kurt Warner and the uniform he wore when he played for the old Iowa Barnstormers: Goggles on the helmet, wings on the shoulder pads and a propeller on the pants.
The Iowa team in af2 is also called the Barnstormers and wears identical uniforms.
The current quarterback is Brian Villanueva, a Las Vegas native who played college football at Fort Valley State in Georgia. In addition to Barnstorming on weekends, Villanueva works as a waiter at the Bravo! Cucina Italiana restaurant in West Des Moines.
He dreams of becoming the next Kurt Warner or that somebody in West Des Moines will leave a big tip.
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