This week we got the very disappointing news about the folding of the AAF. Apparently, Tom Dundon decided to lose $70M in six weeks instead of $250M over two years.

It’s sad for the fans who had come to love AAF hard hitting football action during their early spring weekends. It’s sad for the players and coaches and everyone involved. The AAF succeeded at making an entertaining alternative football league, for the few weeks it lived. The notion that they needed access to bottom-tier NFL players never made sense to me.

The guys who were there were plenty good. Since the league folded, many of its best players have signed NFL contracts.

The blame here ultimately lies with Ebersol and Polian, who launched the league and immediately ran out of cash and required emergency infusions. That’s just poor planning and execution.

The football was exciting and fun to watch. The presentation was good. It was great to have something new to watch — pro football in the spring. One of the games, Salt Lake vs. San Diego, was a classic with several late lead changes and ridiculous plays. I’ll always remember the kicker of the Fleet being carried off on the shoulders of his teammates after hitting a game winner with no time on the clock. Great stuff.

But, Dundon who came on strong with his “$250M commitment” didn’t have the appetite to spend that, or the kind of spending that would be required to launch the league. So he probably shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place.

It seems the NFL is very happy to watch any potentially competitive football leagues fail, else they could have provided a lifeline of cash to support the AAF.

As it was, it was a beautiful experience and I salute the players and coaches who delivered for the fans. But now we must be on to the draft, next season and then XFL launch.