The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT July 9, 2011

There are few things anymore that will leave me speechless when it comes to sports, but just when I think that it can't get any stranger, here we go again.

IT MIGHT get even more odd as the Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League will play the first-ever AFL outdoor game against the Utah Blaze tonight at 6 at Joe Albi Stadium.

And while Joe Albi hosts Greater Spokane League games and some soccer matches, the work to get the field ready for indoor football seems a bit off.

Cranes will support the nets in both end zones and the Shock's field surface is being transferred from the Spokane Arena to the stadium after specially-built flooring (being shipped from Florida) arrives to be put under the turf, along with walls and goal posts to create an outdoor setting.

All for a league completely based on playing games indoors.

The concept seems like a great idea, but with three games left in the season and both teams chasing each other for the final Western Conference playoff spot, the game doesn't seem right.

Two teams battling and they've got to get out of their element and play an outdoor game right in the middle of it - just doesn't seem right.

I understand the idea of playing the game, but why wait until the end of the season to play a game like this?

At the end of the day, it's still a football game.

Imagine the athletic directors at either Lake City or Coeur d'Alene high schools deciding that instead of playing the Fish game in either gym, they'll set up a basketball court at Viking Stadium.

Don't hold your breath waiting on that to happen.

The outdoor arena game, while a great concept, makes more sense earlier in the year and not in the midst of a playoff chase.

GRANTED THAT when they scheduled tonight’s game, league organizers may not have had the win-and-in scenario dancing in their heads, but a playoff outcome is almost the icing on the cake.

If Utah wins, it will likely mean the defending AFL champion Shock will miss the playoffs.

With a Spokane win, the Shock will keep those hopes alive, but with Utah holding the tiebreaker entering the game, they’ll need at least two more wins to secure that final bid.

Had the NFL opted to move the Seattle-St. Louis game in Week 17 last year to Portland, there’s a pretty good chance that it might have been Sam Bradford leading the Rams past the Saints instead of Marshawn Lynch running them down at Qwest Field.

But as weird as the setting might seem, it really is a great idea.

Put two teams outdoors to have them play in the sun and have them combine for over 100 points — sounds like a great time.

Call me crazy, but when it comes to setting those teams for the playoffs in an indoor-based league, shouldn’t they be playing inside?

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].