In brief: Meyer Arena League MVP

AFL: Spokane quarterback Erik Meyer added to his growing collection of Arena Football League awards.

Meyer, named first-team All-AFL quarterback last week, was honored Thursday as the league MVP and offensive player of the year at the AFL Celebrity Gala in Orlando, Fla.

Meyer passed for 4,667 yards and a league-high 112 touchdowns in guiding Spokane to a 15-5 record. The Eastern Washington University product led the AFL in pass efficiency and completion percentage. He added 15 rushing touchdowns.

San Jose’s Clevan Thomas was named defensive player of the year, Chicago receiver/return specialist Reggie Gray was voted playmaker of the year and Utah receiver Mario Urrutia earned rookie of the year.

Jim Meehan

Kiss co-founders own new team

AFL: Kiss and the Arena Football League? Go ahead and “Shout It Out Loud.”

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, founding members of the rock band Kiss, are part owners of the L.A. Kiss, which will join the AFL in 2014. The expansion team will play home games at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Los Angeles hasn’t had an AFL team since the Avengers folded in 2009. The NFL Rams left for St. Louis and the Raiders departed for Oakland following the 1994 season.

“When I first heard about arena football, certainly I thought AFL should stand for adrenaline football because there’s really nothing like it,” Stanley said. “Los Angeles is dying for a football team. What we want to see happen is to take the excitement of the AFL and bring entertainment to it.”

No official announcement was made but the new franchise fits geographically in the West Division that includes Spokane. The AFL will probably see additional membership changes prior to the 2014 season.

Jim Meehan

WCC tentatively OK’d for replay

College baseball: An NCAA committee has agreed to let the West Coast Conference experiment with instant replay during its conference baseball tournament in 2014.

The decision by the NCAA’s Baseball Rules Committee now goes to another panel for final approval.

Associated Press