Lingerie Football League's ready for you to expand your idea of what football can be.
In an effort to promote Friday night's home opener at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego Seduction players showed up for a photo op on Thursday. The Seduction are set to match up against the No. 1 ranked Dallas Desire, with the kickoff scheduled for 9 p.m.
The uniforms may be hard to believe, but the action on the field isn't, said player Christie Burns.
"It is pretty brutal," Burns said. "We've had girls have knee surgeries ... our center has bruises all up and down her arms. It's pretty rough."
Burns said about 200 women tried out for the team, but only 12 made the cut.
"Not only are we looking for beauty and, you know, great bodies and athletic women, we're looking for girls we see have the potential of playing football," Burns said.
Fans who arrive starting at 5 p.m. will be able to take part in such tailgate activities as face painting, barbecues, live music, video-gaming, football challenges and get a chance to meet the players. Oh, and did we mention there was a beer garden?
It's a different game from what fans are used to: There are only seven players on the field from each team at a time, and the field is half as long, for starters. The women's uniforms appear to be bra-type tops and short shorts, and they wear helmets and pads. The Seduction's Web site has to be one of the first football team's sites to feature hair-and-makeup and tanning credits.
Tickets for the local games start at $15 for the nosebleed section and are as high as $105 for the sideline VIP seats.
You probably won't be shocked to hear that the league has its critics, including Courtney Martin, who Reuters described as a feminist writer.
“This is objectification at it's most pernicious -- give women an opportunity to participate in a sport that they haven't had the chance to do for pay ... but only let them do it if they're stereotypically pretty and willing to do it in their underwear," Martin wrote on Feministing.com.
The Seduction lost their first game of the year to the Seattle Mist, 20-6, on Sept. 11.
Friday night's game is one of only two home games scheduled so far this season. The remaining game is set for Jan. 8.
