LA KISS will play the home opener of its second Arena Football League season Saturday night at Honda Center, still trying to match its success at the box office with success on the field.
The KISS averaged 10,945 fans for its nine home games last season, which combined fireworks displays, performances by rock bands and go-go dancers performing in cages suspended above the 50-yard artificial turf field with an offensively oriented brand of football played by eight-man teams.
The attendance average for the team was the second-highest in the then- 14-team league last season, behind the Tampa Bay Storm’s 11,402, despite a 3-15 record. The owners of the team include two members of Kiss: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
Bob McMillen was retained as coach, but just nine of the 64 players from last season returned. Off-season signings included quarterback Adrian McPherson, described by McMillen as “one of the top three or four quarterbacks in this league.”
“He has a great arm,” McMillen said. “He’s also a guy that can off and run and go 50 yards in the blink of an eye.”
The 31-year-old McPherson has completed 36 of 71 passes for 396 yards and six touchdowns with one pass intercepted.
McPherson was the AFL’s Rookie of the Year in 2004, was chosen by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL draft, played with the AFL’s Grand Rapids Rampage in 2007 and 2008 and was the backup quarterback for the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes from 2008 until 2012.
McPherson returned to the AFL in 2013 with the Tampa Bay Storm. He did not play in 2014.
The roster turnover hasn’t improved the KISS’ on-field performance.
The KISS are 0-2, losing to Portland, 42-37, March 27, and 54-28 to San Jose last Saturday, extending its losing streak to eight games dating back to last season.
The KISS entered this week’s play last in the league in scoring, averaging 32.5 points per game, more than 10 points less than the next lowest- scoring team in the league that has several rules aiding the offense, including allowing receivers to go forward in motion before the snap of the ball.
The KISS were also first in quarterback sacks allowed and tied for the league lead in penalties.
Saturday’s opponent, the expansion Las Vegas Outlaws, are 1-1, upsetting the three-time defending champion Arizona Rattlers, 70-53, last Saturday after opening their season with a 59-41 loss to San Jose March 30.
The Outlaws are quarterbacked by J.J. Raterink, the KISS starting quarterback for their first eight games last season, and are coached by Aaron Garcia, who replaced Raterink as the KISS starting quarterback.
Las Vegas’ roster includes a second former KISS player, Joe Mortensen, who started nine games at fullback last season.
Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil is a co-owner of the Outlaws, leading the league to bill the game as the start of the “Rock Star Rivalry.”
The National Anthem will be performed by Elliott Yamin, the third-place finisher in the 2006 season of “American Idol.” The coin toss will be conducted by former NBA player John Salley. The heavy metal band Holy Grail will perform before the game, at halftime and after the game.
—City News Service