|
Alabama Vipers
The Alabama Vipers were a professional arena football team, that played in the Arena Football League. For most of their history, the Vipers played as the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the now-defunct af2, the minor league for the original Arena Football League, where they won ArenaCup IX in 2008. They played their home games at the Von Braun Center. They were coached by Dean Cokinos. The team moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia for the 2011 AFL season and became a new incarnation of the Georgia Force. Team history af2 The team played in af2 for five seasons, from 2000–2004, and during that period was one of the league's most competitive teams. The then owner and operator of the team was Art Clarkson. Then following the 2004 season the team left the af2 and joined the United Indoor Football (UIF) league. United Indoor Football (UIF) The team joined the United Indoor Football league as the Tennessee Valley Pythons. But after legal threats from the AF2 for using the "snake" motif, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Von Braun Center
The Von Braun Center (known as the Von Braun Civic Center until 1997) is an entertainment complex, with a maximum arena seating capacity of 9,000, located in Huntsville, Alabama. The original facility debuted in 1975 and has undergone several significant expansions since its opening. In addition to the arena, features multiple exhibit halls, a concert hall, a playhouse, and many other facilities, for meetings and exhibits. History It is named in honor of Wernher von Braun, the German-American rocket scientist. After von Braun’s work for Nazi Germany in World War II, he was brought to the United States Army's Redstone Arsenal along with many colleagues via Operation Paperclip. Their work laid the foundation for the United States space program. Planning for the facility began in 1965. The original construction included the sports arena, an exhibit hall space now known as East Hall, a concert hall, a playhouse, and museum space for the Huntsville Museum of Art. The arena as orig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arena Football League (2010)
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in North America after the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the National Football League (NFL) until the AFL closed in 2019. The AFL played a formerly proprietary code known as arena football, a form of indoor American football played on a 66-by-28 yard field (about a quarter of the surface area of an NFL field), with rules encouraging offensive performance, resulting in a typically faster-paced and higher-scoring game compared to NFL games. The sport was invented in the early 1980s and patented by Jim Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League (USFL) and the NFL. Each of the league's 32 seasons culminated in the ArenaBowl, with the winner being crowned the league's champion for that season. From 2000 to 2009, the AFL ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester Wolves
The Manchester Wolves were a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league. They played in the East Division of the American Conference of the AF2 league, which was the minor league of the Arena Football League. Team history Inception On July 19, 2001, Uncasville, Connecticut was awarded an AF2 expansion team. On December 12, 2001, Mohegan Sun and Dr. Eric Margenau, President/Chief Executive Officer of United Sports Ventures, announced that the new expansion AF2 franchise would be named the Mohegan Wolves. Margenau introduced Gary Porter, as the head coach for the team that would first take the field April 5, 2002 at the Mohegan Sun Arena against the Albany Conquest. Gary Porter, previously led the expansion Peoria Pirates to a 7-9 record in 2001. The team name was selected through a "Name the Team" contest sponsored by WCTY, Mohegan Sun and X-Tra M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers were a minor league arena football team that played in the AF2. The team was part of the East Division in the American conference. The Pioneers were an expansion team for the league's 2002 season, and were the runners-up in ArenaCup VIII and ArenaCup X. Franchise history 2001 The AF2 announced their expansion into the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area on July 24, 2001. Ownership would comprise a Baltimore-based group, Smith Sports International, and NFL legend Johnny Unitas. The team signed a 10-year lease with the First Union Arena at Casey Plaza (later Wachovia Arena and now Mohegan Sun Arena) and would begin play with the 2002 season in the league's Northeast Division. Terry Karg was hired as the team's first head coach. The team name was chosen on September 20 following a name-the-team contest. Of over 1500 entries, the name Pioneers was chosen in recognition of the early settlers of Northeastern Pennsylvania. 2002 The Pioneers got off to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tennessee Valley Raptors
The Rock River Raptors were a professional indoor football team based in Rockford, Illinois. The team was most recently a member of the Continental Indoor Football League. The franchise was established in 2000 as the Tennessee Valley Vipers, a charter member of af2. The franchise was based at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2005, the franchise moved to United Indoor Football as the Tennessee Valley Raptors, to accommodate the Vipers' af2 return to Huntsville, as which point the team owner Art Clarkson announced that the franchise would relocate to Rockford. Coincidentally, Rockford was the site of the first-ever Arena Football game in 1986. The Owner of the Raptors was Art Clarkson. The Raptors played their home games at Rockford MetroCentre in Rockford, Illinois. Franchise history 2005: Move to UIF In November 2004, owner Ark Clarkson announced that the team would be leaving af2 and would be joining the newly formed United Indoor Football due to what Clarkson c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florida Firecats
