We’ve celebrated the AIFL in this space before. (Well, OK, we haven’t celebrated it as much as listed the D-III alumni in the league.) But these players, the Canton (Ohio) Legends team specifically, are getting a crash course in life in the low minor leagues.

Early in the season, offensive coordinator Jim Ballard, an All-America quarterback at Mount Union and 1993 winner of the Gagliardi Trophy, resigned along with other coaches because they weren’t getting paid. (And of course, the owner told the local paper that he fired them.)

Now, the team might not play its upcoming playoff game because the checks from a game two weeks ago have not arrived. Randell Knapp, an All-America wide receiver at Mount Union in 2003, told the Canton Repository (registration required) that they hadn’t gotten a paycheck they were expecting eight days earlier and they did not practice Tuesday. He, along with Baldwin-Wallace standout quarterback Dan Larlham and Malone wide receiver Eric Rector, said they would not play Saturday without a check.

“It’s not about the money,” Knapp told the paper. “Most of these guys would pay to play. I talked with Danny and we both agreed we’d pay to play flag football. But the fact is, we made a deal to be paid $300 a game, and checks are bouncing, and checks are late. We have to draw a line at some point.”

Lines in the sand are legendary — sounds like the Legends have drawn one here.

I’m heading up to Philadelphia shortly to address the Division III Sports Information Directors at the CoSIDA convention. I have to make one final checkoff on this on Monday morning but I expect to have a rather important announcement to make at that time. (To the general reader, we’ll post it on the site Monday afternoon or evening, time permitting.)

To the SIDs reading this — see you there!

Western Connecticut’s first season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference wasn’t exactly stellar, with a fourth-place finish similar to what longtime NJAC fans predicted. But as Jim Stout writes today in the News-Times of Danbury, Conn., spring practice came in handy. The Colonials will be sporting a new defensive scheme when they take the field two months from today.

It’s a good offseason update that we wish more newspapers did.