2008 AFL Season
Originally written by GCEDW
In 2008, the Arena Football League entered into its second year of tv coverage on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. Gone were Greenberg and Golic as commentators, with Bob Wischusen, and Ray Bentley taking their places as lead commentators
As for team changes, the Nashville Kats folded, the Austin Wranglers left to join AF2, and Las Vegas moved to Cleveland; retaining the Gladiators name in the process. Thus, this would be the following 17 team lineup for the 2008 season.
Dallas Desperados
Grand Rapids Rampage
Chicago Rush
San Jose SaberCats
Los Angeles Avengers
Arizona Rattlers
Colorado Crush
New York Dragons
Cleveland Gladiators
Columbus Destroyers
Tampa Bay Storm
Orlando Predators
Georgia Force
Philadelphia Soul
Utah Blaze
Kansas City Brigade
Regular Season
Saturday 3-1:
Desperados-Force, ABC, 1:00. Bob Wischusen, Shaun King, Marcellus Wiley
Sunday 3-3:
SaberCats-Rush, ESPN2, 9:00. Dave Pasch, Marcellus Wiley
Sunday 3-9:
Soul-Rush, ESPN2, 1:00. Joe Tessitore, Shaun King
Monday 3-10:
Avengers-Rattlers, ESPN2, 11:00. Dave Pasch, Marcellus Wiley
Monday 3-17:
Crush-Desperados, ESPN2, 8:00. Bob Wischusen, Shaun King
Saturday 3-29:
Storm-Soul, ESPN2, 2:00. Bob Wischusen, Marcellus Wiley
Sunday 4-6:
Rush-Predators, ESPN2, 2:00. Joe Tessitore, Shaun King
Monday 4-14:
Rush-Brigade, ESPN2, 8:30. Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley
Monday 4-21:
Soul-Destroyers, ESPN2, 8:00. Dave Pasch, Marcellus Wiley
Monday 4-28:
Desperados-Soul, ESPN2, 8:00. Bob Wischusen, Shaun King
Monday 5-5:
Rush-Storm, ESPN2, 8:00. Bob Wischusen, Shaun King
Monday 5-12:
Soul-Force, ESPN2, 8:00. Ray Bentley*
Monday 5-19:
Avengers-Rush, ESPN2, 8:00. Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley
Monday 5-26:
Force-VooDoo, ESPN2, 8:00. Joe Tessitore, Marcellus Wiley
Monday 6-2:
Dragons-Crush, ESPN2, 10:30. Dave Pasch, Shaun King
Monday 6-9:
Avengers-Blaze, ESPN2, 10:00. Dave Pasch, Marcellus Wiley
Monday 6-16:
Crush-Rattlers, ESPN2, 10:00. Dave Pasch, Shaun King
Saturday 6-22:
Desperados-Crush, ESPN2, 4:00. Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley
Playoffs
WILD CARD
Friday 6-27:
Dragons-Desperados, ESPN, 7:30. Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley
Saturday 6-28:
Crush-Blaze, ESPN, 4:00. Dave Pasch, Marcellus Wiley
Monday 6-30:
Predators-Gladiators, ESPN2, 7:00. Ari Wolfe, Shaun King
DIVISIONAL
Saturday 7-5:
Crush-SaberCats, ESPN, 3:00. Dave Pasch, Marcellus Wiley
Dragons-Soul, ESPN, 7:00. Ari Wolfe, Shaun King
Sunday 7-6:
Rampage-Rush, ESPN, 3:00. Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley
Monday 7-7:
Gladiators-Force, ESPN2, 8:00. Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley
CONF CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday 7-12:
Gladiators-Soul, ESPN, 1:00. Dave Pasch, Ray Bentley, Marcellus Wiley
Rampage-SaberCats, ESPN, 3:30. Ari Wolfe, Shaun King
ArenaBowl XXII
Sunday 7-26:
Soul-SaberCats (New Orleans), ABC, 3:00. Bob Wischusen, Ray Bentley, Marcellus Wiley, Stan Verrett
- For the 5-12 ESPN2 game, the broadcast was composed mostly without commentary, as ESPN promoted the ability for the viewer to hear sounds from the arena without announcers. Ray Bentley would provide analysis and short commentary coming out of television timeouts.