The Florida Firecats were a professional arena football team based in Estero, Florida. They played in the AF2, the Arena Football League's developmental league, from 2001 to 2009. They did not join the AFL following the leagues' reorganization in 2010. During their run they won the 2004 ArenaCup championship, two conference titles, and made a total of seven playoff appearances. They played their home games at Germain Arena. Season-by-season , - , 2001 , , 7 , , 9 , , 0 , , 5th AC Southeast , , -- , - , 2002 , , 9 , , 7 , , 0 , , 2nd AC South , , Won AC Round 1 (Tallahassee 43–31)Won AC Semifinal ( Macon 44–28)Won AC Championship ( Cape Fear 43–23)Lost ArenaCup III ( Peoria 65–47) , - , 2003 , , 10 , , 6 , , 0 , , 2nd AC South , , Lost AC Round 1 ( Macon 42–16) , - , 2004 , , 10 , , 6 , , 0 , , 2nd AC South , , Won AC Round 1 (Memphis 35–33)Won AC Semifinal (Tennessee Valley 62–58)Won AC Championship ( Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 41–31)Won ArenaCup V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macon Knights
The Macon Knights were a professional arena football team, playing in the af2 league. They were a 2001 expansion member of af2. They played their home games at Macon Coliseum. The Knights were owned and operated by Beverly Olson. The Knights were formerly coached by Derek Stingley, who was a Defensive Specialist with the Albany Firebirds in the original Arena Football League. And he also is the son of former New England Patriots' wide receiver Darryl Stingley. History The franchise was created in 2001, the second year of the af2. Olson's first successful move as owner operator was to bring in local football star Kevin Porter to coach the upstart team. Porter, an alumnus of Auburn University, and the Kansas City Chiefs was also an arena football veteran. Under his leadership, the inaugural team made the playoffs and was named "Expansion Franchise of the Year" by the league. He went on to coach the New Orleans VooDoo and Kansas City Brigade of the AFL. Two seasons later, Porter l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohegan Wolves
The Mohegan are an Algonquian Native American tribe historically based in present-day Connecticut. Today the majority of the people are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the eastern upper Thames River valley of south-central Connecticut. It is one of two federally recognized tribes in the state, the other being the Mashantucket Pequot, whose reservation is in Ledyard, Connecticut. There are also three state-recognized tribes: the Schaghticoke, Paugusett, and Eastern Pequot. At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were a unified tribal entity living in the southeastern Connecticut region, but the Mohegan gradually became independent as the hegemonic Pequot lost control over their trading empire and tributary groups. The name Pequot was given to the Mohegan by other tribes throughout the northeast and was eventually adopted by themselves. In 1637, English Puritan colonists destroyed a principal for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richmond Speed
The Richmond Speed were one of the original 15 teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference in 2000, before going over to the Northeast Division in 2001, then to the Atlantic Division from 2002–2003. In 2000, Richmond went 7-9 and missed the playoffs. 2001 was a banner year for the Speed. Going 13-3, they cruised through the playoffs and into the ArenaCup. Despite going into the game with high expectations, they lost to the defending champion Quad City Steamwheelers. In 2002, the Speed proved that they were not a one-time wonder, and went to the playoffs again. This time, they were out by Week 1, thanks to the Cape Fear Wildcats. Back-to-back post-season losses was too much to handle, as in 2003, they went 6-10, last in the Atlantic Division. The Speed folded after the 2003 season, leaving Richmond without indoor football until the 2005 arrival of the AIFL Richmond Bandits. Season-by-season , - , 2000 , , 7 , , 9 , , 0 , , 5t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tallahassee Thunder
The Tallahassee Thunder were an arena football team based in Tallahassee, Florida. They were inaugural members of the af2, the Arena Football League's developmental league. They played for three seasons from 2000 to 2002, when they folded. They played their home games at the Tallahassee–Leon County Civic Center. The Thunder were established in 1999 and played in the af2's inaugural 2000 season. The team made the playoffs during their final two seasons but first-round losses to the Tennessee Valley Vipers and the Florida Firecats (respectively) contributed to the disbanding of the franchise after the 2002 season. The team's mascot was the Thunder King, a big fuzzy brown lion who has found other work since the dissolution. After the dissolution of the Thunder, Tallahassee would be without an arena or indoor football team until they were granted the Tallahassee Titans franchise by the American Indoor Football Association in 2006. Record season-by-season , - , 2000 , , 5 , , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quad City Steamwheelers
The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was awarded an arena football franchise. Managing owner (and inventor of arena football) Jim Foster coined the team's nickname. In December 2009, it was confirmed that the Steamwheelers had ceased operations, opting not to join the new Arena Football League after the bankruptcy of the Arena Football League and subsequent disbanding of af2. Team history Back-to-back ArenaCup wins The Steamwheelers played their inaugural season in 2000 and dominated the league for its first two seasons. They went undefeated in 2000 behind coach Frank Haege, even winning one game by a score of 103-3 over Greensboro in Greensboro, en route to capturing the first-ever ArenaCup Championship. In 2001, the Steamwheelers nearly repeated that accomplishment by finish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augusta Stallions
The Augusta Stallions were a professional Arena football team based in Augusta, Georgia. They were one of the 15 original teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference, before switching to the Southeast Division in 2001, and then the Eastern Division in 2002. In their first year, Augusta went 13-3, made the playoffs, and had the best record in the American Conference. During the playoffs, the Stallions held off a very feisty Carolina Rhinos team that was looking to upset Augusta. During Week 2, however, they lost to the Tennessee Valley Vipers by a touchdown. Had they won, they would have played the Quad City Steamwheelers for the inaugural AF2 championship. In November 2000, Owner Frank Lawrence named Mike Hold the team's new head coach and Darrell Harbin the team's new general manager. Despite going 9-7 in 2001, Augusta failed to make the playoffs. In 2002, Augusta was on fire by winning 11 of its first 12 games, and made the playoffs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
